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Number of Israeli soldiers and reservists killed since and including October 7, 2023
Executive summary
Available reporting gives multiple, differing tallies for Israeli military deaths since and including October 7, 2023. An Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) release summarized by Long War Journal reports 891 IDF servicemembers killed (including 2023–24 totals) and 5,569 wounded [1]; other contemporaneous tallies published early in the war and in media range from several hundred killed on Oct. 7 itself to aggregate counts that include police, security officers and civilians [2] [3].
1. What the IDF summary published in later reporting says
The most specific aggregate figure in the provided results comes from IDF data cited by Long War Journal: a total of 891 IDF servicemembers killed since the conflict began on October 7, 2023, with 363 of those deaths occurring in 2024 and a total of 5,569 wounded [1]. Long War Journal frames that number as the IDF’s internal tally for “servicemembers,” which implies it refers to soldiers and likely reservists counted by the military itself [1].
2. Earlier, immediate tallies around October–December 2023
Contemporaneous reporting in October and November 2023 published smaller, event-specific counts. The Times of Israel reported that the IDF had published names of 922 “soldiers, officers, and reservists” killed during the ongoing war since October 7 in an early list [2]. The New York Times, summarizing the immediate Oct. 7 assault and the battles inside Israel, cited at least 278 soldiers killed in the initial onslaught inside Israel [3]. These earlier tallies focused on named or identified dead in specific phases and did not necessarily reflect the later, consolidated IDF total [2] [3].
3. Why numbers differ: definitions, timing, and inclusions
Differences in the counts reflect divergent definitions (IDF “servicemembers” vs. lists including police or other security personnel), the moment a count was published, and whether the tally is a snapshot or a rolling, consolidated total. For example, Times of Israel’s early list of 922 named “soldiers, officers, and reservists” (which included some local security officers) was an initial compilation published soon after the attacks [2]. By contrast, the IDF’s later internal totals published and summarized in January 2025 yielded the figure of 891 servicemembers killed across 2023–24, which appears to be a separate compilation presented after further record-keeping [1].
4. What about reservists, police and other security personnel?
Some media and official lists explicitly include police and local security officers alongside IDF soldiers. Times of Israel’s named list said it covered “soldiers, officers, and reservists” and noted police casualties separately [2]. The New York Times separated soldiers killed inside Israel during the Oct. 7 battles from police deaths, reporting at least 278 soldiers and at least 44 police officers as mid-October counts [3]. That demonstrates reporting has sometimes separated categories — soldiers/reservists, police, and other security personnel — which affects headline totals [2] [3].
5. Mental-health and non-combat deaths counted by some outlets
Some reporting highlights deaths beyond battlefield combat that the military tracks, such as suspected suicides among soldiers since Oct. 7; Times of Israel reported 28 suspected suicides among soldiers since Oct. 7, 2023, as part of describing overall IDF deaths during the war years [4]. Whether such deaths are included in a given “killed since Oct. 7” statistic depends on the agency releasing the figure and its inclusion criteria [4].
6. What sources do not resolve — and what to watch for in future updates
Available sources do not present a single, uncontested public ledger that consistently labels which categories (active soldiers, reservists, police, Shin Bet, local security officers, non-combat deaths) are included in every public total; some figures contradict others in timing and scope [2] [1] [3]. Readers should watch official IDF or Israeli government pages for periodically updated consolidated casualty lists and be aware that media snapshots published early in the war may differ from later internal tallies [1] [2].
7. Bottom line for your query
Depending on which authoritative count you accept: an IDF-based compilation summarized by Long War Journal lists 891 killed servicemembers since Oct. 7, 2023 [1]; earlier media lists published in late 2023 recorded named casualties in the 900s when including soldiers, officers and reservists [2]; immediate Oct. 7–period tallies cited by outlets like The New York Times reported hundreds of soldiers killed in the initial attacks and battles (e.g., at least 278 soldiers) [3]. Each figure is accurate only within the scope and time of the reporting that produced it.