Israel shifting argument on death toll to civilian-to-militant ratioBy Ben Reiff / The GuardianIsrael’s official and unofficial spokespeople are in damage control mode after a senior military official last week admitted that Israel accepts the death toll published by Gaza’s health ministry, which currently stands at more than 70,000. Adding credibility to their denials were prominent media outlets around the world that often described Gaza’s health ministry as “Hamas-run,” thereby encouraging readers and viewers to treat the death toll with suspicion. In truth, the reliability of the official death toll should never have been in doubt. As such, several external investigations of the published data found that it stood up to scrutiny. Indeed, various scientific studies conducted throughout the war have estimated that the true death toll from Israel’s onslaught might have gone well beyond 100,000.

Source: Taipei Times February 06, 2026 16:41 UTC