• Israeli military data indicates 83% of Palestinians killed in Gaza are civilians.
• Only 17% of the reported deaths are attributed to identified militants.
• The civilian death toll is considered among the highest in modern warfare.
• The investigation has raised allegations of genocide against Israel.
• Israeli responses to the data have been inconsistent across different media outlets.

A classified Israeli military intelligence database reveals that **83% of Palestinians killed in Gaza are civilians**, as of May 2025. This figure emerges from a joint investigation by sources including The Guardian, +972 Magazine, and Local Call, highlighting significant humanitarian concerns in the ongoing conflict. The report states that among approximately 53,000 reported deaths, only about 8,900 were identified as Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) fighters, indicating a civilian death toll that starkly contrasts traditional warfare patterns, according to Middle East Eye and TRT Global.

This remarkably high civilian casualty ratio positions the Gaza conflict among the most devastating in modern history. **Research by the Uppsala Conflict Data Program** suggests that only historical events like the Rwandan genocide and the Srebrenica massacre recorded similarly elevated proportions of civilian deaths in wartime. Experts note that this ratio is particularly alarming given its sustained nature in the ongoing conflict, further suggesting serious implications for international humanitarian law, as cited by Al Jazeera and TRT Global.

The Israeli military has not disagreed with the existence of the intelligence database but has issued disputable statements regarding its accuracy. After engaging with various media outlets, the military referred to discrepancies in the figures reported, although no specifics were provided regarding which parts of the data were subject to dispute. Their spokesperson criticized the presented figures as "incorrect," while failing to clarify the military's own data standards, according to Middle East Eye and Al Jazeera.

An intelligence source observed that **the classification process often leads to inflated militant casualties**, stating, “People are promoted to the rank of terrorist after their death.” These comments point to concerns regarding the reliability of official casualty figures, suggesting a systematic tendency to mislabel civilian deaths as combatant fatalities. As former Israeli military personnel express skepticism over the authenticity of casualty data, it raises further human rights concerns amidst widespread allegations of genocide aimed at Israel, noted by various rights organizations and scholars, according to TRT Global and Al Jazeera.