UN Discovers Palestinian Economy Existed, After Two Years of 'Conflict'
The United Nations Trade and Development Agency (UNCTAD) report, per Al-Monitor, states the 'two-year Gaza war and economic restrictions' triggered an 'unprecedented collapse,' reversing 'decades of socioeconomic progress.' What the report delicately sidesteps, and Al-Monitor dutifully echoes, is that these 'economic restrictions' (read: Israeli blockade and occupation policies) have been the
*default* state, not an anomaly, for far longer than two years. The bombing campaign merely accelerated an already ongoing process of economic disenfranchisement, which has been systematically documented by the UN itself since at least 2007 with the Gaza blockade. It’s astonishing how often the international community 'discovers' the logical consequences of its own inaction or, indeed, complicity.
To call it an 'Israel-Hamas conflict' is to assign equal agency and ignore the power asymmetry that allowed for the systematic dismantling of a functioning economy long before Hamas existed. The question isn't 'what happened?' but 'what did you expect?' when you continuously bomb and blockade a population, then express shock at their ensuing poverty. Perhaps next, they'll report that water is wet.