US officials confirm accuracy of Gaza health ministry: NYT

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: New York Times
6 Nov 2023 17:45
1 Shares

US media reports refuted Biden's suspicions and confirmed the accuracy of the numbers reported by the health authorities in Gaza.

Palestinians mourn relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip in front of the morgue in Deir al Balah, Monday, Nov. 6, 2023. (AP)

The New York Times quoted US officials on Sunday saying that their estimates of the number of Palestinian casualties in the Gaza Strip resulting from the ongoing Israeli aggression are in line with the figures released by the Ministry of Health in Gaza.

This comes a few days after US President Joe Biden expressed doubt about the number of casualties announced by the Ministry of Health in Gaza, saying:

"I have no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed. I’m sure innocents have been killed, and it’s the price of waging a war," the US president claimed. "But I have no confidence in the number that the Palestinians are using."

In response, US media reports refuted Biden's suspicions and confirmed the accuracy of the numbers reported by the health authorities in Gaza.

Approximately 10,000 Palestinians were cited as martyrs during a month of the aggression, with the majority being children and women, while hundreds are still under the rubble.

Human rights organizations active in the Gaza Strip for years quickly rejected Biden's claims.

The Associated Press pointed out that the numbers from the Ministry of Health in Gaza in previous aggressions closely aligned with the figures reported by the Israeli regime and the United Nations.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza responded by publishing a list of 6,747 names of individuals who were martyred up to October 26th since the start of the Israeli aggression, including 2,664 children.

The list initially included the names of 2,665 children, but the US-based website Intercept found that the name of a 14-year-old boy was duplicated, reducing the total number to 6,746.

Additionally, the list, as reported by the ministry, contains no repetitions, while the US website found dozens of names on the ministry's list, all belonging to a single family.

It's worth noting that the spokesperson for the Ministry of Health in Gaza, Ashraf al-Qudra, reported yesterday that the Israeli occupation has recorded a record number of massacres in which children and women were killed, indicating that it has been carrying out a campaign of genocide and ethnic cleansing for the past 30 days since the start of the war in Gaza on October 7th.