How many palenstinians have died since october 7th
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Executive summary
The available reporting shows that the Palestinian death toll since the Hamas attacks of 7 October 2023 is a matter of ongoing tallying and dispute, but multiple reputable sources place the combined total for Gaza and the West Bank in the high tens of thousands — various official and independent tallies cluster between roughly 67,000 and over 70,000 deaths as of late 2025 [1] [2] [3] [4]. Differences reflect divergent counting methods, inclusion or exclusion of unidentified or indirect deaths, separate tallies for Gaza and the West Bank, and disputed classifications of combatants versus civilians [1] [5] [6].
1. Official Gaza ministry and UN-adjacent tallies: a baseline in the high tens of thousands
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry’s public figures have repeatedly reported death totals in the high 60,000s to over 70,000, with Reuters citing a Gaza ministry breakdown of 67,173 killed (including 20,179 children) as of an October 7, 2025 update, and other outlets reporting the ministry’s figures crossing 70,000 later in 2025 [1] [3] [7]. United Nations reporting and the Secretary‑General cite local health authorities when stating that the total Palestinian death toll since 7 October has passed 70,000, reinforcing that official Gaza-originating tallies put the figure at or above that threshold [4].
2. Independent aggregates and academic estimates: slightly higher and broader definitions
Independent research projects and academic studies that attempt to reconcile multiple sources and apply survey or sampling methods have produced higher estimates, partly because they attempt to capture deaths missed by on‑the‑ground registries or deaths from indirect causes; for example, a Costs of War summary reported a combined Gaza and West Bank total of about 68,123 Palestinian deaths as of early October 2025, and other academic analyses have suggested totals ranging from roughly 75,000 to over 80,000 for Gaza alone up to early 2025, reflecting methodological differences and continuing discovery of uncounted fatalities [2] [6].
3. The West Bank and custody deaths: separate but significant contributors
The West Bank, including East Jerusalem, has its own casualty trajectory: the UN Human Rights Office documented 1,001 Palestinians killed in the West Bank since 7 October in an October 2025 statement, while the Costs of War project cited 1,048 killed by Israeli forces there as of 3 October 2025; separately, Israeli data indicate at least 98 Palestinians have died in custody since October 2023, a figure human rights groups say likely undercounts actual custodial deaths [8] [2] [9]. These West Bank and custody figures are counted alongside Gaza totals in composite estimates but are often reported separately because different authorities compile them.
4. Why the range exists: methodology, access, and political contestation
Discrepancies arise because different actors use different inclusion rules (whether to count unidentified bodies or deaths from famine, disease, or collapse of services), have varying access to sites, and are subject to political contestation; the Gaza Health Ministry’s lists at times included unidentified bodies and later stricter identification, international bodies say their tallies wait for independent verification, and researchers use surveys or cross‑referencing that can raise or lower totals depending on assumptions — all factors that explain why Reuters, the UN, Costs of War, academic surveys and local health authorities report overlapping but non‑identical figures [1] [5] [6].
5. Practical answer and the reporting limits
Putting the sources together: the most commonly cited official figure from Gaza health authorities and corroborating UN summaries places the Palestinian death toll since 7 October 2023 in the ballpark of roughly 67,000–70,000+, with independent and academic reconstructions suggesting totals could be higher — into the 70,000s or more — depending on methodology and the inclusion of indirect or previously unidentified deaths [1] [3] [4] [2] [6]. This analysis is limited to the cited reporting; independent verification on the ground remains uneven and different organizations explicitly state their counting rules, so the precise single-number answer is contingent on which source and methodology one accepts [5].