Palestinian fatalities surpass 40,000 in under 11 months
This is not just another turn in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.
What has been ongoing since October 8 can no longer be described as a large retaliation or large war, but only as an in-progress effort at extermination.
With 40,878 Palestinians killed in the Gaza Strip and 659 in West Bank and East Jerusalem since October 7, Palestine’s loss exceeds…
- Israeli losses on October 7 (1139 including, 373 security forces, 36 children) by a factor of 36 to one.
- 2,162 total Palestinian and Israeli deaths in First Intifada Dec 1987–Sep 1993 (2,106 days)
- 2,996 deaths in 11 September 2001 attacks on USA (1 day)
- 4,364 total Palestinian and Israeli deaths in Second Intifada Sep 2000–Jan 2005 (1,555 days)
- 6,412 total Palestinian deaths 2008–Sep 2023 (5,751 days)
- 8,372 deaths in the genocidal Srebrenica massacre, Jul 1995 (22 days)
- 10,317 civilian deaths (including those missing) in Kosovo War, Feb 1998–Jun 1999 (468 days)
… combined.
By all measures but territorial loss and villages destroyed, but including deaths, deaths of children, number of people displaced, and number of homes and building destroyed, this assault is larger than the first Nakba. During those 598 days, Palestine suffered 15,000 to 20,000 estimated deaths. We now stand at twice that toll. Upwards of 1.9 million Palestinians have been expelled from their homes, over twice as many as during the event Palestinians have remembered as their greatest tragedy.
We’re amid the catastrophe and we must stop it.
Why I made this
Researching and accounting for lethal political violence is a major part of my work, and I find myself staggered by this extraordinary and extraordinarily public burst of violence. Like climate scientists during 2023’s record-breaking summer, I find myself frantically sharing statistics and re-posting and pointing out this is not normal. Not even against recent trends. That this is the threshold of something worse than what we’ve known.
Making this graph is my attempt to show how this isn’t normal. To grapple with the historic significance of this moment. To not feel alone in seeing it.
