Trade and Development Board, seventy-first session: Item 8 - UNCTAD Assistance to the Palestinian People

Your excellencies,

Distinguished delegates,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Good morning, and welcome to this session for item 8 on the Report on UNCTAD’s Assistance to the Palestinian People.

As you know, the UN General Assembly mandated UNCTAD “to report to the on the economic costs of the Israeli occupation for the Palestinian people" and our Board requires we report on UNCTAD’s work supporting the Palestinian people through economic research, capacity-building and policy.

For nearly four decades, UNCTAD has been doing exactly that.

Our most recent report was an assessment in January of this year on the economic impact of the destruction in Gaza and prospects for economic recovery.

I would like to recognize the work of the authors of the report we are presenting today.

Mutasim Elagraa, coordinator of the Assistance to the Palestinian People unit in UNCTAD, who will be later doing a presentation, and Rami Abdulmuti Alazzeh, lead author of this report, for their extraordinary work and commitment.

The report we share with you today, contains economic data and analysis that portray a region in great economic distress with collapsing GDP, widespread poverty, and soaring unemployment.

We are talking about inflationary pressure and collapsing incomes all of which have considerably impoverished Palestinian households.

This now affects all the Occupied Palestinian Territory, putting a severe strain on basic services.

Let me go first to Gaza’s Economic Collapse.

Gaza’s GDP dropped by an alarming 81% in the last quarter of 2023 alone, which led to a 22% contraction in GDP for the entirety of last year.

Gaza’s economy is now less than one-sixth of what it was in 2022.

Up to 96% of Gaza’s agricultural assets, the backbone of the economy and its food security, have been destroyed. Over 82% of all businesses have also been destroyed, further deteriorating the economy.

In Gaza, two-thirds of per-war jobs — approximately 201,000 — were lost by January 2024.

Secondly, looking at the West Bank, we see surging poverty and spiraling unemployment, which are intensifying the impact on households and driving poverty.

The crisis has had a devastating effect on the labor market, with mass job losses.

In the West Bank unemployment has risen from 12.9% before the conflict to a staggering 32% today.

This has resulted in an estimated daily labor income loss of 25.5 million dollars, eroding household resilience and increasing social hardship.

The West Bank has also been severely affected from the economic fallout, with increased violence severely disrupting economic activities.

For example, commerce, tourism, and transportation in East Jerusalem have been particularly hard-hit, with 80% of businesses in the Old City either partially or completely ceasing operations.

Before the war, we forecast that the West Bank would grow by 4% last year. Now, we estimate that GDP in fact fell by 1.9%, following an abrupt 19% GDP contraction in the last quarter of last year.

Finally, it is of great concern that Palestinian government’s fiscal stability is under severe threat.

Since October 2023, Israel’s withholding of Palestinian revenues has escalated. Since 2019, withheld revenues total over 1.4 billion dollars, which amounts to 8.1% of Palestine’s GDP in 2023.

Withheld revenues, together with a sharp decline in international aid, have crippled the government’s ability to function.

Public employees have not been paid full salaries since November 2021, and essential services are at risk of collapse.

Your excellencies,

The Palestinian economy is in free-fall.

The report calls for the international community to halt this economic free-fall, address the humanitarian crisis, and lay the groundwork for lasting peace and development.

This includes considering a comprehensive recovery plan for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, increased international aid, release of withheld revenues and lifting the blockade on Gaza.

As I said earlier, for nearly four decades UNCTAD has been working to strengthen the Palestinian economy in support of the Palestinian people, through research and analysis, advocacy and capacity building.

We have also strengthened in UNCTAD the Palestinian unit dedicated to this objective.

Today, this commitment that we all do, is as important, and as strong, as ever. With that, let me now turn to Mutasim Elagraa, Coordinator of the UNCTAD Assistance to the Palestinian People to present the report.

Thank you.