Deaths in Gaza surpass 14,000, according to its authorities

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FOR TEN days the official death toll in Gaza since the outbreak of war on October 7th stood at 11,078. That is the number that Gaza’s health ministry, which is run by Hamas, reported on November 10th. After that day the count stalled. The reason is a lack of data. Because hospital services and communications collapsed in the northern part of the enclave, the health ministry was unable to tally and report deaths. On November 21st the Gaza Media Office rather than the health ministry reported new numbers. According to them, the latest death toll is 14,532 (see chart below). The Gaza Health Ministry has announced it will resume its count and puts the current death toll at more than 13,000.

In addition, about 7,000 people are missing. Many, the authorities say, are buried under rubble. The true death toll may already have breached 20,000.

Gaza’s health-care system has capacity for only 3,500 beds, according to Médecins Sans Frontières, a humanitarian group. The Gaza Media Office says 35,000 people have been injured. That means that many are not getting the treatment they need. A four-day truce, expected to begin on November 24th, may help some get access to care. Several of Gaza’s hospitals have been hit in the fighting and many of their staff have been killed, too. Dima Alhaj, a 29-year-old member of a World Health Organisation (WHO) trauma team, was killed on November 21st along with her six-month-old baby, husband and two brothers. More than 100 UN workers have been killed so far, according to Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO’s director-general.

The Gazan authorities’ figures have been called unreliable by some, including President Joe Biden. Run by Hamas, both the health ministry and media office may have an incentive to exaggerate the number of deaths. For example the ministry put at 471 the number of fatalities at Ahli Arab hospital, which was probably hit by an errant Palestinian rocket on October 17th, but Western intelligence agencies have said casualties were many fewer. That controversy deepened doubts about the accuracy of Gaza’s numbers.

Although the number of deaths caused by the hospital blast remains in dispute, international agencies say the overall numbers are reliable. They are compiled by hospital workers, not Hamas apparatchiks. On November 8th, in a testimony to Congress, a member of Mr Biden’s team said that it was “very possible” death counts were “even higher than is being reported.” In previous conflicts the UN and other independent organisations have come up with tallies that are nearly identical to those provided by the Gaza health ministry. On October 27th the ministry released a list of the 7,028 people killed to that day, which included their names, gender, age and official ID numbers. More than 2,900 of them are children. Israeli authorities have not challenged its validity. Independent experts have found just one duplicate entry, of a 14-year-old boy. (Whether the methodology has remained consistent following the collapse of health services in the north and the resumption of reports is unclear.)

In their latest update Gazan authorities said 5,840 children had been killed, roughly 40% of the total. If the same share of the 7,000 missing are children and have indeed perished, that would bring the total number of children killed to more than 8,000.

Gaza’s enormous child death toll reflects, among other things, its youthful demography. It is one of the youngest places on Earth. Roughly half of its population is younger than 18. Gaza is also densely populated and urban warfare is often destructive and bloody—and Israel’s bombardment has been unusually intense. Hamas has built its defences around—and under—the territory’s civilian infrastructure. This makes it likelier that civilians—including children—will be hit by Israel’s bombs. If fighting resumes after the truce, the grim toll will keep ticking higher. ■