The Lancet Medical Journal has re-assessed the Palestinian death toll and found that more than 75,000 people were killed in the first 16 months of the two year war in Gaza – that’s 25,000 more than the initial toll announced by local authorities at the time.

The Guardian (19/2) reported that last month a senior Israel security officer had told Israeli journalists that the figures compiled by Gazan health authorities were broadly accurate – contradicting years of denial.

Research also found that the reporting by Gaza health authorities about the proportion of women, children and elderly people killed was accurate. A total of 42,200 women, children and elderly people died between October 7 2023 and January 2025.

A Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research estimated that there has been 78,318 people had been killed in Gaza between 7 October 2023 and 32 December 2024 and suggested that there was a much higher number of indirect deaths which........

© Pearls and Irritations