Over 60 thousand killed in Gaza: this figure may be an underestimate
30 July 12:26
The Palestinian authorities have released new data on human losses as a result of the Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the death toll has reached 60,034. This is stated in the Reuters article “How many Palestinians were killed in the Israeli operation in Gaza?”, "Komersant Ukrainian" writes.
The age category of those killed covers the entire range of human life, from newborn babies to 110-year-olds. But among the dead, according to the Palestinians, 18,592 people were under the age of majority, which is more than 30% of the total number of victims. Almost a third of all victims were children under the age of 18. These figures demonstrate the magnitude of the tragedy, which affected all segments of Palestinian society.
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The course of the conflict
The conflict began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas militants attacked Israeli settlements. According to Israel, 1200 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the attack, and 251 people were taken prisoner. In response, Israel launched a large-scale air and ground operation against Hamas.
After a two-month truce at the beginning of the year, Israel resumed a full-scale campaign in March. Since then, according to Palestinian medical services, more than 8,500 people have been killed. This indicates the intensification of hostilities and their devastating consequences for the civilian population.
Palestinian data may be underestimated
The Israeli authorities criticize Palestinian data, claiming that it is manipulated due to Hamas’ control over the Gaza government. However, international organizations, including the UN, regularly refer to these figures. UN-verified data show that almost 70% of the dead are women and children, who are unlikely to be Hamas fighters.
Moreover, the actual number of victims may be much higher than the official figures. A study published in the medical journal The Lancet indicates that the official Palestinian authorities’ estimates may underestimate the actual number of victims by about 40%. This is due to the destruction of Gaza’s medical infrastructure and the inability to accurately record all cases.
The UN Human Rights Office also confirms that Palestinian data is likely to be underestimated. The Gaza Ministry of Health recognizes that thousands of bodies remain under the rubble, which are not accounted for in official statistics. This means that the true scale of human losses could be much higher than 60 thousand people.
The methodology for counting casualties has undergone several changes over the course of the conflict. Initially, only bodies that arrived at hospitals with complete identification data were counted. In May 2024, unidentified bodies began to be included in the counts, accounting for almost a third of the total. However, since October 2024, only identified victims have been counted again.
International experts praise the reliability of Palestinian statistics. Before the war, Gaza had a developed system of demographic records and medical information that was superior to most countries in the Middle East. The World Health Organization expressed full confidence in the data of the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The tragedy in Gaza has taken on unprecedented proportions, far exceeding the casualties of all previous conflicts between Israelis and Palestinians since 2005. International monitoring groups are warning of a worst-case scenario of famine unfolding in the Strip, which requires immediate action to prevent even greater human losses. The real scale of this humanitarian catastrophe may be even more dire than even these alarming figures suggest.
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