A RENOWNED American attorney and indigenous rights campaigner estimates that the Israeli military has killed at least 360,000 people in its 15-month-long genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, arguing that the besieged territory’s true death toll is significantly higher than the figure reported by mainstream media.
Steven Donziger, who spent decades battling Chevron over pollution in the Ecuadorian rainforest, made the assertion on Wednesday, as he criticised the “narrow and incomplete’ death count in Gaza, which ‘is severely under-reported’ in international news outlets.
‘Official data from the Gaza Ministry of Health reports approximately 46,000 deaths, but this figure only includes direct fatalities from bombings and missile strikes. It does not take into account the widespread indirect deaths from starvation, disease, and lack of medical care caused by the destruction of Gaza’s health infrastructure and the blockade imposed by Israel,’ he said.
He went on to say that as of January 19, 2024, the number of deaths in Gaza, including both direct and indirect causes, could be as high as 306,000, according to his analysis.
The Harvard-trained lawyer further compared this figure to the population of the United States, stating that if the same proportion of Americans had died in a conflict, it would be equivalent to 46 million people, or about 14% of the country’s population.
While acknowledging that these estimates are not precise, he maintained that they reflect the scale of the human tragedy in Gaza, saying, ‘I have a great deal of confidence that our calculation accurately captures the shocking scale of what has happened – and continues to happen.’
Donziger’s figures are based on a study published by the UK’s Lancet medical journal in June 2023 estimating that the accumulative effects of Israel’s war on Gaza could mean the true death toll could reach more than 186,000 people.
From this, Donziger calculated that with an additional 214 days of fighting until the ceasefire in January 2024, the total death toll would have risen to approximately 360,000.
Also in January this year, The Lancet published a study estimating that Gaza’s death toll during the first nine months of the war was about 40 per cent higher than figures reported by the Palestinian Health Ministry.
The study suggested the total death toll was actually at around 64,260, which would mean the health ministry had under-reported the number of deaths by 41 per cent.
The new study used data from the ministry, an online survey and social media obituaries to estimate that there were between 55,298 and 78,525 deaths from traumatic injuries in Gaza by that time.
Earlier, a UN report had indicated that around 10,000 missing Gazans are probably buried under rubble.
The number of dead in Gaza has been a matter of bitter debate since Israel launched its genocidal campaign against the blockaded territory on October 7, 2023, after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas carried out a historic operation against the usurping entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.
- Hamas has denounced US president’s call for cancellation of the Gaza ceasefire unless the Palestinian resistance movement frees all remaining Israeli captives in a matter of days, saying Donald Trump must remember that the only way for the return of Israeli captives is to respect the deal.
Sami Abu Zuhri, a high-ranking member of the Hamas political bureau, said: ‘Trump should know that in order for the ceasefire in Gaza to last, both sides must comply with their obligations.
‘This is the only way to bring back the Israeli captives.’
He added: ‘The language of threats has no value and only complicates matters.’
Trump said on Monday he would propose cancelling the ceasefire in Gaza and ‘let hell break out’ if all Israeli captives held by Hamas were not released by midday Saturday.
‘As far as I’m concerned, if all of the hostages aren’t returned by Saturday at 12 o’clock, I think it’s an appropriate time. I would say, cancel it and all bets are off and let hell break out. I’d say they ought to be returned by 12 o’clock on Saturday,’ Trump said.
The US president said he wanted the captives released en masse, instead of a few at a time: ‘We want them all back.’
On Monday evening, Hamas said it will delay the release of more Israeli captives planned for Saturday ‘until further notice’, due to the Tel Aviv regime’s violations of the ceasefire in Gaza.
The captives will ‘remain in place until the occupying entity complies with past obligations and compensates retroactively’, Abu Obeida, spokesperson for the Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing, said in a statement.
‘Over the past three weeks, the resistance leadership monitored the enemy’s violations and their non-compliance with the terms of the agreement,’ he said.
‘These violations include delaying the return of displaced persons to northern Gaza, targeting them with shelling and gunfire in various areas of the Gaza Strip, and failing to allow the entry of relief materials in all forms as agreed upon.
