Gaza unemployment climbs to 80% as economy collapses: ILO

Unemployment in Gaza has climbed to nearly 80 per cent in a year since war erupted, with the devastated enclave's economy in almost total collapse, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said Thursday.

Economic output has shrunk by 85 per cent since the conflict began a year ago, plunging almost the entire 2.3 million population into poverty, the United Nations (UN) agency said.

The conflict has caused "unprecedented and wide-ranging devastation on the labor market and the wider economy across the Occupied Palestinian Territory," the ILO said, referring to Gaza and the West Bank.

In the West Bank, the unemployment rate averaged 34.9 per cent between October 2023 and the end of September 2024, while its economy has contracted by 21.7 per cent compared with the previous 12 months, the ILO said.

Before the crisis, the unemployment rate in Gaza was 45.3 per cent and 14 per cent in the West Bank, according to the Geneva-based organization.

Gazans either lost their jobs entirely or picked up informal and irregular work "primarily centered on the provision of essential goods and services," the ILO said.

Israel launched its unprecedented offensive after the Hamas attack last October, killing some 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's campaign in response has killed more than 42,000 people, according to Gaza's health authorities. Two-thirds of Gaza's pre-war structures – over 163,000 buildings – have been damaged or flattened, according to U.N. satellite data.

The crisis has spilled into the West Bank, where Israeli barriers to the movement of persons and goods, coupled with broader trade restrictions and supply-chain disruptions, have severely impacted the economy, the ILO said.

"The impact of the war in the Gaza Strip has taken a toll far beyond the loss of life, desperate humanitarian conditions and physical destruction," said ILO regional director for Arab states Ruba Jaradat.

"It has fundamentally altered the socio-economic landscape of Gaza, while also severely impacting the West Bank’s economy and labor market. The impact will be felt for generations to come."