After two years of war in Gaza, how many Palestinians has Israel killed?
Palestinian health authorities say Israel’s two-year-old ground and air campaign in the Gaza Strip has resulted in more than 67,000 martyrs, with nearly a third of the martyrs under the age of 18.
The war, launched after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, has focused on Gaza City since last month and the offensive has continued despite consultations on US President Donald Trump’s new, 20-point plan for ending the conflict.
This explainer examines how the Palestinian martyrs' toll is calculated, how reliable it is, and what each side says.
How do Gaza health authorities calculate the martyrs' toll? The latest detailed breakdown released by the Palestinian Ministry of Health on September 3 counted 19,424 martyrs among children, accounting for 30 percent of the then-total of 64,232. Its overall tally has since climbed to 67,160 martyrs as of October 6.
The official ministry martyrs' toll dwarfs those martyred in all previous bouts of fighting between Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza since 2005, according to data from Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem.
In the first months of the war, the martyrs' toll was calculated simply by counting bodies that arrived in hospitals, and data included names and identity numbers for most of those martyred.
In May 2024, the health ministry included unidentified bodies, which accounted for nearly a third of the overall martyrs' toll. However, since October 2024, it has only encompassed identified bodies.
A Reuters examination in March of an earlier Gaza Health Ministry list of those martyred showed that more than 1,200 families were completely wiped out, including one family of 14 people.
Is the Gaza martyrs' toll comprehensive? The numbers do not necessarily reflect all victims, as the Palestinian Health Ministry estimates several thousand bodies are under rubble and it does not count the 460 malnutrition-related martyrs it has recorded amid a famine in North Gaza.
Official Palestinian tallies of direct martyrs likely undercounted the number of casualties by around 40 percent in the first nine months of the war as Gaza’s healthcare infrastructure disintegrated, according to a peer-reviewed study published in The Lancet journal in January.
The UN human rights office also says the Palestinian authorities’ figure is probably an undercount.
The conflict martyrs it has verified using its own methodology up to July 20 show that 40 percent were children and 22 percent were women.
A UN inquiry assessed last month that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza - citing the scale of the martyrdoms as one of the acts backing up its finding. Israel claims the finding is biased and “scandalous.”
How credible is the Gaza martyrs' toll? Pre-war Gaza had robust population statistics and better health information systems than in most Middle East countries, public health experts told Reuters.
The UN often cites the health ministry’s martyrs' figures and says they are credible.
Does Hamas control the figures? While Hamas has run Gaza since 2007, the enclave’s Health Ministry also answers to the overall Palestinian Authority ministry in Ramallah in the West Bank.
Gaza’s government has paid the salaries of all those hired in public departments since 2007, including in the Health Ministry. The Palestinian Authority pays the salaries of those hired before then.
What does Israel allege? Israeli officials have said previously that the martyrs' toll figures are suspect because of Hamas’ control over government in Gaza, and that they are manipulated.
The Israeli military says 466 of its soldiers were killed in combat, and 2,951 others wounded since its Gaza ground operation began on October 27, 2023.
It also claims it goes to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties.
It alleges Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields by operating within densely populated areas, humanitarian zones, schools and hospitals, a repeated accusation that both Hamas and international rights groups have denied.
Palestinian health authorities say Israel’s two-year-old ground and air campaign in the Gaza Strip has resulted in more than 67,000 martyrs, with nearly a third of the martyrs under the age of 18.
The war, launched after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, has focused on Gaza City since last month and the offensive has continued despite consultations on US President Donald Trump’s new, 20-point plan for ending the conflict.
This explainer examines how the Palestinian martyrs' toll is calculated, how reliable it is, and what each side says.
How do Gaza health authorities calculate the martyrs' toll? The latest detailed breakdown released by the Palestinian Ministry of Health on September 3 counted 19,424 martyrs among children, accounting for 30 percent of the then-total of 64,232. Its overall tally has since climbed to 67,160 martyrs as of October 6.
The official ministry martyrs' toll dwarfs those martyred in all previous bouts of fighting between Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza since 2005, according to data from Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem.
In the first months of the war, the martyrs' toll was calculated simply by counting bodies that arrived in hospitals, and data included names and identity numbers for most of those martyred.
In May 2024, the health ministry included unidentified bodies, which accounted for nearly a third of the overall martyrs' toll. However, since October 2024, it has only encompassed identified bodies.
A Reuters examination in March of an earlier Gaza Health Ministry list of those martyred showed that more than 1,200 families were completely wiped out, including one family of 14 people.
Is the Gaza martyrs' toll comprehensive? The numbers do not necessarily reflect all victims, as the Palestinian Health Ministry estimates several thousand bodies are under rubble and it does not count the 460 malnutrition-related martyrs it has recorded amid a famine in North Gaza.
