In a devastating letter sent to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris this week, 99 health workers who have volunteered in Gaza amid the genocide wrote that Israel has likely already killed over 118,908 Palestinians in Gaza. This is approximately 5.4 percent of Gaza’s population, meaning Israel has killed 1 of every 20 Palestinians in the Strip in less than a year, according to this estimate.
Not only is this figure horrific, it is also the “most conservative estimate” possible of the true death toll in Gaza, the health workers wrote in an appendix to the letter. The workers calculated this based on estimates from food insecurity researchers on the death toll caused by famine; rough estimates of deaths by disease; and other estimates of deaths that Gaza health officials are unable to count.
The workers, who spent a combined 254 weeks in Gaza, specifically emphasize the impact that Israel’s genocide has had on children. For instance, they point out that, according to officially reported figures, Israel has killed at least 2,100 babies and toddlers since October 7 — a toll that is higher than the combined Israeli death toll from the First Intifada, the Second Intifada and October 7 attack.
I and a few others have been trying to tell people that Gaza is already in the dying phase. That the UN and IPC have said Northern Gaza is in famine and Southern Gaza is “imminent”. But nobody has wanted to listen. Just recently we found out that USAID made the same assessment and assessed that Israel was restricting calories on purpose. But Blinken and Biden ignored that assessment to effectively clear Israel for military aid.
And this isn’t done yet. When they dig that rubble out they’re going to find more bodies. That’s part of why Israel wants to officially occupy Gaza again. If we ever get a real number that might actually make them a parish state.