Former Israeli occupation forces Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi has acknowledged that more than 200,000 Palestinians have been killed or injured since the start of the war on Gaza, making him the first senior Israeli figure to cite a toll close to figures released by Gaza’s Health Ministry.

Speaking at a community meeting in the settlement of Ein HaBesor this week, Halevi said that “not once” during 17 months of operations did legal advisors restrict military actions in Gaza. The retired general led the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) from the outbreak of the war on 7 October 2023 until his resignation in March this year.

Halevi’s estimate, covering roughly 10% of Gaza’s 2.2 million residents, aligns with casualty data from Gaza’s Health Ministry, which lists 64,718 Palestinians killed and 163,859 wounded, though thousands remain unaccounted for under rubble. International humanitarian groups consider the ministry’s statistics broadly reliable, despite repeated Israeli claims that they amount to "Hamas propaganda".

'Israel' should've acted 'more forcefully'

Leaked Israeli intelligence from earlier in the war on Gaza suggested more than 80% of those killed were civilians.

“This isn’t a gentle war. We took the gloves off from the first minute,” Halevi told residents, arguing that the Israeli regime should have acted more forcefully in Gaza even before October 7's Operation al-Aqsa Flood. He added that while international law was “very important for the state of Israel,” military lawyers had never curbed operational decisions: “Not once has anyone restricted me … [they] will know how to defend this legally in the world.”

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Israeli human rights lawyer Michael Sfard said Halevi’s remarks showed the IOF's legal advisors often function as “rubber stamps” rather than genuine constraints. His comments followed a Haaretz report that Halevi’s successor, Eyal Zamir, bypassed legal counsel urging delays to evacuation orders for about one million Gaza City residents before the beginning of the invasion of Gaza.

59 killed in one day 

Al Mayadeen's correspondent confirmed on Friday that Israeli occupation forces killed 59 Palestinians during the day, including 42 in Gaza City and the northern areas of the Strip.

With this latest massacre, the toll of the ongoing Israeli genocide has reached 64,756 martyrs and 164,059 wounded since October 7, 2023. Since the war resumed on March 18, 2025, at least 12,206 Palestinians have been martyred and 52,018 injured.

Earlier in the day, the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, issued a statement denouncing "the horrific crime that targeted the home of the Sultan family north of Gaza City," describing it as "state terrorism and blatant war crimes."

Hamas urged the United Nations, the Arab League, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to assume their legal and moral responsibilities in halting Israeli atrocities.

Martyrs of livelihood

Palestinians in search of food aid continue to be targeted. Medical sources report 2,479 martyrs among aid-seekers and over 18,091 injured. In the past 24 hours alone, hospitals documented 14 martyrs and 143 wounded.