The Israeli security establishment will soon publish its own data on the number of Arab casualties in the Gaza war. An updated assessment of the proportion defined as "uninvolved" who lost their lives in the conflict will also be released.
The data publication will follow extended staff work by several IDF units and comes against the backdrop of a serious public diplomacy mishap that occurred last week, when a senior military officer adopted Hamas figures. In a briefing to military correspondents, the senior officer said 70,000 people were killed in Gaza during the war, as claimed by the body called Hamas' Health Ministry.
VIDEO: Tucker Carlson 🇶🇦 and Cenk Uygur 🇹🇷 LIE; say that 83% of the deaths in Gaza are civilians.
Even worse: They LIE and say that this number comes from the Israeli Defense Forces.
No, it comes from Yuval Abraham, who found a list of known Hamas/PIJ terrorists and asserted… pic.twitter.com/zWtL1sSaB7
— Max 📟 (@MaxNordau) February 1, 2026
The senior officer's remarks were quoted extensively by media outlets in Israel and around the world, and public diplomacy bodies admit they caused significant damage. A string of international networks wrote that "after casting doubt on Hamas numbers, Israel now confirms 70,000 people were killed in Gaza." This was the spirit of the headlines on CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera, and others.
The ostensible IDF validation of Hamas "data" was quickly exploited by anti-Israel elements who added another layer to it. They claimed Israel also admitted the proportion of "uninvolved" killed in Gaza stood at 80%, as Hamas claimed throughout the war.
For over 2yrs, most of my pro-Israel guests have angrily denied the Gaza Health Ministry's casualty numbers and said they were wildly exaggerated. Now, the IDF has accepted they're accurate. https://t.co/xE0glY8Sfk
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) January 29, 2026
For example, American left-wing activist Cenk Uygur said in an interview with far-right broadcaster Tucker Carlson that "Hamas killed 67% civilians on October 7 and that means it's a terrorist organization. Israel confirmed 83% of those killed in Gaza were civilians, the highest among all terror organizations in the world. And this number came from Israeli media." Millions watched the conversation between the two in the United States and beyond over the past week.
Sources in the Israeli public diplomacy system admit this is a serious mishap. In an effort to limit the damage, IDF Spokesman for International Media Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani wrote on his X account that "the IDF clarifies that the details published do not reflect official IDF data. Any publication or report on this matter will be published through official and orderly channels." However, fewer than 150 people viewed his notice. The department even held numerous conversations with journalists around the world to minimize the damage.
Yet in the IDF's official English-language channels, no denial or reservation about the statements was published. Thus, the perception has already become entrenched in international media that Israel adopted Hamas data, after two years in which it defined them as false propaganda. Independent broadcaster Piers Morgan wrote this, while retweeting an update from Haaretz, "For over two years, most of my pro-Israel guests angrily denied the Gaza Health Ministry casualty figures, saying they were horrifically exaggerated. Now, the IDF has accepted their accuracy." Morgan's tweet was viewed by 3.7 million people.
