The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Wednesday that its projections assumed that the Gaza war would continue with "high intensity" through the first quarter of 2024, and that hostilities would then slowly decline.
The IMF said "real GDP growth in (the) West Bank and Gaza is estimated to have dropped to about -6%" for 2023, a 9-percentage-point downgrade from its October regional outlook.
"We project that the economy will keep on contracting in 2024 if there is no fast and quick cessation of hostilities and reconstruction," said Jihad Azour, the IMF's director for the Middle East and North Africa.
The IMF's updated regional outlook, issued on Wednesday, said that under an assumption that the conflict "gradually eases, positive growth is projected to resume from a very low base, and inflation is expected to gradually ease.