Global body notes destruction of most of Gaza’s infrastructure, predicts 3.7% contraction this year compared to pre-war prediction of 3.2% growthThe Israel-Hamas war in Gaza is having a severe impact on the Palestinian economy, the World Bank said Tuesday, adding that a sharp economic contraction is likely this year and next.“The loss of life, speed and extent of damages to fixed assets and reduction in income flows across the Palestinian territories are unparalleled,” the World Bank said in a statement.The conflict, now dragging into its third month, has resulted in the death of more than 18,400 people in Gaza, the majority of them women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. These figures cannot be independently verified and are believed to include some 7,000 Hamas terrorists, according to Israel, as well as civilians killed by misfired Palestinian rockets. Another estimated 1,000 terrorists were killed in Israel during the October 7 onslaught.The war was sparked by the Hamas-led massacres on October 7, when Gazan terrorists stormed the border into southern Israel and killed some 1,200 people — mostly civilians slaughtered in their homes and at a music festival — and seized 240 hostages, almost 140 of whom are still held captive in Gaza.The UN estimates 1.9 million of Gaza’s 2.4 million people have been displaced by the war, half of them children. (ICE AMMAN)

Fonte notizia: the times