Gaza Updates, Including the Real Death Toll

As we wrote over the last two weeks, this was NOT a peace plan. At best, it was a temporary ceasefire. Naturally, everyone welcomed the end of the bombardment, and the release of captives on both sides was welcomed by Palestinian and Israeli families. Anyone with a heart anticipated the resumption of desperately needed humanitarian aid. That said, we warned that this temporary ceasefire was very fragile, that it was a colonial imposition, not an authentic negotiation. It is not the least bit surprising that it is unraveling. Seasoned Middle East peace negotiators Rob Malley and Hussein Agha described it like this: it took the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip “from utter hell to nightmare.” Even if the horrifying atrocities of the live-streamed genocide end, it will still be true that the people of Gaza will be living an unrelenting nightmare. The Gaza they knew is gone, virtually every home has been destroyed, the healthcare system is shattered, all universities and most schools have been flattened, the water treatment, sanitation, and energy infrastructure is badly damaged, mosques and churches are no more, businesses, markets, and commerce have all but vanished, and there is only a scant amount of food and drinkable water for nearly 2 million people. Estimates are that it will take until 2050 to remove all the rubble from Gaza. Meanwhile, the Israeli military occupy over 50% of Gaza, and the Trump regime has given Netanyahu the green light to resume bombing whenever he wishes. As of this writing, Israel has killed over 100 Palestinians since the “ceasefire” was approved. As one wit put it, the Israeli version of ceasefire is “you cease, we fire.”

Much has been made in the mainstream media about Hamas failing to live up to its responsibilities in the ceasefire by delaying the return of the dead bodies of some Israeli hostages. Israel has blamed Hamas for violating the ceasefire, and has used it as justification for resumption of bombing. But this is disingenuous. When Hamas approved the first phase of the agreement, it made clear that they would release all Israeli hostages, dead and alive, in their possession. They also were up front about specific barriers and challenges that would delay delivery of all of the bodies of dead hostages. They made clear at the outset that the 72 hour deadline Israel imposed was unrealistic: 1) several of the bodies were buried under massive piles of rubble, and Hamas needed specialized equipment to uncover them; 2) several of the bodies were located in the northern part of Gaza, which is now occupied by Israeli military forces, so off limits for any Hamas-led recovery effort; 3) Israeli bombs have destroyed many of the tunnels where hostages were being held, and this has complicated recovery; and 4) there is unexploded Israeli ordnance everywhere in Gaza, which requires additional caution. Despite these challenges, Hamas managed to return two more bodies of deceased hostages this week, and reaffirmed its commitment to return all the deceased hostages. It must be kept in mind that all four of Hamas’ reasons for its delay are the direct result of Israeli actions during the genocide and extremely difficult conditions on the ground. These were cited at the outset and should not be counted as violations of the ceasefire.

No doubt you’ve heard that the Palestinian death toll is at 68,000, the figure cited by Hamas’ Ministry of Health. Reputable independent media outlets such as Democracy Now and Drop Site News point out that the Ministry of Health’s numbers are “a vast undercount.” Susan Abulhawa, the Palestinian novelist, visited Gaza during the genocide and talked with doctors and government officials about the death count. It turns out that the 68,000 figure is only those who met three conditions – those who were killed by Israeli bombs or bullets, their bodies were brought to the hospital, and their bodies could be identified. This leaves out a great number of victims who are not included in the “official” death toll: untold thousands who are buried under the rubble, those who died from Israeli attacks but were not brought to the hospital, those whose bodies could not be identified, and those who died from their injuries at a later time. Also left out of the official death toll are all those who died from indirect causes of the genocide – from untreated chronic diseases such as diabetes or cancer, from water-borne diseases, starvation, homelessness, panic attacks, asthma, heart attacks due to extreme trauma. A study by the esteemed British medical journal, The Lancet, published in February, 2024 (18 months ago) put the real death toll at 186,000. Researchers drew not only from the Ministry of Health database. They took an online survey, and combed through the internet and social media for obituaries. Another study relied on the highly credible “household method,” which went door to door and talked with the members of the household to determine which members had died. In the case of entire households being killed, which occurred with alarming frequency, they talked with neighbors and contacted family members. This household study was limited to the cities of Khan Younis and Deir al-Belah, so did not include other large population centers in Gaza City or Rafah. All of these studies were conducted before famine was declared in Gaza, which is a silent and massive multiplier of death. Taking all these factors into account, the actual number of Palestinians who have died in the American-Israeli genocide in Gaza is likely closer to 500,000. Given that the population of Gaza is one-half children, it is clear that the current figure of 19,000 children is also a vast undercount. It is not unreasonable to estimate the number of Palestinian children murdered, astonishingly, at somewhere in the vicinity of 200,000. (The August 16th edition of the Ralph Nader Radio Hour contains more detailed information and discussion of the real death toll in Gaza.)