Official Gaza Death Toll Soars to Nearly 62,000 as Thousands of Missing Now Presumed Dead

Authorities in Gaza and human rights advocates have warned for months that because of the decimation of the enclave's healthcare system and civil services, the official death toll was likely a significant undercount—and on Monday, officials said thousands more Palestinians had been confirmed killed by Israel's U.S.-backed onslaught since October 2023.

Salama Maarouf, head of Gaza's government media office, told the press gathered at the mostly destroyed al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City that the death toll currently stands at 61,709, with thousands of Palestinians who had previously been listed as missing now presumed dead.

The death toll was previously reported to be 47,487 on Saturday. Journalist Jeremy Scahill of Drop Site News said Monday that the number is rapidly going up as "people returning to their neighborhoods discover mass graves and people buried under the rubble or killed and their bodies left at the scene."

Maarouf said officials now believe the bodies of about 76% of those killed have been recovered, but noted that 14,222 people are still believed to be trapped under rubble or inaccessible to rescue and recovery crews.

Those confirmed to have been killed include 17,881 children, including 214 newborn babies. More than 200 journalists were also killed by Israeli forces before a cease-fire deal was reached in mid-January.

Days after the cease-fire agreement, journalist Prem Thakker of Zeteo Newsnoted that the death toll was expected to explode due to the bodies "recovered."

"The horrors we are about to discover if a cease-fire actually holds will underscore why Israel didn't want international journalists inside—and why they kept targeting Palestinian journalists," said Thakker.

The updated death toll was publicized as mediators from the U.S., Qatar, and Egypt began talks on the second phase of the three-part cease-fire agreement. In the first phase, nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners are set to be freed from Israeli prisons by March, and 33 Israeli hostages are scheduled to be released by Hamas as Palestinians return to their neighborhoods—many of which have been reduced to rubble—and hundreds of aid trucks are allowed into the enclave.

The talks that began Monday aim to establish a permanent cease-fire, with Israeli forces making a complete exit from Gaza.

Fighting could begin again in March if a long-term deal isn't reached in the coming weeks.

British Member of Parliament Jeremy Corbyn said that as the "true scale of Israel's atrocities" emerges, "officials must face justice for every single life lost."

"So should those who continued to send weapons," said Corbyn, "knowing full well they were enabling genocide."

As humanitarian and medical workers continued recovery missions in Gaza, the death toll in the West Bank on Monday rose to 70 since the beginning of 2025, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

Israeli forces and settlers have waged attacks in several West Bank towns and refugee camps in recent weeks, and the Trump administration said late last month that it would continue providing military aid to Israel as it froze nearly all foreign assistance.