Gaza’s Death Toll Could Rise To 186,000

"Gaza’s death toll could rise to 186,000 or more according to leading medical journal thelancetgroup, if both direct and indirect deaths from the Israeli military’s assault on Palestinians are counted. This figure, almost five times higher than what was previously reported, means that a staggering 8% of the population, or one in every 12 Gaza inhabitants, was killed in the past nine months of genocide.

Following recent trips to Gaza, Palestinian writer @susanabulhawa describes how the true death toll in Gaza is far higher than previous official reports indicate, revealing a much more astonishing reality:

“The number that’s reported by the Health Ministry, the stagnant number did not include anyone who did not go through the hospital system. In other words, nobody who was buried by their family. It did not include people who were unidentified, both by name and by civil ID number,” Abulhawa says.

She visited Gaza twice this year between February and May, where she witnessed firsthand the unimaginable scale of the Israeli military’s genocidal campaign against the Palestinian people.

Previous figures only account for identified victims of direct fire by the Israeli military. Hundreds of thousands remain uncounted—unidentified bodies, those who died from lack of healthcare, those buried without hospital access, those who starved, those trapped under rubble, those who succumbed to torture, and the missing. Each of these individuals deserves to be acknowledged.

Understanding the historical context is crucial: the Israeli military’s atrocities are part of a deliberate plan to decimate Gaza, exploit its resources, and steal Palestinian homes and land. The underreported death toll—of at least 186,000— makes our work still more urgent. As we demand justice, we continue to name, count, remember, and mourn the Palestinians who have lost their lives to the Israeli military.