The number of women and children killed during Israel’s war in Gaza has been revised downwards by the United Nations. The new estimates have reduced the figures by almost half, raising questions about the accuracy of the initial numbers provided by Hamas, the militant group.
According to the UN’s data published on May 6th, out of the 34,735 lives lost in Gaza since the start of the war, more than 9,500 were women and over 14,500 were children.
In the recently released data on May 8, the UN revised the numbers, stating that among the 34,844 people reported killed in Gaza, there were 4,959 women and 7,797 children.
According to the United Nations, casualty figures in Gaza are based on data provided by the Gaza Ministry of Health, which is controlled by Hamas. However, the UN acknowledges that it has not been able to independently verify these figures and therefore cannot guarantee their accuracy.
According to UN spokeswoman Eri Kaneko, the Gaza Ministry of Health has reported that the total number of fatalities remains unchanged. Kaneko referred to the ministry’s April 30 update, which provides a breakdown of the 24,686 fatalities for whom complete details are available.
The Ministry states that the number of fatalities with documented details consists of 7,797 children, 4,959 women, 1,924 elderly individuals, and 10,006 men. Kaneko emphasizes that the Ministry of Health is still in the process of documenting the complete identification details of the casualties.
The Gaza Ministry of Health estimates that there are over 10,000 individuals who are either missing or trapped under the rubble in Gaza. However, the recent UN report on casualties does not include these figures.
In a recent report, the Gazan Health Ministry acknowledged that it had incomplete data for 11,371 recorded fatalities. These records were deemed incomplete if they were missing key information such as an individual’s identity number, full name, date of birth, or date of death. The ministry shared this information through its Telegram channel, highlighting the need for accurate and comprehensive data in documenting fatalities.
According to Kaneko, the UN teams in Gaza are facing challenges in independently confirming the figures due to the current situation on the ground and the large number of fatalities.
“The Ministry of Health in Gaza is the recognized source for all figures used by the UN,” she noted. “The UN will make every effort to verify these figures when conditions allow.”
The Jerusalem Post was the first to report the revised estimates.
President Joe Biden initially expressed doubt last year about the accuracy of the figures provided by Hamas. However, in recent months, he has started to cite death figures from the Gaza Ministry of Health. This was evident during his March State of the Union address to Congress.
Israeli officials have consistently challenged the death toll provided by Hamas, particularly regarding the number of women and children who were killed during the conflict. According to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, over 13,000 individuals affiliated with Hamas, whom he refers to as “terrorists,” were among the Palestinians who lost their lives in Gaza since the start of the war on October 7th.
According to a blog post by Elliott Abrams, a senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the think-tank Council on Foreign Relations, Hamas has been trying to convince the world that the majority of casualties and fatalities in the conflict have been women and children. This argument was widely accepted until recently.
According to Elliott Abrams, former deputy national security adviser for President George W. Bush, the United Nations (UN) has finally come to the realization that it had blindly accepted Hamas’ misleading numbers.
The latest data from the UN reveals that men account for 40% of the casualties in Gaza, followed by children at 32%, women at 20%, and the elderly at 8%.
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