"Populations do not grow during a genocide."

Supporters claim “Populations do not grow during a genocide,” using Gaza’s high birth rate to argue that the genocide label is exaggerated or false. They suggest that continued births are incompatible with efforts to destroy a people in whole or part.

Genocide is not defined by falling birth rates or shrinking populations, but by intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group in whole or in part. Gaza’s birth rate remains high—around 130–160 babies born daily—but this does not negate the death toll, displacement, destruction of healthcare infrastructure, or targeted attacks on families and children. Genocide can occur alongside reproduction when mass killing, siege conditions, and the collapse of civilian systems threaten group survival.

Gaza’s population has declined by at least 6 percent since the war began, according to the Palestinian Statistics Bureau—roughly 160,000 people. Fertility clinics, maternity wards, and incubators have been destroyed, and the UN has raised alarms about deliberate attacks on reproductive capacity. Legal scholars note that genocide includes not just killing, but blocking births and imposing conditions of life calculated to bring about physical destruction. Citing birth rates while ignoring intent and destruction is statistical denial, not evidence of peace.