The conflict in Gaza in numbers

BEIRUT - Israel launched a military offensive in Gaza after Hamas-led Palestinian militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and seizing around 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Here is a breakdown of the effects of more than 15 months of conflict in the Gaza Strip.

Deaths and injuries

Israel's ground and air campaign has killed at least 46,600 people, with just over half of those identified as women, children or older people, according to the latest data from the Gaza Health Ministry.

The official Palestinian Health Ministry count amounts to more than 10 times its count of losses in all previous Gaza conflicts since 2008, according to a Reuters calculation.

The Civil Emergency Service, tasked with finding people missing under rubble, on roads and in ruined buildings in Gaza says it has been notified of around 10,000 missing people.

The official Palestinian death toll likely undercounted the number of casualties by around 40% in the first nine months of the war, according to a peer-reviewed study published in The Lancet medical journal this month.

Israeli officials have said the Health Ministry death toll is suspect because of Hamas control over government in Gaza, but Israel's military has also accepted in briefings that the overall casualty numbers are broadly reliable.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has voiced full confidence in Gaza Ministry of Health death toll figures.

The Israeli military says 405 of its soldiers have also been killed in combat in Gaza.

Recent Israeli assessments put the number of Hamas fighters killed at 20,000. It says about one civilian was killed for every fighter, a ratio it blames on Hamas for using civilians as human shields by operating within densely populated areas, humanitarian zones, schools and hospitals, which Hamas denies.

At least 109,000 people have been wounded, according to Ministry of Health figures, cited by the United Nations.

The WHO said in September that more than 22,500 people, a quarter of those wounded in Gaza between October and July, have life-changing injuries, requiring rehabilitation services "now and for years to come". 

These include severe limb injuries, amputations, spinal cord trauma, traumatic brain injuries and major burns. These affect "many thousands of women and children".

Around 5% of Gaza's total population of 2.3 million, have been killed or wounded during the offensive.

Children

More than 14,000 children have been killed in Gaza, according to estimates by Palestinian health authorities that were cited last May by the U.N. children's agency.

An estimated 17,000 children are unaccompanied or separated from their families, UNICEF said.

More children were killed in Gaza in the first four months of the war than the total number of children killed in conflicts worldwide in the past four years, the head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, said in March.

The use of explosive weapons condemned an average of 15 children a day to potentially lifelong disabilities, including limb injuries and hearing impairments, during 2024, Save the Children said this month.

The charity noted the estimate was likely low and did not capture children suffering potentially lifelong psychological injuries.

With winter setting in and millions living in makeshift tents, Gaza's children are also threatened by hypothermia, according to U.N. children's agency UNICEF.

Since Dec. 26, eight infants and newborns were reported to have died from hypothermia, UNICEF said last week.

Homes and buildings

Around 90% of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been displaced during the war, the U.N. said this month.

The U.N. has said that the displaced are "continuing to survive in abysmal conditions, crammed in worn-out tents and damaged structures with limited food, water and other necessities".

Some people have been displaced up to 10 times.

Satellite imagery analysed by the United Nations Satellite Centre in May showed 55% of the strip's buildings had been destroyed or damaged.

The United Nations has said that removing 40 million tonnes of rubble could take 15 years and cost between $500 million and $600 million.

In a best-case scenario, rebuilding Gaza's destroyed homes will take until at least 2040, but the process could take as long as 80 years, according to U.N. assessments.

Schools and hospitals

Since the start of the war, every school in the Gaza Strip has been closed and most have been damaged.

UNICEF says at least 84% of schools require full reconstruction or significant rehabilitation before schooling can resume. 

Only 17 of Gaza's 36 hospitals remain partially functional while primary health care and community-level services are frequently suspended or rendered inaccessible due to insecurity, Israeli attacks and repeated evacuation orders.

Economic impact

Half of Gaza's population was already living below the poverty line before the war.

Now, Gaza's economy has shrunk to less than a sixth of its size when the war began, according to a September U.N. report. 

Environmental impact

A study by an international team of researchers released by Queen Mary University of London in June estimated the emissions from the first 120 days of the conflict alone were greater than the annual emissions of 26 individual countries and territories.

When war infrastructure built by both Israel and Hamas was factored in, the total emissions increased to more than those of 36 countries and territories.

A preliminary assessment carried out by the U.N. Environment Programme found the war had caused unprecedented environmental impacts, including soil, water and air pollution and potentially irreversible damage to ecosystems.

"Water and sanitation have collapsed. Critical infrastructure continues to be decimated. Coastal areas, soil and ecosystems have been severely impacted," UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen said in June.

For each square metre in the Gaza Strip, there is now more than 107 kg of debris, the assessment said.

This debris threatens human and the environment, from dust and contamination with unexploded ordnance, asbestos, industrial and medical waste, and other hazardous substances.

Munitions containing heavy metals and explosive chemicals have contaminated soil and water while solar panels have been destroyed, allowing lead and other heavy metals to leak into the soil and water.

Gaza's five wastewater treatment plants have shut down, with sewage contaminating beaches, coastal waters, soil, and freshwater with a host of pathogens, nutrients, microplastics and hazardous chemicals.

This story was updated on January 17th, 2025 to reflect the latest figures.

(Reporting by Nazih Osseiran; Editing by Helen Popper, Clar Ni Chonghaile and Jon Hemming.)