TEL AVIV, Nov 11 Israeli authorities have revised the death toll on the day of the Hamas attack on October 7, lowering the estimate of the number of those killed from 1.4 to 1.2 thousand, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Lior Hayat confirmed to reporters.
«About 1.2 thousand is the official number of victims of the October 7 massacre. The estimate was updated on Thursday,» Hayat said.
According to him, this figure includes civilians, soldiers, foreign citizens and workers.
«This is not the final figure. This is an updated estimate. It may change when the identification of all bodies is completed,» the representative of the foreign policy department emphasized.
Previously, the Israeli side reported 1.4 thousand victims of the Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7.
On October 7, Israel was subjected to an unprecedented-scale rocket attack from the Gaza Strip as part of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, announced by the military wing of the Palestinian Hamas movement. After this, the organization’s fighters entered the border areas in southern Israel, where they opened fire on both military and civilians, and also took more than 200 hostages.
In response, the Israel Defense Forces launched Operation Iron Swords against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Within a few days, the Israeli military took control of all populated areas near the border with Gaza and began carrying out air strikes on targets, including civilians, in the strip.
At the end of October, the ground phase of the operation to eliminate the Hamas infrastructure in the enclave began. Gaza City was surrounded by Israeli ground forces, and the enclave was effectively divided into southern and northern parts.
The number of victims in the Gaza Strip exceeded 11 thousand people, more than 27.4 thousand were injured.
The Russian Embassy reported that during the escalation of the conflict, 20 Russians were killed, two were taken hostage, and seven were listed as missing. According to the Israeli army, the confirmed number of Hamas hostages in the Gaza Strip is about 240 people. The movement itself stated that there are about 200-250 prisoners in the Gaza Strip.
The Russian Foreign Ministry called on the parties to stop hostilities. According to the position of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the settlement of the Middle East crisis is possible only on the basis of a “two-state” formula approved by the UN Security Council, which provides for the creation of an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with its capital in East Jerusalem.
The Palestinian-Israeli conflict, related to the territorial interests of the parties, has been a source of tension and clashes in the region for many decades. A UN decision with the active role of the USSR in 1947 determined the creation of two states — Israel and Palestine, but only the Israeli one was created.