‘Meanwhile, the resistance has fulfilled all its obligations,’ said Obeida.
The Qassam Brigades spokesperson reaffirmed the group’s ‘commitment to the terms of the agreement as long as the occupation adheres to them’.
In response to Hamas’s announcement, Israeli war minister Israel Katz said he has instructed the military to ‘prepare at the highest level of alert for any possible scenario in Gaza’.
- Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is travelling to Washington in an effort to prevent a trade war with US President Donald Trump.
India is considering tariff reductions in at least a dozen sectors, including electronics, medical and surgical equipment and chemicals, to facilitate increased US exports while aligning with New Delhi’s domestic production plans, according to three government officials.
The officials further stated that concessions are being considered on items India predominantly sources from the US or has the potential to import more of, such as dish antennas and wood pulp.
In a statement on Monday, Modi said, ‘This visit will be an opportunity to build upon the successes of our collaboration in his (Trump’s) first term.’
During his two-day visit to the US starting Wednesday, Modi is also expected to propose increased energy and defence imports.
India is currently negotiating with the US on the purchase and co-production of combat vehicles, and is in the final stages of securing a fighter jet engine deal.
Trump had urged Modi in a call last month to purchase more US-made security equipment, claiming it would move the relationship ‘towards fair trade’.
Bilateral trade surpassed $118 billion in the 2023-2024 fiscal year, with India maintaining a trade surplus of $32 billion.
While trade relations have steadily expanded over the past decade, Washington’s growing interest in New Delhi primarily stems from its desire to counter China’s regional influence.
Last Sunday, Trump announced plans to impose a new 25% tariff on all steel and aluminium imports into the US, in addition to existing duties. He also intends to introduce reciprocal tariffs, which would take effect almost immediately.
Trump has previously accused India of being a ‘very big abuser’ in trade.
An industry official warned that nearly a fifth of India’s engineering goods exports – including steel and aluminium, worth approximately $25 billion – could be severely impacted if Trump’s proposed tariff hike is implemented.
Indian lawmakers have protested against the way the US has deported more than 100 Indian migrants to their home country.
Another pressing issue is Trump’s relentless crackdown on migrants and India’s pledge to severely curtail illegal immigration, which has further exposed New Delhi’s subjugation to Washington’s demands.
The US president claims Modi has assured him that India ‘will do what’s right’ on the matter – yet another instance of New Delhi bending to American pressure.
Just last week, the US forcibly deported 104 Indian migrants, with many more set to be expelled in the coming months. Disturbing images of deportees shackled like criminals during a gruelling 42-hour military flight have sparked outrage in India.
In reaction to the deportation, a senior Indian official merely suggested that ‘this kind of treatment can perhaps be avoided’.
- US President Donald Trump has predicted that Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) will find ‘hundreds of billions’ of dollars of abuse and fraud in the Pentagon.
Trump said last Sunday that he expects Musk will discover that ‘billions of dollars’ have been abused and defrauded in the Pentagon.
‘I’m going to go, go to the military. Let’s check the military … we’re going to find billions, hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud and abuse,’ he said.
Also, in an interview, the national security adviser Mike Waltz said, ‘Everything there (Pentagon) seems to cost too much, takes too long and deliver too little for the soldiers … We do need business leaders to go in there and absolutely reform the Pentagon’s acquisition process.’
According to governmental reports, the Pentagon’s budget is approaching $1 trillion per year. In December, then-President Joe Biden signed a bill authorising $895 billion in defence spending for the fiscal year ending on September 30th, 2025.
Musk, whom the White House considers a special government employee, heads a new governmental department called ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ and has been tasked with reducing the size of the federal government, its spending and the US national debt.
Critics, however, say these efforts are illegal, and risk exposing classified information because Musk and DOGE lack the necessary expertise and more importantly, Musk’s companies have contracts with numerous departments of the government, especially the Pentagon.
Combating wasteful spending, downsising the government and reducing the national debt were key promises of Trump’s presidency.
Musk, who gave millions of dollars to Trump’s campaign, became the most outspoken critic of governmental overspending and claimed his financial acumen, gave him the necessary knowledge to not only reduce government spending but also reduce the national debt by hundreds of billions of dollars.
