JERUSALEM, June 28 (TNF): Israel’s war on Gaza has killed nearly 100,000 Palestinians. This toll equals about 4% of Gaza’s population. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported these figures on Friday, citing Anadolu. The number far exceeds the 56,300 deaths that Gaza’s Health Ministry has reported since October 2023. Haaretz said Israeli bombardments caused many deaths. It added that thousands more died from starvation, disease, and exposure as Gaza’s health system collapsed.
Israeli officials often call Gaza’s death tolls inflated. But Haaretz noted that international experts increasingly see these figures as accurate or even understated. The paper cited research led by Professor Michael Spagat of Holloway College, University of London. His team surveyed 2,000 Gaza households. These households represent nearly 10,000 people. The study estimated that by January 2025, about 75,200 Palestinians had died in attacks, mainly from Israeli airstrikes and ground assaults.
Spagat’s data showed that 56% of the dead were women or children under 18. That share is very high compared to most wars since World War II. Spagat called Gaza’s war one of the deadliest of this century based on population size. He said wars in Syria, Sudan, and Ukraine had higher total deaths. But Gaza ranks first in the share of civilians killed and the share of its population wiped out. Spagat said, “I think we’re probably at something like 4 percent of the population killed. I’m not sure that there’s another case in the 21st century that’s reached that high.”
Haaretz also said the share of women and children killed in Gaza exceeds rates in other wars. In Kosovo, they made up 20% of the dead. In northern Ethiopia, 9%. In Syria, 20%. In Sudan, 23%.
Israel’s military campaign began in October 2023. It has continued despite international calls for a ceasefire. In November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The court charged them with war crimes and crimes against humanity. Israel also faces genocide charges at the International Court of Justice.
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