JosephZ
Well-Known Member
- Mar 25, 2017
- 4,597
- 4,524
- Country
- Philippines
- Gender
- Male
- Faith
- Non-Denom
- Marital Status
- Private
- Politics
- US-Others
In October 2023, in 96% of incidents that resulted in civilian deaths in Gaza, primarily from IAF airstrikes, no militants were killed. In the 4% of incidents where militants were killed, 99% of the deaths were civilians.
Patterns of harm analysis
Gaza, October 2023
By almost every metric, the harm to civilians from the first month of the Israeli campaign in Gaza is incomparable with any 21st century air campaign. It is by far the most intense, destructive, and fatal conflict for civilians that Airwars has ever documented. Key findings include:
Airwars recorded a minimum of 1,213 women killed in Gaza in October 2023. This is more than six times the number of women killed during the four-month Battle of Raqqa, more than nine times the number of women killed by the US coalition during the Battle of Mosul (excluding cases of contested attribution), and more than seven times the number of women killed in Syria by foreign actors in September 2017 - the most lethal month for women previously recorded by Airwars.
Of the 1,213 women killed, at least 90 percent were killed in a residential building, and 96 percent were killed in incidents where at least one child was also killed. On average, in an incident where a woman was killed, approximately six children were also killed.
Less than eight percent of these women were killed in incidents where, through open source review, Airwars found that a militant was also killed.
In the 25 days in Gaza, Airwars found that only a fraction of incidents involving the death of civilians included evidence of militant presence.
Of the 606 published incidents of civilian harm from Gaza in October 2023, at least 26 include public evidence of the death of at least one militant from Hamas or another Palestinian militant group. This includes cases where militant status is ambiguous or contested. For example, an individual has been recorded as a militant if they were referred to as “mujahid” or “commander” but no definitive connection to an armed group was found. This corresponds to around four percent of incidents.
In these 26 incidents, a minimum of 522 civilians were killed, alongside a minimum of 32 and maximum of 60 militants. Per incident, where there was evidence of a militant presence, an average of 20 civilians were killed at minimum. Each case recording a militant death recorded an average of one militant death.
By all major metrics used to measure rates of civilian harm, the pace at which civilians were killed in this 25-day period in Gaza outpaces any recent military campaign. The number of civilians killed, the rate of women and children killed, and the rate of munitions used are all on a scale never before documented by Airwars.
While the intensity of strikes and civilian harm in Gaza during October 2023 was unprecedented by modern historical standards, Airwars' research finds that the year since has followed a worryingly similar pattern.
Patterns of harm analysis
Gaza, October 2023
By almost every metric, the harm to civilians from the first month of the Israeli campaign in Gaza is incomparable with any 21st century air campaign. It is by far the most intense, destructive, and fatal conflict for civilians that Airwars has ever documented. Key findings include:
- At least 5,139 civilians were killed in Gaza in 25 days in October 2023. This is nearly four times more civilians reported killed in a single month than in any conflict Airwars has documented since it was established in 2014.
- In October 2023 alone, Airwars documented at least 65 incidents in which a minimum of 20 civilians were killed in a particular incident. This is nearly triple the number of such high-fatality incidents that Airwars has documented within any comparable timeframe.
- Over the course of 25 days, Airwars recorded a minimum of 1,900 children killed by Israeli military action in Gaza. This is nearly seven times higher than even the most deadly month for children previously recorded by Airwars.
- Families were killed together in unprecedented numbers, and in their homes. More than nine out of ten women and children were killed in residential buildings. In more than 95 percent of all cases where a woman was killed, at least one child was also killed.
- On average, when civilians were killed alongside family members, at least 15 family members were killed. This is higher than any other conflict documented by Airwars.
Airwars recorded a minimum of 1,213 women killed in Gaza in October 2023. This is more than six times the number of women killed during the four-month Battle of Raqqa, more than nine times the number of women killed by the US coalition during the Battle of Mosul (excluding cases of contested attribution), and more than seven times the number of women killed in Syria by foreign actors in September 2017 - the most lethal month for women previously recorded by Airwars.
Of the 1,213 women killed, at least 90 percent were killed in a residential building, and 96 percent were killed in incidents where at least one child was also killed. On average, in an incident where a woman was killed, approximately six children were also killed.
Less than eight percent of these women were killed in incidents where, through open source review, Airwars found that a militant was also killed.
In the 25 days in Gaza, Airwars found that only a fraction of incidents involving the death of civilians included evidence of militant presence.
Of the 606 published incidents of civilian harm from Gaza in October 2023, at least 26 include public evidence of the death of at least one militant from Hamas or another Palestinian militant group. This includes cases where militant status is ambiguous or contested. For example, an individual has been recorded as a militant if they were referred to as “mujahid” or “commander” but no definitive connection to an armed group was found. This corresponds to around four percent of incidents.
In these 26 incidents, a minimum of 522 civilians were killed, alongside a minimum of 32 and maximum of 60 militants. Per incident, where there was evidence of a militant presence, an average of 20 civilians were killed at minimum. Each case recording a militant death recorded an average of one militant death.
By all major metrics used to measure rates of civilian harm, the pace at which civilians were killed in this 25-day period in Gaza outpaces any recent military campaign. The number of civilians killed, the rate of women and children killed, and the rate of munitions used are all on a scale never before documented by Airwars.
While the intensity of strikes and civilian harm in Gaza during October 2023 was unprecedented by modern historical standards, Airwars' research finds that the year since has followed a worryingly similar pattern.
Upvote
0
