LONDON, 20 Feb. - (ANA) - A new study published in the medical journal The Lancet Global Health estimates that the death toll from Israel's war on Gaza was 50 percent higher than registered up to January 2025.

 

The study, titled 'Violent and non-violent death tolls for the Gaza conflict', said that between 7 October 2023 and 5 January 2025 around 75,200 Palestinians were killed in the enclave, as opposed to the 49,090 registered by Gaza's Ministry of Health.

 

Of these, the study estimates that 42,200 killed were women, children, and those aged over 64, representing 56.2 percent of violent deaths and validating the ministry's own demographic reporting.

 

Based on a survey of 2,000 families in Gaza selected to represent the enclave's population, participants were asked to detail the deaths of those within their family. The number of families documents the status of 9729 household members as of October 6, in addition to newborns.

 

Alongside violent deaths, the study estimated that 16,300 Palestinians died form non-violent deaths, with 8,540 representing excess deaths.

 

Excess deaths refer to the number of deaths that occur above what is expected in normal circumstances.

 

"The combined evidence suggests that, as of Jan 5, 2025, 3-4 percent of the population of the Gaza Strip had been killed violently and there have been a substantial number of non-violent deaths caused indirectly by the conflict," the study said.

 

According to the latest statistics recorded by Gaza's health ministry on Thursday, 72,069 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's ongoing war on the enclave, including 611 since the beginning of the ceasefire.

 

The figure is lower than the estimate presented by the study, despite being over a year further than the survey's date and includes a period of heightened conflict following the breakdown of a second ceasefire, which subsequently induced famine in the enclave's north.

 

Throughout the war, Israel and its supporters have dismissed figures presented by the enclave's health ministry as being "Hamas propaganda", as well as shifting the blame for Palestinians who died from starvation towards "underlying health conditions."

 

However, the report added: "The validation of [Gaza] MoH reporting through multiple independent methodologies supports the reliability of its administrative casualty recording systems even under extreme conditions."

 

The Israeli military later admitted in January that it accepted the figures in a briefing to journalists.

 

Israel's war on Gaza has devastated the enclave, damaging or destroying most of its housing and basic infrastructure, schools, and medical sector.

 

The war was labelled by a UN commission as genocide, a claim that has been supported by Holocaust and Genocide scholars and NGOs.

 

The International Court of Justice in The Hague is currently hearing a case brought about by South Africa accusing Israel of breaking the Genocide Convention, which the court said was plausible in a 2024 preliminary ruling.

 

The International Criminal Court has also issued arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on war crimes charges.  - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/20 February 2026 - - -