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.

Editorial

Updated 03 Aug, 2026

Farewell to arms?

PALESTINIAN resistance group Hamas recently made a major concession by agreeing to give up its weapons. It should be...
03 Aug, 2026

Unplanned future

A PROJECTION that Pakistan’s population could reach 400m by 2040 should not be treated as another dramatic number...
03 Aug, 2026

No more torture

EVEN the best laws on the books are worth little unless the state shows the willingness to enforce them. This is...
Updated 02 Aug, 2026

Urban flooding

THE warning from the disaster management and weather authorities that a new monsoon spell could trigger urban...
02 Aug, 2026

Fatal workplaces

THE methane explosion near Quetta that killed 34 coal miners is the latest entry in Pakistan’s long register of...
02 Aug, 2026

Dual standards

IT appears that the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party has fallen foul of the Election Commission of Pakistan. A...