Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Israeli army spokesman: Chief of Staff orders increased readiness to implement first phase of Trump plan to release hostages.
Israeli KAN channel: Political leaders instruct the military to reduce offensive activity in Gaza; negotiations expected to begin soon.
Netanyahu's office: We will continue to work in full cooperation with the president and his team to end the war in accordance with the principles laid out by Israel, which correspond with Trump’s vision for ending the war.
Netanyahu's office: Israel is getting ready to carry out the first phase of Trump's plan to immediately release all hostages.
Gaza Civil Defense spokesperson: We in Gaza City are currently being relentlessly and mercilessly bombed.
Erdogan: Conclude the talks in the best interests of the Palestinian people and implement the two-state solution, which is also supported by the international community.
Erdogan: This genocide and this shameful scene that deeply wounds the global conscience must end now.
Erdogan: All steps must be taken without delay to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza and achieve lasting peace.
Erdogan: What must be done now is for Israel to immediately cease all attacks and commit to the ceasefire plan.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan: Hamas' response to the ceasefire plan in Gaza is a constructive and important step towards achieving lasting peace.

Ex-IOF chief admits over 200,000 casualties in Gaza

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: News websites
  • 13 Sep 2025 10:07
  • 9 Shares
4 Min Read

Former Israeli occupation forces chief Herzi Halevi says over 200,000 Palestinians have been killed or injured in Gaza, admitting legal advice never limited Israeli operations.

Listen
  • x
  • Smoke and flames rise after an Israeli military strike on a building in Gaza City, Friday, September 12, 2025 (AP)
    Smoke and flames rise after an Israeli military strike on a building in Gaza City, Friday, September 12, 2025. (AP)

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.”

Related News

Netanyahu ordered drone strikes on Sumud boats off Tunisia: CBS

'Israel' must stop bombing Gaza now, Trump says after Hamas response

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.

The death toll from hunger and malnutrition has reached 413, including 143 children. Two more deaths were recorded yesterday as famine, formally confirmed by UN agencies in August, continues to ravage Gaza under "Israel's" blockade.

Despite ongoing attempts at mass expulsion, the Government Media Office announced that over one million Palestinians refuse to leave Gaza City and the north. Instead, a wave of "reverse displacement" has taken shape, with more than 20,000 people returning north yesterday alone, defying Israeli efforts to empty the area.

The genocide, now entering its 23rd month, continues to produce dozens of martyrs and hundreds of injuries daily. On September 12, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted the New York Declaration (142–10–12), demanding immediate cessation of "Israel's" war and urging "time-bound, concrete steps" toward a so-called two-state solution, alongside proposals for an international stabilization mission.

  • war on Gaza
  • Israel
  • Herzi Halevi
  • Israeli occupation
  • Palestine
  • Gaza
  • Gaza Strip
  • Benjamin Netanyahu
War on Gaza

War on Gaza

Most Read

Last photo showing Martyr Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Martyr Hajj Hassan in a Resistance operations room, Beirut's southern suburb, Lebanon, days before their martyrdom (Al Mayadeen)

In heart of battle: Al Mayadeen shares last photo of Sayyed Nasrallah

  • Politics
  • 27 Sep 2025
Hamas fighters stand in formation ahead of a ceremony to hand over Israeli captives to the Red Cross in Nuseirat, Gaza Strip, Feb. 22, 2025. (AP)

Hamas reviews Trump’s Gaza ceasefire plan as PIJ rejects

  • Palestine
  • 30 Sep 2025
Iraq at a crossroads: A new war front?

Iraq at a crossroads: A new war front?

  • West Asia
  • 30 Sep 2025
Trump’s 21-point Gaza plan vs Netanyahu’s demand for Hamas defeat

Trump vows 'something special' in ME; Israeli delegation in chaos

  • US & Canada
  • 28 Sep 2025

Coverage

All
War on Gaza

Read Next

All
A Hamas fighter in combat fatigues stands before the ceremony for the handover of Israeli captives to the Red Cross in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, February 22, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Hamas responds to Trump plan, backs Gaza withdrawal, exchange

Commander of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps' Quds Force, General Esmail Qaani, in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, October 15, 2024 (AP)
Politics

Hezbollah reshaped Gaza war after Sayyed Nasrallah martyrdom: Qaani

Smoke rises following an Israeli military strike in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, Wednesday, October 1, 2025 (AP)
Politics

72 Palestinians martyred in Israeli strikes on Gaza since dawn

President Donald Trump is greeted by War Secretary Pete Hegseth before speaking to a gathering of top US military commanders at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Tuesday, September 30, 2025, in Quantico, Virginia (AP)
Politics

UN experts: Trump’s Gaza plan breaches international law

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS