THE Israeli military’s own data has indicated that five out of six Palestinians killed in Gaza have been civilians
That ratio of civilians to combatants slaughtered is extremely high for modern warfare, even compared with the Syrian and Sudanese civil wars – which were known for indiscriminate killing.
Figures from a classified Israeli database – according to an investigation by The Guardian, Israeli-Palestinian publication 972 Magazine and Israeli outlet Local Call – listed 8900 named fighters from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad as dead or “probably dead” in May.
At that time, 53,000 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli attacks, according to health authorities in Gaza.
That ratio would lead to a civilian to combatant ratio of 83% to 17%.
In global conflicts tracked by the Uppsala Conflict Data Program since 1989, civilians made up a greater proportion of the dead only in the Srebrenica genocide, the Russian siege of Mariupol and the Rwandan genocide.
The Israeli military did not dispute the existence of the database or dispute the data on Hamas and PIJ deaths when approached for comment by Local Call and +972 Magazine.
When the Guardian asked for comment on the same data, a spokesperson said “figures presented in the article are incorrect” and “do not reflect the data available in the IDF’s systems”.
It comes as the world’s leading authority on food crises has said the Gaza Strip’s largest city is gripped by famine, and that it is likely to spread across the territory without a ceasefire and an end to restrictions on humanitarian aid.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said famine is occurring in Gaza City, home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, and that it could spread south to Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis by the end of next month.
The IPC determination comes after months of warnings by aid groups that Israel’s restrictions of food and other aid into Gaza, and its ongoing genocide, were causing high levels of starvation among Palestinian civilians, particularly children.
