The economic cost of the Israel-Gaza war for neighbours Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan could amount to $10 billion this year and push more than 230,000 people into poverty, a UN study has found.
The three Arab countries are facing fiscal pressures, slow growth and steep unemployment. This has deterred much-needed investment into their economies and hit consumption and trade.
The study undertaken by the United Nations Development Programme, said the cost of the war for the three countries in terms of loss of GDP could reach $10.3 billion or 2.3 per cent, and double if it lasts another six months.
"This is a massive impact," Abdallah Al Dardari, UN assistant secretary general and UNDP's Director of the Regional Bureau for Arab States, who lead the study, told Reuters.
"The crisis was a bomb in an already fragile regional situation ... it soured sentiment with fear of what could happen and where things are going."
Economic repercussions are already being felt. Retailers in Jordan reported recent Black Friday sales were significantly weaker than hoped for, while the country has been in the grip of industrial action in protest over Israel’s actions in Gaza.
Tour operators in Jordan, where tourism comprises more than 10 per cent of GDP, report a fall in bookings since the Gaza war began.
The IMF warned earlier this month that tourism could be particularly vulnerable if the conflict spreads, as it has done in recent weeks, with a surge in attacks on ships in the Red Sea and Hezbollah-Israel border clashes.
“Amid concerns about the threat of escalation, visitors have been cancelling travel to the region, hitting hard the very lifeline of these economies,” the IMF said. "Tourism, which accounted for 35 per cent to almost 50 per cent of goods and services exports in these economies in 2019, is a critical source of foreign exchange and employment.
“Tourism-dependent economies like Lebanon, where hotel occupancy rates fell by 45 percentage points in October compared to a year ago, will see knock-on effects for growth.”
Tourism in Lebanon used to account for about 20 per cent of GDP but plummeted during Covid and struggled to recover to 5 per cent of GDP due to the country’s sharp economic collapse and subsequent instability.
But until the Gaza war, it was undergoing a steep recovery, according to The Economist.
Overall, economic activity in the region “was already expected to slow, falling from 5.6 per cent in 2022 to 2 per cent in 2023”, the IMF warned.
Israel launched a ground and air offensive on Gaza on October 7, in which more than 18,400 people have been killed to date, according to Palestinian health authorities, mostly women and children, and wounding more than 50,000.
Thousands more are buried under the rubble or beyond the reach of ambulances.
Israel claims it wants to annihilate Hamas, which controls Gaza, but its campaign has drawn international condemnation for indiscriminate attacks against civilians.
'Unprecedented' scale of destruction
Mr Al Dardari said the scale of destruction in Gaza within such a short period of time is unprecedented, at least since the Second World War.
"To lose 45-50 per cent of all housing in one month of fighting ... we have never seen anything like this, the relationship between destruction level and time, it's unique," he said.
The mass displacement of almost 80 per cent of Gaza's population since October 7 has surpassed the more than decade-old Syrian civil war, which sparked the world's biggest refugee crisis.
"It took Syria five years of fighting to reach the same level of destruction that Gaza reached in one month," said Mr Al Dardari, former deputy prime minister for economic affairs in the Syrian government.
Mr Al Dardari, an expert on reconstruction in conflict zones, said his team was already reaching out to development funds and multilateral financial institutions on postwar rebuilding scenarios for Gaza. "We are not waiting until the battles end ... this effort has begun," he said, without elaborating.
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
ENGLAND TEAM
Alastair Cook, Mark Stoneman, James Vince, Joe Root (captain), Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Craig Overton, Stuart Broad, James Anderson
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Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
- Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
- Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
- Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
- Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
- Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
Winners
Best Men's Player of the Year: Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
Maradona Award for Best Goal Scorer of the Year: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
TikTok Fans’ Player of the Year: Robert Lewandowski
Top Goal Scorer of All Time: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Best Women's Player of the Year: Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)
Best Men's Club of the Year: Chelsea
Best Women's Club of the Year: Barcelona
Best Defender of the Year: Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus/Italy)
Best Goalkeeper of the Year: Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG/Italy)
Best Coach of the Year: Roberto Mancini (Italy)
Best National Team of the Year: Italy
Best Agent of the Year: Federico Pastorello
Best Sporting Director of the Year: Txiki Begiristain (Manchester City)
Player Career Award: Ronaldinho
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
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Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
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Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
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The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
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Abu Dhabi card
5pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 2,400m
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh 70,000 2,200m
6pm: Abu Dhabi Fillies Classic Prestige (PA) Dh110,000 1,400m
6.30pm: Abu Dhabi Colts Classic Prestige (PA) Dh110,000 1,400m
7pm: Handicap (PA) Dh85,000 1,600m
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Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
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Washmen Profile
Date Started: May 2015
Founders: Rami Shaar and Jad Halaoui
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Laundry
Employees: 170
Funding: about $8m
Funders: Addventure, B&Y Partners, Clara Ventures, Cedar Mundi Partners, Henkel Ventures
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
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How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
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Transmission: 8-speed auto
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Uefa Nations League: How it works
The Uefa Nations League, introduced last year, has reached its final stage, to be played over five days in northern Portugal. The format of its closing tournament is compact, spread over two semi-finals, with the first, Portugal versus Switzerland in Porto on Wednesday evening, and the second, England against the Netherlands, in Guimaraes, on Thursday.
The winners of each semi will then meet at Porto’s Dragao stadium on Sunday, with the losing semi-finalists contesting a third-place play-off in Guimaraes earlier that day.
Qualifying for the final stage was via League A of the inaugural Nations League, in which the top 12 European countries according to Uefa's co-efficient seeding system were divided into four groups, the teams playing each other twice between September and November. Portugal, who finished above Italy and Poland, successfully bid to host the finals.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
