Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip will cost as much as 200 billion shekels ($51 billion), the Calcalist financial newspaper reported, citing preliminary Finance Ministry figures.
Further, the Calcalist financial newspaper said the estimate, equal to 10% of gross domestic product, was premised on the war lasting between eight to 12 months; on it being limited to Gaza, without full participation by Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Iran or Yemen; and on some 350,000 Israelis drafted as military reservists returning to work soon.
Noteworthy, Hamas gunmen from Gaza launched the deadliest attack on Israel’s civilians in the country’s history on Oct. 7 and Israel has since bombarded Gaza with the goal of eliminating the group.
As per Calcalist half of the cost would be in defence expenses that amount to some 1 billion shekels a day.
Another 40-60 billion shekels would come from a loss of revenue, 17-20 billion for compensation for businesses and 10-20 billion shekels for rehabilitation.
