Biden’s dismissal of the reported Palestinian death toll

The Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7 killed more than 1,400 civilians and soldiers, according to count by the Israeli prime minister’s office. Israel’s response — a bombing campaign and now a major ground assault — had killed 8,309 as of Sunday, according to a count by the Gaza Health Ministry, which is controlled by Hamas, a militant group designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department.

In any war, statistics on deaths are fuzzy and subject to change. Almost a month after the Hamas attack, the precise number of...