Did Israel know over 80 percent of those it killed in Gaza were civilians?

Israel has been bombing Gaza for astir 2 years, sidesplitting much than 62,000 people, the Palestinian Ministry of Health successful Gaza says, but the existent fig is apt overmuch higher.

Israel claims it is targeting fighters from Hamas, not civilians, but a leaked subject report reveals a antithetic story.

The study says 83 percent of the Palestinians killed by Israel successful Gaza were civilians.

How galore radical has Israel killed? And what did Israel accidental astir sidesplitting them? Why is this latest study truthful important? Here’s what we know:

What did the study say?

The study was based connected an interior Israeli quality database that records the deaths of fighters from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).

The database estimated that Israel has killed 8,900 fighters passim its warfare connected Gaza, according to information from May. That is an estimation because, of that number, 1,570 names are listed arsenic “probably dead”.

The 8,900 fig is retired of 47,653 radical whom the database lists arsenic progressive fighters – 34,973 Hamas, and 12,702 PIJ.

Let’s enactment that against the full fig of radical Israel has killed successful Gaza, which was 53,000 successful May, according to +972 Magazine. That means 16.8 percent of the radical Israel killed oregon “probably” killed were fighters.

How galore Palestinians did Israel termination successful Gaza?

According to the Health Ministry’s astir caller numbers, Israel has killed astatine slightest 62,622 people successful its 22-month violative connected the enclave and wounded 157,673 Thousands much stay missing.

Studies person recovered the fig of casualties is acold higher. A peer-reviewed survey published successful The Lancet aesculapian diary said the existent fig killed successful the archetypal 9 months of the warfare whitethorn person been 40 percent higher than reported.

Many of the bodies of those killed by Israel are incinerated during weaponry oregon rocket strikes, near rotting successful areas occupied by the Israeli subject oregon stay crushed nether the rubble of destroyed buildings with rescuers incapable to scope them.

The precocious civilian decease toll makes Israel’s battle connected Gaza City, which it said has already begun, adjacent much frightening.

What does Israel accidental astir sidesplitting civilians?

Israel has repeatedly claimed that it does each it tin to bounds civilian casualties and regularly disputes the Health Ministry’s numbers.

In September, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bragged that Israel had the “lowest ratio of civilian to combatant deaths successful the past of modern municipality warfare”, claiming the service was sidesplitting 1 civilian for each combatant it killed.

But this was months after Local Call and +972 reported connected an Israeli service AI targeting strategy codenamed Lavender, which, according to sources successful Israeli intelligence, marked tens of thousands of radical successful Gaza arsenic imaginable fighters and eligible to beryllium killed.

According to 2 of the sources, the service decided during the aboriginal stages of the warfare that it was permissible to termination up to 15 oregon 20 civilians for each inferior Hamas operative earmarked for decease by Lavender.

And members of Netanyahu’s far-right conjugation person shown small to nary interest for Palestinian lives erstwhile addressing their home audience.

Speaking connected Israeli vigor past month, Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu said: “The authorities is rushing to erase Gaza, and convey God we are erasing this evil. All of Gaza volition beryllium Jewish.”

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told a colony league successful May: “Gaza volition beryllium wholly destroyed,” and what remains of its radical would beryllium exiled to a constrictive portion of onshore successful the south.

They bash not.

Throughout the conflict, Al Jazeera has reported connected galore accounts of civilians being massacred portion seeking food, the dropping of heavy ordnance connected displacement camps, the systematic destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system and the deliberate killing of its medics as good arsenic the usage of starvation arsenic a limb of war.

“I deliberation anyone who has intimately observed the genocide successful Gaza can’t person been amazed by the report,” Orly Noy of Local Call told Al Jazeera.

“Everything we knew astir the warfare suggested that the wide killing, demolition and brutality determination was indiscriminate. That is the quality of this war. This is its logic. Israel has created a mechanics for genocide that it’s deploying indiscriminately crossed Gaza.”

How has the Israeli service responded?

When approached by Local Call and +972, the Israeli subject confirmed the beingness of the database connected which the study was based.

However, erstwhile approached by The Guardian, the Israeli authorities said they had decided to “rephrase” their archetypal response.

A little connection sent to the insubstantial did not straight respond to immoderate questions astir the information but said the “figures presented successful the nonfiction are incorrect” without detailing which parts of the nonfiction Israel was disputing.

It besides claimed that the numbers quoted by the media outlets “do not bespeak the information disposable successful the [Israeli military]’s systems” without detailing which systems it was referring to.

What are the Israeli army’s numbers?

They person varied wildly during the war.

In November 2023, a elder Israeli information authoritative suggested that Israel had killed 20,000 radical successful Gaza, astir of them fighters.

The pursuing month, that fig shrank to 7,860 fighters. In February 2024, the Israeli service said it killed astir 13,000 fighters, past reduced the fig by 1,000 a week later.

In August 2024 it claimed to person killed 17,000 fighters but changed it to 14,000 2 months later.

“We are reporting a batch of Hamas operatives killed, but I deliberation astir of the radical we study arsenic dormant are not truly Hamas operatives,” an quality root who had accompanied Israeli forces into Gaza told +972.

“People are promoted to the fertile of violent aft their death. If I had listened to the brigade, I would person travel to the decision that we had killed 200 percent of Hamas operatives successful the area.”

Ironically, the 1 accordant acceptable of figures that the Israeli service uses is that produced by the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Do different wars person akin levels of civilian casualties?

Not consistently passim the people of a war.

About 83 percent “of civilians among those killed would beryllium unusually high, peculiarly arsenic it has been going connected for specified a agelong time”, said Therese Pettersson from the Uppsala Conflict Data Programme, which tracks civilian casualties worldwide.