Experts from the magazine “The Lancet” estimate the death toll in the Gaza Strip at 186,000.

According to medical experts, the death toll from Israel’s war against Gaza could be as high as 186,000. That is 150,000 more than current estimates.

The analysis of the medical journal The Lancet could provide a deeper understanding of the destruction in the Gaza Strip, where 2.2 million Palestinians live. Aid organizations speak of a “heartbreaking and shocking, but not necessarily surprising” new figure.

The article’s authors, Rasha Khatib, Martin McKee and Salim Yusuf, estimated this figure by taking the number of direct deaths reported by Gaza health authorities at the time (37,396 people) and adding four indirect deaths to each direct death. This calculation comes from the Geneva Declaration’s Global Burden of Armed Violence report.

This was published in 2008. Based on an analysis of several conflicts, it was estimated that for every direct death in the wars analyzed in the report, four people were killed indirectly due to the deterioration of social, economic and health conditions in the conflict areas.

According to the Gaza Health Ministry’s latest casualty update from Israel’s war on Gaza, 38,193 people were killed and another 87,903 injured.

According to a World Health Organization report on June 10, as of May 26, there were 865,157 cases of acute respiratory infections, 485,315 cases of diarrhea, 93,690 cases of scabies and lice, 57,887 cases of scabies and lice, 8,538 cases of chickenpox and 81,795 cases of acute jaundice syndrome.

On Monday, Al-Jazeera reported that a medical source in Gaza said that 436 cancer patients had died due to lack of treatment since the war began.

The Lancet The report also concluded that the estimated death toll of 186,000 represents 7.9 percent of Gaza’s estimated pre-war population of 2,375,259 people. It also noted that a number of factors make it difficult to determine the exact death toll on the ground.

This includes the fact that health authorities in the Gaza Strip are underestimating the death toll due to the destruction of the health system. Health authorities rely on reliable media sources and first responders to estimate the death toll.

Likewise, Gaza’s official statistics do not take into account the number of bodies buried under the rubble. This number is currently estimated at 10,000. At least 35 percent of the buildings in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed.

“Documenting the true scale is critical to ensure historical accountability and to recognize the full cost of the war,” the report said.

The Lancet has previously published articles on the death toll in Gaza. One of these articles argued that there were no inflated death figures in the Gaza Health Ministry’s reporting, after some pro-Israel media and personalities had accused it of falsifying the figures.

The medical journal famously estimated that 655,000 Iraqis died following the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

The Lancet’s Gaza report has provoked strong reactions from aid agencies. Aseel Baidoun, Senior Advocacy and Campaigns Manager at Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), said: The new Arab that the estimate was “heartbreaking and shocking, but not necessarily surprising.”

This is due to Israel’s “total and relentless siege and bombardment” of the Gaza Strip, which he said has enabled a “health catastrophe with hunger, dehydration and infectious diseases – from which many people have already died and will continue to die.”

Baidoun warned: “We know that even after a ceasefire, many people will die from the long-term consequences of malnutrition, untreated diseases and neglected chronic conditions.”

“What is happening in Gaza should shame the world,” Baidoun added.

The report also provoked a reaction from Labour MP Zarah Sultana, who said: “I reiterate my long-standing call for the British government to immediately halt all arms sales to Israel.”

The new Arab has asked the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) for comment on whether the new estimate would be taken into account in deciding on Gaza-related issues, but has received no response.