London: A new study shows that Gaza's Ministry of Health's death toll was accurate in the first 17 days of Israel's attack on Gaza.
The British group Airwars announced that the Hamas ministry has identified 7,000 people killed in Israeli strikes in the first few weeks of the war.
The ministry added that its investigation, which assessed 350 incidents, had identified 3,000 casualties in the period in question, 75 percent of which were identified by the ministry, suggesting that the authorities' report may be up to It is very accurate.
Airwars, which works to independently verify the effects of conflict on civilians, said it uses a methodology that has also been used to assess conflict statistics in Iraq, Syria, Ukraine, Libya and elsewhere.
The organization added that there were more than 350 incidents during the period in question and that it will continue to investigate the conflict, but believes that the statistics in Gaza have become more accurate as the war has dragged on, with widespread destruction in Gaza. The territory hampers the ability of local authorities to carry out their duties.
The group's director, Emily Tripp, said the death toll was outstanding in the early stages of the conflict.
“Per incident, more people are dying than we've seen in any other campaign,” he told The New York Times. “The intensity is greater than anything else we've documented.”
International groups and numerous other experts have also said that the ministry's data was initially accurate.
Mike Spaggatt, a professor at Royal Holloway College, University of London, who reviewed Airwars' findings, told the NYT that the group's figures represent “a large part of the underlying reality” of what Gaza officials reported in the early days of the war.
A study by researchers at Johns Hopkins in the US also found no evidence that the ministry's data was wrong as of early November.
Researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who analyzed identification numbers from departmental data collected in October, found “no clear reason” for the enquiry.
But in December, Gaza authorities said they would rely on “reliable media sources” for casualty figures, as well as information that could be obtained on the ground, citing the collapse of infrastructure in the area, including hospitals and morgues.
The ministry's latest figures show that at least 39,000 people have been killed since the Israeli offensive began in October.
Israel has repeatedly questioned the ministry's statistics based on its closeness to Hamas. Doubts have been echoed by Israel's allies in the West, with US President Joe Biden at one point saying he “doesn't trust the number (of deaths) that the Palestinians are using. US officials have since said the data is more accurate.” It is different from what was thought at first.
