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Death toll in Gaza undercounted by around 41 per cent, study finds
Fatma Abu Awad and her daughter Malak pray in a graveyard where their relatives who were killed by an Israeli airstrike are buried, in Khan Younis, Gaza, January 9, 2025

THE number of Palestinians killed by the Israeli action in Gaza since October 2023 has been undercounted by around 41 per cent, a new study has found.

The estimates were published in medical journal the Lancet on Thursday as the US House of Representatives voted to sanction the International Criminal Court (ICC) over its decision to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant. 

The Lancet’s estimates put the true number of deaths caused by Israeli attacks at around 64,260, far higher than the official toll of at least 42,000.

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