As the anniversary of the beginning of Israel’s genocide in Gaza approaches, a group of nearly 100 American health care workers back from Gaza have estimated that the true death toll in Gaza is at least four times higher than the official reported count, if not far higher.
In a devastating letter sent to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris this week, 99 health workers who have volunteered in Gaza amid the genocide wrote that Israel has likely already killed over 118,908 Palestinians in Gaza. This is approximately 5.4 percent of Gaza’s population, meaning Israel has killed 1 of every 20 Palestinians in the Strip in less than a year, according to this estimate.
Not only is this figure horrific, it is also the “most conservative estimate” possible of the true death toll in Gaza, the health workers wrote in an appendix to the letter. The workers calculated this based on estimates from food insecurity researchers on the death toll caused by famine; rough estimates of deaths by disease; and other estimates of deaths that Gaza health officials are unable to count.
Their calculation of the death toll is an update from a version of the same letter sent in July, in which 45 workers in the group estimated that the toll then stood at at least 92,000.
The workers, who spent a combined 254 weeks in Gaza, specifically emphasize the impact that Israel’s genocide has had on children. For instance, they point out that, according to officially reported figures, Israel has killed at least 2,100 babies and toddlers since October 7 — a toll that is higher than the combined Israeli death toll from the First Intifada, the Second Intifada and October 7 attack.
The testimonies from the workers are haunting. They describe having witnessed countless atrocities done to children on a regular basis, including having to treat children with gunshot wounds to the head every day.
“President Biden and Vice President Harris, we wish you could see the nightmares that plague so many of us since we have returned: dreams of children maimed and mutilated by our weapons, and their inconsolable mothers begging us to save them,” the workers wrote. “We wish you could hear the cries and screams our consciences will not let us forget. We cannot fathom why you continue arming the country that is deliberately killing these children en masse.”
The true death toll of the genocide may not be known for many years, if it is ever fully uncovered. The estimate of 119,000 is low compared to other experts’ estimates; University of Edinburgh global public health chair Devi Sridhar estimated last month that the death toll could be 335,000, while public health researchers estimated in July that the count, at that point, could be roughly 186,000.
These estimates prompted the UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, to warn that Israel is on track to kill the entire population of Gaza within the next few years.
The death toll counted by officials, of over 41,000 Palestinians, including 16,500 children, is already horrific.
According to the Gaza Government Media Office, Israel’s genocide has wiped out at least 902 entire families, now completely erased from the civil register. At the same time, at least 1,364 families only have one surviving member, and at least 3,472 have only two survivors.
“The wiping out of more than 900 entire families is undeniable proof of the far-right Israeli government’s genocidal intent toward the Palestinian people in Gaza,” said the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) National Executive Director Nihad Awad. “The Biden administration must stop supporting the wholesale slaughter of families and force the Israeli government to halt its genocidal campaign.”