The population of the Gaza Strip has decreased by 10% amid the ongoing Israeli genocide, according to new data released July 11 by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. The report was released on the occasion of World Population Day on July 11, which “comes at a time when Palestine, specifically Gaza Strip, is suffering an unprecedented humanitarian and demographic catastrophe due to the ongoing Israeli aggression since October 2023,” the PCBS said. “While the global theme calls for human empowerment, ensuring health and reproductive rights, and equal opportunities, the reality in Gaza reflects the opposite of these values. Fundamental rights, including the rights to life, health, housing, education, and human dignity, are systematically violated.
“Since October 7th, 2023, the Israeli occupation forces have waged a systematic war of extermination against the Palestinian people in Gaza Strip, accompanied by horrific massacres and widespread destruction of buildings, facilities, and infrastructure,” the report continues. “This has also led to a near-total collapse of basic health and food services, depriving the population of their most basic rights to healthcare, including reproductive health services.... The declining birth rate and the high number of martyrs and missing persons have distorted the demographic structure and led to a decline in natural population growth, threatening long-term societal stability even after the aggression ends.”
The numbers that the PCBS reports tell a horrific story. “Since the Israeli occupation aggression on October 7th, 2023, more than 57,000 Palestinians were martyred, constituting 2.4% of the total population of Gaza Strip, of whom about 18,000 were children and about 12,000 were women, in addition to about 11,000 missing persons until the end of June 2025. Approximately 100,000 Palestinians have also left Gaza Strip since the beginning of the brutal and ongoing Israeli aggression. The number of martyrs who died of famine reached 66 martyrs, and there is a possibility of death for 14,000 infants due to malnutrition and lack of food. The number of injured reached about 130,000, 70% of whom were women and children. Meanwhile, the number of martyrs in the West Bank reached 990 martyrs, and 6,700 others were injured due to attacks by the Israeli occupation forces and settlers.
“Estimates revealed that 39,384 children in Gaza Strip lost one or both parents after 534 days of the Israeli aggression, including about 17,000 children who lost both parents, finding themselves facing a harsh life without support or care.”
The methodology of the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics is not reported, but many expert analyses have concluded that the official figures from the Gaza Health Ministry grossly under-report the actual death toll from the Israeli campaign for a variety of reasons, among which is that the destruction of governance in Gaza by Israel makes the documentation of health data and mortality rates increasingly difficult. That could lead one to conclude that the population collapse in Gaza is even worse than the official figures suggest.
