On June 24-25, Georgian– and Russian-language Facebook users shared information claiming that a Harvard-linked study found that since October 2023, at least 377,000 people disappeared in Gaza as a result of Israeli actions. The posts also stated that half of them were children. The Russian-language post claimed that this information was based on an article by Israeli researcher Yaakov Garb published in a Harvard database.
The claim that a Harvard-affiliated study confirms the disappearance of 377,000 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip since October 2023 is false. The cited study does not contain such claims and, in fact, addresses issues related to humanitarian aid in Gaza. Moreover, the report was not prepared by Harvard University. The author of the study is Israeli researcher Yaakov Garb, who published it in a database managed by Harvard University.
In recent days, this claim has been circulated by several media outlets and politicians. France 24’s fact-checking service reviewed the claim. In its article, France 24 noted that the study the claim refers to was not conducted by Harvard University but by Israeli researcher Yaakov Garb, who uploaded his work to a Harvard-managed research database website. This website allows researchers to publish their work and make it accessible to readers.
- What does the study actually say?
Israeli researcher Garb’s study examines issues related to humanitarian aid centers established in the Gaza Strip by Israel, the U.S., and the Gaza Humanitarian Fund. Specifically, the researcher analyzes their locations and structures. He notes that the majority of the population lives far from these centers and concludes that they are designed in accordance with Israeli military strategy. According to his analysis, the study does not meet real humanitarian needs. The report does not analyze how many people have died or gone missing since the start of the war. However, based on data from the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), the study includes statistics on how many people remain in three major clusters within the Gaza Strip. The initial version of the study stated that approximately 1 million people live in Gaza City, 500,000 in the Al-Mawasi region, and 350,000 in central Gaza. These numbers are presented without additional analysis, and the researcher does not use them to calculate population changes in Gaza since October 2023.
The claim that this study confirms 377,000 people are missing in Gaza first appeared on an online blog by a user known as Maximilian. He summarized the statistical data presented in the study and wrote that currently 1.85 million people live in the Gaza Strip, whereas before the conflict began, the population was 2.227 million. Based on this, he claimed that 377,000 people had gone missing in Gaza since October 2023.
France 24 contacted the study’s author for clarification. Garb stated that he relies on media-reported data for population statistics, which themselves are based on information from the Israeli Defense Forces. He also clarified that he does not claim 100% of Gaza’s population lives in these three clusters, meaning the actual numbers could be higher. Additionally, Garb acknowledged an error in his study. Specifically, the media source he cited reported 700,000 people living in Al-Mawasi, but he mistakenly wrote 500,000.
According to the Israeli Defense Forces, approximately 700,000 people are residing in Al-Mawasi, 350,000 are in central Gaza, and up to 1 million are in Gaza City.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, by June 24, 2025, since October 2023, a total of 56,077 people have been killed, 132,848 injured, and 11,000 are missing in the Gaza Strip.
About the source:
Ermile Nemsadze is a former military serviceman and a former member of the far-right group “Georgian March.” Nemsadze frequently spreads homophobic, hate-filled, and anti-Western messages. Disinformation shared by Ermile Nemsadze has previously been fact-checked multiple times by Myth Detector.
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