LONDON 

Five out of six Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip are civilians, according to research based on the Israeli military’s own data.

Figures from a classified Israeli army database listed some 8,900 named fighters as dead or probably dead as of May this year, with the overall death toll since October 2023 reaching 53,000 at that time, a joint investigation by the Guardian, Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine, and the Hebrew-language outlet Local Call has found.

The data showed fighters named in the Israeli military intelligence database accounted for just 17% of the total, which indicates that 83% of the dead were civilians.

The investigation indicated that the apparent ratio of civilians to combatants among the dead is "extremely high for modern warfare," even compared with conflicts notorious for indiscriminate killing, including the Syrian and Sudanese civil wars.

“That proportion of civilians among those killed would be unusually high, particularly as it has been going on for such a long time,” said Therese Pettersson from the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP), which tracks civilian casualties worldwide.

"If you single out a particular city or battle in another conflict, you could find similar rates, but very rarely overall," she said.

In global conflicts tracked by UCDP since 1989, civilians made up a greater proportion of the dead only in Srebrenica, the Rwandan genocide, and during the Russian siege of Mariupol in 2022, according to Pettersson.  

Israeli military did not specify which data they dispute

The Israeli military did not dispute the existence of the database or dispute the data on Hamas and Islamic Jihad deaths when approached for comment by Local Call and +972 Magazine.

When the Guardian asked for comment on the same data, a spokesperson said they had decided to "rephrase" their response.

The Guardian reported that a brief statement sent to them did not directly address questions about the military intelligence database.

It said "figures presented in the article are incorrect," without specifying which data the Israeli military disputed.

The statement also said the numbers "do not reflect the data available in the IDF’s (Israel Defense Forces) systems," without detailing which systems.  

'Absolutely no connection between numbers that announced and what actually happening'

According to an intelligence source who accompanied forces on the ground, "people are promoted to the rank of terrorist after their death."

"If I had listened to the brigade, I would have come to the conclusion that we had killed 200% of Hamas operatives in the area," said the source.

Meanwhile, Itzhak Brik, a retired general, said serving Israeli soldiers were aware that politicians exaggerated the death of Hamas members.

Brik advised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the start of the war and is now among his most strident critics.

"There is absolutely no connection between the numbers that are announced and what is actually happening. It is just one big bluff," he said.

Israel has killed more than 62,100 Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, which is facing famine.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.