Fighting in Lebanon could further destabilize the country’s economy, already devastated by years of crisis, the UN warns, predicting a 9.2 per cent drop in GDP in 2024 if the conflict continues, AFP reports.

“The scale of the military engagement, the geopolitical context, the humanitarian impact and the economic fallout in 2024 are expected to be much greater than in 2006,” when the last Israel-Hezbollah conflict erupted, the UN Development Programme said in an initial evaluation of the economic impact on Lebanon.

“The escalating hostilities in Lebanon in 2024 strike while Lebanon is already weakened by years of political, economic, and social crises,” it said.

Kawthar Dara, an economist in the UNDP country office in Lebanon, warned AFP that if the fighting persists until the end of the year, “GDP is projected to decline by 9.2pc.” She cited two main reasons — companies unable to do business because of Israeli air strikes, and capital destruction, from factories to roads.