Unemployment in Gaza has soared to nearly 80 per cent since the Israel-Hamas conflict erupted, with the devastated enclave’s economy in almost total collapse, the International Labour Organization said, Reuters reports.

Economic output has shrunk by 85pc since the conflict with Israel began a year ago, plunging almost the entire 2.3 million population into poverty, the United Nations agency said.

The conflict has caused “unprecedented and wide-ranging devastation on the labour market and the wider economy across the Occupied Palestinian Territory”, the ILO said, referring to Gaza and the West Bank.