Since 1 January 2011, Belgian artist Dieter Ohler has spent every day recording newspaper headlines about deaths around the world, creating thousands of handwritten pages that explore how journalism turns human lives into numbers.

This article critically examines the recent claim that 80% of Gaza’s war casualties are Hamas operatives or their families, analysing the implications of this assertion in light of Ministry of Health data and ethical considerations on civilian protection.

The Gaza Ministry of Health (MoH) released an updated list of 34,344 deaths since October 7, marking improvements in casualty reporting accuracy despite persistent minor issues and a remaining discrepancy of 6,400 between reported totals and individually documented deaths.

Professor Mike Spagat critiques the mortality estimates in Gaza, arguing that the projection of 186,000 total deaths based on indirect-to-direct death ratios is speculative and lacks a solid foundation, emphasising the need for context-specific and transparent data collection methods.

his article examines the severe human toll of the Gaza conflict as reported by BBC Verify, highlighting the staggering civilian casualties, particularly among women and children, and the complexities of casualty reporting in war zones.