Deaths and injuries

At the two-year mark since the October 7 massacre and the outbreak of the war, and three days before the ceasefire agreement entered into effect, the UN reported, based on Gaza Ministry of Health data, that 67,173 people had died in the Gaza Strip, including 20,179 minors and 10,427 women (46% of all fatalities). In addition, 170,203 people were injured, including 44,143 minors and 23,769 women.

The figures provided by the Gaza Ministry of Health are supported by names and ID numbers and regarded as credible by research institutions and international aid organizations. Moreover, experts estimate that the true death toll is significantly higher, as these figures do not include missing persons. According to estimates from June 2025, around 10,000 bodies remain trapped beneath collapsed buildings, and since they have not been located or identified, they are not included in the official count. Given that Gaza had a population of over 2.2 million before the war, the figures indicate more than 10% of the population has been killed or injured as a direct result of the conflict, as also noted by former IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi at an event in September 2025.

During the war, Israel dramatically changed its rules of engagement, leading to an unprecedented number of civilian deaths, including children, the elderly, and families. An investigation by Local Call and others revealed that, according to internal IDF intelligence estimates from May 2025, about 83% of the war’s fatalities were civilians.

The ceasefire that began on October 10, 2025 significantly reduced the risk to civilians in Gaza from Israeli military actions (as opposed to other risks such as those posed by Hamas or criminal activity). Nevertheless, dozens of Palestinians were killed by the Israeli military in the early weeks of the agreement, whether after crossing the “yellow line” into areas under Israeli control (especially before this line was marked on the ground), or in Israeli strikes on Hamas-controlled areas in response to militant attacks and the killing of Israeli soldiers.

For ongoing updates on Gaza’s civilian population, see Gaza Now: facts and figures on Gisha’s website.

Use of Palestinians as human shields

Testimonies given to Breaking the Silence by soldiers, accounts collected by Haaretz (see links for further reading below), and statements given by Gaza residents to the ICRC and the AP news agency,8 reveal that Palestinians were used as human shields, captured, exploited, and deliberately put in mortal danger. Most reports describe Palestinians being sent ahead of Israeli soldiers into tunnel shafts or buildings suspected of being booby-trapped. In some cases, they were forced to perform other life-threatening tasks.9 According to the testimonies, many of these men, were detained despite being suspected of nothing. They included elderly men and teenagers, and were captured in various parts of the Gaza Strip, some while traveling through passages controlled by the military (drainage passages) and humanitarian corridors. The Gazans who were detained were handcuffed and blindfolded; some were forced to wear IDF uniforms, and some were beaten and humiliated. They were held for periods ranging from several hours to several weeks, sometimes passed between different military units throughout the Strip. Most were eventually released. Many units referred to them as “shawishes,” (slaves), and the military slang for the practice is “Mosquito Protocol.”

Because reporting is limited to personal testimonies, the number of Gazans killed or injured as a result of this practice is unknown. The sources cited here contain evidence of at least four deaths, but there is reasonable concern that the true number is much higher. In one case, a Palestinian was reportedly killed due to mistaken identity; in another, a Palestinian was killed in a tunnel he was sent into, apparently after fainting. In a third case, a Palestinian was shot by Hamas fighters after being sent into a building where they were present. In another particularly grave case, an elderly man was used for hours as a human shield to sweep houses. When he was finally released, he and his wife were forced to leave their home and then fatally shot by another battalion due to a lack of coordination between units.

The reports indicate that the practice, which came into use at the very beginning of the war, proliferated as it went on. Though international law and the military’s own directives strictly forbid using human shields and involving civilians in combat operations, these were not isolated incidents, but a common practice known to the senior command, and, according to soldier testimonies, even directed by senior commanders in the field. The fact that it is informally referred to as a “protocol” speaks to its prevalence.

The military has previously stated that the practice is prohibited, that the matter is being probed, and that the Military Police Criminal Investigation Division (MPCID) is investigating six cases. As of the writing of this report, the outcome of these investigations is unknown. Given the indicated scale and ubiquity of the practice, it appears that eradicating the use of human shields will require an in-depth, thorough investigation that goes far beyond individual incidents.

For further reading on the topic:

Testimonies by soldiers on the Breaking the Silence website: The Use of Civilians Is Incredibly Direct, The Word “Shawish” Was Used a Lot, I Received Them Wholesale in Khan Younis, the Mosquitoes, The Lie Drove Me Crazy

Haaretz articles: Haaretz Investigation: The IDF Uses Palestinian Civilians as Human Shields in Scanning Tunnels and Buildings in Gaza, After Haaretz’s Exposure, the MPCID Investigates the IDF’s Use of Palestinians as Human Shields in Gaza

Exposure from Ha-Makom Ha-chi Ham Be-Gehenom: An 80-Year-Old Palestinian Was Used as a Human Shield With an Explosive Belt Tied Around His Neck. Eight Hours Later, He Was Shot Dead