15 out of every 16 Palestinians killed by Israel in Gaza are civilians, data shows

The Guardian has revealed that about 15 out of every 16 Palestinians killed by the Israeli army in Gaza City since last March were civilians, in a new indication of the scale of the humanitarian disaster facing the Strip. The revelation comes from data collated by independent organisation ACLED, which tracks armed conflicts.

According to ACLED, the Israeli occupation army has carried out more than 3,500 airstrikes over the past six months, resulting in the deaths of more than 9,500 people, most of them civilians, as well as the assassination of at least 40 leaders and members of Hamas. The newspaper considered that the rate of civilian casualties during this period is the highest since the outbreak of the war nearly two years ago. This will increase international pressure on Israel as it expands its ground operations in Gaza City.

Civilians account for 80% of Palestinian civilians killed in Gaza

The report also noted a significant increase in the rate of building destruction. The occupation army completely or partially destroyed more than 3,600 buildings and residential towers between 11 August and 13 September. This was in addition to destroying some 13,000 tents that were sheltering displaced persons, according to data from the Government Media Office in Gaza.

These findings echo a joint investigation conducted by the Guardian, the Hebrew website Local Call, and the magazine 972+ at the end of August. It revealed that civilians accounted for 83% of the total number of casualties, based on a confidential database of the Israeli military intelligence division ‘Aman’. The investigation showed that the number of Hamas and Islamic Jihad members killed by mid-May did not exceed 8,900 fighters. This compared to more than 52,000 martyrs counted by the Ministry of Health in Gaza for the same period. It means that fighters account for only 14-17% of the victims, compared to 83-86% civilians.

According to estimates, around 10,000 bodies remain buried under the rubble, along with thousands of missing persons, and many of the bodies have been burned beyond recognition. These figures, according to the Guardian, mean that five out of every six martyrs in Gaza are civilians, which contradicts the official Israeli narrative that exaggerates the number of faction casualties to justify the scale of the destruction.

Admission from within Israel

In a remarkable development, former Israeli army chief of staff Herzi Halevi acknowledged on 13 September that more than 200,000 Palestinians have been killed or injured since the start of the war. This represents more than 10% of the Gaza Strip’s population. He emphasised that legal advice “did not restrict the army even once”, referring to the absolute freedom granted to the forces in carrying out their military operations.

Feature image via TRT World/Youtube.