Numbers don’t tell the whole story: Gaza’s hidden tragedy

The tragedy in Gaza cannot be fully described merely by images of buildings reduced to rubble, children torn apart by bombs, or families buried entirely under debris.

This genocide, carried out by Israel over the past two years, is also reflected in figures that indicate the scale of an unprecedented humanitarian disaster in this century.

Counting the martyrs in Gaza has become part of a political and moral struggle that runs parallel to the ongoing massacre.

On one side are the official figures from Gaza’s Ministry of Health, recognized by the United Nations and typically cited in humanitarian reports.

On the other side, independent studies and reputable international scientific journals draw attention to the fact that daily published numbers only represent the surface of a far graver reality.

On the 717th day of the Israeli massacre in Gaza, which fell on 23 September 2025, Gaza’s Ministry of Health reported that since the start of the assault, over 65,300 Palestinians have been killed.

This staggering number reflects only those who died directly from injuries caused by strikes, sniper fire, or destruction.

Those who died slowly from hunger, thirst, or treatable diseases; newborns who cannot survive without incubators; elderly people without access to essential medicine; cancer patients without chemotherapy; pregnant women denied ambulance access due to fuel shortages; chronic patients left untreated; people trapped under rubble who never recovered; and those hastily buried without registration—these deaths are not included in the official statistics.

Science steps into this gap: a study published in the renowned journal The Lancet (July 2024) indicates that the officially recorded deaths from direct injuries account for only about 20% of the true total, because for every registered death, up to four more may have died from indirect war-related causes, such as hunger, thirst, untreated illnesses, lack of medicine, hospital collapse, and more.

According to Middle East Monitor, applying this reasoning to the latest official figures converts 65,000 registered martyrs into roughly 327,000 deaths in less than two years—about 13% of Gaza’s population of 2.5 million in October 2023. This illustrates that Gaza is facing one of the greatest humanitarian disasters of the present century.

It is crucial to understand that Gaza’s residents are not facing a natural disaster, earthquake, or uncontrollable epidemic; what is happening is a deliberate and systematic process.

A blockade prevents the entry of food, medicine, and fuel, while attacks systematically destroy hospitals, schools, water facilities, and essential urban infrastructure required for the survival of 2.5 million people.

Counting Gaza’s martyrs is, above all, counting the truth. Even official figures are an indictment of Israel’s ongoing policy of destruction, but viewed scientifically, the depth of the disaster becomes clear.

Accepting only the official narrative normalizes a largely invisible massacre; acknowledging the inadequacy of the reports is to recognize that Gaza has entered one of the darkest chapters in history.