The Palestinian Health Ministry, on Thursday, released the names of 7,028 people who died in the Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip.
This is coming a day after U.S. President Joe Biden questioned the death toll since the war began on Oct. 7.
Biden told reporters at the A mourner reacts amidst the bodies as people attend funeral for Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on 24 October 2023 that he has “no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth” about the number of people killed by Israel so far.
“I’m sure innocents have died and it’s the price of waging a war,” he added.
In response, the health ministry published a 210-page report, detailing names, ages, genders, and ID numbers of every person killed in the enclave.
The ministry said an English version of the report will be published soon.
Health Ministry spokesperson, Ashraf al-Qudra, said the U.S. administration was “devoid of human standards, morals and basic human rights values” for “shamelessly” questioning the validity of the death toll.
“We decided to go out and announce, with details and names, and in front of the entire world, the truth about the genocidal war committed by the Israeli occupation against our people,” al-Qudra said.
Between Oct. 7 and 3.00 p.m. local time on Oct. 26, no fewer than 7,028 Palestinians died, including 2,913 children, the report stated.
A total of 3,129 females and 3,899 males died. The number of unidentified people killed stands at 218. But they are not included in the final death toll.
The report also excludes those buried without being brought to hospitals and those for whom hospitals were unable to complete registration procedures.
People missing under the rubble, number around 1,600, with many of them feared dead.
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As such, the ministry said the actual death toll is likely to be much higher than the report stated.
“We confirm that doors of the Ministry of Health are open for all institutions to have access,” al-Qudra said.
“Let the world know that behind every number is the story of a person whose name and identity we know. Our people are not nobodies who we can ignore.”
Despite Biden questioning the accuracy of the death toll, the HuffPost revealed that the State Department recently cited the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza in nearly 20 “situation reports”.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said Biden’s remarks were “shocking and dehumanising” and urged him to apologise.
“Countless videos coming out of Gaza every day show mangled bodies of Palestinian women and children – and entire city blocks levelled to the ground,” Nihad Awad, CAIR’s Executive Director, said.
“President Biden should watch some of these videos. Thereafter, he should ask himself if the crushed children that medics dragged out of the ruins of their family homes are a fabrication or an acceptable price of war. They are neither.”
Many experts consider figures provided by the Palestinian Ministry reliable, given its access, sources and accuracy in past statements.
Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine Director at Human Rights Watch told Washington Post the ministry’s figures are “generally reliable”.
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“Everyone uses figures from the Gaza Health Ministry because they are generally reliable,” he said.
“Times in which we have done our verification for strikes, I’m not aware of any time there’s been major discrepancy.”
The ongoing Israeli war on Gaza erupted on Oct. 7 after Hamas led a Palestinian attack into southern Israel.
According to Israeli officials, 1,400 people died in Israel during the assault, the majority of them believed to be civilians.
At least they took another 220 people as prisoners in Gaza, including soldiers and civilians.
Hamas has released four prisoners so far. They also said 50 others have died in Israeli air strikes.
Israel responded to Hamas-led assault by waging a relentless bombing campaign on Gaza, and a complete siege of the territory.
The bombardment has killed dozens of journalists, doctors, first responders, writers, artists and footballers among others.
It has targeted residential buildings, hospitals, ambulances, schools, universities, media offices, mosques, a church, and banks among other civilian infrastructure. (MiddleEastEye)
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