Police say they’ve identified 859 civilian victims from October 7 massacre, up 16

Israeli authorities have identified the remains of 859 civilians killed in the October 7 attacks on southern Israel, police say, with work still ongoing.

The number is 16 more than the last announcement on November 8, six days ago.

Israel said Friday it had revised the death toll of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israeli communities and military bases in southern Israel down from around 1,400 to roughly 1,200 people.

Israel has said some 1,500 terrorists are believed to have been killed by security forces, leaving authorities with thousands of corpses to process.

The death toll is likely to continue to fluctuate for some time. Some of the over 240 people abducted to the Strip are thought to not be alive, though there are no official estimates. Additionally, as time has passed, there has been a steady trickle of reports on individuals who had been thought kidnapped but who have since been confirmed, through forensic and other evidence, to have been killed.