Israel releases new Gaza civilian death toll, says Hamas’ numbers are ‘fake and fabricated’

Israel for the first time has released its estimated civilian death toll in Gaza, saying that 16,000 have been killed in the war that began on Oct. 7 instead of the approximately 35,000 that the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas' Ministry of Health is claiming. 

Israel government spokesperson Avi Hyman tells Fox News that for 221 days, his country has been "condemned globally because of a fake and fabricated civilian death toll created and disseminated by Hamas.  

"The United Nations has rubber-stamped these Hamas numbers and become a Hamas newswire to the world," he said. "In reality, Israel is setting the new gold standard for urban warfare with what appears to be the lowest civilian to combatant casualty ratios in history."