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What are the casualty figures for Palestinians by Gaza Strip governorate and West Bank since Oct 2023–Nov 2025?
Executive summary
Available reporting shows large, but varying tallies of Palestinian fatalities across the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank (including East Jerusalem) for the period 7 October 2023–Nov 2025. Health Ministry figures for Gaza cluster around roughly 63,700–69,169 killed (depending on date and source) while UN/OCHA-derived West Bank totals rise from roughly 906 in March 2025 to 1,012 by early November 2025 [1] [2] [3]. Numbers in all sources are described as provisional and subject to verification [4].
1. Gaza totals: government counts, increments, and reporting dates
The Gaza Ministry of Health totals reported in the sources increase over time: WHO and UN documents cite MoH-reported fatality counts such as 63,746 as of early September 2025 [5], about 65,419 by 24 September 2025 [6], about 67,183 by 8 October 2025 [4], roughly 68,234 by 22 October 2025 [7], and 69,169 by 7–8 November 2025 in multiple media reports [2] [8]. These increments reflect continuing body recoveries, later identifications and the differing cut-off dates used by each report [7] [4].
2. Gaza — caveats and alternate analyses
Independent academic and NGO analyses highlight different methodologies and wider ranges. For example, peer-reviewed analysis cited in broader casualty discussions estimated 64,260 traumatic deaths through 30 June 2024 and suggested numbers likely exceeded 70,000 by October 2024; other projects have attempted to quantify indirect deaths and malnutrition-related mortality [9] [10]. UN and UNRWA reporting repeatedly warn that summary figures are “continuously under review” and subject to change as access improves and verifications occur [4] [6].
3. West Bank totals: OCHA figures reported via UNRWA
UNRWA Situation Reports reproduce OCHA figures showing West Bank fatalities rising over time: 906 Palestinians killed in the occupied West Bank (including East Jerusalem) as of 25 March 2025; 995–999 by mid/late September–early October 2025; 1,004 by 19 October 2025; and 1,012 by 3 November 2025 [1] [11] [4] [7] [3]. Reports note at least several hundred of these were children, with UNRWA citing figures such as “at least 212 children” among the West Bank fatalities in multiple updates [6] [4].
4. Geographic breakdowns by governorate: what the sources provide and do not
The provided sources present aggregated Gaza and West Bank totals and occasional demographic breakdowns (children, women, elderly) but do not publish a consistent, source-verified per-governorate casualty table covering Oct 2023–Nov 2025. UNRWA and WHO documents cite MoH breakdowns within Gaza at certain dates (for example a March 2025 MoH breakdown listing 50,021 with age/sex categories) but the presented excerpts do not include a full governorate-by-governorate series for the full period [1] [4]. Therefore, available sources do not mention a complete, consistently dated governorate-by-governorate casualty series for the whole Oct 2023–Nov 2025 period.
5. Reporting differences and political implications
Differences stem from (a) varied cut-off dates, (b) differing definitions (direct combat deaths vs. indirect deaths from deprivation), (c) access and verification limits, and (d) competing institutional incentives: the Gaza Ministry of Health provides daily counts that humanitarian agencies and media reproduce; academic teams and some UN bodies apply verification standards and sometimes classify indirect deaths separately [4] [10]. These methodological choices have political consequences because higher or lower published totals shape international pressure, aid flows and legal/policy debates; each reporting body has institutional incentives to emphasize accuracy and, in some cases, humanitarian urgency [4] [10].
6. Injuries and indirect deaths: the wider toll
Beyond fatalities, sources document very large injury counts (for example roughly 161,245 injuries cited by WHO as of early September 2025) and studies on indirect deaths from starvation, disrupted healthcare and infrastructure collapse; the Costs of War project and WHO reports underscore that indirect mortality may add significantly to the human toll [5] [10]. These broader categories are tracked differently across agencies and are often reported separately from immediate conflict-related death tallies [10].
7. How to use these figures responsibly
When citing casualties for policy, media or scholarship, use the most recent date-specific figure and state the source and cut-off date (for example “Gaza MoH: 69,169 killed as of 7–8 Nov 2025” or “OCHA/UNRWA: 1,012 killed in West Bank as of 3 Nov 2025”) and note verification caveats included in the original reporting [2] [3] [4]. For governorate-level breakdowns, request the specific MoH/OCHA dataset or UN situational annexes not included in the excerpts here because available sources do not provide the complete governorate-by-governorate series in the provided material (available sources do not mention a full governorate series).
If you want, I can extract and tabulate every date-stamped figure and its source from these reports and media items, and then list which additional primary datasets (MoH, OCHA country dashboards, UNRWA annexes) to request for governorate-level detail.