A new United Nations (UN) Trade and Development report released Thursday estimates that the Gaza Strip needs 71.5 billion U.S. dollars for recovery and reconstruction efforts.
The report noted that Israel's long-term occupation of Palestinian territories has severely constrained Gaza's economy, with the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since October 2023 sharply driving up economic damage.
Following a sharp contraction in 2024, Palestine's gross domestic product (GDP) experienced an increase of 4.3 percent in 2025, but remained 20 percent below its 2022 level. In the Gaza Strip, annual per capita GDP in 2025 dropped to just 212 U.S. dollars -- representing a mere 17 percent of its 2022 level -- while unemployment reached 78 percent.
Meanwhile, the human toll remains heavy. Gaza-based health authorities reported that 1,394 people have been killed since the ceasefire took effect in October last year, bringing the total death toll since October 7, 2023, to 73,914.
Gaza requires 71.5 billion US dollars for reconstruction: UN report
A Chinese defense spokesman on Thursday accused the Philippines of making provocations in the name of security cooperation in the South China sea.
At a press conference in Beijing, Jiang Bin, a spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense, responded to a media query about the Philippines using its co-chairmanship of the ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting-Plus Experts' Working Group (EWG) on Maritime Security to rally certain countries for a joint military exercise near China's Huangyan Dao.
The Philippines is a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
"Taking advantage of its role as co-chair of the EWG on Maritime Security, the Philippine side has put aside the principle of consensus through consultation and co-opted relevant countries into conducting a joint military exercise in areas near China's Huangyan Dao. The exercise is in fact a provocation and propaganda in the name of security cooperation. It will only disrupt regional peace and stability and runs counter to the regional consensus of jointly preserving peace and promoting development," said Jiang.
Philippines makes provocations in name of security cooperation: Chinese military spokesman
