German Study: Gaza war victims may exceed 100,000

GAZA, Nov. 26 (YPA) – A study published by the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) in Germany suggests that the actual number of Palestinians who lost their lives in the Gaza offensive may exceed 100,000, confirming 78,318 direct deaths by the end of 2024.

These estimates coincide with the Palestinian Ministry of Health’s announcement of documenting 69,733 deaths since October 2023, confirming that the true toll is much higher than previously announced figures.

The study stated that life expectancy in Gaza declined by approximately 44% in 2023 and 47% in 2024, an unprecedented collapse equivalent to a loss of more than 34 years of the population’s life.

It explained that the patterns of violent deaths during the offensive overlap with patterns documented by the United Nations in contexts of genocide, without definitively classifying the offensive as a legal act.

The team’s researcher, Ana C. Gomez-Ugarte, warned that the figures represent the “minimum” losses, noting that indirect deaths resulting from starvation and the collapse of services “have not yet been accounted for.”