More than 10% of Gaza’s population has been killed or injured, former Israeli military chief says

Most sources repeat the official numbers provided by the Palestinian health authorities. But those numbers constitute a serious underestimation. They are based on the registered dead and wounded, not to the dead still under the rubble, or those who lost their life because of shortages of food, medicine and medical help, clean water etc. 

By Tal Shalev, Eugenia Yosef
Sep 15, 2025

The former chief of the Israeli military said more than 1 in 10 Palestinians in the enclave have been killed or injured since the war began nearly two years ago.

Speaking at the community of Ein HaBesor in southern Israel last week, former Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said, “There are 2.2 million people in Gaza. There are in Gaza today more than 10% who were killed or injured, more than 200,000. This is not a gentle war.”

The figure is notable because it is very close to the number of casualties from the Palestinian Ministry of Health, which says Israeli forces have killed nearly 65,000 Palestinians and injured more than 164,000.

During the war, Israeli officials repeatedly challenged the health ministry figures, seeking to cast doubt on the reported death and injury tolls in the besieged enclave. They also accused the ministry of relying on data supplied by Hamas.

Halevi’s comments were made on Tuesday but not widely reported until the weekend by the Israeli media, many of which published an audio recording of the remarks. CNN obtained a copy of the audio and confirmed with an attendee that Halevi had spoken at the event. Halevi was the chief of staff during the first 17 months of the war.

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