Israeli security officials now say the overall death toll in Gaza during the war is likely close to figures released by the Hamas-run health ministry, marking a notable shift from Israel’s earlier skepticism of the group’s casualty totals.

The Hamas health ministry reports that 71,667 people have been killed in Gaza since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel. A senior Israeli security official said Israel’s current assessment places the total number of deaths at roughly 70,000, though officials stress that the internal review of the figures is ongoing.

While Israeli officials continue to dispute Hamas casualty claims tied to specific incidents, they acknowledge that in previous conflicts the ministry’s cumulative totals have often been viewed as broadly accurate — even as they fail to distinguish between civilians and combatants.

Israeli officials said it remains unclear how many of the dead were members of terror groups and how many were civilians killed during fighting. Before the October 2025 ceasefire, the IDF said they had killed at least 22,000 combatants in Gaza, in addition to 1,600 terrorists inside Israel during the Oct. 7 assault.

IDF officials have said the ratio of combatant to civilian deaths stayed relatively consistent throughout the war, estimating that two to three civilians were killed for every terrorist.

The Hamas health ministry has also claimed that at least 440 Palestinians died of malnutrition and starvation. Israeli officials reject that claim, saying the figures include people with severe preexisting medical conditions.

Israeli leaders continue to argue that Hamas’s practice of operating from civilian areas — including hospitals, schools and mosques — has increased civilian harm, while maintaining that the military seeks to minimize noncombatant casualties.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)