The Israeli Ministry of Finance reported on Monday that the military campaign in the Gaza Strip has significantly impacted the nation's financial stability, leading to a debt increase of 200% over the past year. According to the ministry's report, Israel's debt surged to 160 billion shekels (approximately $43bn) in 2023, with 81 billion shekels accumulating since the conflict intensified last October. In comparison, Israel's borrowing amounted to 63 billion shekels throughout 2022. The total debt rose to 62.1% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2023, a notable increase from 60.5% the previous year, primarily attributed to heightened war-related expenditures. Projections suggest that the debt-to-GDP ratio could escalate to 67% by 2024. Yali Rotenberg, the Accountant General, acknowledged that 2023 presented numerous fiscal challenges, prompting a significant rise in the need for financing and necessitating both tactical and strategic modifications to the government's fiscal strategy. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip said that the Israeli occupation army committed 7 massacres in the Strip during the past 24 hours, and explained that Gaza hospitals received 68 martyrs and 94 injured from the victims of those massacres. Thus, the number of victims of the Israeli aggression on Gaza has risen to 33,797 deaths and 76,465 wounded since the seventh of last October. The ministry called on the relevant institutions to establish field hospitals in Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip to provide health services to the population. Also on Monday, a statement issued by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that 41% of its coordinated aid missions between 6 and 12 April were prevented or blocked from reaching northern Gaza. The statement stressed that the Israeli authorities' commitment to facilitating the arrival of humanitarian aid does not end until the aid reaches civilians. In the meantime, Israeli Army Radio reported on Monday, citing an unnamed security source, that the date of the operation might be moved forward. This coincides with the occupation army's announcement of recruiting two brigades into the reserve and sending them to the Gaza Strip. The radio quoted the security source as confirming that the response delivered by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) to the mediators rejects the deal, "and the date of the Israeli military operation in Rafah is approaching with rapid steps," and that the strengthening of reserve forces in the Gaza Strip comes for several reasons, including an increase in their number on the eve of a possible invasion of Rafah.
