Israeli Military Data Indicates 83% Civilian Deaths Gaza War

A joint investigation by the Guardian, +972 Magazine, and Local Call based on a classified Israeli military intelligence database reveals that approximately 83 percent of Palestinians killed in Gaza during the ongoing conflict were civilians, with only 17 percent identified as combatants from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. This finding sharply contrasts with official Israeli military statements claiming a more balanced ratio of civilian to militant casualties, often cited as 1:1 or 2:1. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) acknowledge the existence of the database but strongly deny the civilian casualty figures reported, asserting that the article's numbers are inaccurate and reflect a lack of military understanding. Experts note that the civilian death rate indicated by the classified data is unusually high for modern warfare, comparable only to extreme historical conflicts such as Srebrenica, the Rwandan genocide, and the siege of Mariupol. The investigation also highlights the discrepancy between the IDF's reported militant deaths—over 22,000—and the database's tally of 8,900 confirmed militant fatalities, raising questions about the accuracy of public military claims. Human rights advocates and scholars cite the high civilian death toll and conditions in Gaza as evidence of potential genocide, a charge strongly contested by Israeli officials.