2 Palestinian civilians killed by Israel for every Hamas fighter in Gaza

JERUSALEM

The Israeli army has killed two Palestinian civilians for every Hamas fighter in the Gaza Strip, a senior Israeli military official admitted on Tuesday.

"The numbers are more or less right," the official said when asked about media reports that 5,000 Hamas fighters had been killed in Gaza as reported by The Times of Israel newspaper.

At least 16,248 Palestinians have been killed and 43,616 others injured in relentless Israeli air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, according to health authorities in the enclave.

"These figures cannot be independently verified, and are believed to include both Hamas terrorists and civilians," the Israeli official said.

"I’m not saying it’s not bad that we have a ratio of two to one," the official said, claiming that the use of human shields was part of Hamas’ "core strategy.”

Hamas has repeatedly denied Israeli allegations of using civilians as human shields and accused the Israeli army of deliberately targeting civilian neighborhoods in its attacks on the Gaza Strip.

Israel resumed its military offensive on the Gaza Strip on Friday after the end of a weeklong humanitarian pause with Hamas.

The Israeli death toll in the Hamas attack stood at 1,200, according to official figures.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio