GENOCIDE IN GAZA?
Thousands of Palestinian sympathisers are repeatedly claiming that Israel is committing Genocide in Gaza. An immediate ceasefire is the only way to stop this criminal act from succeeding, they say. The current war between Israel and Hams is the 6th direct conflict between the two forces since 2007, all started by Hamas, and not counting the numerous events of sending missiles against Israeli towns and cities between those larger military conflicts. In all these conflicts the modus operandi of the Islamist terror group seems to be the same: Hamas starts the war by attacking Israeli towns with missiles, once Israel strikes back calls are being made for an immediate cease fire accompanied by pictures of hurt children and women. The propaganda machine of Hamas is well oiled and produces sufficient material, often fake or at least materially incorrect, creating stories of Israeli brutality, inhuman behaviour, committing genocide.
This gives rise to the question how the population in Gaza and the Westbank have developed over the last decades. The following information can be obtained from UN Yearbooks, UN World Population statistics and the UN Demographic Yearbooks.
In 1970, 3 years after the Israeli occupation of the Westbank and Gaza the population in these areas was 1.03 million people. By 1997 this had grown to 2.78 million (a growth of 114% in 27 years or at an average of 4.2% p.a.). By 2017 this population had grown to 3.95 million (+ 42% in 20 years) and grew further to 5.51 million by 2023 (+39.5% in 6 years). According to the UN the Westbank showed the 56th highest population growth amongst 224 countries in the world, Gaza, which grew even fast than the Westbank, was the 35th fastest growing population on earth.
Between 1980 and 2020 the birth rate per 1,000 people in the Westbank and Gaza grew from 69 to 145, in other words it doubled over this period of time. The child birth death rate, a measurement of health service and health infrastructure, dropped at the same time from 17.4% of the babies to 12.4% in 2020, a reduction of 29%. Also interesting is the life expectancy of Palestinians in the occupied areas. Whilst the average person lived in 1960–1965, before the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, to an average age of 50.8 years, it increased by 1980–1985 to 64.4 years and reached during the period 2010–2015 72.9 years. In other words, since Israel occupied these territories the life expectancy of the average Palestinians grew by 22.1 years or increased by 43% in 50 years.
Constant claims of Israel’s brutal control of people in the occupied territories, negligence, cutting people off and keeping them in prison like conditions, systematic killing of Palestinians and Genocide are obviously nonsense in the light of these UN statistics. A significant role in these positive development played the Israeli health system, doctors, and organisations dedicated to help Palestinians through better and more modern treatments. Significant numbers of Palestinians, both from the Westbank and Gaza, are being treated in Israeli hospitals every day with the most modern treatments.
Every statement, every number which is handed out by the Hamas authorities has to be treated with great suspicion. We do not know the number of fighters, civilians — children, women — being killed, nor do we know how many of these people were killed by the 15–20% of misfired missiles landing in Gaza, often on houses. Whatever it is, and any number of civilians killed is very regrettable, it is not Genocide, nor is it an attempt to Genocide. Such stories are part of a well-functioning propaganda strategy which is only to readily supported by left leaning journalists and the echo chambers of social media.
