Israeli Shekel Hits Record Low, 96% of Gazans Plunged Into Poverty

 Repercussions of Zionist War

AL-QUDS (KI) – The Israeli shekel has fell to a record low against the U.S. dollar in nearly 11.5 years, according to official exchange rates issued by the Zionist regime’s central bank.

The shekel continued to weaken amid the ongoing Zionist strikes on the Gaza Strip, despite the bank’s plan, announced on Oct. 9, to sell up to 30 billion dollars to stabilize the occupying regime’s currency.
The shekel’s new representative rate against the dollar was set at 4.079 shekels per dollar, compared to 4.084 recorded on July 27, 2012.
Since Jan. 25, 2023, when the exchange rate stood at 3.37 shekels per dollar, the currency experienced a 17.4-percent depreciation against the greenback.
Yossi Frank, CEO of Energy Finance, a leading Israeli financial risk management company, told Xinhua that despite the plan, the central bank has since acted in a very minor and bland manner, and market participants have responded accordingly.
He added that the continued weakening of the shekel is mainly due to a possible “significant involvement” of the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement in the conflict, which would worsen the security situation.
As another repercussion of the war, about 96 percent of Gazans have been plunged into poverty due to the ongoing Zionist aggression, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) briefed on Thursday.
This is compared to Gaza’s 45-percent poverty rate in 2017-2018, said ESCWA in a press release.
“Even if a ceasefire is agreed and humanitarian aid is allowed to enter Gaza, poverty and deprivation will affect a significant share of the population for years to come,” ESCWA Executive Secretary Rola Dashti was quoted by the release as saying.
The international community now has a compelling responsibility to ensure the flow of sufficient amounts of critical humanitarian aid to Gaza, she noted.
The UN official also called for the design and enactment of a recovery and sustainable development plan for Gaza beyond the immediate humanitarian needs, in line with a peace process that addresses the root causes of the recurring conflicts.