RAFAH, (PIC)
The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics announced on Thursday that the number of residents in the Rafah governorate until April 22nd is estimated at around 1.1 million individuals, living in an area of 63.1 square kilometers.
The Bureau stated in a statement that “the population density in Rafah reached 4,360 individuals per square kilometer before the aggression, and it has now reached approximately 17,500 individuals per square kilometer. This represents a humanitarian and environmental catastrophe, and puts immense pressure on scarce services and the ability to obtain the basic necessities of life under the aggression.”
The statement added that “the number of citizens in Gaza City and North Gaza governorates is estimated at around 511,000, and in Khan Yunis to the south and center of the Strip, it is estimated at 685,000, taking into account the instability caused by displacement.”
The Bureau further explained that “the Gaza Strip has been suffering from a severe aggression and systematic genocide since October 7th, resulting in the forced displacement of citizens from the north and center of the Strip to the south, especially to the Rafah governorate, which is now overcrowded with internally displaced people.”
The Palestinian Statistics Bureau noted that “the Rafah governorate is currently facing fierce attacks from the occupying army and continuous threats of invasion. The period of aggression has witnessed structural changes in the pattern and distribution of citizens in the governorates of the Strip, due to targeting all areas, despite the limited return of some of them to their original places of residence in the north and center of the Strip.”
The Bureau affirmed that it “worked on preparing estimates for the number of residents in the Rafah governorate based on foundations that rely on actual data, monitoring the situation in the Gaza Strip before and during the aggression, using supportive data from several sources within the national statistical system in addition to the population estimates issued by the Bureau.”
Since October 7th, the Israeli occupation army, with American and European support, has continued its aggression on the Gaza Strip, with its aircraft targeting the vicinity of hospitals, buildings, towers, and Palestinian civilians’ houses, destroying them over their heads, and preventing the entry of water, food, medicine, and fuel.
The ongoing Israeli aggression on Gaza has resulted in the death of 34,305 martyrs and the injury of 77,293 people, in addition to the displacement of approximately 1.7 million people from the population of the Strip, according to data from UN organizations.
