Israeli Data Suggests Most Killed in Gaza Are Civilians

More than 80% of those killed in Gaza since the war began have been civilians, a classified Israeli military database reveals. A joint investigation by the Guardian, +972 Magazine, and Local Call has found that as of May 2025, 8,900 named fighters from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad had died or were presumed dead, according to internal Israeli data. This compares to a total death toll of about 53,000 reported by Gaza health officials, suggesting five out of every six fatalities were noncombatants, per the Guardian.

International conflict researchers say such a high civilian death rate is unusual for modern warfare, more in line with some of the deadliest conflicts of the past. The Israeli military did not dispute the existence of the database but said the figures reported were incorrect, offering no further details. Israeli officials have at times claimed higher militant casualty figures and suggested a lower civilian toll, but experts and former Israeli officers point to systematic inflation of militant counts, sometimes labeling unverified victims as combatants.