this post was submitted on 04 Oct 2024
240 points (95.1% liked)

World News

39011 readers
2792 users here now

A community for discussing events around the World

Rules:

Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.


Lemmy World Partners

News !news@lemmy.world

Politics !politics@lemmy.world

World Politics !globalpolitics@lemmy.world


Recommendations

For Firefox users, there is media bias / propaganda / fact check plugin.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/media-bias-fact-check/

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

In a devastating letter sent to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris this week, 99 health workers who have volunteered in Gaza amid the genocide wrote that Israel has likely already killed over 118,908 Palestinians in Gaza. This is approximately 5.4 percent of Gaza’s population, meaning Israel has killed 1 of every 20 Palestinians in the Strip in less than a year, according to this estimate.

Not only is this figure horrific, it is also the “most conservative estimate” possible of the true death toll in Gaza, the health workers wrote in an appendix to the letter. The workers calculated this based on estimates from food insecurity researchers on the death toll caused by famine; rough estimates of deaths by disease; and other estimates of deaths that Gaza health officials are unable to count.

The workers, who spent a combined 254 weeks in Gaza, specifically emphasize the impact that Israel’s genocide has had on children. For instance, they point out that, according to officially reported figures, Israel has killed at least 2,100 babies and toddlers since October 7 — a toll that is higher than the combined Israeli death toll from the First Intifada, the Second Intifada and October 7 attack.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 9 points 1 month ago

Why is this number so drastically higher than other numbers I've seen? I thought it was in the 40 thousands?

There was a Lancet study a while back that said the real number of deaths is likely five times the official number. Now that specific study doesn't have to be 100% correct, but it's a plain fact that the official number is a severe understatement, for two reasons:

First, the official number is the number of dead bodies the Gaza Health Ministry physically counted. It's the number ofphysically confirmed deaths. That's why they could release those lists of dead people, but it also means that anyone whose body wasn't taken to a hospital (say, someone starved in the middle of nowhere or died under rubble) won't be counted. This makes the GHM number the minimum possible number of deaths, not any kind of estimate trying to make up for blind spots.

Second, the Gazan healthcare system collapsed months ago. Most if not all hospitals got Al Shifa'd, and the ones working don't have gas, electricity or any supplies. This is why the number plateaued (plateau'd???) several months ago. There's nobody to count the dead, so because of the system I explained above the number is going up.

So anyway, what you're seeing in the article isn't that. It's an estimate trying to make up for the dead who aren't included in the 40000 the GHM counted. That's the reason it's so high.