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Hanging over the negotiations is the threat of an Israeli attack on Rafah, which the U.S. and U.N. have warned could be catastrophic for Palestinian civilians. After fleeing Israel’s assault elsewhere in Gaza, more than half the territory’s population has crowded into tent camps and other shelters in and around Rafah.The United States, which has staunchly supported Israel throughout the war, has said it should not move on Rafah and has grown increasingly critical of the staggering toll borne by Palestinian civilians. American officials say they oppose a major offensive in Rafah but that if Israel conducts one, it must first evacuate civilians. Israel has said it is developing plans for a mass evacuation of civilians.The Israel-Hamas war was sparked by the Oct. 7 raid into southern Israel in which militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250 hostages. Hamas is believed to still hold around 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30 others.Since then, Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials. It has wreaked vast destruction and brought a humanitarian disaster, with several hundred thousand Palestinians in northern Gaza facing imminent famine, according to the U.N. More than 80% of the population has been driven from their homes.The “productive basis of the economy has been destroyed” and poverty is rising sharply among Palestinians, according to the report released Thursday by the United Nations Development Program and the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia.It said that in 2024, the entire Palestinian economy -– including both Gaza and the West Bank -– has so far contracted 25.8%. If the war continues, the loss will reach a “staggering” 29% by July, it said. The West Bank economy has been hit by Israel’s decision to cancel the work permits for tens of thousands of laborers who depended on jobs inside Israel.“Every additional day that this war continues is exacting huge and compounding costs to Gazans and all Palestinians. … These new figures warn that the suffering in Gaza will not end when the war does,” said UNDP administrator Achim Steiner. He warned of a “serious development crisis that jeopardizes the future of generations to come.”The report said at least 370,000 housing units in Gaza have been damaged, including 79,000 destroyed completely. After previous Israel-Hamas conflicts, housing was rebuilt at a rate of 992 units year. Even if Israel allows a five-fold increase of construction material to enter Gaza, it would take until 2040 to rebuild the destroyed houses without repairing the damaged ones, it said.During his visit, Blinken said new steps by Israel, including the opening of another border crossing and an offshore pier set to open in the coming week, are helping to increase the flow of humanitarian aid into Israel. But he said such efforts must be sustained.
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Will Israel end war without the group’s destruction?
