Excerpt: "New figures released by the Palestinian Ministry of Health to mark the end of 2014 reveal that the number of casualties from Israel's summer assault on the Gaza Strip is significantly higher than previously reported."



A child in a destroyed school in Gaza. (photo: J. David Ake/Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images/Amir Cohen/Reuters/Corbis)

145 Gaza Families Lost Three or More Members During Israeli Onslaught

By Mondoweiss

ew figures released by the Palestinian Ministry of Health to mark the end of 2014 reveal that the number of casualties from Israel’s summer assault on the Gaza Strip is significantly higher than previously reported. The ministry figures show that the total number of deaths among Palestinians in the 51-day offensive between July 7 and Aug. 28, 2014 reached 2,310, around 100 more than commonly cited figures. The revised toll likely includes a large number of Palestinians whose bodies were found in the rubble following the end of the Israeli bombardment, as well as dozens who have died of their wounds in hospitals in the months since the conflict’s end. The ministry said that of those killed were 1,802 male and 508 female. 10,626 Palestinians were also injured in the assault, of whom the ministry said 7,275 were male and 3,351 were female. The gender figures include children in both counts, of whom hundreds were killed. The ministry also that in the Gaza Strip 145 families lost three or more members in a single strike, meaning that in some cases entire families were removed from Palestinian civil records. 32 medics were killed and 102 were injured in the offensive, in addition to 36 ambulances and civil defense cars that were destroyed or damaged. Thirteen public hospitals were struck in addition to 17 private and non-governmental hospitals, one of which — al-Wafa Hospital — was completely destroyed. Twenty-three health centers belonging to the ministry were targeted, four of which were completely destroyed. Four private and non-governmental health centers were also targeted, one of which — the Khalil al-Wazir Clinic — was completely destroyed.