Palestinians carry bags containing food and humanitarian aid packages delivered by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in southern Gaza Strip on Sunday (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP)
A recent Harvard Dataverse report has raised alarm over the disappearance of around 377,000 people from Gaza’s pre-war population of 2.2 million, with nearly half believed to be children.
The report suggests the real death toll may be significantly higher than the officially reported 56,000, and it criticises the so-called humanitarian aid compounds in Gaza as mechanisms of military control.
Authored by Israeli professor Yaakov Garb, the report titled “The Israeli/American/GHF ‘aid distribution’ compounds in Gaza: Dataset and initial analysis of location, context, and internal structure,” uses data-driven analysis and spatial mapping to track the sharp decline in Gaza’s population and assess the structure and function of aid sites established under the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), backed by Israel and the United States.
Based on Israeli military estimates and satellite imagery, the report estimates that approximately 1 million people remain in Gaza City, 500,000 in the al-Mawasi “safe zone,” and 350,000 in central Gaza—adding up to 1.85 million. With Gaza’s pre-assault population at around 2.227 million, this leaves 377,000 people unaccounted for.
While some may be displaced, the report notes that the scale of the discrepancy “has led analysts to believe that a substantial portion may be dead,” pointing to sustained Israeli attacks on civilians and a prolonged blockade on humanitarian aid as key contributors to this demographic collapse.
The report harshly critiques the design and operation of GHF aid compounds, stating they are “less about aid and more about control.”
Garb writes that the compounds’ “location, design, and access patterns… reveal a logic that prioritises military strategy over humanitarian need.” He notes that the sites are situated in “remote and highly militarised settings,” often adjacent to Israeli military installations, and are inaccessible to much of the population, particularly those in Gaza City who would need to traverse “barren rubble fields” and dangerous military zones.
“These facilities would be in Israeli-controlled areas, constructed by Israel, and operated by private American security companies… manned by security personnel with combat experience,” the report noted.
According to Garb, “Gaza City inhabitants cannot access aid in the existing compounds… in short, the majority of Gaza’s population cannot currently access these centres.”
Even those who can reach the sites face multiple risks. They must walk several kilometres, often through exposed areas, to carry back 15kg food boxes, all while “risking military fire in an unshaded, unsheltered zone.”
The architecture of these compounds is uniform and heavily fortified. “They create what military tacticians call a ‘chokepoint’ or… a ‘fatal funnel,’ a predictable movement path from a single entry to a single exit with minimal lateral movement and no cover,” Garb explains.
The facilities lack basic amenities such as toilets, shade, water, first aid stations, or provisions for vulnerable groups. “The architecture is the inverse of well-accepted and tested principles of food distribution in conflict or disaster areas,” he adds.
Garb warns that the trauma faced by Gaza’s civilians is amplified by being forced into such tightly controlled, high-stress settings guarded by combat veterans, individuals often associated with the violence from which they fled.
“It would be a misnomer to call them ‘humanitarian aid distribution hubs.’ These facilities reflect a logic of control, not assistance,” the report alleges.
Each food box distributed is calculated to feed 5.5 people for 3.5 days, compelling repeated visits into high-risk areas. “This setup seems likely to generate a cycle of security incidents that are then claimed to justify soldiers shooting and killing aid-seekers,” he warns.
Garb draws parallels between these aid sites and previous so-called humanitarian measures like evacuation maps, which, he argues, “simulate compliance” with international law rather than uphold it.
“If Israel, the attacker, cannot adequately and neutrally feed a starving population in the wake of a disaster it is creating, it is obligated to allow other humanitarian agencies to do so,” Garb says.
On March 2, Israel closed Gaza’s main crossings, effectively blocking food, medical, and humanitarian supplies. The move worsened the crisis for the 2.3 million people trapped in the territory, with many viewing the blockade as a weapon of war.
The report notes that the United Nations and other humanitarian partners have been sidelined as the U.S.- and Israel-backed GHF introduced a new aid distribution model operated by private military contractors.
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, at least 450 people have been killed and around 3,500 injured near or en route to these aid sites since GHF began its operations on May 17. Many Palestinians now refer to these sites as “death traps,” as civilians are often targeted simply for attempting to access aid.
This post was last modified on June 25, 2025 6:24 pm