- cross-posted to:
- world@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- world@lemmy.world
Gaza’s Hamas-run ministry of health has revised down figures for the number of women and children confirmed killed in the conflict in the coastal strip.
The revised totals, which first appeared on the website of the UN’s office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (Ocha), were seized on as proof by pro-Israel media and commentators that the UN had quietly reassessed civilian casualty rates. However, Ocha told the Guardian that the revised figures had been produced by the Hamas ministry and had not been verified by the UN.
The Guardian also understands that the new figures provided by the ministry relate to 24,686 “fully documented cases” out of an estimated 34,622 deaths recorded by 30 April, suggesting an ongoing verification process.
According to those criteria, 7,797 children – rather than 14,500 – are listed as confirmed killed, while confirmed fatalities among women account for 4,959 deaths, rather than 9,500, as previously recorded. As such, the new confirmed total of women and children killed stands at 12,756.
This seems to be an indication that Israel has been a lot more precise in targeting fighters than I thought. I don’t see another explanation for the huge disparity between men and women.
The disparity between men and women in the identifying efforts is quite simple.
When a men is killed, chance is he was out trying to secure food for his family, carrying wounded to hospitals or trying to rescue people from under the rubble. The family then often was in a different place and survived.
When a women and children are killed they were probably at home/in a refugee camp/ on the run and the entire core family is killed and there is no one to refer to for identification anymore.