Israel's war has knocked Gaza's development back to the 1950s, says UN

Israel's war on Gaza has left nearly all of Gaza's population in poverty, with quality of life indicators such as health and education knocked back 70 years, the United Nations' development agency (UNDP) has said. 

The UNDP's Chitose Noguchi said the economy of the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank was now 35 percent smaller than before the war.

By some measures, the poverty level in Gaza was now close to 100 percent, with unemployment now at 80 percent, Noguchi said.

"The state of Palestine is experiencing unprecedented levels of setbacks," she said. "For Gaza, reversing development by an estimated 70 years to 1955."

Around 3.3 million Palestinians, 2.3 million of whom are in Gaza and 1.5 million of whom are children, need urgent humanitarian assistance, the report stated.

Repairing damaged infrastructure would cost an estimated $18.5bn - nearly the entire annual economic output of the occupied Palestinian territories in 2022.

Meanwhile, 625,000 students in Gaza have no access to education, with 93 percent of school buildings severely damaged.

Regarding healthcare, Israeli forces have killed at least 986 health workers, and less than half of primary healthcare centres were even partially functional.