Global Scientific Attention to the Israel-Gaza Conflict: A Bibliometric and Thematic Analysis of Health and Humanitarian Research

Abstract

Background:
Armed conflicts and humanitarian crises, particularly in the Middle East, have led to profound disruptions in civilian health and psychosocial well-being. In recent years, the Gaza region has become a focal point of such disruptions, prompting increasing academic attention. This study provides a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of the global scientific output related to war-affected civilian populations in the Middle East, with a special emphasis on Gaza and Palestine.

Methods:
We conducted a bibliometric analysis of 488 peer-reviewed articles published between 1961 and 2025, retrieved from PubMed database. Quantitative metrics such as annual scientific production, author productivity (Lotka's Law), institutional contributions, international collaborations, keyword co-occurrence, and thematic evolution were assessed using Bibliometrix (R package). Visualization techniques included co-authorship networks, thematic maps, treemaps, and trend analysis.

Results:
Scientific interest in war-related civilian health surged significantly after 2023, reflecting the global academic response to escalating humanitarian crises in Gaza. A small group of highly productive authors and institutions (primarily based in Gaza, Israel, and Western academic centers) contributed disproportionately to the literature. Core themes include psychosocial trauma, gender disparities, child vulnerability, warfare-related epidemiology, and health service disruption. Keywords such as "humans," "female," "warfare," "child," "Middle East," and "mental health" emerged as dominant focal points. International collaboration rates reached 20.9%, with a noticeable rise in publications from high-impact journals.

Conclusions:
The intersection of warfare, civilian suffering, and public health has generated a distinct, rapidly expanding body of research. This bibliometric study maps the scientific terrain of conflict-related health literature. These bibliometric patterns are consistent with humanitarian data from the United Nations and UNICEF, which indicate that women and children constitute a significant portion of civilian casualties in Gaza. Future studies must prioritize inclusive research agendas that center the voices of affected populations and address structural inequities in global health scholarship.