More Palestinians killed in past 34 days than in the past 22 years combined

A girl looks on as she stands by the rubble outside a building hit by Israeli bombardment in the southern Gaza Strip on October 31, 2023. (source)

Israel has killed more Palestinian men, women, and children in a little over a month than in all its previous 22 years of invasions and massacres combined. Israel’s attacks on Gaza’s imprisoned population have killed a child on average every 10 minutes

By Alison Weir

Since 2000, Israeli forces have killed numerous Palestinians every year. Each month and nearly every week, Israeli forces have killed Palestinian men, women, and children.

Israel launched major attacks on Gaza in 2008-9, 2012, 2014, 2021, and 2022, with a multitude of smaller assaults. Similarly, there have been numerous invasions of West Bank cities and villages.

The total number of Palestinians killed in all these since 2000 through October 6, 2023 was 10,751.

Now, on November 10th, the number of Palestinians killed is 21,541. In other words, in a little over a month, Israel has killed 10,790 Palestinians.

Screenshot of chart showing total deaths per year from Sept. 2000 through Nov. 10, 2023. (To see the numbers for each year go here.)

During this entire time, Gaza’s approximately 2 million people have been living in what many call the world’s largest open air prison. A fortified fence surrounds Gaza, its few entrances and exits controlled by armed guards.

It has been extremely difficult to get in and out of Gaza; even children with life-threatening illnesses who need medical help abroad have often been prevented from leaving.

In addition, Israel has blockaded Gaza for the past 16 years and even earlier, often preventing food, medical items, and other necessities from entering the area. In 2006, Dov Weisglass, senior advisor to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, referred to Israel’s severe restriction on food imports as “putting Gazans on a diet.”

Approximately 80% of Gazans are families whose ancestral land and homes were confiscated by Israel in 1948, when they were forced into exile. Israeli communities surrounding Gaza are built on stolen Palestinian land taken through military force.

In 2018, a massive nonviolent protest began in Gaza, in which thousands of men, women, and children demonstrated against their imprisonment and loss of land. The protests continued weekly for over a year and a half, Israeli forces killing and maiming participants every week, including women, children, medics, and journalists.

Finally, on October 7th there was a “prison break” in which some Gazans escaped their open-air prison and fought back against Israel. Hundreds of Israelis in areas surrounding Gaza were killed; the exact number is unknown since Israeli forces were reportedly responsible for a number of the deaths, and much misinformation has been disseminated.

Resistance forces took 239 Israeli prisoners, including 30 children, with a plan to exchange them for the over 5,000 Palestinians held by Israel, including 180 children. Some Israeli captives have already been released for humanitarian reasons, without requiring anything from Israel, and at least one of them said she had been treated well.

The day after the attack by Gazan escapees, Israeli forces began indiscriminately shelling Gaza, and in the ensuing weeks destroyed much of Gaza’s infrastructure. So far, Israel airstrikes have reportedly dropped 27,000 tons of explosives on Gaza. The attacks have killed a child on average every 10 minutes. Damage so far includes:

At least 45% of Gaza’s housing units have been destroyed or damaged
279 education facilities damaged
130 health facilities attacked
18 hospital and 40 health care centers out of service
51 ambulances damaged
At least 3 churches and 66 mosques damaged

Israel demanded that a million Gazans move from their homes in the northern half of Gaza to the south. When many did so, they were then periodically shelled.

Israel has cut off electricity in northern Gaza since October 11, and prevented sufficient food, water, and medical care from reaching Gazans.

The growing death toll among civilians and the escalating humanitarian catastrophe have caused people around the world, including many Americans, to demand a ceasefire, but Israel continues its shelling.

Even the pro-Israel Biden administration has been pleading with Israel to at least implement pauses in its attack so that humanitarian aid can get to the population. Israel has reluctantly finally said it would do this, but it is unclear to what degree it will actually happen.

Meanwhile, there are plans to give Israel $18 Billion of Americans’ tax money, on top of the billions of dollars US politicians have given Israel for many years, thanks to the Israel lobby.

And the death toll continues to rise.

Alison Weir is executive director of If Americans Knew, president of the Council for the National Interest, and author of Against Our Better Judgment: The Hidden History of How the U.S. Was Used to Create Israel. See her presentation on the issue here.

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