Israeli newspaper Haaretz has published a stark self-examination of Israel’s conduct in Gaza, concluding that Israel has killed more innocent civilians than any belligerent party in any war fought in the 21st century.
Drawing on an analysis of a casualty database covering 72,063 confirmed deaths in Gaza, Haaretz found that 17,594 victims were children under the age of 16, including 3,150 infants and toddlers aged three or younger. At least 47 percent of all recorded fatalities, the newspaper reported, were women, children, or elderly individuals who had no participation in the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel or in any subsequent hostilities against Israeli forces.
The newspaper framed the conflict’s documented patterns — mass civilian casualties, the destruction of 78 percent of Gaza’s buildings and infrastructure, the deliberate use of hunger as a weapon, an 84 percent reduction in water storage capacity according to UN data, and reported looting, torture, and abuse of detainees — as conduct that, regardless of its legal classification, constitutes a catastrophic moral collapse.
On the contested question of genocide, Haaretz acknowledged the term carries a specific legal burden of proof, but noted that establishing genocidal intent among members of Israel’s coalition cabinet presents little evidentiary difficulty, given their public statements. The paper argued that even setting aside the legal definition, “genocide” has become a symbolic shorthand for the scale and nature of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
The newspaper also highlighted the difficulty of having this conversation within Israeli society itself, where, it argued, the word “genocide” remains effectively taboo — making it nearly impossible to challenge public statements by officials who have called for collective punishment of Gaza’s population.
Casualty figures may be significantly undercounted
Haaretz previously cited an international study led by Professor Michael Spagat and conducted with the cooperation of Dr. Khalil Shikaki, which concluded that Palestinian Ministry of Health figures, far from being inflated as Israeli officials have claimed, are likely an undercount of actual deaths.
That assessment aligns with projections from the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, whose president, Stuart Casey-Maslen, estimated that Gaza’s population has declined by more than 10 percent since October 2023 — implying a death toll approaching or exceeding 200,000 when accounting for victims still buried under rubble or not yet officially registered.
“The figures reported so far do not reflect the full extent of human losses,” Casey-Maslen said. “These estimates require independent verification, but if accurate, they indicate that the true death toll is far greater than officially announced figures.”
