Gaza (QNN)- The Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights estimates that the death toll from Israel’s genocide in Gaza may have exceeded 200,000 people. The warning comes after new data showed that Gaza’s population has declined by more than 10 percent since October 2023.
Stuart Casey-Maslen, head of the Academy’s project on international humanitarian law, said that such a sharp population drop suggests the loss of around 200,000 people. He stressed that widely circulated figures do not reflect the full scale of human loss in the Gaza Strip.
Maslen made his remarks in the Academy’s latest “War Watch” report, which reviews conditions in Gaza alongside 23 other armed conflicts around the world over the past 18 months.
Maslen described the situation in Gaza as “extremely serious.” He noted that Israel's intense attacks seen before last year’s ceasefire have not resumed at the same level, but he warned that this does not mean Palestinian suffering has ended.
“Everyone in Gaza, especially the wounded who need safe evacuation and proper treatment, faces deeply concerning conditions,” he said. “People are still dying in Gaza.”
He called for an urgent expansion of humanitarian aid. He stressed the need to provide food and clean water, secure shelter, protect civilians from harsh weather, and ensure access to medical care.
There is broad agreement that Israel has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023. However, Maslen said this number reflects only the bodies that medical teams have recovered and documented.
He pointed out that many victims likely remain trapped under rubble, beyond the reach of rescue crews. As a result, the real death toll could be far higher than current official counts.
The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics recently reported that Gaza’s population has dropped by more than 10 percent since the start of the genocide. Maslen acknowledged that experts still need to verify these estimates. However, he said that if confirmed, they would indicate human losses far beyond the figures currently reported.
“We will need time to know the exact number,” Maslen said. “But it is clear that we are facing massive human loss, and we must understand how these people were killed.”
The Ministry of Health announced that 72,037 Palestinians have been killed and 171,666 injured since October 2023. The ministry added that thousands more remain under the rubble because ambulance and civil defense teams cannot reach them.
