A classified Israeli military database lists 8,900 fighters from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) as confirmed or probably dead as of May 2025, 19 months into the war on Gaza. Gaza's health authorities recorded at least 53,000 deaths from Israeli attacks over the same period. Named fighters therefore account for about 17 percent of recorded deaths, leaving roughly 83 percent as civilians. Conflict researchers say that civilian proportion is almost unparalleled in modern warfare, exceeded only by Rwanda, Srebrenica, and Mariupol. Rights groups and genocide scholars cite mass civilian deaths and alleged deliberate starvation to support genocide claims. The Israeli military did not deny the database's existence but disputed the presented figures without clarifying specifics, while some Israeli officials have previously inflated fighter death counts.
Conflict researchers say that ratio is almost unparalleled in modern warfare. Only the Rwandan genocide, the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, and Russia's 2022 siege of Mariupol recorded a higher civilian death rate, the authors noted. Rights groups and genocide scholars argue the findings further support claims that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, pointing to mass civilian deaths alongside deliberate starvation.
When asked to comment by The Guardian, +972 Magazine, and Local Call, the Israeli military did not deny the existence of the intelligence database or the listed figures for Hamas and PIJ casualties. Instead, a spokesperson said figures presented in the article are incorrect, but did not clarify which numbers were disputed. The statement also claimed the data does not reflect the data available in the [Israeli military's] systems, without explaining what those systems contained.
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