The population of Gaza has dropped by six percent since the war with Israel began about 15 months ago as about 100,000 Palestinians left the enclave and more than 55,000 are thought to have died, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS).
About 45,500 Palestinians, more than half of whom are women and children, have been killed since the war began but another 11,000 are missing, the office said, citing numbers from the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Thus, the population of Gaza dropped by about 160,000 during the war to 2.1 million. More than a million, or 47 percent, of those remaining in the area are under the age of 18, PCBS said.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said the PCBS information was “created, promoted, and used to defame Israel.”
PCBS added that Israel “attacked Gaza against all forms of life there; people, buildings and important infrastructure… every family was erased from the public book. There is a huge loss of people and material.”
Murder charges
Israel has faced accusations of genocide in Gaza due to the level of death and destruction.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the highest legal body of the UN, ruled last January that Israel must prevent the killing of Palestinians, while Pope Francis suggested that the international community should learn that Israel’s operation in Gaza he covers the killings. Earlier this month, Amnesty International released a report concluding that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
Israel has repeatedly denied allegations of genocide, saying it abides by international law and has the right to defend itself after a Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 killed 1,200 Israelis and sparked the current war.
Amnesty International has accused the state of Israel of killing Palestinians in the war in Gaza in a new report, allegations that Israel bitterly denies, saying it respects international law.
Israel’s attack on hospitals in Gaza, which has been blamed on Hamas fighters using the hospitals as command centers, has also sparked strong criticism and concerns that Israel is violating international law. The UN Human Rights Office said in a report on Tuesday that the attacks on hospitals have caused the health system in Gaza to “almost completely collapse.”
About 90 percent of Gazans have left their homes internally during the conflict, most of them multiple times due to changing evacuation orders.
PCBS said that about 22 percent of the people of Gaza are currently facing critical levels of food insecurity, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a global monitor.
Included in the 22 percent are about 3,500 children who are at risk of dying from malnutrition and lack of food, the office said.
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