Jerusalem, Israel — In a move that has drawn widespread international scrutiny, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced a two-pronged strategy for the Gaza conflict: a military takeover of Gaza City alongside a resumption of ceasefire negotiations. The announcement comes as a new, classified Israeli intelligence report suggests that the vast majority of casualties in the war have been civilians.
Speaking to military officials on Thursday, Netanyahu confirmed he would “approve plans” for an expanded military operation in Gaza City, which the Israeli military sees as the final remaining stronghold of Hamas. This is Israel’s first public response to a recent ceasefire proposal brokered by Egypt and Qatar that Hamas reportedly accepted earlier in the week. According to the database, a total of 8,900 named fighters from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) were listed as dead or “probably dead.” Conflict researchers and humanitarian groups have described a civilian casualty rate of 83% as “unusually high” for modern warfare, a ratio with few parallels in recent conflicts.
When confronted with the findings, an Israeli military spokesperson did not directly deny the existence of the database or the figures for militant casualties, but issued a statement claiming the “figures presented in the article are incorrect” without providing alternative data.
A Looming Humanitarian Crisis
The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains dire. Aid groups have warned that any further military offensive in the already densely populated Gaza City would have catastrophic consequences for the civilian population.
The convergence of these events—a planned military offensive, a renewed but cautious diplomatic push, and the revelation of a high civilian death toll—underscores the ongoing complexity and gravity of the conflict.