# Are Gaza's casualty figures propaganda?

*Van Hoer Center · The Conflict Decoded · The Gaza war and its toll · October 31, 2026* · https://vanhoercenter.com/decoded/are-gazas-casualty-figures-propaganda

**No—there is no credible evidence that Gaza’s reported casualty figures are propaganda.** The Gaza death toll numbers are not fabricated; they come from Gaza’s Ministry of Health and are used by OCHA; the UK government says that, after consulting experts, it considers the casualty data “largely accurate,” while acknowledging that wartime conditions make counting difficult. ([questions-statements.parliament.uk](https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2025-03-13/hl5769)) The UN clearly labels the casualty figures as Ministry-reported and not yet independently verified, so they should be treated as reported counts—not perfect, real-time totals. ([un.org](https://www.un.org/unispal/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Gaza_Reported_Impact_Snapshot_25_Mar_2026.pdf)) Moreover, a *Lancet* analysis estimated that traumatic-injury deaths in the first nine months of the war were substantially higher than the Ministry’s count, suggesting undercounting rather than fabrication or propaganda. ([bmj.com](https://www.bmj.com/content/388/bmj.r73?utm_source=openai)) The figures do not by themselves distinguish civilians from combatants, and uncertainty should be stated honestly; but dismissing Gaza’s casualty figures as “propaganda” is not supported by the evidence and risks obscuring the scale of Palestinian suffering.

## Sources

1. …consulting experts, it considers the casualty data “largely accurate,” while acknowledging that wartime conditions make counting difficult. — questions-statements.parliament.uk — https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2025-03-13/hl5769
2. …as Ministry-reported and not yet independently verified, so they should be treated as reported counts—not perfect, real-time totals. — un.org — https://www.un.org/unispal/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Gaza_Reported_Impact_Snapshot_25_Mar_2026.pdf
3. …nine months of the war were substantially higher than the Ministry’s count, suggesting undercounting rather than fabrication or propaganda. — bmj.com — https://www.bmj.com/content/388/bmj.r73

## See also

- [Does Hamas account for deaths caused by Hamas itself in the Gaza death toll?](https://vanhoercenter.com/decoded/does-hamas-account-for-deaths-caused-by-hamas-itself-in-the-gaza-death-toll)
- [Did the IDF approve a strike expecting 500 civilian deaths?](https://vanhoercenter.com/decoded/did-the-idf-approve-a-strike-expecting-500-civilian-deaths)
- [Did IDF strikes stop at the Gaza ceasefire?](https://vanhoercenter.com/decoded/did-idf-strikes-stop-at-the-gaza-ceasefire)
- [Did the IDF strike Gaza neighborhoods it knew were still populated?](https://vanhoercenter.com/decoded/did-the-idf-strike-gaza-neighborhoods-it-knew-were-still-populated)