The memes about Gaza's population having grown are utterly false. The big drop in Gaza's population, due to death and migration far exceeding births, raises a broader point that again illustrates Gaza's unique destructiveness.
When a population is young (with lots of young adults) and has high birth rates, it is actually very hard to kill or displace more of them than are born. In fact this is a rarity in wars fought in countries with such demographic profiles. (Obviously it is another story for a war being fought in a place with a low birth rate/old population.
Hence populations in Afghanistan and Iraq increased by millions under US occupation, despite bloody wars. Even Vietnam's population steadily increased during the brutal Vietnam War (1955-1975), despite millions of deaths and the post-war departure of millions of refugees ("boat people")
Despite a terrible famine that has killed over 100,000 children, the population of Yemen has increased by millions throughout the Yemeni Civil War (2014-present).
In terms of violent deaths, the Syrian Civil War is the bloodiest war of this century. Yet it appears the Syrian population slightly increased during the civil war, in spite of 600,000 violent fatalities and millions of refugees, although it fell sharply during the bloodiest years of the war and the rise of ISIS in Syria.
Conversely, across the entire war - I'm not singling out a particularly bloody period - and despite the general inability of the population to leave, Gaza's population has fallen by a huge margin, probably more than 10%. This is despite a very young population (very similar to Syria's in the % of adults who are young).
When a population is young (with lots of young adults) and has high birth rates, it is actually very hard to kill or displace more of them than are born. In fact this is a rarity in wars fought in countries with such demographic profiles. (Obviously it is another story for a war being fought in a place with a low birth rate/old population.
Hence populations in Afghanistan and Iraq increased by millions under US occupation, despite bloody wars. Even Vietnam's population steadily increased during the brutal Vietnam War (1955-1975), despite millions of deaths and the post-war departure of millions of refugees ("boat people")
Despite a terrible famine that has killed over 100,000 children, the population of Yemen has increased by millions throughout the Yemeni Civil War (2014-present).
In terms of violent deaths, the Syrian Civil War is the bloodiest war of this century. Yet it appears the Syrian population slightly increased during the civil war, in spite of 600,000 violent fatalities and millions of refugees, although it fell sharply during the bloodiest years of the war and the rise of ISIS in Syria.
Conversely, across the entire war - I'm not singling out a particularly bloody period - and despite the general inability of the population to leave, Gaza's population has fallen by a huge margin, probably more than 10%. This is despite a very young population (very similar to Syria's in the % of adults who are young).
Reposting with a better chart for Syria’s population data
@dhimmi2025
@phl43, not trying to argue genocide right now, just thought you’d find this interesting, another case where Gaza is exceptional.
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