“Israeli” Army Data: 83% of Death Rate in Gaza are Civilians

By Staff, Agencies

Of the Palestinians murdered by “Israeli” forces in Gaza, five out of every six have been civilians, according to leaked statistics from the “Israeli” occupation forces’ data, revealing the extent of the slaughter perpetrated in the besieged enclave.

A joint investigation by the Guardian, the “Israeli” publication +972 Magazine, and the Hebrew-language outlet Local Call has found that, as of May and 19 months into the war, “Israeli” intelligence officials listed 8,900 named fighters from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad as dead or “probably dead."

In May, 53,000 Palestinian civilians had been murdered by "Israel" according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, a toll that includes both resistance fighters and civilians, meaning that the 8,900 named fighters in the “Israeli” occupation forces [IOF] databases constitute only 17% of the total death toll, while civilians cover the remaining 83%.

This apparent ratio of civilians to combatants among the dead is extremely high for modern warfare and remains so even when compared to conflicts notorious for indiscriminate killing, such as the Syrian war and the Sudanese civil war.

Therése Pettersson from the Uppsala Conflict Data Program, which tracks civilian casualties worldwide stated, “That proportion of civilians among those killed would be unusually high, particularly as it has been going on for such a long time,” adding that, “If you single out a particular city or battle in another conflict, you could find similar rates, but very rarely overall."

When approached for comment by Local Call and +972 Magazine, the “Israeli” occupation forces did not dispute the existence of the database or the data on Hamas and PIJ deaths, and when The Guardian requested a statement on the same information, a spokesperson stated they had decided to “rephrase” their response.

According to the IOF, the database names 47,653 Palestinians counted as fighters active in both Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, based on alleged internal documents seized in Gaza, which The Guardian could not view or verify.

Multiple intelligence sources familiar with the database told The Guardian that the military viewed it as the only authoritative tally of fighter casualties. While “Israeli” politicians regularly dismiss the Gaza health ministry's numbers as propaganda, the “Israeli” army also considers its toll reliable, according to a report by Local Call, revealing that the former head of its military intelligence division recently appeared to cite it.