- In every major hostility between Israel and Hamas – in 2008, 2012, 2014, 2021 and now, in 2023 – the number of deaths in the Palestinian territories far exceeds those in Israel, according to figures compiled by the United Nations Office for Coordination Data Humanitarian Affairs.
- The number of deaths in Gaza since October 7 exceeds the total number of Palestinian deaths in the past 15 years as a result of conflict with Israel, data shows.
- October 7 has been described as “the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust,” with more than 1,400 people in Israel, mostly civilians, killed in a single day.
An aerial view of buildings destroyed by Israeli airstrikes at the Jabalia camp for Palestinian refugees in Gaza City on October 11, 2023.
Yahya Hassouna | AFP | Getty Images
As the current war in Gaza proves to be the deadliest of all points of conflict between Israel and Hamas, historical data shows that it is the Palestinians who are paying the highest price.
More than a month into the war between Israel and Hamas, the level of death and destruction caused by the conflict on many fronts is already unprecedented.
After deadly attacks by Hamas militants in Israel on October 7, Israel retaliated in Gaza, killing more than 11,000 people, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), this number exceeds the total number of Palestinian deaths in the last 15 years as a result of conflict with Israel.
Israel also suffered enormous losses, with October 7 described as “the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust.”
According to OCHA, about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed in a single day – almost four times the total number of Israelis killed in such conflicts since 2008. Israel estimates that about 240 hostages seized that day are still missing.
Since the Jewish state’s unilateral withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, there have been five major military conflicts between Israel and Hamas. In every major conflict – 2008, 2012, 2014, 2021 and now, in 2023 – there have been deaths in the Palestinian territories (Gaza and…) UN data shows that the number of refugees in the West Bank far exceeds that in Israel exceeds.
“Typically, year after year, the number of Palestinian civilians killed by Israeli forces exceeds the number of Israeli civilians killed by Palestinians many times over,” H. A. Hellyer, a specialist in international security studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told CNBC.
Data compiled by CNBC shows that more than 18,600 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank have been killed in conflicts with Israel since 2008. In comparison, at least 1,500 Palestinians were killed in Israel during the same period.
According to UN data, at least 183,500 Palestinians have been injured in the conflicts since 2008, while around 11,700 have been injured in Israel.
As is so often the case in war, it is impossible to determine exact numbers of casualties. More than 2,000 people are currently reportedly missing in Gaza, as Israel is still struggling to identify the victims and rescue the hostages weeks after the massacre.
To get a more accurate picture, CNBC used United Nations data and backed it up with figures from the Israel Defense Forces and the Hamas-run Palestinian Health Ministry. Casualties could also include deaths that were not necessarily committed by the opposing side.
Hellyer explained why the number of casualties was disproportionate: “Israel has some of the most advanced military equipment in the world, which it has targeted at predominantly civilian areas in the Palestinian territories.”
Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system is considered one of the most effective tools in its arsenal. The Defense Ministry says it successfully intercepted 97% of all Palestinian rockets fired in Gaza over a weekend last year, while the system recorded a 95.6% success rate in a Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket attack in May.
By comparison, “Palestinian militant groups as a whole are not comparable to an arsenal of this kind,” said Hellyer, also from the Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security Studies.
“This is an asymmetric conflict in which Israel has far more destructive weapons. “In addition, Hamas’ rockets tend to hit uninhabited areas, while Israel’s rockets explode in densely populated areas,” said Paul Scham, a professor of Israel studies at the University of Maryland and a non-professorial scholar at the Middle East Institute in Washington, DC
The Gaza Strip, a piece of land on the Mediterranean Sea, occupies an area between Israel and Egypt that is approximately 140 square miles. With 2.3 million people living there, it is one of the most densely populated areas in the world.
Around 3 million Palestinians live in the occupied West Bank, while Israel has a population of around 9 million.
Hamas, classified as a terrorist organization by major world powers, has been the de facto ruler of the Gaza Strip since 2007 after winning elections there a year earlier. There has been no election since.
The IDF told CNBC it is taking “feasible precautionary measures to limit civilian casualties” even as it targets Hamas operatives. “Hamas has integrated itself into the civilian infrastructure and operates throughout the Gaza Strip,” a spokesman said, adding: “We will attack Hamas wherever necessary.”
Daniel Byman, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the high death toll among Palestinians is due in part to Hamas’s “coexistence of military and civilian assets, making it difficult to separate retaliation against Hamas “.
Shame said: “After 16 years they have [Hamas] are closely intertwined with everything… They also control all public institutions; even the kindergarten teachers ‘are’ Hamas.”
Israel does not have the capacity to destroy everything [Hamas] although attempting to do so will exact a huge civilian price on the people of Gaza.
HA Hellyer
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
The IDF says the militant group uses Palestinians as human shields and has built an extensive network of underground tunnels under densely populated buildings – the so-called “Hamas subway”.
An example of such a location is Gaza’s largest hospital, al-Shifa, where tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians are currently seeking refuge. CNBC could not independently verify the IDF’s claims.
“I have no doubt that Israel’s claim that Hamas’ military objectives lie close to – and often beneath – civilian institutions is true,” Scham said. “On the other hand, Gaza is an extremely small place and there are no extensive areas where military facilities could be located.”
Israel has vowed to “crush” Hamas, but rooting out the militants will be “extraordinarily difficult,” Byman said, stressing that it will be “costly for Israel.”
“Hamas is an organization of tens of thousands, with leadership inside and outside the Gaza Strip,” Hellyer said. “Israel does not have the capacity to wipe it out, although in attempting to do so it will exact a huge civilian price on the people of Gaza.”
—CNBC’s Gabriel Cortes contributed to this report.