The Silver Lining on Gaza’s Population Density

By Published On: May 19, 2008

We often read about the Gaza Strip’s high population density, including false reports (including in Haaretz) that it is the most densely populated place in the world.

But here’s something we haven’t seen before: Gaza’s high population density is partly the result of better health care introduced by Israel. Ha’aretz’s Amir Oren reports:

As uncomfortable as it is to admit, the data suggests that the Israeli occupation did well by Gaza. Life expectancy in the Strip has risen from 48 years in 1967 to over 72 years now, higher than the life expectancy in Egypt, which was not very kind to Gaza when the Strip was subject to its military rule. According to a study conducted by Daniel Nadav of the Defense Ministry, the introduction of Israel’s health-care system into Gaza, the adoption of local hospitals by Israeli medical centers, and the transfer of Palestinian patients to hospitals in Israel resulted in a sharp and immediate drop in the mortality rate. This positive development had negative consequences – a growing population density caused by a high rate of natural increase, and diseases that are more common in societies that have changed their consumption habits and aged (in 1967 only one in 70 people in Gaza was elderly).

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