United Nations experts have warned of catastrophic economic damage as a result of Israel’s relentless attacks on Gaza and its “wider financial stranglehold” across occupied Palestinian territory.

“Economic life in Gaza has been decimated by sheer physical destruction, blockade and siege, and repeated forced displacement,” the experts, including a special rapporteur and three UN-backed independent experts, said in a statement.

They said that in the starved and besieged enclave , most commercial, agricultural and industrial assets have been damaged or destroyed, while unemployment has surged to over 80 percent, gross domestic product (GDP) has dramatically shrunk, and trade has stalled.

“Poverty is endemic. Famine has been declared,” wrote the experts, in reference to the UN-backed In

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