Gaza’s health ministry recently announced a significant update regarding the death toll from the ongoing conflict, revealing that it has removed 1,852 names from its official list of war fatalities since October. This adjustment comes after officials discovered that many of the individuals listed had died from natural causes or were alive but imprisoned.
As of now, the total number of recorded deaths stands at 50,609. The health ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in these figures. Most of the names removed—about 97%—were initially submitted through an online form that allowed families to report missing loved ones.
Zaher Al Wahidi, who leads the statistics team at the health ministry, explained that the removals were a precautionary measure while each case undergoes judicial investigation. He noted that many people reported as deceased had actually died from natural causes, such as heart attacks, pneumonia, or hypothermia, often exacerbated by the war’s impact on living conditions. Others were found to be alive or missing without sufficient evidence of their deaths.
Al Wahidi also mentioned that some families may have submitted false claims, possibly motivated by the prospect of receiving government financial assistance. This recent removal is the largest since the conflict began, following the removal of 1,441 names between August and October, with a majority of those coming from hospital records.
The health ministry received feedback from families who found loved ones listed as dead despite being alive, prompting an audit of hospital data. The audit revealed that clerks, lacking access to a central population registry and complete information, mistakenly recorded individuals as deceased.
In total, 8% of those initially listed as dead in August have since been removed. Some of these individuals may be reinstated as investigations continue.
Experts, like Gabriel Epstein from The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, believe the removals do not indicate any deliberate attempt to manipulate the data. He pointed out that the demographic breakdown of those removed does not suggest any bias towards inflating the number of women and children among the dead.
Previously, names submitted via the online form were added to the official death toll without verification. This practice has changed since October, as the ministry now conducts judicial confirmation before publishing names. Al Wahidi acknowledged that this earlier method has affected the data’s reliability.
The conflict has already claimed over 1,200 Israeli lives since the war began on October 7. The situation remains fluid, with ongoing investigations and updates expected as the ministry continues to refine its records.