How Many People Have Died in Gaza?

Roughly 33,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. Can we trust that number?

The Details: The Health Ministry's death toll is the only consistent count, and as of April 22, says over 34,100 people have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7. The toll doesn't differentiate between civilians and combatants. Israel says it has killed roughly 13,000 Hamas members in Gaza. 

Is it Accurate?: Researchers from Johns Hopkins compared the Gaza mortality reports with "reported staff member deaths from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)" and found "no evidence of inflated rates," according to a correspondence published in The Lancet in December.

An Overcount?: A writer for The Telegraph (Lean Right bias) highlighted on March 28 how, unlike in other conflicts, the Gaza death toll is based significantly on reports other than official hospital records. The writer highlighted "discrepancies between the two datasets" used in the Lancet correspondence, and suggested it's more likely that "around 18,000" people have died in Gaza since Oct. 7, rather than over 32,000.

An Undercount?: "Thousands missing beneath rubble are not included in the official count," said a writer for NPR (Lean Left) in February. The article also highlighted doctors in Gaza who said the official count "largely excludes people who have died from a lack of adequate treatment, disease and other impacts from the war, like hunger."