The official death toll, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, is just under 60,000, but Yaakov Garb’s findings indicate the figure may be much higher.
At least 377,000 Palestinians in Gaza have “disappeared” due to Israel’s ongoing genocidal war on the enclave since October 2023, a new report published via Harvard Dataverse revealed.
Using data-driven analysis, including spatial mapping and location data, the report by Israeli professor Yaakov Garb this month scrutinizes how Israel’s aid blockade on the enclave and attacks on Palestinians led to a considerable decline in the total population.
A report by Harvard reveals over 377,000 Palestinians “disappeared” since 2023
A newly released report on the Harvard Dataverse indicates that since October 2023, at least 377,000 people in Gaza have "disappeared" due to the ongoing genocide by Israeli forces—an estimated half… pic.twitter.com/JUJbQWfPfE
— MintPress News (@MintPressNews) June 24, 2025
The official death toll, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, is just under 60,000, but, as per Garb’s findings, the figure may be much higher.
Prior to Israel’s military operation, Gaza’s population was estimated at 2.227 million, while current official estimates are 1.85 million people.
Half are Children
Citing maps based on Israeli army estimates, the report indicates that the remaining population in Gaza City is around 1 million, with 500,000 in Mawasi and 350,000 in central Gaza. The figures leave 377,000 people unaccounted for, with half of the total believed to be children.
These “missing individuals are not merely statistical discrepancies,” the Middle East Monitor (MEMO) reported, citing the report.
A recent study by researcher Yaakov Garb, published on the Harvard Dataverse, examines Israeli military estimates of Gaza’s population. The data reveals a sharp decline from 2.2 million to just 1.85 million within Gaza’s three main "humanitarian zones"—Gaza City, Al-Mawasi, and… pic.twitter.com/z7jkGPP7OS
— Middle East Monitor (@MiddleEastMnt) June 24, 2025
“They include civilians in northern Gaza, subjected to the most intense bombardment; residents of Rafah’s decimated eastern districts; families trapped in complete communication blackouts; those killed in attacks; and others buried beneath the rubble,” MEMO added.
Aid Distribution Plan
Garb’s report criticized the US-backed Israeli aid distribution mechanism for not adhering to humanitarian principles.
“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,” Garb stated.
He said they “do not adhere to humanitarian principles, and much of their design and operation is guided by other objectives, which undermine their declared purpose.”
As with the “advance warning” evacuation notices described in earlier reports, the “ostensibly humanitarian measures seem to be less about adhering to international humanitarian law and practice, and more about making a show of doing so,” Garb noted.
“If an attacker cannot adequately and neutrally feed a starving population in the wake of a disaster it is ongoingly creating, it is obligated to allow other humanitarian agencies to do so,” he stated.
Children Bear Brunt of Gaza Genocide – 23% of Amputations, 70% of Burns
Lancet Study
In January this year, the Lancet medical journal also released a study revealing that the number of reported deaths in the first nine months of Israel’s assault on Gaza was “likely an underestimate.”
Results of a study released last July by The Lancet indicated that the true death toll in Gaza could reach more than 186,000 people.
“Even if the conflict ends immediately, there will continue to be many indirect deaths in the coming months and years from causes such as reproductive, communicable, and non-communicable diseases,” the report noted.
It cited factors such as “severe shortages of food, water, and shelter” as well as the population’s “inability to flee to safe places; and the loss of funding to UNRWA,” which at the time was one of the very few humanitarian organizations still active in the enclave.
“In recent conflicts, such indirect deaths range from three to 15 times the number of direct deaths. Applying a conservative estimate of four indirect deaths per one direct death to the 37 396 deaths reported, it is not implausible to estimate that up to 186 000 or even more deaths could be attributable to the current conflict in Gaza,” the report said.
