Gaza death toll hits 40,000 with thousands more yet to be counted [View all]

[Ramsey Barner]

Ten months into Israel’s war on Gaza, the death toll has passed 40,000, according to health authorities there. A majority of the dead are civilians and the total represents nearly 2% of Gaza’s prewar population, or one in every 50 residents.

But even that figure does not tell the full story of Palestinian losses. “This number, 40,000, includes only bodies that were received and buried,” said Dr Marwan al-Hams, the director of field hospitals at the Palestinian ministry of health. “New procedures are being tested to include those who are missing or known to be under the rubble on the list of the dead, but they have not yet been approved.”

“People who died due to indirect impacts of war, including diseases, starvation and the collapse of the healthcare system, are not included [in the war dead],” said Hams. “A committee will be formed to count these [victims], which will start work immediately after the end of the war.”

Israeli officials question the death toll given by the authorities in Gaza. They argue that because Hamas controls the government there, its health officials cannot provide credible figures, but the doctors and civil servants who run the hospitals and health system have a credible record from past wars in Gaza.

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https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/15/gaza-death-toll-hits-40000-with-thousands-more-yet-to-be-counted