'Israel' causes damage worth $18.5bln against Gazan infrastructure: WB

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: News websites
3 Apr 2024 08:53
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A report by the World Bank, the UN, and the EU estimated the cost of damages 'Israel' caused in the Gaza Strip, at $18.5 billion.

Palestinians inspect the damage to a residential building for the Moussa family after an Israeli airstrike in the Maghazi refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, Friday, March 29, 2024. (AP)

The World Bank, in collaboration with the United Nations and the European Union, found that "Israel" has inflicted material damages worth $18.5 billion through its genocidal war in Gaza, the joint report indicated.

According to the report which was published on Tuesday, every single one of Gaza's economic sectors has been severely affected by the magnitude of Israeli bombardments against Palestinian infrastructure, with 70% of damage costs coming from destroyed homes.

"For several sectors, the rate of damage appears to be leveling off as few assets remain intact," the World Bank said.

Moreover, 84% of Gaza's health facilities have been completely destroyed, while water and sanitation systems were reportedly barely functioning, supplying Gaza with less than 5% of its pre-war yield.

🚨 We were working here in the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip (Al-Shifa Hospital).. I became an ashes!! pic.twitter.com/UAu6ccjizD
— Dr. Abdallah Mohammed (@jjjjwza) April 3, 2024

The estimated damage equaled 97% of Gaza and the West Bank's combined 2022 GDP.

This comes as over 70% of Gaza's population has been forcefully displaced due to "Israel's" carpet bombing of the entirety of the Strip.

It is worth noting that the report covers only the first four months of the Israeli genocide, which is now nearing its seventh month.

34 Palestinians starved to death

The report also reiterated warnings of famine the UN has been sounding for weeks.

Last week, the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs warned that "time is running out, and obstacles to accessing aid persist in the Gaza Strip."

The statement emphasized that "over 1.1 million people in Gaza are facing severe levels of food insecurity," asserting that "there is no alternative to delivering aid by land to save lives, particularly in northern Gaza."

In this context, four Palestinians died of famine on Sunday at Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip, bringing the total number of Palestinians who have fallen victim to malnutrition and dehydration to 34.

Sources reported to Palestinian news agency WAFA that two of the martyrs were children amid a shortage of medical supplies and humanitarian aid imposed by the Israeli occupation.

This brings the total number of deaths from malnutrition to 34 Palestinians, 31 of whom were children.

The US State Department said that famine "likely" exists in at least some regions of northern Gaza, with other areas at risk of plunging into starvation conditions, Reuters reported.

Washington's statements clearly contradict Israeli allegations that sufficient food and other aid are being allowed into Gaza. Last week, the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) confirmed that Israeli occupation forces had definitively barred the agency from making aid deliveries in northern Gaza.