Israelis and Palestinians Killed
in the Current Violence

Hover over each bar for exact numbers.

Source: IsraelPalestineTimeline.org

This is what the chart looked like up until October 7th, 2023. For the latest information on the current round of violence, please see: IsraelPalestineNews.org.



American news reports repeatedly describe Israeli military attacks against the Palestinian population as “retaliation.” However, when one looks into the chronology of death in this conflict, the reality turns out to be quite different.

Source: B'Tselem, The Israeli Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories. (Visit their statistics page, last updated January 31, 2018.) We refer to IMEMC and other Palestinian news outlets for deaths that have not yet been recorded by B'Tselem.

To see names, photos and more information for the Israeli and Palestinian victims of this conflict, please visit our new website Israel-Palestine Timeline.

See also the UN OCHA report that records the 2,220 victims (67% of them civilians) of Israel's summer 2014 massacre in Gaza. 71 Israelis were killed during the same period (9% of them civilians).

The numbers in this chart include civilians and combatants killed by members of the opposing nationality (and therefore, do not include Palestinians killed by an explosive device that they set or was on their person, Israelis killed in 'friendly fire' incidents, etc.). The numbers also do not include the sizable number of Palestinians who died as a result of inability to reach medical care due to Israeli road closures, curfews, the Israeli closure of border crossing from Gaza, etc.

Playlist: Israel Palestine Timeline

The figure for Palestinian deaths is extremely conservative, since it is difficult for B'Tselem to report on deaths in the Palestinian territories. The Palestine Red Crescent Society, internationally respected for its statistical rigor, reports significantly higher numbers of Palestinian deaths. We do not doubt the reliability of their data, and only use B'Tselem's more conservative numbers because they collect data on both populations.

In the past we used the statistics provided by Israel's military for the number of Israelis killed, but they have not updated their statistics page since early in 2006. In addition, there is reason to believe that their numbers may have been somewhat inflated.

Breakdown of Deaths

  Israelis

Palestinians

Children Killed
(More on the impact on children.)
129
Remember These Children
1,523
Remember These Children
Civilians* Killed 731
B'Tselem
3,535 - 4,226
B'Tselem
People killed in the course of a targeted killing 1 408 or more
B'Tselem
People who were the object of a targeted killing 1 238
B'Tselem
People killed on own land 596 (53.8%)
B'Tselem
6,756 (98.9%)
B'Tselem
People killed on others' land 508 (46.2%)
B'Tselem
73 (1.1%)
B'Tselem

* The Palestinian people do not have a military, so the usual classification of civilian is not being used. Instead B'Tselem provides data on the number of Palestinians who did not participate in hostilities, a significantly more stringent qualification than the one used to identify Israeli civilians. We do not know how many of the Israelis listed as civilians participated in the hostilities. Many settlers who illegally have taken over parts of the West Bank (and used to live in parts of the Gaza Strip) are heavily armed and there have been numerous reports of their brutal attacks on their Palestinian neighbors.

Causes of Deaths of Israeli Soldiers
2005

Committed Suicide 30
Illness 14
Accidents 26
Terror Incidents 6

Source: Israeli newspaper Ma'ariv, Oct. 10, 2005, p. 6.
Note: The paper also reported that since 1992, 459 Israeli soldiers have committed suicide.

May 2021

During May 2021, a series of events unfolded which led to an increase in violent attacks on Palestinians in and around the village of Sheikh Jarrah. The graph below shows the total number of deaths on both sides of the conflict from May 10 - May 21, 2021. For more information on this period, see here.

Israel-Gaza violence May 10 - May 25

Static chart showing number of people killed since May 2021 - not updated

Click here to see detailed stats on this round of Israel-Gaza violence.

Israel-Palestine Timeline

Israel-Palestine Timeline: The human cost of the conflict records photos and information for each person who has been killed in the ongoing violence.

History of the Israel Lobby


Alison Weir's book Against Our Better Judgement: How the U.S. was used to create Israel brings together meticulously sourced evidence to outline the largely unknown history of U.S.-Israel relations.


Buy it on Amazon, and visit the book website for reviews, more ordering options, and upcoming author events.

IsraelPalestineNews.org


Information largely missing from U.S. news reports. Read the Blog


How many people have died from Gaza rockets into Israel?



Total fatalities in the history of rocket and mortar attacks from Gaza into Israel: 44 Read more...

Videos

Documentary – People and the Land

Related Articles

The Aftermath of Israel's Latest Assault on Gaza

Targeted killing won't bring peace

Israel killed more than 650 Palestinians in 2006,
up threefold from 2005: Amnesty

Suicide, number 1 killer in the Israeli army

Killing Children is No Longer a Big Deal

Palestine: the assault on health and other war crimes

More Articles on Deaths

Additional Resources

Flyer – Retaliation?

Amnesty International – Killing the Future

Organizations

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS)

Israel Defense Forces (IDF)

Remember These Children

Palestine Monitor

B’Tselem

Get email updates: Sign Up!


This website is printer-friendly. Please Print this article and share it with your friends and family.