Gaza’s population has declined by 6% since the beginning of the war

Gaza’s population has declined by six percent since the war with Israel began nearly 15 months ago, with about 100,000 Palestinians leaving the Strip while more than 55,000 are presumed dead, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.

The office said, citing figures from the Palestinian Ministry of Health, that about 45,500 Palestinians, more than half of whom are women and children, have been killed since the start of the war, but another 11,000 are missing.

As such, Gaza’s population declined by about 160,000 people during the war to 2.1 million. The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics said that more than a million, or 47%, of those who remained in the Gaza Strip were under 18 years old.

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics data was “fabricated, inflated and manipulated in order to distort Israel’s reputation.”

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics added that Israel “launched a brutal aggression against Gaza, targeting all types of life there: humans, buildings, and vital infrastructure… Entire families have been removed from the civil registry. There are catastrophic human and material losses.”

Accusations of genocide

Israel has faced accusations of genocide in Gaza due to the scale of death and destruction.

The International Court of Justice, the UN’s highest legal body, ruled last January that Israel must prevent acts of genocide against Palestinians, while Pope Francis suggested that the international community should examine whether Israel’s campaign in Gaza constitutes genocide. Collective. Earlier this month, Amnesty International released a report concluding that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

Israel has repeatedly rejected accusations of genocide, saying it adheres to international law and has the right to defend itself after the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 Israelis and precipitated the current war.

Watch | Amnesty International accuses Israel of committing genocide in Gaza

Amnesty International says Israel committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza

Amnesty International has accused the State of Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza war in a new report, an allegation that Israel has strongly denied, saying it respects international law.

Israel’s repeated targeting of hospitals in Gaza, which it justified by claiming that Hamas fighters use hospitals as command centers, has sparked intense criticism and fears that Israel is violating international law. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a report on Tuesday that the attacks on hospitals had pushed the health care system in Gaza “to the point of almost complete collapse.”

About 90% of Gaza’s population has been internally displaced over the course of the conflict, many displaced multiple times due to changing evacuation orders.

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics said that about 22% of Gaza’s population currently faces catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity, according to the standards of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a global monitor.

The office said that among this percentage, 22%, about 3,500 children are at risk of death due to malnutrition and lack of food.