Statistics 78 Years After the Nakba: The Number of Palestinians Reaches 15.5 Million Worldwide

SadaNews - On the 78th anniversary of the Nakba, the Central Bureau of Statistics stated that the number of Palestinians worldwide has reached 15.5 million, with 7.4 million residing in historical Palestine and 8.1 million in the diaspora (of which 6.8 million are in Arab countries).

The Statistics Bureau added in a statement today, Tuesday, that among the total number of Palestinians, about 5.6 million Palestinians are expected to live in the State of Palestine by the end of 2025 (3.43 million in the West Bank and 2.13 million in the Gaza Strip).

Displacement of nearly two million Palestinians within the Gaza Strip and 40,000 in the West Bank since October 7, 2023

The residents of Gaza have repeatedly been forced to flee their homes under duress, losing their homes and becoming displaced in tents and schools, trapped between the walls of poverty and war, with nearly two million Palestinians displaced from their homes out of about 2.2 million who were residing in the strip on the eve of the Israeli occupation's aggression, in addition to the forced displacement of approximately 40,000 in camps in northern West Bank due to the ongoing Israeli occupation assaults.

Settlements in Continuous Expansion

The number of colonial sites and Israeli military bases in the West Bank is expected to reach 645 by the end of 2025, including 151 settlements and 350 colonial outposts (of which 89 are pastoral outposts under the policy of tightening on Palestinian farmers to seize land in preparation for their expulsion and deprivation of their agricultural and pastoral lands), along with 144 other classified sites, which include (industrial, tourist, and service areas, as well as military camps).

The Number of Settlers in the Israeli Settlements in the West Bank by Region, 1990-2024

Regarding the number of settlers in the West Bank, it reached 778,567 settlers by the end of 2024.

The data indicated that most settlers reside in Jerusalem Governorate, with 333,580 settlers (representing 42.8% of the total settlers), of whom 243,716 settlers are in the J1 area (which includes the part of Jerusalem Governorate that Israel annexed shortly after occupying the West Bank in 1967), and the ratio of settlers to Palestinians in the West Bank is approximately 23.2 settlers for every 100 Palestinians, while it is the highest in Jerusalem Governorate at about 65.7 settlers for every 100 Palestinians.

Throughout 2025: Israeli Occupation Authorities Seize 5,571 Dunams

The Israeli occupation continues to impose control over more Palestinian lands in the West Bank under various pretexts and names, having seized over 5,571 dunams during the year 2025, with data indicating that in 2025, 94 orders were issued for seizing approximately 2,609 dunams, three expropriation orders for about 1,731 dunams, and three state land declaration orders for about 1,231 dunams.

The Israeli occupation authorities are also exploiting Palestinian agricultural lands, with the area controlled by settlers increasing by more than 245% between 2000 and 2025, as part of the systematic and ongoing policy of seizing Palestinian lands and depriving them of utilizing their natural resources under the annexation policy pursued by the Israeli occupation authorities in the West Bank.

More than 61,000 Assaults Carried Out by the Occupation Authorities and Settlers in the West Bank During 2022-2025

These assaults have resulted in the uprooting, damaging, and uprooting of more than 81,500 trees (the majority of which are ancient olive trees), and in the first three months of this year, more than 6,000 assaults by the Israeli occupation authorities and settlers against citizens, properties, and religious sites were documented.

About 900 Military Checkpoints in the West Bank

The Israeli occupation authorities are imposing arbitrary measures by deploying checkpoints and gates at most entrances of Palestinian gatherings, numbering around 900 checkpoints, which impede the movement of citizens and their transport between the Palestinian gatherings and cities. Additionally, citizens have been deprived of access to tens of thousands of dunams of agricultural land and hundreds of thousands of dunams of pastoral land, negatively impacting Palestinian food security in light of the difficult economic conditions experienced by the Palestinian people.

The Occupation Controls More than 85% of Palestinian Groundwater

Official data indicates that the Israeli occupation controls more than 85% of Palestinian groundwater resources by controlling well drilling, preventing the development of new wells, and imposing strict restrictions on the rehabilitation of existing wells, alongside the intensive exploitation of these aquifers for the benefit of Israeli settlements. As for surface water, Palestinians are almost completely denied their right to the Jordan River water, even though they are a riparian state, as Israel exclusively controls the river's course and its economic resources, in addition to the Dead Sea, and has prevented any effective Palestinian access to them since 1967.

Severe Decline in Water Availability Below the Human Minimum in the Gaza Strip

In the Gaza Strip, the water situation takes on a more severe and complex dimension. Estimates indicate that the average water supply in some areas of Gaza has dropped to between 3-5 liters per person per day throughout the periods of aggression, a level significantly below the minimum human requirement for survival, which is 15 liters per person per day according to international humanitarian standards.

More than 198,000 Buildings Damaged, of Which Over 102,000 are Completely Destroyed in the Gaza Strip

Since the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, the Israeli occupation has destroyed more than 102,000 buildings, with estimates of the number of housing units that have been completely or partially destroyed reaching no less than 330,000 housing units, which together represent more than 70% of the housing units in the Gaza Strip, in addition to the destruction of schools, universities, hospitals, mosques, churches, government facilities, and thousands of buildings of economic facilities, as well as complete destruction of all aspects of infrastructure including roads, water, electricity, sewage lines, and agricultural lands, making the Gaza Strip an uninhabitable place.

In the West Bank, the Israeli occupation has demolished and destroyed about 1,400 buildings either completely or partially in 2025, including 258 buildings and facilities in Jerusalem Governorate (104 coercive self-demolitions in Jerusalem where Palestinians are forced to demolish their own homes).

Regarding the demolition orders issued by the Israeli occupation for Palestinian facilities under various pretexts, 991 demolition orders were issued in 2025 as part of the policy of displacing the Palestinian people through the issuance of hundreds of demolition orders annually for Palestinian facilities.

The Number of Martyrs is the Highest Since the Nakba

Data since October 7, 2023, reflects a very high level of martyrs, constituting more than 50% of those who have been martyred since the Nakba, with the total number of martyrs from October 7, 2023, until the end of April 2026 exceeding 73,761, with the number in the Gaza Strip being 72,601 (including more than 20,413 children, 12,524 women, and 3,110 from medical teams, civil defense, media, and education), while the number in the West Bank was 1,160 during the same period (including more than 100 martyrs in Jerusalem Governorate).

The Seizure of Jerusalem IDs: A New Occupation Tool for Displacement Since the Nakba

The total number of seized Jerusalem ID cards during the period from 1967 to 2024 is about 14,869 Jerusalem IDs. Estimates indicate that the number of affected Jerusalemite families due to the seizure of ID cards during the period 1967-2024 has reached about 13,000 families, with approximately 65,000 Palestinian Jerusalemites being prevented from entering Jerusalem due to the withdrawal of the Jerusalem ID from the head of the household.