Israeli army accepts Palestinian health ministry death toll of 71,000 dead in Gaza

The Israeli army has accepted the accuracy of the Palestinian health ministry's death toll in Gaza, after years of refusing to acknowledge it reports.

According to Haaretz, the army said the death toll of around 71,000 killed is largely correct, adding that it did not include those buried under the rubble.

The Israeli government had for years refused to accept the death tolls reported by the health ministry in Gaza, even branding it "misleading and unreliable".

The army said it was analysing the data, which also does not include those who died of starvation or from diseases exacerbated by Israel's years-long genocide in Gaza.

While accepting their accuracy, the army said it was looking to distinguish civilian and military deaths in the enclave.

The vast majority of those killed during the genocide in Gaza are civilians, as the Israeli army largely avoided battlefield confrontations with Palestinian fighters and instead opted for aerial attacks and artillery shelling from distance.

A truce secured by US President Donald Trump in October was intended to end more than two years of genocide in Gaza, which destroyed nearly 90 percent of the territory’s infrastructure.

There have been over 1,300 reported violations committed by Israel since the start of the ceasefire with close to 500 Palestinians killed.

The second phase of the Trump plan calls for the disarmament of the Palestinian movement Hamas, the gradual withdrawal of the Israeli army, which still controls more than half of the Gaza Strip, and the deployment of an international force.

Hamas said that Israel must comply with the full implementation of the ceasefire framework, particularly the entry of aid and its complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.