More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli military offensive in Gaza following Hamas’ attack on the territory on October 7, according to the Gaza Strip’s health ministry.
The figure – specifically 40,005, as announced on Thursday by the Hamas-controlled institution – represents approximately 1.7% of the 2.3 million inhabitants of the territory.
In addition to deaths, analysis of satellite images suggests that Nearly 60% of Gaza’s buildings have been damaged or destroyed since the beginning of the war.
The southern city of Rafah has suffered the most damage in recent months, according to the photographs.
Hamas’s numbers
The Gazan Ministry of Health’s figures on the number of dead do not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
However, its breakdown of identified and reported deaths shows that the majority are children, women or the elderly.
The Israeli army assured the BBC that “more than 15,000 terrorists” have died during the war.
International journalists, including those from the BBC, are banned from entering Gaza on their own and are therefore unable to verify figures from either side.
Gaza Health Ministry figures have been used in times of conflict in the past and have been considered reliable by the UN and international institutions.
Until a few months ago, the ministry counted deaths recorded in hospitals and entered them into a centralised system along with names, identity numbers and other details.
However, the Ministry of Health has been unable to operate effectively since the end of last year, as morgues are overflowing, there is fighting in and around hospitals, and connectivity is poor.
The Hamas government’s media office in Gaza has begun publishing death tolls, including reports from “reliable media outlets.”
UN agencies began incorporating this into their data breakdowns, as well as Ministry of Health figures, when updates were available.
More recently, the Gaza Health Ministry began including in its overall count those killed in the war, including by relatives who have done so online.
However, it also counts separately the number of unidentified bodies among the total number of deaths.
The UN has now cited these figures, stressing that its teams in Gaza cannot independently verify them due to conditions on the ground and the high number of fatalities.
Israel has consistently questioned the credibility of the information. In May, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz described the numbers as “False data from a terrorist organization“.
“I saw my father under the rubble”
Some experts believe the actual death toll as a direct result of the war in Gaza is likely much higher, with local officials estimating that Some 10,000 bodies remain under the rubble of buildings hit by Israeli airstrikes.
Ali Ashraf Ata Gheith, 15, told the BBC what happened Two months digging up their dead relatives among the remains of his bombed-out house.
His mother, father, brother and two sisters were killed when the building was hit by an attack. Ali was also inside but survived after being trapped under the rubble for seven hours.
After leaving, he began trying to recover the bodies of his relatives.
“I could see my father under the rubble, but at first I couldn’t get him out because he was under two concrete columns and the roof would have collapsed. It broke down before my eyes”, said.
Even if a ceasefire were to occur, experts say that in addition to the number of people killed as a direct result of the war, many more could die from indirect causes such as disease and hunger.
Ultimately, when the war is over, efforts to recover bodies and trace the missing should allow a clearer picture to emerge about the death toll, including a figure for combatants.
The UN and human rights groups, as well as the Israeli military, are expected to conduct their own investigations.
The destruction in Gaza
Analysis of satellite images suggests that around 59.3% of Gaza’s buildings have been damaged or destroyed since the beginning of the war.
The damage analysis, conducted by Corey Scher of the City University of New York and Jamon Van Den Hoek of Oregon State University, compares images to reveal sudden changes in the height or structure of buildings.
According to expert analysis, the city of Rafahin the south of the strip, has suffered the largest increase in building damage since March.
Most of the destruction occurred after Israel launched an offensive against the city on May 6.
Its military says taking control of the area and eliminating the remaining Hamas battalions is crucial to achieving its war aims.
Satellite images analysed by BBC Verify show that Large swathes of the city were left in ruinsespecially around the border with Egypt and in the northern and southern districts.
Social media videos verified by the BBC and images shared by the Israeli military show how entire areas of Rafah have been damaged or destroyed by aerial bombardment, as well as by Israeli forces on the ground.
Satellite images show that the land has been cleared along the so-called Philadelphia corridora buffer zone along the 14km border with Egypt.
Analysis of BBC Verify images shows Israeli military vehicles in several areas where destroyed buildings are seen along the corridor.
This includes a small neighborhood located on the coastal part of the border that was razed a month after the start of the Rafah operation.
Images taken from the ground by an Israeli soldier also showed that an observation tower was later built in the area.
The operation also destroyed key landmarks in Rafah, including the border crossing, several important mosques and the city’s main market.
On May 7, videos verified by the BBC showed Israeli tanks crushing a “Welcome to Gaza” sign at the Rafah border crossing.
Video released on the same date also showed damage to the blue dome of the Abrar mosque. Satellite images captured later showed the building was later destroyed.
In another video shared on social media on June 27, roads and gardens that once surrounded Rafah’s famous al-Najma roundabout were now torn apart and nearby buildings were severely damaged.
The war began when thousands of Hamas fighters stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli counts.
Additional reporting by Barbara Plett Usher in Jerusalem.
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