US Health Workers Back From Gaza Estimate Death Toll Is at Least 4 Times Higher Than Reported
truthout.org
Meanwhile, Gaza officials reported this week that Israel has wiped out 902 entire families, at a minimum.

In a devastating letter sent to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris this week, 99 health workers who have volunteered in Gaza amid the genocide wrote that Israel has likely already killed over 118,908 Palestinians in Gaza. This is approximately 5.4 percent of Gaza’s population, meaning Israel has killed 1 of every 20 Palestinians in the Strip in less than a year, according to this estimate.

Not only is this figure horrific, it is also the “most conservative estimate” possible of the true death toll in Gaza, the health workers wrote in an appendix to the letter. The workers calculated this based on estimates from food insecurity researchers on the death toll caused by famine; rough estimates of deaths by disease; and other estimates of deaths that Gaza health officials are unable to count.

The workers, who spent a combined 254 weeks in Gaza, specifically emphasize the impact that Israel’s genocide has had on children. For instance, they point out that, according to officially reported figures, Israel has killed at least 2,100 babies and toddlers since October 7 — a toll that is higher than the combined Israeli death toll from the First Intifada, the Second Intifada and October 7 attack.

  • ⓝⓞ🅞🅝🅔@lemmy.caEnglish
    333·
    13 hours ago

    Why is this number so drastically higher than other numbers I’ve seen? I thought it was in the 40 thousands?

    (Not like that’s any better. Genocide is genocide. I’m just a bit perturbed by how different the number is then when I last heard.)

    UPDATE: Further along in the linked document it clarified…

    “In total it is likely that 62,413 people have died of starvation and its compilations in Gaza from October 7, 2023 to September 30, 2024. Most of these will have been young children.”

    That figure is an addition to the 42,000 that have died from the violence.

    Holy hell… 😭

    • Maggoty@lemmy.worldEnglish
      62·
      8 hours ago

      I and a few others have been trying to tell people that Gaza is already in the dying phase. That the UN and IPC have said Northern Gaza is in famine and Southern Gaza is “imminent”. But nobody has wanted to listen. Just recently we found out that USAID made the same assessment and assessed that Israel was restricting calories on purpose. But Blinken and Biden ignored that assessment to effectively clear Israel for military aid.

      And this isn’t done yet. When they dig that rubble out they’re going to find more bodies. That’s part of why Israel wants to officially occupy Gaza again. If we ever get a real number that might actually make them a parish state.

    • unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
      182·
      12 hours ago

      Yeah the 40k have been unchanged for months, which made me wonder what the real number including the witholding of aid is. So yeah… now we know.

    • small44@lemmy.worldEnglish
      12·
      13 hours ago

      The collapse of help system. I also think indirect deaths from diseases and famine are not counted by the health ministry