The forecast was formulated under the premise that the war’s direct impact on the Israeli economy would persist into 2024 with decreasing intensity….reports Asian Lite News
Israel’s war with the Hamas militant group is estimated to cost the Jewish nation about 197 billion shekels ($53 billion), according to a forecast issued by the country’s central bank.
According to the Bank of Israel, the sum comprises roughly 107 billion shekels of defense expenditures, 22 billion shekels of damage compensation, and 25 billion shekels of other civilian expenditures, reports Xinhua news agency.
Additionally, interest on government debt is expected to reach 8 billion shekels, while loss of tax revenue due to the conflict is estimated at 35 billion shekels.
The forecast was formulated under the premise that the war’s direct impact on the Israeli economy would persist into 2024 with decreasing intensity.
According to the forecast, Israel’s GDP is expected to grow by 2 per cent in 2023 and 2024, lower than the growth assessments of 2.3 per cent for 2023 and 2.8 per cent for 2024 in last month’s forecast.
Due to the expected high expenses and the sharp decrease in tax collection, the bank projected that the government’s debt would rise from 60.5 per cent of GDP in 2022 to 63 per cent in 2023 and further to 66 per cent by the end of 2024.
Hostage release
The Israeli government has approved the inclusion of 50 women prisoners in the list of prisoners eligible for release as part of an agreement to extend a temporary truce with Hamas in Gaza, reported The Times of Israel.
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made this announcement on X, stating, “The Government has approved the inclusion of 50 female prisoners in the list of prisoners eligible to be released in the event that a release of additional Israeli hostages is carried out.”
The government approved the list of these 50 female prisoners to secure the release of nearly 20 more Israelis held hostage by the Hamas terror group since October 7, reported The Times of Israel.
The truce will be extended by two days, and Qatar and the US confirmed this and will see the release of about 10 more Israeli hostages per day.
As per the initial four-day truce agreement, which will expire today (Tuesday), Israel agreed to halt its military operations in Gaza for four days and emphasized that it would release three Palestinian security prisoners for each of the 50 hostages freed from Gaza, The Times of Israel reported.
Since Friday, over 50 hostages have now been released, whereas, 117 Palestinians have been freed.
US President Joe Biden on Monday welcomed the additional two-day truce between Israel and Hamas after Qatar’s successful mediation.
Biden issued a statement, welcoming the extended truce, as reported by The Times of Israel.
“I have remained deeply engaged over the last few days to ensure that this deal–brokered and sustained through extensive US mediation and diplomacy–can continue to deliver results,” the US President said.