Gaza 'survival' at stake, says UN

GENEVA, Nov 25 (AFP): Israel's war in Gaza has ravaged the Palestinian territory's economy and is threatening its very survival, the United Nations warned Tuesday, calling for "immediate and substantial" international intervention.
Rebuilding the Gaza Strip will cost more than $70 billion and could take several decades, the UN Trade and Development agency (UNCTAD) said in a new report, warning that war and restrictions had triggered an "unprecedented collapse across the Palestinian economy".
"The military operations have significantly undermined every pillar of survival," from food to shelter to healthcare, "and plunged Gaza into a human-made abyss", it said.
"The sustained, systematic destruction casts significant doubt on the ability of Gaza to reconstitute itself as a liveable space and society."
Palestinian Islamist group Hamas's attack on southern Israel in October 2023 resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people and sparked a devastating two-year war in Gaza.
Meanwhile, the controversial, US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) says it is winding down its aid operations in the Palestinian territory, after almost six months.
The organisation had already suspended its three food distribution sites in Gaza after the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel took effect six weeks ago.
The GHF aimed to bypass the UN as the main supplier of aid to Gaza's population. UN and other aid agencies refused to co-operate with its system, saying it was unethical and unsafe.
Hundreds of Palestinians were killed while seeking food amid chaotic scenes near GHF's sites, mostly by Israeli fire, according to the UN. Israel said its troops fired warning shots.
The GHF said on Monday that it was winding down operations now because of the "successful completion of its emergency mission", with a total of three million packages containing the equivalent of more than 187 million meals delivered to Palestinians.
The GHF's executive director, Jon Acree, also said the US-led Civil-Military Coordination Centre (CMCC) - which has been set up to help implement US President Donald Trump's Gaza peace plan - would be "adopting and expanding the model GHF piloted".
Israel's military said Tuesday its forces shot dead a Palestinian man they said had killed an Israeli, with the Palestinian health ministry confirming the death near the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.
In a joint statement, the military and the Shin Bet internal security service said forces near Jenin "eliminated the terrorist... who carried out the terror attack against Gideon Perry".
The military said it had arrested five accomplices during the overnight military operation, and killed the Palestinian in an exchange of fire after forces encircled the building.