WHO Says Nothing Is Wrong With The Death Toll In Gaza, Normal If There Is A Change In Conflict

The ambulance convoy in the Gaza Strip. (Twitter/@WHO)

JAKARTA - The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday voiced full confidence in the death toll of Palestinians issued by Gaza's Ministry of Health, saying they were actually getting closer to confirming the scale of losses after Israel questioned the change in the number.

Gaza's Ministry of Health last week updated details of the total deaths of about 35,000 people since October 7, saying about 25,000 of them have so far been fully identified, with more than half being women and children.

This sparked accusations from Israel regarding inaccuracies, as Palestinian authorities previously estimated more than 70 percent of the dead were women and children.

UN agencies have reissued Palestinian death toll figures, which have since surpassed the 35,000 people who died, citing the source.

"There's nothing wrong with the data, the overall data (more than 35,000) is still the same," WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said at a news conference in Geneva, Switzerland, responding to questions about the death toll.

"The fact that we now have 25,000 people identified is a step forward," he added.

Based on his extrapolation of the latest Palestinian data, he said about 60 percent of the victims were women and children, but many of the bodies buried under the rubble were most likely included in this category when they were finally identified.

He added, "normal" if the death toll changes in conflict, given Israel has revised the death toll from the Hamas attack on October 7 to 1,200 after an examination.

"Basically we talk about 35,000 people who died, and every life is important, right?" said UN Human Rights Office spokesman Liz Thorssel on the same occasion.

"And we know that many of them are women and children and there are 1,000 people missing under the rubble," he said.