NEW YORK: Israel’s attacks on Gaza and its broader financial control across the Occupied Territories have triggered a severe economic emergency, UN independent experts warned on Monday, calling for an immediate end to measures that are causing “catastrophic harm” to human rights.
“Economic life in Gaza has been decimated by sheer physical destruction, blockade and siege, and repeated forced displacement,” they said in a statement, citing widespread damage to commercial, agricultural and industrial infrastructure in the Palestinian enclave, with unemployment surging above 80 percent, a sharp contraction in gross domestic product, halted trade and endemic poverty. Famine has already been declared.
They said a liquidity crisis across Gaza has been exacerbated by the destruction of banks and ATMs, and Israel’s blocking of new currency inflows.
The scarcity of cash has triggered hyperinflation, with the price of cooking oil increasing by 1,200 percent and flour by 5,000 percent by mid-2025.
Humanitarian workers are losing nearly 40 percent of their salaries just to access cash, while digital payments are frequently disrupted by electricity and telecommunications outages.
“The disproportionate civilian harm caused by Israel’s blockade and siege violates international humanitarian law and the economic and social rights of Palestinians,” the experts said.
They also highlighted how Israeli legislation restricting the UN Relief and Works Agency, and the US suspension of its funding, have jeopardized thousands of jobs and undermined humanitarian efforts amid Gaza’s economic collapse.
The financial pressure, they said, extends beyond Gaza. In the occupied West Bank, Israel has allegedly withheld and diverted tax revenues owed to the Palestinian Authority in violation of the Oslo Accords, disrupting salary payments and weakening liquidity.
“Israel has threatened not to renew the annual waiver of terrorist financing laws that allows Israeli banks to process transactions with Palestinian banks in November 2025,” the experts warned. “This would cut Palestinians off from the global financial system.”
They also noted the suspension of work permits for 100,000 Palestinian workers, eliminating a vital source of cash inflow that had accounted for nearly a quarter of gross national income.
“These measures exacerbate heavy economic losses from the illegal taking of land and the illegal exploitation of natural resources by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank,” the experts said.
They added that since 2023, purported counterterrorism measures have led to “unjustified de-risking” by international banks, resulting in account closures and blocked humanitarian transfers.
“Cumulatively, these measures seriously violate Israel’s obligations to guarantee the human rights to an adequate standard of living, work, food, water, sanitation, health, life, and freedom from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment,” the experts said.
They added that Israel, as an occupying power, is obligated under international law to sustain Palestinian economic life, not expropriate property or exploit natural resources.
The experts further emphasized that Israel’s economic restrictions impede the Palestinian people’s collective rights to economic self-determination, sovereignty over natural resources, and development.
The economic rights of Palestinians have been affirmed by multiple international bodies, including the International Court of Justice and the UN General Assembly, most recently at the High-Level International Conference on Palestine in July, which was co-chaired by ֱ and France.
The experts called on Israel to immediately lift the blockade and siege of civilians in Gaza, end violations of international humanitarian law, remove currency restrictions, restore cash flows, establish secure cash distribution systems and facilitate digital payments.
They added that Israel must also commit to the permanent renewal of the banking waiver in the West Bank and stop holding Palestinian tax revenues to ransom.
They also referred to the ICJ’s 2024 advisory opinion demanding an end to Israel’s “illegal occupation,” and noted that the UNGA has set a deadline of September, 17, 2025, for Israel to comply.
“The international community must act urgently to compel Israel to stop violating fundamental rules of international law, respect the economic rights of the Palestinian people, alleviate the humanitarian crisis and prevent financial collapse,” the experts said.
They include Ben Saul, special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism; Attiya Waris, independent expert on the effects of foreign debt and other related international financial obligations of states on the full enjoyment of all human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights; George Katrougalos, independent expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order; and Carlos Arturo Duarte Torres of the working group on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas.
They are part of the UN Human Rights Council’s Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the organization’s human rights system. They work on a voluntary basis and are not paid for their work.
