Rights group: Most Gazans killed in war were civilians

According to B'Tselem, 1,387 Palestinians were killed during the three weeks of Operation Cast Lead, of whom 773 were noncombatants and only 330 were combatants.

The remaining 248 were Hamas policemen killed when "Israel" bombed Palestinian police facilities at the start of the onslaught. Israeli army has argued that these policemen, as armed Hamas members, should be considered combatants. However, B'Tselem noted that they took no part in the actual fighting. In 36 cases, the organization was unable to determine whether the casualties were combatants or noncombatants.
Of the civilians killed, 320 were minors under the age of 18 and another 109 were women, the organization said.

In contrast to the report, "Israeli" army claims that 1,166 Palestinians were killed during Cast Lead, of whom 709 were Hamas combatants and 295 were civilians and claimed it was unable to determine the status of the remaining 162.

Unlike the "Israeli" army that gave only numbers to those killed in the Op. Cast Lead, B'Tselem listed each casualty by name, along with testimonies and death certificates therefore certifying the information and numbers they presented are correct. In addition, the organization's spokeswoman Sarit Michaeli said that they were unable to even compare their fatality detailed list to that of the "Israeli" army because the army reufsed to give it to them.