A study published Friday in the prestigious British medical journal “The Lancet” estimates that the number of deaths in Gaza, during the first nine months of the war between Israel and Hamas, is approximately 40% higher than that recorded by the Ministry of Health of the Palestinian Territory. The number of people killed in Gaza has been the subject of fierce debate since Israel launched its campaign against Hamas in response to the attack on its territory on October 7, 2023.
Since the start of the war until June 30 last year, the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip reported a death toll of 37,877. The Lancet study, however, estimates that between 55,298 and 78,525 deaths were caused by traumatic injuries in Gaza during this period.
The probable number of deaths estimated by the Lancet is 64,260 deaths until this date, a figure 41% higher than that of the Ministry of Health. This figure represents 2.9% of Gaza’s population before the war, “or approximately one in 35 inhabitants”, according to the study.
To arrive at this figure, “The Lancet” claims to have relied on the census of the number of deaths in morgues and in hospitals, on an online survey in which Palestinians list deceased relatives and on obituaries published on social networks when the identity of the deceased could not be verified. The researchers then examined the death lists for duplicates.
-The review specifies that it only counted deaths due to traumatic injuries. Indirect deaths, linked to lack of care or drinking water in particular, or missing people are therefore not taken into account. This toll therefore does not include indirect deaths, such as those due to lack of care or food, nor the thousands of missing people believed to be buried under the rubble.
Furthermore, according to the UN, more than 10,000 inhabitants of the Gaza Strip could still be buried under the rubble. The latest reports from the enclave’s Ministry of Health show more than 46,000 deaths.
