Study: ’Israel’s’ Gaza War Claims Millions of Life Years

By Staff, Agencies

A recent study has revealed that more than three million years of human life have been lost in the Gaza Strip since the occupying "Israeli" entity launched its genocidal war against the blockaded coastal region in October 2023.

The Lancet medical journal published the findings of a research, calculating that each of the 60,199 Palestinians martyred between October 7, 2023, and July 31, 2025, represented an average loss of 51 years of life.

The authors, Sammy Zahran of Colorado State University and Ghassan Abu-Sittah of the American University of Beirut, said the vast majority of life-years lost were among civilians, adding that more than one million life-years involving children under the age of 15 have been lost, the study found.

The term “life-years lost” refers to the total amount of years of expected life that Palestinians who were martyred would have lived had they not lose their lives prematurely.

Researchers said that the calculation only accounts for direct deaths from "Israeli" attacks, excluding those martyred by destroyed infrastructure, starvation, dehydration, disease, and the collapse of Gaza’s medical system.

“To estimate life-years lost in Gaza, we calculated life expectancies in the State of Palestine by sex for all ages using period-based abridged life table methods. We used mortality and population data on the State of Palestine from the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs for 2022,” the study read.

“When calculated by sex, 1,075,984 [1,023,952–1,130,142] female life-years and 2,006,379 [1,938,762–2,075,906] male life-years have been lost,” it added.

A previous Lancet study revealed that Gaza’s death toll had been severely underreported, estimating the real number of martyrs to be at least 40% higher than the officially recorded one due to "Israel’s" systematic destruction of health-care infrastructure and record-keeping capacity.

The medical journal noted that if counting includes indirect deaths – including those from deteriorated health facilities, famine, and disease – then the number could range between 149,000 and 598,000 Palestinian martyrs.

The new Lancet report comes just a few weeks after the ceasefire in Gaza took effect on October 10.

The Gaza Government Media Office has condemned "Israel" over committing more than 125 ceasefire violations since the truce came into effect, warning that continued attacks threaten to reignite full-scale confrontations.

"Israel" continues strikes and aid restrictions in Gaza, claiming lives of three Palestinians north of Rafah and wounding three others, including a child, in Gaza City.

The Gaza Health Ministry reported on Monday that at least 68,865 Palestinians have lost their lives in Gaza over the past two years.

Additionally, thousands are believed to be missing, either trapped under debris or located in areas inaccessible to rescue teams due to extensive destruction and ongoing dangers.