Data on casualties

Definitions and clarifications

What is the source of the data?

Information about occupation and conflict-related casualties is regularly collected by OCHA field staff and entered into OCHA’s Protection of Civilians database, following review and verification. As a rule, for an incident to be entered into the database it needs to be validated by at least two independent and reliable sources. Exceptions to this rule include incidents resulting in Israeli injuries, where information is typically based on media reports.

Which casualties are included?

Only casualties that are the result of confrontations between Palestinians and Israelis in the context of the occupation and conflict are included. Incidents resulting in casualties, which did not involve direct confrontations, such as access delays, reckless use of weapons, unexploded ordnance, and collapse of tunnels are not included. People who were killed or injured in conflict-related incidents that took place in Israel and did not involve residents of the oPt are also excluded.

Who is considered a “child”?

Based on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, a child means every human being below the age of 18.

Who is considered “injured”?

In the data presented here, “injured” refers to people who were physically hurt in a relevant incident and received medical treatment at a clinic or hospital, or by paramedic personnel on the site of the incident. This includes people who received treatment due to suffocation by tear gas. People treated due to psychological shock are not included.

Who is considered a “civilian”?

In the data presented here, whoever is neither a member of security forces (including police) nor fulfills a combat function within an armed group is considered a civilian. The classification of a casualty as “civilian” does not carry any implication regarding the legality of his or her killing or injury. The determination about the affiliation of Palestinians killed during hostilities in Gaza was done by the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, in its capacity as Protection Cluster coordinator.

Context: what do the different categories include?

The below categories include people killed or injured during:

Major hostilities:  one of the three major escalations between Israel and armed Palestinian groups in Gaza (Dec 2008 - Jan 2009, Nov 2012, and Jul-Aug 2014). For an automatic filtering of one of these events see options below. Hostilities that occurred outside of these three events are included under “other”.

Access prevention: includes attempts to access Israel without a permit; working or otherwise staying near the perimeter fence surrounding Gaza; the restricted fishing areas on the sea offshore Gaza’s coast; or ‘closed military areas’ in the West Bank.

Demonstrations: organized demonstrations/protests, including clashes that erupted during such an event. Casualties during clashes that followed ad-hoc gatherings, altercations and stone-throwing incidents are excluded.

Incidents involving Israeli settlers: includes attacks and alleged attacks by Israeli settlers, as well as incidents involving access prevention, and clashes following the entry of Israeli settlers into Palestinian communities. It also includes Palestinians killed or injured during attacks or alleged attacks they perpetrated against Israeli settlers.

Search and arrest operations: includes all operations by Israeli forces for this purpose in Palestinian localities. Casualties may have occurred during the arrest itself (e.g attempt to resist or escape) or during general clashes with residents triggered by the entry of the Israeli forces. Casualties during ad-hoc detentions and arrests (e.g. at checkpoints) are not included.

Other: included all cases not covered by one of the abovementioned circumstances.