Israel’s assessment report: the new round of conflict has hit its economy hard.

  An assessment report released by Israel’s Ministry of Economy and Industry earlier this week shows that the new round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict has seriously impacted Israel’s national economy. Nearly one-fifth of the country’s labor force and the vast majority of Palestinians with work permits are out of work, resulting in economic losses of 13 billion new shekels (about 3.44 billion US dollars).

△ On November 15th, local time, Israeli air strikes were carried out in northern Gaza.

  On October 7th, the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) launched a surprise attack on military and civilian targets in Israel from the Gaza Strip, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared the whole country into a "state of war" on the same day. Over the past month or so, Israeli military operations in the Gaza have killed more than 11,000 Palestinians and injured more than 28,000 others. About 1,200 people in Israel died in the conflict and more than 7,200 people were injured. Another 240 people were held hostage by armed groups in Gaza, such as Hamas. Hamas said that dozens of them were killed by Israeli air strikes.

  According to the assessment report released by the Israeli Ministry of Economy and Industry on the 13th, about 764,000 domestic laborers have been out of work since the outbreak of this round of conflict, accounting for 19.4%. The main reasons for the absence of domestic labor force include being drafted into the Israeli army reserve, high risk in residential areas, and having to accompany their children at home because of the suspension of school. In response to the war, the Israeli government announced the mobilization of 360,000 reservists.

  The report pointed out that after the conflict broke out, 97% of the approximately 135,000 Palestinian laborers working in Israel were not allowed to enter Israel at this stage, which led to the impact on many important industries such as construction, agriculture and service. Most of these Palestinian laborers come from the West Bank, and many from Gaza. The economic loss caused by the inability of Palestinian workers to be on duty is about 3 billion NIS (US$ 780 million), and the economic loss caused by the absence of all workers has reached 13 billion NIS.

△ November 14th, local time, a refugee camp in Gaza.

  According to this report, due to the conflict, the demand for goods and services in Israel’s domestic market has declined, and household credit card spending has dropped by about 20% year-on-year.

  According to data from Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics, since the conflict broke out, more than half of Israeli enterprises have faced more than 50% turnover losses. In southern Israel, near the Gaza Strip, two-thirds of enterprises either closed down or operated minimally. In addition, the data shows that from October 8 to October 31, the number of foreign tourists arriving in Israel decreased by 73.1% compared with the same period of last year, and the number of people going abroad in Israel decreased by 45.1% year-on-year.

  According to the report released by Israel Airport Authority on 14th, there are only seven foreign airlines flying to Israel. The passenger flow of Ben-Gurion International Airport, Israel’s largest airport, was 1.17 million in October, a decrease of 41.25% compared with the same period in 2022; There were 9078 international flights, down 28.9% year-on-year.

  Israel’s National Security Institute estimates that since the outbreak of the conflict, the average daily expenditure of the Israeli government has been about 1 billion new shekels (about 260 million US dollars), and it is estimated that the total cost of Israel in this round of conflict will reach 150 billion to 200 billion new shekels, accounting for about 10% of GDP.