Israel's Calcallist business newspaper reported on Sunday, citing preliminary figures from the Finance Ministry, that the cost of Israel's war against the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip would amount to up to NIS 200 billion ($51 billion).

The estimate of costs equivalent to 10% of GDP is based on:

  • The war could last 8 to 12 months, with Gaza limited to the full participation of Lebanese Hezbollah, Iran or Yemen.
  • On the basis of the rapid return of some 350,<> Israelis recruited into the reserve forces to work soon.

Calcalist added that:

  • Half of the cost will be defense expenditures, which amount to about one billion shekels a day ($255 million).
  • The cost of revenue losses will range from NIS 40 billion to NIS 60 billion.
  • From NIS 17 billion to NIS 20 billion Israel will incur in the form of corporate compensation.
  • From NIS 10 billion to NIS 20 billion will be incurred by the occupation due to rehabilitation.

Yedioth Ahronoth said the Finance Ministry's assessments indicate that "in the event of war, recovery will be slow and the economy will not return to its pre-war trend."

"The Ministry of Finance also believe that by 2024 the economy will fall into a major recession. amid a sharp rise in defense and security spending, declining revenues, compensation and rehabilitation."

The same newspaper monitored the same figures as the Israeli economic newspaper Calcallist.

Assistance

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said earlier that the Israeli government was preparing an economic aid package for those affected by the war, which would be "larger and wider" than during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that the state was committed to helping all those affected.

"My directives are clear. Open the taps and direct money to those who need it... Even if the war imposes economic losses on us, as it is doing now, we will pay them without hesitation."

Following the outbreak of the war, Standard & Poor's downgraded its rating of Israel to "negative," while Moody's and Fitch put Israel's ratings under review for possible downgrades.

The Tel Aviv-based Center for National Security Research said in a report that Israel's war on Gaza would have a significant and long-lasting impact on the Israeli economy.

The report quoted the Finance Ministry and the Bank of Israel as saying that the cost of the current war far exceeds the budget for previous military operations.

The high cost of this war, according to the report, is due to the intensive mobilization of the Israeli army and the heavy damage caused by the "surprise attack" on the seventh of last October, and evacuations and reconstruction.

The report cited a weak shekel and stock market, high unemployment rates, and a loss of investor confidence in Israeli government bonds.

Although the government has approved an aid package for workers and employers, it is still too early to say whether this will be enough help for the 760,<> workers unable to work in their jobs or enable small businesses to survive, the report said.


Israel's Labor Ministry said last Thursday that about 46,<> Israeli workers had been laid off since the war on the Gaza Strip broke out on Oct. <>.

The ministry said in a statement that there are 760,18 Israeli workers, or about <> percent of the workforce, who are not currently employed.

The American bank "JPMorgan Chase" expected the Israeli economy to contract by 11% year-on-year in the last three months of this year, with the escalation of the aggression on the Gaza Strip.

On the seventh of last October, the Palestinian resistance – led by the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas – launched the "Al-Aqsa Flood" operation against the occupation, followed by Israel with a war on Gaza that entered its 30th day.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza counted 9500,70 martyrs since the beginning of the Israeli aggression, and confirmed that 10% of the victims of the aggression are women and children, noting that the occupation committed during the past hours 231 major massacres that killed <> martyrs.