In a devastating letter sent to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris this week, 99 health workers who have volunteered in Gaza amid the genocide wrote that Israel has likely already killed over 118,908 Palestinians in Gaza. This is approximately 5.4 percent of Gaza’s population, meaning Israel has killed 1 of every 20 Palestinians in the Strip in less than a year, according to this estimate.
Not only is this figure horrific, it is also the “most conservative estimate” possible of the true death toll in Gaza, the health workers wrote in an appendix to the letter. The workers calculated this based on estimates from food insecurity researchers on the death toll caused by famine; rough estimates of deaths by disease; and other estimates of deaths that Gaza health officials are unable to count.
The workers, who spent a combined 254 weeks in Gaza, specifically emphasize the impact that Israel’s genocide has had on children. For instance, they point out that, according to officially reported figures, Israel has killed at least 2,100 babies and toddlers since October 7 — a toll that is higher than the combined Israeli death toll from the First Intifada, the Second Intifada and October 7 attack.
No, I was asking the questions I asked.
The info about the pre-war birth rate is a bit helpful, though.
I’m wondering how long it will take Israel to eradicate all Palestinians, if they keep going at the current speed, if the world fails to stop them for decades in a worst case scenario. But don’t waste your time on my grim thoughts.
These things aren’t linear, you could try to piece together a projection from the reports on famine. But they deal more with how to prevent and reverse famine, not death projections
https://www.refugeesinternational.org/reports-briefs/untangling-the-reality-of-famine-in-gaza/