The health ministry in Gaza reported on Monday that the death toll from Israel's ongoing bombardment had surpassed 10,000.
This number was questioned by US President Joe Biden, though Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder confirmed civilian casualties were in the thousands.
To bolster credibility, on October 26, the Gaza health ministry published a list of nearly 7,000 names, including sex, age, and identity number, of those killed in the conflict up to that point.
They explained the meticulous process: in government hospitals, personal information and ID numbers are entered into a computerized database, which is then sent daily to the "central register of martyrs."
In private hospitals, details are recorded on a specialized form, sent within 24 hours to the health ministry, and integrated into its central database after verification.
On October 27, the head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, said the death tolls published by the health ministry in previous conflicts had never been questioned.
The figures published by the ministry are also used by the World Health Organization for its reports on the Palestinian Territories.
