(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Lenny Ben-David - Inflated numbers of dead Gazans always appear in news accounts, together with high proportions of children and women killed. The sole source of these statistics is Hamas' Ministry of Health in Gaza. The ministry does not reveal how many of the men were civilians and how many were combatants. Nor are reporters aware of the vast discrepancy between women and children casualties in 2023 and those who died in previous Gaza engagements. During the fighting in 2014, out of 1,900 casualties, only 16% were children and 15% were women. Men ages 20 to 29, "the population most likely to be militants," were the most overrepresented in the death toll. They were 9% of Gazans but 34% of those killed. Why such a vast change? First, after Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas stopped giving details about the casualties' age and sex. Moreover, Israel estimates that at least 4,000 Hamas/PIJ fighters have died in the fighting so far. In addition, after being repeatedly warned by Israel, an estimated one million Gazans evacuated their homes and went south. This should be reflected in lower casualty rates for women and children. More than 750 Gazans died since Oct. 7 of natural causes, according to the CIA. Does anyone doubt that Hamas added them to the casualties of the war and blamed Israel? The alleged 500 people killed at al-Ahli hospital by an errant Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket were also likely added to the ministry's numbers. The writer, former Deputy Chief of Staff in Israel's Washington Embassy, is Director of the Institute for U.S.-Israel Relations at the Jerusalem Center.
2023-11-27 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive