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Shocking Revelation: United Nations Counts Palestinian Fighters as ‘Civilians’ in Death Count
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addresses the 79th United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters in New York, U.S., September 26, 2024. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
According to the United Nations, the below are photos of civilians. That’s odd, because Ahmed Abu Obeid and Saqer Abed were Islamic Jihad gunmen, killed in June 2024 during what the terror group described as a “fierce” battle with Israeli soldiers. And Said Izzat Jaber, killed that same month, was a senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist.
If we zoom out to look at the whole month, it becomes clear that these are hardly the only casualties misclassified by the UN.
In fact, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the primary body that tallies and characterizes Palestinian casualties, currently insists every single West Bank Palestinian killed by Israel in June was a civilian. The Hamas commander? A civilian. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade gunmen? Civilians. The Islamic Jihad militants? Civilians. The Hamas attackers? Civilians.
For that month, OCHA lists 34 West Bank fatalities, classifying all as civilians. B’Tselem concurs with the number, but in detailing the circumstances of each death makes clear that the vast majority were combatants.
According to the UN’s casualty portal, all 34 of the West Bank fatalities were “civilians.”
The UN’s wholesale misinformation remains when zooming further. In fact, according to OCHA, each and every conflict-related death in the West Bank since January 2008 (the earliest searchable date on its casualty portal) was a civilian.
The UN casualty portal classifies every one of the 1,897 West Bank fatalities it counts since 2008 as “civilian.”
The UN casualty portal classifies every one of the 1,897 West Bank fatalities it counts since 2008 as “civilian.”
The extent of the misinformation has varied somewhat over the past few weeks.
We first checked the portal on March 6, 2025, after a New York Times story cited UN casualty figures. Though OCHA didn’t acknowledge a single fatality was a member of an “armed group” and insisted that every death prior to June 2024 was a civilian, it had at least allowed for the possibility that some post-June 2024 casualties weren’t civilians, categorizing several hundred casualties under the label “Dispute.”
But at some point between then and now, even these “disputed” casualties became “civilians.”
The most generous interpretation might be that a technological glitch erased the combatants. Such generosity, though, might not be warranted.
Even away from the OCHA portal, the United Nations has sought to conceal the many armed terror operatives among Palestinian casualties. In a June 4, 2024, statement, for example, UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk and his spokesman Jeremy Laurence referenced the 505 Palestinians killed in the West Bank since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 attack, chastising Israel for what they called “unacceptable” and “wanton” killing — without offering even a hint that any of the casualties were members of terror groups or involved something more than “throwing stones, incendiary bottles, and firecrackers.”
The UN officials whitewashed the reality, which included intense combat. In the month prior to their statement, for example, 28 (per B’Tselem) or 29 (per OCHA) Palestinians were killed in the West Bank, including: three Hamas operatives, one Islamic Jihad gunman, and one a Lion’s Den militant killed in exchanges of fire; two Palestinians killed during attempted stabbing attacks on Israeli security officials; an armed man; a senior Islamic Jihad terrorist; and someone who died when an Israeli military vehicle drove over Palestinian explosives.
These made up a third of the month’s total fatalities. Others were killed while clashing with Israeli security forces. (Details via B’Tselem.)
A month earlier, in April 2024, the 26 (per B’Tselem) or 29 (per OCHA) Palestinians killed included: a senior Hamas militant; eleven Islamic Jihad gunmen killed during exchanges of fire; two other gunmen; three Palestinians who attempted to stab Israeli security forces; two who threw explosives; and one who might have been inadvertently killed by Islamic Jihad gunmen. These made up about 75 percent of the month’s fatalities.
Given how frequently UN casualty figures are cited in media, OCHA’s widespread misclassification of casualties could have far-reaching consequences. By labeling armed militants as “civilians,” OCHA cultivates a misleading narrative that obscures the reality of armed clashes with terror groups, and instead portrays Israel as engaging in indiscriminate violence against civilians.
Given how Volker Türk has talked about the violence, one might wonder if this misimpression is precisely what UN officials want.
We’ve informed OCHA of its errors and asked about their provenance and duration. We’ll update this space with any response.
Gilead Ini is a Senior Research Analyst at CAMERA, the foremost media watchdog organization focused on coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict, where a version of this article appeared.
The post Shocking Revelation: United Nations Counts Palestinian Fighters as ‘Civilians’ in Death Count first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.