Since Hamas was elected in 2006, the death related statistics it’s provided have been verified as accurate after every escalation in violence.
After the 2008 war, the health ministry reported 1,440 Palestinians killed; the U.N. reported 1,385.
In the 2014 war, the ministry reported 2,310 Palestinians killed; the U.N. reported 2,251.
And in the 2021 war, the ministry reported 260 Palestinians killed; the U.N. reported 256.
So it would appear that there’s little reason to cast doubt on the death figures they’re announcing during the current Israeli offensive.
How the media manipulates opinion about this
The facts are incontrovertible. If media outlets accused Hamas of lying, we could easily point to the figures from the previous conflicts to show how unreasonable they’re being. Instead they do something more insidious.
Using the October 7th attack as evidence, Israel has presented Hamas as a terrorist organisation. Though a lot of the atrocities from that day went viral – such as the 40 beheaded babies claim – few accusations have been verified yet.
Whether or not any particular atrocity happened however, it’s undeniable that civilians did die that day. What’s more, the stories of atrocities have done much to shape public opinion of Hamas as a brutal organisation, whether they’ve been debunked or not.
With this image of Hamas in people’s minds, look at how the Palestinian death toll is presented in the Western media.
Every account of the Palestinian death toll starts with a recounting of the events of October 7th. This presents that Hamas attack on Israel as the inciting incident, rather than as a response to the ongoing apartheid and genocide. Starting the story with this “unprovoked” attack does the job justifying the number of Palestinians killed in Israel’s retaliation.
In addition, look at the wording. It’s not the Gaza Ministry of Health that’s presenting Palestinian death toll figures, it’s the “Hamas-run health ministry”. This exact wording is repeated across many different Western outlets.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-67332684.amp
https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/israel-palestine-hamas-alshifa-hospital-gaza/
https://amp.abc.net.au/article/103178464
If you search the term “Hamas-run health ministry” online, you’ll find plenty more results from different news outlets. This is obviously a coordinated effort to undermine the credibility of the Palestinian people and their government.
Whatever crimes against humanity the Gazan government committed on October 7th, that doesn’t make it any less legitimate or credible than the Israeli government, which has committed numerous documented war crimes in its subsequent ethnic cleansing efforts against the Palestinian people.
If anything, given the IDF’s documented history of lying about its war crimes and human rights violations, it’s the Israelis who should have less credibility.
There’s no justification for the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Gaza, and there’s no reason to doubt the Palestinian government’s death toll statistics. Don’t buy into the media’s attempt to justify and cast doubt on the huge number of Palestinians killed in Gaza and the West Bank.
The Palestinian people need our ongoing support.
