IDF Says Gaza War Death Toll Largely Matches Hamas Figures, Official Acknowledges

The Israel Defense Forces believe that the overall death toll reported by Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry during the war in the Gaza Strip is broadly accurate, a senior Israeli military official acknowledged on Thursday, marking a notable shift from Israel’s earlier public skepticism.

Speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity, the official said the IDF assesses that approximately 70,000 people have died since the conflict began more than two years ago, following Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel. That estimate closely aligns with the Gaza health ministry’s current figure of 71,667 deaths, which includes more than 450 people reportedly killed since the October 2025 ceasefire.

The official stressed that the precise breakdown of those deaths remains under review, and that it is still unclear how many of the fatalities were members of armed groups versus civilians. Gaza’s health ministry does not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants in its publicly released data.

Longstanding Disputes Over Casualty Figures

Throughout much of the war, Israel publicly rejected casualty figures released by Hamas authorities, particularly following high-profile incidents in which Israeli officials said the numbers appeared inflated or unverifiable.

Despite those disputes, Israeli security agencies have, in past conflicts, found the Gaza health ministry’s total death counts to be largely reliable, even as they challenged the characterization of victims.

According to the senior military official, the current toll does not include thousands of bodies believed to remain buried under rubble across the Gaza Strip. Hamas estimates that approximately 10,000 people fall into that category, a figure Israel has not independently confirmed.

Disagreements Over Causes of Death

The Gaza health ministry has also claimed that at least 440 Palestinians died from malnutrition or starvation during the war. Israel has strongly denied that assertion.

The military official said those statistics were manipulated to include individuals suffering from severe pre-existing medical conditions, arguing that such deaths were not directly caused by famine or food shortages linked to the conflict.

While Israeli officials dispute specific claims, they have not released a comprehensive alternative casualty database. Instead, Israel has periodically cited estimated ratios of civilian to combatant deaths, maintaining that its figures compare favorably with other urban warfare scenarios.

Civilian and Combatant Ratios

Before the October 2025 ceasefire, the IDF said it had killed at least 22,000 Hamas and other militant fighters in Gaza, in addition to approximately 1,600 militants killed inside Israel during the October 7 attack.

Israeli officials have repeatedly stated that the civilian-to-combatant death ratio remained relatively consistent throughout the conflict, estimating that two to three civilians were killed for every militant. They argue that this ratio is lower than in many other modern urban conflicts.

Israel says it takes extensive measures to limit civilian harm, while accusing Hamas of systematically embedding fighters and military infrastructure within civilian areas, including residential buildings, hospitals, schools, and mosques.

A Rare Admission

The acknowledgment by a senior Israeli military official that Gaza’s overall death toll is broadly consistent with Hamas health ministry figures represents a rare public admission, even as Israel continues to challenge how those numbers are interpreted.

While disagreements remain over classification, responsibility, and causes of death, the statement suggests a growing consensus within Israel’s security establishment about the scale of human loss resulting from one of the longest and most devastating conflicts in the region’s recent history.