By BBC Verify team
BBC News
In any warzone, counting the dead is a challenge. Gaza is no different.
As battles there intensify, the chaotic situation - with bombardment by Israeli forces, on-the-ground fighting, communications blackouts, fuel shortages and crumbling infrastructure - makes getting accurate information on the numbers of people who have died extremely demanding.
And Palestinian officials have said there are now “significant difficulties” in obtaining updated information because of the interruption of communications in the Gaza Strip.
The health ministry is Gaza’s official source for death numbers - which it updates regularly. On Monday evening, it said 11,240 people had been killed, including 4,630 children, since the Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October which prompted the current war.
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It’s good that third party NGOs are verifying the counts. Hamas has a very strong incentive to maximize civilian deaths, and are doing their part to put them at risk by telling Gazans to stay in the evacuation zone, using them as human shields, putting their infrastructure in protected areas, and intentionally causing this war in the first place. They are not a trustworthy source. Even if these numbers are accurate they need to be verified.