Lancet Study Estimates Gaza Death Toll Could Exceed 186,000

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A new study published in the Lancet medical journal estimated that the death toll from the war in Gaza could exceed 186,000 people, five times higher than the 37,396 previously reported by Gaza’s Health Ministry. Israel disputed these figures but was secretly admitted by its military. 

According to a team of British, American, and Canadian researchers, the number of deaths in Gaza could swell up to 186,000 when “indirect deaths” are counted. The researchers described that conflicts have indirect health implications beyond the direct harm from violence, including those killed by disease, hunger, thirst, and exposure. 

“In recent conflicts, such indirect deaths range from three to 15 times the number of direct deaths,” the article read. “Applying a conservative estimate of four indirect deaths per one direct death to the 37,396 deaths reported, it is not implausible to estimate that up to 186 000 or even more deaths could be attributable to the current conflict in Gaza,”  reads the article.

Before Israel’s violence escalated in Gaza prior to October 7, the enclave housed around 2.3 million people. The recent death toll estimation translates to the enclave losing almost 8 percent of its pre-war population.

Palestinians react, following an Israeli strike near a UN-run school sheltering displaced people, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, in this still image taken from a video, July 3, 2024. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

“An immediate and urgent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip is essential, accompanied by measures to enable the distribution of medical supplies, food, clean water, and other resources for basic human needs,” the authors argued.

The journal pointed out that the toll is likely much higher because the destruction of infrastructure in Gaza has made it extremely difficult to maintain a count that is not lower than the actual death toll.

“Documenting the true scale is crucial for ensuring historical accountability and acknowledging the full cost of the war. It is also a legal requirement,” it said, as quoted from Al Jazeera.

Israel has been asked by the International Court of Justice to document and preserve evidence that could implicate it in genocide. After the Gaza war raged for nine months, Israel was also under international pressure to stop its military campaign in the enclave.

RT.COM | AL JAZEERA

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