IDF Accepts Gaza Health Ministry Death Toll of Over 71,000 Palestinians Killed During the War

[demmiblue]

Source: Haaretz

The IDF has accepted the estimate of the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry that approximately 70,000 Palestinians were killed during the Israel-Gaza war, noting that the number does not include missing residents who are potentially buried under rubble.

The IDF also said it is currently analyzing the data on the dead to see how many of them are combatants and how many are civilians. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, 71,667 Gazans have been killed by IDF fire since the beginning of the war on October 7, 2023.

The Ministry's tally includes only those killed directly by Israeli military fire in its tracking, not people who died of starvation or from diseases exacerbated by the war.

The records published by the Gaza Ministry of Health identify over 90 percent of the bodies by name and identification numbers, but do not distinguish between militants and civilians.

Read more: https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2026-01-29/ty-article/.premium/idf-accepts-gaza-health-ministry-estimate-of-over-70-000-palestinians-killed-in-the-war/0000019c-0918-dec4-adfd-fd5dde830000

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I cannot tell you how much doubt was consistently directed at the Gaza Health Ministry’s casualty numbers and how much pressure was put on news organizations to couch those numbers as unreliable.

Biden himself said they were fabricated!

www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...

— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes.bsky.social) 2026-01-29T15:31:22.183Z

[demmiblue]

1. The IDF is accepting the Gaza Health Ministry's figure because it knows it is an undercount.

The IDF is accepting the Gaza Health Ministry’s figure because it knows it is an undercount.

The number includes only identified dead, and bodies that have not yet been identified remain beneath the rubble. There have also been additional deaths due to disease, exposure, and malnutrition.

The IDF is accepting the Gaza Health Ministry’s figure because it knows it is an undercount.

The number includes only identified dead, and bodies that have not yet been identified remain beneath the rubble. There have also been additional deaths due to disease, exposure, and malnutrition.

— Leah McElrath (@leahmcelrath.bsky.social) 2026-01-29T17:06:11.235Z

[Bayard]

2. 3 x that amount would probably be closer

You have to count bodies still buried in rubble, and the starvation war crime.

[iemanja]

3. So they basically lied the whole time

That they were criticizing these numbers. I don’t suppose we’ll hear any mea culpas from those who repeated the IDF’s knowingly false propaganda.

[Rob H.]

4. I'm guessing that in this specific instance (and only this one) they'll claim that the IDF is wrong nt

[twodogsbarking]

5. When the war to end all wars comes there won't be anyone alive to acknowledge it.

?