How trustworthy are the Gaza Health Ministry's casualty numbers?

President Biden and other observers of the Israel-Hamas war are skeptical of the Hamas-run ministry's death toll. But those doubts may be unwarranted.

Scenes of destruction in Gaza
Nobody disputes that many civilians are dying from the bombs Israel says it has dropped on more than 7,000 targets
(Image credit: Illustrated / Getty Images)

The Gaza Ministry of Health on Thursday evening released a list of 7,028 Palestinians killed since Israel started its heavy bombing of the besieged Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, in response to a vicious surprise attack on southern Israel by Hamas militants. The list included the names, ID numbers, ages and gender of 6,747 of the dead Gazans, including 2,665 children, but the ministry said it could not identify the other 281 due to the state of their remains. 

The Israeli military said Thursday that "224 people were still believed to be held hostage by Hamas in Gaza," reported CBS News, though Hamas' military wing said "Israel had killed 50 of the hostages with its airstrikes on Gaza," a number included in the latest death toll.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.