[ad_1]
go through Palestine Chronicle Reporter 
“The conflict in Gaza could continue until 2025 and there is a risk of spreading to other fronts.”
Credit rating agency Fitch on Monday downgraded Israel’s credit rating to ‘A’ from ‘A+’, citing the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.
“The downgrade to ‘A’ reflects the impact of the ongoing Gaza war, heightened geopolitical risks and military operations on multiple fronts,” the rating agency said.
Fitch also maintained its ratings outlook as negative because “the conflict in Gaza is likely to continue until 2025, with the risk of spillover to other fronts,” it said.
Ismail Haniyeh – The Palestinian refugee who became Hamas’ political leader
“Beyond the loss of life, it would likely result in significant additional military spending, damage to infrastructure, and more sustained harm to economic activity and investment, leading to a further deterioration in Israel’s credit metrics,” the agency added.
Military spending
Fitch said tensions between Israel, Iran and its allies “remain high,” noting that a rocket attack on July 27 killed 12 civilians and that Israel Assassination Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah Official This, according to Fouad Shukr, leads to a negative outlook.
“Warfare is likely to continue until the end of 2024, and intense military operations could continue until later,” the report said. “This would imply continued heavy spending on urgent military needs and disruption to production in border regions as well as tourism and construction.”
The agency also predicts that “Israel’s central government budget deficit will rise from 4.1% of GDP in 2023 to 7.8% in 2024.”
“We forecast a budget deficit of 4.6% of GDP in 2025 due to lower military spending and slower revenue growth, but could be larger if the war continues in 2025,” Fitch said.
Israel assassinates senior Hezbollah official Fuad Shukr – who is he?
The agency said it expected Israel to “permanently increase its military expenditure Compared to pre-war levels, GDP is down nearly 1.5 percent.”
Fitch continued: “Israel is likely to maintain a stronger border presence than in the past, with plans to expand mandatory conscription and increase domestic military production, which would also increase spending.”
Nearly 40,000 people died
Israel has faced international condemnation as it continues its brutal offensive against Gaza in defiance of a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire.
Israel, which is currently on trial in the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, has been waging a devastating war on the Gaza Strip since October 7.
Israel war nearly destroyed Gaza’s entire economy – World Bank
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, 39,897 Palestinians were killed and 92,152 injured. In addition, at least 11,000 people are still missing in the Gaza Strip, presumed dead under the rubble.
Israel said that 1,200 soldiers and civilians died in Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7. Israeli media reported that many Israelis were killed by “friendly fire” that day.
Mass exodus
Palestinian and international organizations said most of the dead and injured were women and children.
The Israeli war led to severe famine, mainly in northern Gaza, and killed many Palestinians, most of them children.
205 aid workers killed, 90% of Palestinians displaced – UNRWA
Israel’s aggression also led to Displacement Nearly 2 million people from across the Gaza Strip were forcibly displaced, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely populated southern city of Rafah near the Egyptian border – the largest Palestinian exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
In the later stages of the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began to migrate from southern Gaza to central Gaza in search of safety.
(PC, Anadolu Agency)
[ad_2]
Source link
