ExplainerHow does Gaza’s Ministry of Health calculate war death toll?
- In its first detailed report on war casualties, Gaza’s health ministry issued a list of names of 7,028 dead in Israeli bombings
- Here’s a look at how the ministry – an agency in the Hamas-controlled government – has generated death tolls since the war started
How many Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the war between Israel and Hamas started?
With Israel besieging and bombing territory at a scale never seen before, arriving at a precise answer isn’t easy. Mobile phone service is spotty. Internet and power are out. Air strikes have pulverised roads and levelled neighbourhoods, slowing rescue work.
Doctors scribble on notepads in overflowing morgues and hospital halls, struggling to account for bodies trapped under rubble and tossed in hastily dug mass graves. The chaos has added to the likelihood of errors.
Yet the Gaza-based Ministry of Health – an agency in the Hamas-controlled government – continues to tally casualty numbers.
It released its first detailed report on the casualties Thursday, giving names, ID numbers, ages and gender for Palestinians it says have been killed. The total toll is 7,028 Palestinians, including 2,913 minors, according to the ministry.
The ministry is the only official source for Gaza casualties. Israel has sealed Gaza’s borders, barring foreign journalists and humanitarian workers.