The Israeli military has acknowledged in a briefing to Israeli journalists that approximately 70,000 Palestinians were killed during the war in Gaza and that the figures from the health ministry in the enclave are largely accurate, local media reports.
Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth quoted military officials Thursday as saying, “We estimate that about 70,000 Gazans were killed in the war, not including the missing.” Kan 11, the country’s public broadcaster, attributed the information to the Coordinator of Government Affairs in the Territories (COGAT) and said there is now an effort to analyze how many of those killed were civilian or militant.
On Wednesday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said a total of 71,667 Palestinians were killed in Gaza since the start of the war, as well as 171,343 injured. That number includes 492 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes since the ceasefire began in mid-October. The ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and militants, has routinely published lists of those killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza.
Early in the war, Israel had cast doubt on the number of Palestinians the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had killed in its attacks, repeatedly accusing the health ministry, which it says is controlled by Hamas, of inflating the figures.
An IDF spokesperson would not confirm the information provided to Israeli journalists.
Continue reading the complete article on the original source
