The lies behind the Gaza casualty figures and the thousands of names removed without explanation

According to the independent analysis group Honest Reporting, the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry recently updated its casualty list, quietly removing thousands of names without explanation.Notably, the revised list also dropped over a thousand children listed, sharply altering the previously reported demographic ratios that had been quickly seized upon by critics of Israeli military operations.This stark revision — largely overlooked by major media outlets — exemplifies a broader problem: the uncritical acceptance and use of questionable statistics to judge the legality and morality of military operations, most notably in Gaza.Despite the clear political control and questionable methodology behind Hamas casualty figures, political leaders and most international media outlets have cited Gaza Health Ministry (GHM) statistics without question or caveat.In the ongoing discourse surrounding the war in Gaza, casualty reporting has become a centerpiece of legal and moral debate.

Much of the focus has centered on figures released by the GHM, which operates under Hamas — a US- and EU-designated terrorist organization.Yet, far too little scrutiny is applied to how these statistics are collected, verified, and disseminated.

As I’ve discussed in my work on urban warfare and casualty ratios, accounting for the dead and wounded during active combat, especially in dense urban areas, is inherently difficult, often imprecise, and prone to error or manipulation.A recent investigative report by the Henry Jackson Society titled “Questionable Counting“ documents serious flaws in GHM’s casualty data.The ministry reportedly compiles numbers using a disjointed network of hospital records, unverified clinic reports, family input, and a Google Share Drive — rarely validated across sources.

In the chaos of ongoing war, such methods are not just unreliable — they’re ripe for political exploitation.These concerns were also echoed in an earlier investigation by the Asso...