Can we believe Gaza casualty numbers? United Nations officials and the press blindly repeat statistics that the Hamas-controlled health ministry produces. Yet feature the latest scoop. “Hamas’ new March 2025 fatality list quietly drops 3,400 fully ‘identified’ deaths listed in its Aug & Oct 2024 reports — including 1,080 children,” Honest Reporting’s Salo Azienberg writes on X. “These ‘deaths’ never happened. The numbers were falsified.”

We’ve long noted that Hamas numbers must be taken with a grain of salt. Yet, “Israeli strike on a school in Gaza kills at least 27 people, Palestinian health officials say,” an Associated Press headline blares today. As the United Nations Security Council gathered today, for the umpteenth time this month, to discuss “the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question,” the Hamas-produced casualty numbers were front and center.

“According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, Israeli military operations since 7 October 2023 have killed more than 50,400 Palestinians in Gaza, and injured more than 114,000,” the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, told the council. “Under the convention on the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide, state parties have the responsibility to act to prevent such a crime, when risk becomes apparent.”

We are not trying to minimize the suffering of Gazans. While many civilians gleefully participated in the October 7 orgy of murder, torture, rape, and looting, others are suffering under the boots of the terrorists who rule Gaza. Now that Israel is limiting humanitarian aid into the Strip, a growing number of Gazans are out on the streets to protest against the suffering that Hamas has brought on them.

That said, “Hamas’ Ministry of Health was never reliable,” Mr. Azienberg writes. From day one it “has gamed the fatality data — from including 471 fake ‘deaths’ at al-Ahli Hospital in the official count, to claiming 70% of fatalities were women & children (then quietly backing off).” The errors are not “minor,” but “systematic,” he argues. Nor do recent adjustments point to accuracy. Thousands of natural deaths, for one, are counted as war casualties. 

Glaringly, the Hamas ministry fails to distinguish armed terrorists from non-combatants. Lists that highlight child casualties count gun-toting, fully-enlisted Hamas teenagers as innocent underage victims. About 72 percent of listed fatalities between ages 13 and 55 are men, a former British paratrooper, Andrew Fox, told the Telegraph. The paper first published Mr. Aizenberg’s study of Hamas casualty lists, which deeply examined their names and ages.  

“We know that Hamas uses child soldiers, and these statistics show clearly that Israel is targeting fighting-aged men,” Mr. Fox said. Israeli troops in Gaza are fighting with one hand tied behind their back amid global scrutiny of their war conduct. They must avoid areas where hostages might be held. Hamas hides behind civilians to maximize global sympathy. There’s no reason for world leaders and the press to buy their claims.