Israel Reports High Military Casualties in Gaza War

More than 700 Israeli troops have been killed in the country’s bloodiest conflict in five decades

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has released a comprehensive list of casualties, revealing that it has lost at least 726 troops since the war in Gaza began a year ago. Over 4,500 soldiers have sustained injuries during the same period.

According to an IDF statement issued on Sunday, 726 Israeli soldiers, reservists, and security officers have been killed since the Israel-Hamas war began a year ago on Monday. Out of this number, 346 were killed during ground operations in Gaza, which commenced on October 27 of last year.

These losses constitute the highest incurred by Israel during any military conflict since the 1973 Yom Kippur War, where over 2,600 Israeli soldiers perished. The IDF emphasized that the current casualty count only includes those “whose names have been permitted for publication,” indicating that the actual number could be considerably higher.

Among the 726 fatalities, 56 were due to friendly fire or other “operational accidents,” the IDF stated.

Since the war’s outset, a total of 4,576 Israeli troops have been injured, with 2,300 of them sustaining injuries during ground operations in Gaza, the statement continued.

The IDF statement did not provide any information regarding the number of Israeli soldiers killed in Lebanon. Hezbollah claims that its fighters have killed more than 25 Israeli personnel since the IDF invaded southern Lebanon on Tuesday and alleges that the Israeli government is downplaying its losses.

Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, resulting in the deaths of around 1,100 people and the abduction of approximately 250 hostages to Gaza. In response, Israel declared war on the militant group and initiated an intense bombing campaign in the Palestinian enclave. A ground operation ensued three weeks later, and after a year of conflict, nearly 42,000 Palestinians have perished, with the majority being women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

The ministry’s casualty count is deemed accurate by the UN but does not differentiate between civilians and militants. In Sunday’s statement, the IDF asserted that it has eliminated around 17,000 members of Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza since last October. If this figure is accurate, the IDF has killed 2.4 civilians for every militant.

The IDF stated that approximately 800 “terrorists” have been killed in Lebanon and along the Israel-Lebanon border, adding that this number includes roughly 90 Hezbollah commanders. With Israeli ground operations and airstrikes ongoing in Lebanon, the country’s health ministry places the death toll since last October above 2,000 people, including more than 100 children.