Israeli genocide in Gaza has killed over 100,000 people

According to calculations by a research team from the renowned Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, it is estimated that more than 100,000 people have either lost their lives or been killed during the conflict, which has persisted for more than two years, German national weekly newspaper Die Zeit reported on Monday.

“We will never know the exact number of dead. We are only trying to estimate as accurately as possible what a realistic order of magnitude might be,” Irena Chen, co-leader of the project, said.

The researchers' calculations revealed that the number of deaths or killings in the Gaza Strip during the first two years of the war ranged between 99,997 and 125,915. Their median estimate stands at 112,069.

Max Planck scientists gathered data from multiple sources and conducted a statistical analysis. Alongside information from the Gaza-based Ministry of Health, they included findings from an independent household survey and death reports retrieved from social media platforms.

Up to this point, the sole official source for the martyr toll has been Gaza's Health Ministry, which recorded 67,173 fatalities over the war's initial two years.

According to Die Zeit, there is no indication of any statistical manipulation, but evidence now clearly shows that the actual death toll from the conflict between Israel and Hamas surpasses the official statistics. Various studies continually point to a significant number of deaths that remain unreported.

Gaza's Ministry of Health records only confirmed deaths, such as those documented with hospital-issued death certificates. However, with many hospitals forced to suspend regular operations during the war, the ministry has started relying on death notifications from relatives, which a dedicated panel reviews and verifies. Tragically, victims trapped beneath the rubble of bombed buildings often remain unaccounted for.

The Max Planck team built upon earlier findings to calculate precise mortality estimates. Their analysis considered men and women separately, as well as distinct age groups.

Based on the researchers' estimates, around 27% of the war casualties are expected to be children under 15 years old, while roughly 24% are projected to be women.

Researchers have additionally assessed how the war has affected life expectancy in the Gaza Strip. Prior to the war, the life expectancy was 77 years for women and 74 years for men. However, projections for 2024 estimate it to drop significantly to 46 years for women and 36 years for men.

The data suggests that if the ongoing conflict persists as it has in recent years, Palestinians may only achieve this average lifespan. These statistics highlight the growing peril faced by the civilian population in the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, Palestine’s ambassador to the United Nations emphasized on Monday that Palestinians in Gaza continue to face fatalities and endure harsh limitations on aid, despite the ceasefire, calling on the UN Security Council to take action to ensure full adherence to the agreement.

Riyad Mansour addressed the council, expressing that Palestinians had been desperately awaiting an end to the devastating war against them and underscored that they welcomed the ceasefire more than anyone else globally.

But, he added, “Palestinians are still being killed and maimed, with aid restricted and reconstruction delayed. Palestinians want all of this to end, and they don't want to lose half of Gaza in the process.”

He said 1,000 Palestinians have been killed or injured since the ceasefire came into effect on October 10, adding that “every single day, two Palestinian children are killed by Israel. Nothing can justify that.”

Mansour warned that the ceasefire has frequently been on the verge of breaking down, emphasizing that at crucial moments, the US, which brokered the ceasefire, must step in to prevent its collapse.

The Palestinian diplomat stressed the need to make the ceasefire permanent and urged a complete Zionist regime’s withdrawal from Gaza. He stressed that there should be no occupation, annexation, or partition of Gaza, asserting that Palestinian independence and a so-called two-state solution are the only viable routes to achieve peace.