Around two civilians have been killed for every dead Hamas fighter in the Gaza Strip, senior Israeli military officials admitted on Monday, adding that the army was deploying high-tech mapping software to try to reduce noncombatant deaths as it moves into southern Gaza.
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says Israel's military campaign, in the wake of Hamas' attacks on Oct. 7, has killed around 15,900 people so far, most of them women and children.
Asked about media reports that 5,000 Hamas fighters had been killed, one of the senior officials told reporters at a briefing: "The numbers are more or less right.