Sheren Falah Saab and Rawan Suleiman
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"There isn't anyone in Gaza who hasn't lost someone close to them: a child, a sister, a partner, a parent, a friend. Death touches everybody. Those who went back to their homes sometimes find bones there; you don't always know whose they are." This is how Asma, 42, a resident of Khan Yunis, described the reality of life in Gaza, after 17 months of war.
The numbers are almost inconceivable. As the fighting resumed after a two-month cease-fire collapsed, the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry reported on Sunday that, since October 7, 2023, the death toll passed 50,000 deaths – an almost unprecedented figure considering the war's duration and the enclave's population size. Though a significant proportion of those killed were terrorists, the majority were not, including many women and children, whose deaths Israel terms "collateral damage."
The Israeli military has argued that Hamas ministry's figures are untrustworthy, saying because they do not distinguish between combatants and civilians. However, the IDF has not provided alternative figures, while independent international organizations have found reports from the ministry to be credible.
One reason for the widespread killing of civilians in the Gaza war traces back to an order issued by the Israeli military on October 7, reported by the New York Times last December, allowing the risk of killing up to 20 civilians per strike in thousands of strikes carried out in Gaza and, "on a few occasions," over 100 if the target was "Hamas leaders."
According to the report, in addition to the order that allowed the killing of dozens of innocent people in order to hit militants, the military often relied on a simplistic statistical model to estimate the risk for civilians, and in some cases, it carried out attacks hours after the targets had been located.
According to an investigation by the website +972, an artificial intelligence system marked tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza as bombing targets, including low-ranking operatives in terrorist organizations. The system often also marked individuals with only a peripheral connection to Hamas' military wing, or none at all. According to the investigation, other automated systems conducted bombings against the marked targets in their private homes – where they were surrounded by family members and neighbors – because, from an intelligence perspective, it was easier to locate them there automatically.
This is the death trap in which Gazans found themselves since the war broke out. This has been their daily reality – day by day, report by report.
*The figures in the article are based on reports from the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in Gaza, and are correct as of the day the reported incident occurred.
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/202 ... 9eacaa0002
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