The Israeli military has acknowledged in a briefing to Israeli journalists that roughly 70,000 Palestinians had been killed throughout the warfare in Gaza and that the figures from the health ministry in the enclave are largely correct, native media experiences.
Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth quoted military officers Thursday as saying, “We estimate that about 70,000 Gazans were killed in the war, not including the missing.” Kan 11, the nation’s public broadcaster, attributed the data to the Coordinator of Government Affairs in the Territories (COGAT) and mentioned there may be now an effort to investigate what number of of these killed had been civilian or militant.
On Wednesday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health mentioned a complete of 71,667 Palestinians had been killed in Gaza for the reason that begin of the warfare, in addition to 171,343 injured. That quantity contains 492 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes for the reason that ceasefire started in mid-October. The ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and militants, has routinely printed lists of these killed in Israeli assaults in Gaza.
Early in the warfare, Israel had solid doubt on the variety of Palestinians the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had killed in its assaults, repeatedly accusing the health ministry, which it says is managed by Hamas, of inflating the figures.
An IDF spokesperson wouldn’t verify the data supplied to Israeli journalists.
“The IDF clarifies that the details published do not reflect official IDF data,” the spokesperson mentioned. “Any publication or report on this matter will be released through official and orderly channels.” The spokesperson didn’t reply if the IDF held knowledge concerning the variety of Palestinians killed in Gaza or if such info would ever be launched.
“We don’t have any further comment beyond the information we already gave.”
Although the IDF has by no means publicly acknowledged the quantity killed in Gaza, senior officers have referenced the demise toll in non-public conversations. Last August, in an audio recording released by Israel’s Channel 12 news, former IDF intel chief Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva mentioned, “The fact that there are already 50,000 dead in Gaza is necessary and required for future generations.” It was unclear when Haliva was talking, however the quantity killed in Gaza surpassed 50,000 in March 2025.
In September, former IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi mentioned, “There are 2.2 million people in Gaza. There are in Gaza today more than 10% who were killed or injured, more than 200,000. This is not a gentle war.” The quantity carefully aligned with the casualty figures from the health ministry on the time, which mentioned that Israeli forces had killed practically 65,000 Palestinians and injured greater than 164,000.