By Quds News Network
Gaza (Quds News Network)- A new report from the Harvard Dataverse reveals that about 377,000 people from Gaza’s pre-genocide population of 2.227 million have gone missing since October 2023, with an estimated half of them believed to be children.
The report, authored by Israeli professor Yaakov Garb, uses data-driven analysis and spatial mapping to examine how Israeli attacks on civilians and Israel’s aid blockade have led to a dramatic drop in the enclave’s population.
According to Garb’s findings, the actual number of people killed may be far higher than the official death toll, which currently stands at over 56,000.
Maps in the report, based on Israeli military estimates, indicate that the remaining population in Gaza City is around one million, with 500,000 in al-Mawasi “safe zone” and 350,000 in central Gaza, totalling approximately 1.85 million.
Before the ongoing assault, Gaza’s population was estimated at 2.227 million. The discrepancy points to at least 377,000 people now unaccounted for.
While some may be displaced or missing, the scale of the gap has led analysts to conclude that a significant number are likely dead, suggesting the real death toll could be many times higher.
The report also critically assesses the role of the controversial US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), saying its structure appears to have been shaped more by Israeli military strategy than by humanitarian needs.
Using location data and spatial analysis, Garb finds that most of Gaza’s population was unable to reach GHF aid compounds.
According to the report, poor infrastructure, lack of motorised transport, and a near-total absence of safe passage routes made access even more difficult.
Garb writes that the design and operation of the aid compounds “seems likely to be an engine for continuous friction and mishap”, noting that the allocation model, providing rations for exactly 5.5 people for 3.5 days, effectively forced civilians to make repeated, dangerous crossings into militarised zones.
“The fact that four of the five compounds lie south of the Morag corridor – repeatedly indicated by Israeli officials as the intended destination for concentration of Palestinians to be displaced from the remainder of Gaza in an impending intensification of the military attacks – is not reassuring,” the report warns.
The report highlights that little to no measures were taken to protect the dignity or safety of civilians seeking aid. The sites lacked basic facilities such as shade, water, toilets, first aid stations, or dedicated access for vulnerable groups. There was typically only one entry and exit point, no crowd management, and scenes of chaos were common.
The report argues that the very architecture of these aid compounds was designed in a way that risked repeated outbreaks of disorder, conditions then used to justify violence against civilians.
“Overall, these aid compounds seem to reflect a logic of control, not assistance, and it would be a misnomer to call them ‘humanitarian aid distribution hubs’. They do not adhere to humanitarian principles, and much of their design and operation is guided by other objectives, which undermine their declared purpose,” the report concludes.
The Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed on Tuesday that at least 450 people have been killed and around 3,500 wounded near or on the way to GHF aid sites since the foundation started its operations in Gaza on May 17 while trying to access humanitarian aid.
25 June 2025
Source: countercurrents.org