UN denies Gaza death toll of women and children has been revised down

The World Health Organization (WHO) has voiced full confidence in the death toll figures from Gaza’s ministry of health after Israel questioned a change in the numbers.

Gaza’s health ministry last week updated its breakdown of the total fatalities of about 35,000 Palestinians, saying that about 25,000 of those people have so far been fully identified. UN agencies have republished these figures.

“The fact we now have 25,000 identified people is a step forward,” said WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier at a Geneva press briefing, saying that there was “nothing wrong” with health ministry data.

Farhan Haq, a UN spokesperson, said the new smaller numbers reflected those bodies which had been fully identified. The bigger figures included corpses for whom identification has so far not been completed.

Haq said it was expected that, as the process of identification continued, the official tolls among women and children would also rise.

Via The Guardian