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ONE YEAR OF ISRAELI BOMBING HAS SET GAZA BACK 7 DECADES: UN REPORT  
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Jake Johnson
October 22, 2024
Common Dreams
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_ A new United Nations report sounds alarm "over the millions of
lives that are being shattered and the decades of development efforts
that are being wiped out," said one official. _

A man sits on the rubble as others wander among debris of buildings
that were hit by Israeli air raids in Jabalia refugee camp, northern
Gaza, on November 1, 2023., [Abed Khaled/AP Photo]

 

A United Nations report published Tuesday estimates that Israel's
relentless bombardment and siege of the Gaza
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decades of human development progress in just over a year,
jeopardizing "the future of Palestinians for generations to come."

The report
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produced by the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP) and the U.N.
Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UNESCWA) estimates
that Gaza's poverty rate will surge to 74.3% this year—with over 2.6
million people newly impoverished—and the enclave's Human
Development Index
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will drop to 1955 levels.

The HDI is a measure that includes life expectancy at birth,
education, and standard of living.

Since Israel's latest war on Gaza began in the wake of the Hamas-led
attack on October 7, 2024, the enclave has been transformed into a
"graveyard
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children" and a "vast wasteland
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rubble and twisted steel," with schools, homes, hospitals, markets,
sanitation facilities, and other civilian infrastructure utterly
destroyed by Israeli airstrikes—often carried out with U.S.
weaponry.

The new U.N. report observes that since last October, dozens of people
have died of malnutrition and "there has been a high risk of famine in
the Gaza Strip in the context of the ongoing war and the restriction
of humanitarian access."

"Hunger and malnutrition among mothers and babies is hugely harmful to
children's survival, growth, and development," the report states.
"Across Gaza, 93% of children and 96% of pregnant and breastfeeding
women are consuming fewer food groups daily, leading to households
skipping meals."

The report also highlights Israel's destruction of Gaza's healthcare
and education systems.

UNDP estimates that as of last month, 625,000 students in the enclave
"have no access to education" and at least 10,317 students and 416
educational staff had been killed in Gaza. Schools that have not been
destroyed have been turned into shelters for displaced
people—shelters that Israeli forces have targeted repeatedly
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The new analysis warns that even if a permanent cease-fire is achieved
in the near future—a scenario that does not appear
likely—infectious diseases that have spread due to Israel's bombing
of healthcare, sanitation, and water infrastructure are expected to
remain a dire threat to the people of Gaza.

"Cholera, measles, polio, and meningococcal meningitis pose the
greatest threats," the U.N. bodies said Tuesday. "Even if the war
ended immediately, the time required to restore functioning health
services would still result in thousands of excess deaths. Lack of
access to clean drinking water and sanitation facilities creates
significant health risks for all, and can exacerbate the situation."

Achim Steiner, a UNDP administrator, said in a statement
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the report's findings "confirm that amidst the immediate suffering and
horrific loss of life, a serious development crisis is also
unfolding."

"The assessment indicates that, even if humanitarian aid is provided
each year, the economy may not regain its pre-crisis level for a
decade or more," said Steiner. "As conditions on the ground allow, the
Palestinian people need a robust early recovery strategy embedded in
the humanitarian assistance phase, laying foundations for a
sustainable recovery."

People who were injured during an Israeli attack on the Jabalia
refugee camp await treatment at Al-Ahli Arab hospital on October 21,
2024. (Photo: Omar Al-Qattaa/AFP via Getty Images)

ESCWA's executive secretary, Rola Dashti, said that "our assessments
serve to sound the alarm over the millions of lives that are being
shattered and the decades of development efforts that are being wiped
out."

"It is high time to end the suffering and bloodshed that have engulfed
our region," Dashti added. "We must unite to find a lasting solution
where all peoples can live in peace, dignity, and reap the benefit of
sustainable development, and where international law and justice are
finally upheld."

Ahead of the U.N. report's release, Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC)
secretary-general Jan Egeland announced that members of his
organization's staff are visiting Gaza City this week to witness "the
utter devastation there as a result of Israeli bombardment."

"The scale of destruction is truly shocking," said Egeland, adding
that NRC staffers "were able to speak with those who had fled North
Gaza, most of which is under tight siege."

"Testimonies they heard from people there," Egeland continued,
"included elderly parents unable to reach the bodies of their dead
children for burial, of the sick and desperate with zero access to
essential medicine, and of people now destitute having spent entire
life savings just trying to survive."

_Jake Johnson is a senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams._

* Israel-Gaza War
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* community destruction
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* United Nations report
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