For two years of war, Israel refused to accept casualty figures published by Gaza’s Health Ministry, citing the fact that it is run by Hamas officials. But the Israel Defense Forces have now abruptly adopted the ministry’s estimates, according to remarks published Thursday in the name of senior military officials.
“In the war, we estimate that about 70,000 Gazans were killed, not including the missing,” the officials said. “The work of classifying between terrorists and uninvolved civilians is being carried out these days.”
In its latest update, Gaza’s Health Ministry said the number of people killed in the Strip since October 7 stands at 71,667. According to the data, about 171,000 wounded people have been treated in Gaza hospitals. In its regular updates, the ministry also notes that the figures do not include missing people whom rescue teams in the Strip are still trying to reach.
The BBC, which throughout the war relied on Gaza Health Ministry figures in its reporting, noted Thursday night that Israel had cast doubt on the data, while pointing out that the figures were considered reliable by the United Nations and other human rights organizations.
During the fighting, Gaza Health Ministry staff struggled to collect casualty figures from hospitals, and the fact that many of the dead could not be identified because of the injuries they sustained also hampered the process. In the early months of the war, the death toll published by the ministry was based on body counts in hospital morgues and information that included names and ID numbers for most of those killed. As the war continued and the number of hospitals operating normally shrank, the authorities adopted new methods.
For example, in May 2024, when the Gaza Health Ministry reported 34,844 Palestinian deaths since the start of the war, it said 21,058 were deaths reported by hospitals, while 3,715 were deaths reported by family members online, and 10,071 involved people whose details were described as “partial,” with Hamas not specifying where or how their deaths were first reported. The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza said at the time, and throughout the war, that the actual number of dead was higher than reported, since many victims buried under rubble were still classified as missing.
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Throughout the war, Gaza has reported deaths based in part on family reports or incomplete information
(Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas)
Throughout the war, Israel cast doubt on the credibility of the casualty figures published by Gaza’s Health Ministry because of Hamas’ control of the government in the Strip. The Foreign Ministry previously said the numbers were manipulated and did not reflect the reality on the ground.
“Israel has repeatedly stated that the numbers reported from Gaza and cited by U.N. agencies are manipulated by Hamas, are inaccurate and do not reflect the reality on the ground,” the Foreign Ministry said a little more than six months after the outbreak of the war. “Repeating Hamas propaganda statements without any verification process has repeatedly proven to be methodologically flawed and unprofessional. We call on the international community to apply a greater degree of scrutiny when examining OCHA reports.”