Gaza death toll 40% higher than official number, Lancet study finds
Gaza death toll 40% higher than official number, Lancet study finds
Share:
Analysis estimates death toll by end of June was 64,260, with 59% being women, children and people over 65. Research published in the Lancet medical journal estimates that the death toll in Gaza during the first nine months of the Israel-Hamas war was about 40% higher than numbers recorded by the Palestinian territory’s health ministry.
![[Palestinians hold out containers for food aid in Khan Younis.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/424c3588864d799b69ead1f42def5571093f1fc9/0_47_3000_1800/master/3000.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
The peer-reviewed statistical analysis was conducted by academics at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Yale University and other institutions, using a statistical method called capture-recapture analysis. The researchers sought to assess the death toll from Israel’s air and ground campaign in Gaza between October 2023 and the end of June 2024, estimating 64,260 deaths due to traumatic injury during this period. The study said 59.1% were women, children and people over the age of 65. It did not provide an estimate of Palestinian combatants among the dead.
Up to 30 June last year, the health ministry in Gaza reported a death toll of 37,877 in the war, which began on 7 October 2023 after the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel in which 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 taken hostages. According to Palestinian health officials, a total of more than 46,000 people have been killed in the Gaza war, from a pre-war population of around 2.3 million.
It has not been possible for international media to independently verify the death toll in Gaza as Israel does not allow foreign journalists into the territory. A senior Israeli official, commenting on the study published on Friday, said Israel’s armed forces went to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties. “No other army in the world has ever taken such wide-ranging measures,” the official said.
