Gaza Death Lists Include Hamas Fighters, Researcher Claims
Translated & summarized from NEWSru Israel by baba
Norwegian researcher Eirik Brottane claims that Palestinian casualty lists from Gaza, managed by Hamas, include militants and that death information can be registered before bodies are recovered. His analysis of 91 bodies returned by Israel found that at least 25% were previously declared fallen Hamas or Islamic Jihad fighters. Brottane also suggests that some individuals listed as killed in Gaza airstrikes may have actually died in Israel during the October 7 attack, as their bodies were recovered there.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Researcher Eirik Brottane claims Gaza's death lists include Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters.
- At least 25% of 91 identified bodies returned by Israel were previously declared militants.
- Many listed deaths occurred on or shortly after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
- Some individuals listed as killed in Gaza airstrikes may have died in Israel on Oct 7.
- Gaza's Ministry of Health lists may register deaths before bodies are recovered.
A Norwegian researcher, Eirik Brottane, has analyzed Palestinian casualty lists and found significant discrepancies, suggesting that some individuals identified among bodies returned by Israel were already listed as deceased before their bodies were recovered. Brottane's analysis, which cross-referenced data from Gaza's Ministry of Health, the "Genocide in Gaza" database, and statements from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, indicates that at least a quarter of the 91 identified bodies were previously declared fallen militants.
Following a ceasefire in October 2025, Israel returned approximately 400 bodies to Gaza. Gaza's Ministry of Health released photos and names of 396 identified individuals. Brottane's investigation focused on 91 identified men, aged 18 to 60, comparing their names, identification data, ages, and reported death dates against various sources. He found that 63 of these individuals, or 69%, were listed with a death date of October 7, 2023, the day of Hamas's attack on Israel. An additional 13 were reported to have died between October 8 and November 16, 2023, meaning 84% of the identified individuals died in the first six weeks of the war.
Brottane also noted that for 13% of the identified individuals, the listed death date was after the October 2025 ceasefire, which he suggests might reflect the date the death was registered rather than the actual time of death. Crucially, his research identified at least 23 individuals, or 25%, who had been previously announced as fighters for Hamas's Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades or Islamic Jihad's Al-Quds Brigades, a fact corroborated by the militant groups themselves.
Further discrepancies were found when comparing with the "Genocide in Gaza" database. Of the 91 identified individuals, 75% were present in this database, with the site claiming they died in Israeli airstrikes within Gaza. Brottane questions this, positing that many bodies recovered by Israel on its territory after October 7 might have been mistakenly attributed to airstrikes in Gaza. He suggests that the "Genocide in Gaza" project may use a default description of death by airstrike when specific circumstances are unknown, as approximately 94% of the roughly 50,000 deaths documented in its database are attributed to Israeli airstrikes.
The analysis suggests that Gaza's Ministry of Health casualty lists, controlled by Hamas, include members of militant organizations and that death information can enter official statistics before bodies are recovered. However, Brottane emphasizes that the presence of militants on these lists does not necessarily prove an inflation of the overall death toll, as the ministry's statistics do not consistently differentiate between civilians and combatants. More significant questions arise regarding the accuracy of reported death dates and circumstances, particularly in databases that provide specific incident details.
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