US official says Gaza death toll is believed to possibly be higher than claimed

US officials believe the death toll in Gaza may well be even higher than the more than 10,000 reported by the Strip’s Hamas-run Health Ministry, Assistant Secretary of State Barbara Leaf told a US House panel yesterday.

Israeli officials, US President Joe Biden and others have challenged the ministry’s figures — which topped more than 10,800 killed in Gaza as of today — as exaggerated.

“We think they’re very high, frankly, and it could be that they’re even higher than are being cited,” she says, later adding this is “very possible.”

Leaf says US officials draw on “sourcing from a variety of folks who are on the ground,” but gives no other details of the US assessment.

Leaf notes that Hamas health officials do not separate the numbers of civilians and fighters killed, and says it is difficult to know the true number of deaths as long as the fighting continues.