The United Nations says Israel’s war on Gaza has created a “human-made abyss” that will cost more than $70 billion in reconstruction over several decades. According to the U.N. report, from 2023 to 2024, Gaza’s economy contracted by 87%, leaving a gross domestic product per capita at $161, among the lowest in the world. This comes as Israel repeatedly violates the U.S.-brokered ceasefire. At least 342 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the truce on October 10. Meanwhile, a new study from the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Germany says that the death toll in Gaza likely exceeds 100,000 people — that’s higher than the Palestinian Health Ministry’s count of 69,733 people killed by Israel. According to the study, “Life expectancy in Gaza fell by 44 percent in 2023 and by 47 percent in 2024 compared with what it would have been without the war — equivalent to losses of 34.4 and 36.4 years, respectively.”

Meanwhile, Israel says that it has received another set of human remains from Hamas in Gaza. Israel confirmed that they belonged to hostage Dror Or. This comes as aid agencies are warning that the rainy winter months in Gaza are worsening the humanitarian situation, as officials are scrambling to mitigate the flooding. Nearly all of Gaza’s 2 million residents are displaced and forced into tents or shelters with no proper sewage facilities. Palestinians are forced to dig cesspits for toilets near their tents that are now overflowing with heavy rainfall.

Nourah Karirah: “Inside the tent, children are tripping and falling. There are illnesses everywhere. Look. We’re getting sick. Look at the pot. I’m collecting the water so my children won’t get sick. Do you see? I am taking the water out of my tent so my children won’t get sick. All of this causes disease and spreads bacteria. Look at the hole in the ground. See how they fall and sink into the water?”