On December 22, health officials in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip reported that the ongoing war with Israel has resulted in the death of more than 20,000 Palestinians. This grim statistic underscores the significant human cost of Israel’s military offensive, prompting increased calls for de-escalation. The figure, equivalent to nearly 1% of Gaza’s prewar population, is indicative of the widespread devastation caused by the conflict, which, over the course of 11 weeks, has displaced nearly 85% of Gaza’s inhabitants and extensively damaged large portions of the coastal enclave.
Gaza’s Health Ministry, responsible for the statistic, documented 20,057 deaths during the fighting, without distinguishing between combatant and civilian casualties. The ministry previously noted that approximately two-thirds of the deceased were women or minors. In addition to the fatalities, 53,320 Palestinians have been reported as wounded.
The conflict was triggered when Hamas militants breached Israel’s border on October 7, resulting in the killing of around 1,200 people and the abduction of 240 others. In response, Israel launched a military campaign involving thousands of airstrikes and a substantial ground offensive, aiming to dismantle Hamas’ military capabilities. Israel attributes the high civilian death toll to Hamas’s use of densely populated residential areas for military purposes.
While Israeli officials claim to have killed approximately 7,000 Hamas militants, they have not provided evidence to substantiate this assertion.
