A think tank’s analysis of the death toll figures from the Gaza Ministry of Health, which is operated by Hamas, found numerous errors and distortions in the data collection procedure throughout the conflict.

According to a recent study, the number of civilian deaths in the Israel-Hamas conflict has been exaggerated and misrepresented to suggest that Israel target innocent civilians on purpose.

The Henry Jackson Society, a UK-based organization, reported that when covering the fighting, news organizations used fabricated figures from the Hamas-run Health Ministry and failed to differentiate between combatant and civilian losses.

According to the study, which cited Israeli and US military and intelligence agencies for its data, Gaza officials say that more than 44,700 Palestinians have been murdered since the October 7 terrorist assaults on Israel, but they do not recognize that up to 17,000 of those killed were Hamas terrorists. The media frequently ignores this information.

The Henry Jackson Society contended that knowledge of the Gaza death toll is essential to comprehending how Israel and the IDF conducted the conflict.
The ministry allegedly overreported the number of women and children slain and included natural deaths in the “Questionable Counting” research, which was released on Saturday.

Researchers discovered that while adults were included on tallies of child deaths, men were included on lists of women slain in the battle.

The author of the study, Andrew Fox, stated that this misinterpretation “contributes to the narrative that civilian populations, particularly women and children, bear the brunt of the conflict, potentially influencing sentiment and media coverage.”

According to researchers, over 5,000 natural deaths seem to have been added to the list of fatalities, including cancer patients who subsequently showed up on lists of people undergoing treatment.

According to the research, these mistakes have “led to a narrative where the Israel Defense Forces are portrayed as disproportionately targeting civilians.”

The analysis examined all articles from eight major outlets—including CNN, BBC News, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, Associated Press, Reuters, and the Australian ABC—that included Gaza fatality data and were published between February and May 2024.

–Deeprows News