The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has said that more than 60 per cent of jobs have been lost in Gaza since Israel’s bombardment began, adding to the dire economic situation in the besieged enclave, Reuters reports.

The losses amount to a total of 182,000 jobs in the small Palestinian territory, the ILO said in its first assessment of the impact of Israeli ground and air strikes on Gaza.

“Our initial assessment of the repercussions of the tragic current crisis on the Palestinian labour market has yielded extremely worrying results, which will only worsen if the conflict continues,” ILO Regional Director for Arab States Ruba Jaradat said, adding that the conflict would reverberate for “many years to come” for jobs and businesses.