Israeli figures reveal that 83% of casualties in Gaza civilians, as UN declares famine

Newly released Israeli figures suggest that 83 percent of Palestinians killed in the enclave are civilians, an extremely high ratio of civilians to fighters not often seen in contemporary conflicts, as a UN declared a famine in Gaza.

The casualty count, which comes from a database managed by the Israeli Military Intelligence Directorate that records the deaths of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants, recorded that by May 2025, around 8,900 named militants had been killed, according to Israel's +972 Magazine, Local Call, and Britain's The Guardian.

The database lists the names of 47,653 Palestinians believed to be militants in the armed wing of both organisations and is based on internal documents retrieved by the military.

When compared with figures from Gaza's Ministry of Health of the overall number of Palestinians killed since the start of the war by May 2025, which stood at 53,000, the military figures show that 83 percent of those killed in Gaza are civilians.

The true death toll is believed to be much higher than the ministry's figures and Israel has been widely accused of committing a genocide.

The casualty count is in stark contrast to estimates publicly stated by the Israeli officials, with the military saying that 22,000 militants had been killed in an update on Wednesday.

Following publication, the military denied the report, saying that "the figures presented in the article are incorrect and do not reflect the data available in the [Israeli military's] systems."

Amid the revelations over Gaza's death toll, the Israeli army is pressing on with its offensive on Gaza City, even as the UN's Secretary General condemned the move, warning that the assault is likely to cause "massive death and destruction" to the city.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Friday that "soon, the gates of hell will open" on Gaza City unless Hamas agrees to Israel's conditions on ending the war.

"If they do not agree, Gaza, the capital of Hamas, will become Rafah and Beit Hanoun," he added, referring to two areas of Gaza that have been systematically levelled by the Israeli military since the start of the war.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier approved the military's plan to seize and occupy Gaza City, even as Hamas said it had agreed to a ceasefire proposal with mediators Qatar and Egypt.

Israel has ramped up its bombardment of neighbourhoods of Gaza City in recent days, bombing a school in Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood on Friday morning, killing 12 people.

The UN has said that since mid-March, 95 percent of the recorded displacement has been people fleeing Gaza City, with the total number of "recorded movements" being at 796,000.

Famine declared in Gaza

On Friday, the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, which is a system classifying food insecurity across the world, declared famine in Gaza City, which they said is "entirely man-made."

Israel has imposed a siege on Gaza, blocking off food supplies to the devastated territory. In May, it allowed the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation to distribute food, but only at sites where the Israeli army was operating.

Hundreds of desperate Palestinians have been killed over the past few weeks by Israeli soldiers and GHF security contractors as they tried to receive aid.

"There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that an immediate, at-scale response is needed. Any further delay - even by days - will result in a totally unacceptable escalation of famine-related mortality," the report said.

Dr Rachael Moses, a physiotherapist working at Gaza's al-Shifa Hospital for Medical Aid for Palestinians, said that in her 25-year career, "I have never seen as many patients so malnourished and starved as I have in Gaza's ICUs - both babies and adults."

Gaza's health authorities said on Thursday that 271 Palestinians have died from starvation, including 112 children, with sources at the Nasser Medical complex in Khan Younis telling Al Jazeera that a baby died of malnutrition.

Israel has killed over 62,000 Palestinians in Gaza since the war began, according to health ministry figures, wounding a further 157,000 more.