Hamas says Palestinian death toll in Gaza war has hit 20,000

Hamas’s media office in the Gaza Strip says at least 20,000 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory since the war with Israel began.

The number cannot be independently confirmed.

The IDF assesses at least one-third of those killed are Hamas operatives. Hamas’s toll also includes those killed in failed Palestinian rocket attacks.

Hamas says some 8,000 children and 6,200 women are among the dead, as the conflict continues to rage more than two months after it broke out on October 7.

Of note, Hamas counts as children anyone below 18, while the IDF says many Hamas gunmen taking part in combat are minors in their late teens.

Israel says it is making an effort to avoid harm to civilians while fighting a terror group embedded within the civilian population. It has long accused Gaza-based terror groups of using Palestinians in the Strip as human shields, operating from sites, including schools and hospitals, which are supposed to be protected.