‘Not Implausible’ – The Lancet Estimates Gaza Death Toll Could Be 186,000 or More

“Even if the conflict ends immediately, there will continue to be many indirect deaths in the coming months and years from causes such as reproductive, communicable, and non-communicable diseases.”

The death toll in the besieged Gaza Strip could be as high as 186,000 or even more, according to the leading medical journal The Lancet.

“Applying a conservative estimate of four indirect deaths per one direct death to the 37 396 deaths reported, it is not implausible to estimate that up to 186 000 or even more deaths could be attributable to the current conflict in Gaza,” the peer-reviewed journal stated in a report published on July 5.

It said that the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs had reported that the Gaza Health Ministry had, by June 19, recorded 37,396 people killed since Israel’s military assault on the enclave began on October 7.

Read the article here.

Israel continues to carry out massacres against Palestinian civilians in Gaza.(Photo: Mahmoud Ajjour, Palestine Chronicle)

Humanitarian Situation Update #186 West Bank. July 3

Key Highlights

  • Israeli authorities approve plan to “legalize” five settlement outposts unauthorized under Israeli law; settlers from those outposts have carried out 27 attacks against Palestinians in 2024.  

  • Since 7 October, OCHA has recorded 28 incidents of airstrikes, during which 77 Palestinians, including 14 children, have been killed in the West Bank, including two during the reporting period. 

  • At least 200 houses sustained damage during a recent operation by Israeli forces in Nur Sham Refugee Camp in Tulkarm, a UN assessment finds. 

    Read the full report: Humanitarian Situation Update #186 West Bank

A residential area where infrastructure was heavily damaged in the Jenin Refugee Camp following an operation carried out by Israeli forces. Photo by UNICEF-SoP/2024/Alaa Badarneh, 25 May 2024

This Week in Palestine available!


This Week in Palestine, the long-running weekly program on Boston College radio station WZBC continues to air and livestream every Sunday at 8 A.M. Episodes are now being excellently hosted by Ann Lucas, a BC ethnomusicology professor.

 

The program is now available (free) as a Podcast, with each new episode scheduled to drop on the Tuesday following its live Sunday morning broadcast. You can use your favorite podcast software (I use Podcast Addict on my Android phone) to search for and subscribe to This Week in Palestine. Downloading each episode to your phone is a super-convenient way to listen whenever you want.

 

Now, with worldwide distribution, please help us to use word-of-mouth to expand the program’s listenership.

 

To sample an episode, try last week’s: Palestine and Free Speech vs. Zionism and Political Power.

Last Weekend's Encampment in Salem MA.

Below is the announcement of the encampment and a few photos. As one participant said, “"The encampment was a phenomenal undertaking and the attendance was great. So many folks from local communities and lots of young, brilliant activists."