WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) led Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) in urging the Department of State to provide additional data on the total death and destruction in Gaza. In their letter, the Senators requested more information on the numbers of Palestinian causalities in Gaza and the number of aid and health workers, and journalists killed, in addition to estimated casualties of Israeli security force personnel and hostage deaths. The Senators highlighted the importance of this data, especially as the Government of Israel’s limitations on international journalists entering Gaza have limited reporting of the humanitarian devastation in Gaza and the West Bank. 

Data collection regarding Palestinian casualties, as relied upon by the United Nations (U.N.) Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Health, is conducted by the Hamas De Facto Authority Ministry of Health. Historically, OCHA has verified this data, particularly after conflicts, and the figures have generally been deemed accurate. However, in this conflict, OCHA has reported difficulties verifying the data due to the operating environment. 

“Reports suggest thousands of bodies of Palestinians may be buried beneath the rubble of destroyed buildings…At least 230 U.N. staff have been killed since the conflict began. Additionally, the Government of Israel continues to prevent international journalists from entering Gaza except under escort by Israeli soldiers, limiting accurate reporting on the humanitarian devastation taking place. More than 140 journalists already in Gaza, the majority of them Palestinians, have been killed while covering the conflict, and the Committee to Protect Journalists has reported that at least eight of them were directly targeted by Israeli forces,” wrote the Senators. “We are unable to verify the accuracy of these figures, and the Government of Israel has disputed them without providing its own statistics. Given these limitations and disputes over casualty figures, we are writing to request the Administration’s estimates of the following: 

• The total number of Palestinian casualties, disaggregated by deaths, injuries, men, women and children, civilians and combatants. 

• The total number of casualties of Israeli security force personnel, disaggregated by deaths and injuries. 

• The total number of hostage deaths, disaggregated by nationality. 

• The total number of casualties of aid workers, disaggregated by deaths and injuries, employees of UN agencies and employees of nongovernmental organizations. 

• The total number of casualties of health workers, disaggregated by deaths and injuries, employees of UN agencies and employees of nongovernmental organizations. 

• The total number of casualties of journalists, disaggregated by deaths and injuries.” 

In their letter, the Senators also requested the Administration’s assessments of the following in the event of a cease fire and hostage release agreement: 

• The percentage of structures in Gaza which have been damaged or destroyed, including an assessment of remaining livable housing units. 

• The number of hospitals, schools, and Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene facilities that have been damaged or destroyed, including an assessment of remaining usable facilities. 

Read the full text of the letter. 

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