© Suhaib Salem / Reuters

The report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) says that the Israeli war in the Gaza Strip last year drove the country deep into recession and this time recovery may fail to come.

The report states that Gaza’s GDP dropped 15 percent in 2014, 72 percent of households suffered from food insecurity and unemployment stood at a record high of 44 percent.

“The prospects for 2015 are bleak, due to volatile political conditions, reduced aid flows, the slow pace of reconstruction in Gaza and lingering effects of Israel’s withholding of Palestinian clearance revenue during the first four months of 2015,” the report says.

The report stressed the impact of IDF operations in the Gaza Strip, noting three major conflicts in six years, in addition to eight years of economic blockade. The UN says that 500,000 people have been displaced in Gaza as a result of last year's IDF operation alone. More than 20,000 Palestinian homes were destroyed, and 148 schools and 15 hospitals and 45 primary health-care centers were severely damaged.

The UN points to slow reconstruction efforts hindering the recovery of the local economy, while socioeconomic conditions are at their lowest point since 1967.