Official Palestinian tallies of direct martyrs likely undercounted the number of casualties by around 40 percent in the first nine months of the war as Gaza’s healthcare infrastructure disintegrated, according to a peer-reviewed study published in The Lancet journal in January.
The UN human rights office also says the Palestinian authorities’ figure is probably an undercount.
The conflict martyrs it has verified using its own methodology up to July 20 show that 40 percent were children and 22 percent were women.
A UN inquiry assessed last month that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza - citing the scale of the martyrdoms as one of the acts backing up its finding. Israel claims the finding is biased and “scandalous.”
How credible is the Gaza martyrs' toll? Pre-war Gaza had robust population statistics and better health information systems than in most Middle East countries, public health experts told Reuters.
The UN often cites the health ministry’s martyrs' figures and says they are credible.
Does Hamas control the figures? While Hamas has run Gaza since 2007, the enclave’s Health Ministry also answers to the overall Palestinian Authority ministry in Ramallah in the West Bank.
Gaza’s government has paid the salaries of all those hired in public departments since 2007, including in the Health Ministry. The Palestinian Authority pays the salaries of those hired before then.
What does Israel allege? Israeli officials have said previously that the martyrs' toll figures are suspect because of Hamas’ control over government in Gaza, and that they are manipulated.
The Israeli military says 466 of its soldiers were killed in combat, and 2,951 others wounded since its Gaza ground operation began on October 27, 2023.
It also claims it goes to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties.
It alleges Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields by operating within densely populated areas, humanitarian zones, schools and hospitals, a repeated accusation that both Hamas and international rights groups have denied.
Palestinian health authorities say Israel’s two-year-old ground and air campaign in the Gaza Strip has resulted in more than 67,000 martyrs, with nearly a third of the martyrs under the age of 18.
The war, launched after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, has focused on Gaza City since last month and the offensive has continued despite consultations on US President Donald Trump’s new, 20-point plan for ending the conflict.
This explainer examines how the Palestinian martyrs' toll is calculated, how reliable it is, and what each side says.
How do Gaza health authorities calculate the martyrs' toll? The latest detailed breakdown released by the Palestinian Ministry of Health on September 3 counted 19,424 martyrs among children, accounting for 30 percent of the then-total of 64,232. Its overall tally has since climbed to 67,160 martyrs as of October 6.
The official ministry martyrs' toll dwarfs those martyred in all previous bouts of fighting between Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza since 2005, according to data from Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem.
In the first months of the war, the martyrs' toll was calculated simply by counting bodies that arrived in hospitals, and data included names and identity numbers for most of those martyred.
In May 2024, the health ministry included unidentified bodies, which accounted for nearly a third of the overall martyrs' toll. However, since October 2024, it has only encompassed identified bodies.
A Reuters examination in March of an earlier Gaza Health Ministry list of those martyred showed that more than 1,200 families were completely wiped out, including one family of 14 people.
Is the Gaza martyrs' toll comprehensive? The numbers do not necessarily reflect all victims, as the Palestinian Health Ministry estimates several thousand bodies are under rubble and it does not count the 460 malnutrition-related martyrs it has recorded amid a famine in North Gaza.
Official Palestinian tallies of direct martyrs likely undercounted the number of casualties by around 40 percent in the first nine months of the war as Gaza’s healthcare infrastructure disintegrated, according to a peer-reviewed study published in The Lancet journal in January.
The UN human rights office also says the Palestinian authorities’ figure is probably an undercount.
The conflict martyrs it has verified using its own methodology up to July 20 show that 40 percent were children and 22 percent were women.
A UN inquiry assessed last month that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza - citing the scale of the martyrdoms as one of the acts backing up its finding. Israel claims the finding is biased and “scandalous.”
How credible is the Gaza martyrs' toll? Pre-war Gaza had robust population statistics and better health information systems than in most Middle East countries, public health experts told Reuters.
The UN often cites the health ministry’s martyrs' figures and says they are credible.
Does Hamas control the figures? While Hamas has run Gaza since 2007, the enclave’s Health Ministry also answers to the overall Palestinian Authority ministry in Ramallah in the West Bank.
Gaza’s government has paid the salaries of all those hired in public departments since 2007, including in the Health Ministry. The Palestinian Authority pays the salaries of those hired before then.
What does Israel allege? Israeli officials have said previously that the martyrs' toll figures are suspect because of Hamas’ control over government in Gaza, and that they are manipulated.
The Israeli military says 466 of its soldiers were killed in combat, and 2,951 others wounded since its Gaza ground operation began on October 27, 2023.
It also claims it goes to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties.
It alleges Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields by operating within densely populated areas, humanitarian zones, schools and hospitals, a repeated accusation that both Hamas and international rights groups have denied.
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After two years of war in Gaza, how many Palestinians has Israel killed?
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