By L. Costa, Jadetimes News
Updated Data Sparks Controversy Over Civilian Deaths
The United Nations has revised its figures on the proportion of women and children killed in Gaza, leading to claims that fewer Palestinians have been killed since Israel's offensive began on October 7 following a Hamas attack.
Updated Figures
On May 6, the UN reported that 69% of the fatalities were women and children. However, this figure was revised to 52% just two days later. Despite the adjustment, the overall death toll in Gaza remains over 35,000. The UN attributes this change to previously incomplete information.
Source of Data
The UN now relies on figures from the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, rather than the Hamas-run Government Media Office (GMO). This shift in data sources has sparked controversy. Israel's foreign minister criticized the UN's revised figures, accusing the organization of relying on "fake data from a terrorist organization" and sarcastically referring to the lower death tolls for women and children as "the miraculous resurrection of the dead in Gaza."
Methods of Recording Deaths
The casualty figures have been compiled differently by the GMO and the health ministry:
Initially: The health ministry only reported deaths registered in hospitals.
From November: The GMO included deaths recorded in "reliable media reports."
More recently: The health ministry added deaths reported by family members through an online form.
Currently, the health ministry reports deaths in three categories:
Deaths recorded in hospitals
Deaths reported by family members
Deaths from "reliable media reports"
Deaths with incomplete information (such as missing ID numbers or birth dates) are included in the total death toll but are not broken down demographically.
Disputes Over Civilian Casualties
The proportion of women and children killed is often seen as an indicator of civilian casualties. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently claimed that about 30,000 people had been killed in Gaza, including 14,000 "terrorists" and 16,000 civilians, though he did not provide evidence for these figures. Keeping accurate records of casualties during wartime is notoriously difficult, leading to varying reports, as noted by Prof. Erica Charters, a specialist in the study of war. This is not the first instance of such discrepancies: the initial death toll from Hamas's October 7 attacks was estimated at 1,400 by Israeli authorities but was later revised down to about 1,200 due to misidentification of some bodies.
