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Classified Israeli military intelligence data reviewed by three media outlets suggests that civilians account for the vast majority of Palestinians killed in Gaza since the war began in October 2023.
As of May 2025, the Israeli military had identified 8,900 Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters as dead or “probably dead,” according to the database. By that time, Gaza health authorities reported more than 53,000 Palestinians killed. The figures indicate that 83% of the dead were civilians, one of the highest civilian tolls recorded in modern conflicts, researchers said.
Comparisons by the Uppsala Conflict Data Program found higher civilian-to-combatant death ratios only in Srebrenica, the Rwandan genocide, and Russia’s 2022 siege of Mariupol. “That proportion of civilians among those killed would be unusually high, particularly as it has been going on for such a long time,” said Therése Pettersson of UCDP.
The Israeli military did not dispute the database’s existence but denied the accuracy of the numbers without offering alternative figures. Officials have at times claimed a near 1-to-1 combatant-to-civilian ratio and as many as 20,000 militants killed. Critics, including retired Israeli generals and rights groups, say those estimates are inflated and often classify civilians as militants posthumously.
Scholars and human rights advocates, including Israeli academics, argue the data supports accusations that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. The war has also been marked by mass displacement, starvation, and repeated attacks on civilians seeking aid.
Israel says the campaign is an act of self-defense after Hamas-led attacks killed about 1,200 people on Oct. 7, 2023. But rights experts warn that Israeli tactics, including broad rules of engagement and strikes on populated areas, reflect a departure from international norms designed to protect civilians.
