Last week, the medical journal The Lancet published an article in which three researchers look at the number of killed and dead in the war in Gaza. According to the Palestinian health authorities, close to 40,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since 7 October. Even if the war were to end today, the death toll will increase in the future. It is because there are many more people than those directly killed who lose their lives in the war on the Gaza Strip, they write. The researchers in The Lancet say it is not unlikely that the real number will end up at over 186,000. That is almost 10 percent of the population. The speech has been widely shared on social media since its publication. The authors emphasize that this is an estimate. – There have been no deaths so far, as some have reported. There is a possible number of deaths that have occurred, and that may occur in the future, writes researcher Martin McKee to news. People killed since 7 October 2023 Close Sources: Hamas-controlled health authorities in Gaza / UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) / Israeli authorities Disclaimer: Figures from Hamas-controlled health authorities in Gaza do not distinguish between civilians and combatants, and may periodically be late. Figures from Israeli authorities show that around 1,200 civilians and soldiers were killed in connection with the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. 287 Israeli soldiers have been killed since October 27, 2023. None of the figures have been confirmed by independent sources. The Palestinian figures are updated daily. Figures from Israel are updated at least twice a week. Close More information about the figures Number of “indirect deaths” The article is based on statements from the health authorities in Gaza, which both the WHO and the UN stand behind. The reason why their calculation is different from the health authorities is that they also count “indirect deaths”. There are people who die from illness, malnutrition, or a lack of critical infrastructure as a consequence of the conflict, also in the future. – In conflicts in recent years, indirect deaths vary from three to 15 times the number of direct deaths, write researchers Rasha Khatib, Martin McKee and Salim Yusuf in the report. news has been in contact with the authors, who say they do not want to comment on the matter further. They have used an estimate of four indirect deaths per direct death. They therefore believe that the final death toll will be so high because of the great destruction. – Destroyed infrastructure, critical shortages of food and water, lack of shelter, the population’s limited ability to flee, and the loss of funding to UNRWA. A man receives treatment at a hospital in Khan Younis on 9 July. Photo: Jehad Alshrafi / AP Nadav Shoshani, a spokesperson for the Israeli Defense Forces, says that the debts from the researchers have not been kept. – Their conclusion must be rejected in the strongest terms, he writes on X. – The IDF has exceeded the requirements of humanitarian law in minimizing damage to civilians in the conflict zone. This is consistently omitted from this letter. The UN and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) have said on several occasions that the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is catastrophic, and that Israel must take action. Read more about the article here: At least Erik Fosse, one of the Norwegian doctors who has worked in the Gaza Strip since the war broke out, is not surprised by the estimate. He has himself seen how the health authorities in the Gaza Strip collect the numbers that are reported on. – I would think that 38,000 dead is a minimum. Many of the health authorities do not have an overview. He does not doubt that the actual death toll and the number of those who will die from the war is much higher. Erik Fosse is a doctor in Norwac, and has helped report the number of deaths to the health authorities in Gaza several times. Photo: Vegard Unger Ellefsen – It is common for the death toll to be underreported in war. But we have never seen a society where the health system is so destroyed and so many are on the run: – It is important to report the death toll, but it is clear that this is a small part of the problem. The number says nothing about the situation people are in. – We will not get a real number – There is the whole range of health needs that are not being met in Gaza now. This will lead to an enormous number of people losing their lives. So this does not surprise me. That’s what Lindis Hurum, secretary general of Médecins Sans Frontières, says. She warns against getting too hung up on the number of people killed in the Gaza Strip, because without independent journalists and researchers, there will be an incorrect number of people suffering. – Who is going to count? People are preoccupied with surviving, and grieving. There are no graves, no functioning hospitals or morgues. People are under their homes. Lindis Hurum is secretary general of Doctors Without Borders. She says the organization has not been allowed to drop in a truck with emergency aid in the last two months. Photo: Francesco Zizola / Francesco Zizola/NOOR In a post on Instagram, she asks that people stop counting the dead on the Gaza Strip. She believes this simplifies what happens in there. – A number is often seen as a fact. It is completely open that no one knows exactly how many have been killed so far, as a result of the war: – But there is no one who can doubt that there are an enormous number of thousands who have, and will, lose their lives. The day there is a cease-fire, and you get a number on who has survived, then you get a real number on those killed in the war, says Hurum. – We know how many people were on the Gaza Strip before the war started. So it is only when the war is over that one has to do the morbid calculation. Hasn’t received emergency aid for two months Already in February, Michael Fakhri, the UN rapporteur on the right to food, said that the Israeli defense forces were deliberately starving the Palestinian people. The IDF has not responded to the debts. According to WPF, the World Food Programme, 2.15 million people in Gaza experience a critical level of food shortage. They report that 96 percent of the Palestinians there face an acute food shortage. A malnourished child looks into the camera at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip, 8 July 2024. Photo: Mohammed Salem / Reuters The need for emergency aid in the Gaza Strip has always been great, even before the war broke out in October. Hurum in Doctors Without Borders says they have not been allowed to let trucks in for the past two months. Immediate ceasefire necessary The Lancet is a recognized medical journal. In the report, researchers Rasha Khatib, Martin McKee and Salim Yusuf write that an immediate ceasefire is necessary. – The same is the delivery of medicines, water, clean water and other things needed to cover basic human needs. The researchers also write that they believe it is necessary to document the actual extent of the human suffering in the Gaza Strip. – This is crucial to ensure historical responsibility. It is also a legal requirement, they write, and point to measures put forward by the International Court of Justice in January. The court demanded that Israel take immediate steps to provide basic services and humanitarian aid to the population of Gaza. The court also said there was “a risk” of Israel violating rights under the Genocide Convention. Published 10.07.2024, at 10.26 Updated 10.07.2024, at 14.48
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Medical journal estimates 186,000 dead as a result of the war on the Gaza Strip – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
