The population of Gaza has decreased by 6% since the start of the war
According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), since the war with Israel began about 15 months ago, the population of Gaza has decreased by 6 percent, 100,000 Palestinians have left the enclave, and more than 55,000 Palestinians have died.
Some 45,500 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, have been killed since the war began, but another 11,000 are missing, the bureau said, citing figures from the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Thus, during the war, the population of Gaza decreased by approximately 160 thousand people to 2.1 million people. More than a million, or 47 percent, of those staying in the enclave are under the age of 18, PCBS said.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said the PCBS data was “fabricated, exaggerated and manipulated to smear Israel.”
The PCBS added that Israel has engaged in “brutal aggression targeting all life there; people, buildings and vital infrastructure… whole families have been deregistered. There is catastrophic human and material loss” against Gaza.
Accusations of genocide
Israel has faced accusations of genocide due to the scale of death and destruction in Gaza.
Last January, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the UN’s highest legal body, issued a decision to prevent Israel from committing acts of genocide against the Palestinians, while Pope Francis suggested that the world community investigate whether Israel’s campaign in Gaza is genocide. Earlier this month, Amnesty International published a report on Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Israel has repeatedly denied genocide charges, saying it abides by international law and has the right to defend itself after a Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed 1,200 Israelis and fueled the current war.
In its new report, Amnesty International has accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza war. Israel has strongly denied this allegation and said it respects international law.
Israel’s repeated targeting of hospitals in Gaza, which it claims are being used by Hamas fighters as command centers, has also drawn fierce criticism and concerns about Israel’s violation of international law. The UN Human Rights Office said in a report released on Tuesday that the attacks on hospitals had brought the health system in Gaza “to the point of near total collapse”.
About 90 percent of Gaza’s population has been internally displaced during the conflict, many of them multiple times due to changing evacuation orders.
About 22 percent of Gaza’s population currently faces catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity, according to the criteria of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a global monitor, PCBS said.
About 3,500 children are at risk of dying due to malnutrition and malnutrition, 22 percent, the bureau said.
English