Image Piers Morgan Says IDF Acceptance of Gaza Death Toll Undercuts Longstanding Denials

 

Piers Morgan Says IDF Acceptance of Gaza Death Toll Undercuts Longstanding Denials

A public statement by British broadcaster Piers Morgan has reignited debate over civilian casualty figures from the war in Gaza, after Israel’s military reportedly acknowledged the accuracy of estimates long issued by Gaza’s Health Ministry.

In a post published Wednesday on X, Morgan wrote that for more than two years, many of his pro Israel guests had angrily dismissed the Gaza Health Ministry’s casualty figures as exaggerated or unreliable. He said that position has now been undermined by the Israeli military itself, which has accepted the figures as broadly accurate.

Morgan’s post referenced reporting by Haaretz, which stated that the Israel Defense Forces has accepted estimates indicating that more than 70,000 people have been killed during the conflict in Gaza. The figures originate from Gaza’s Health Ministry, which has tracked fatalities throughout the war.

For much of the conflict, Israeli officials and their supporters have argued that the Health Ministry’s numbers were inflated or unreliable, citing the ministry’s governance under Hamas and the difficulty of verifying figures during active warfare. Human rights organizations and international agencies, however, have repeatedly noted that past conflicts showed the ministry’s casualty data to be largely consistent with later independent assessments.

The apparent acknowledgment by the IDF marks a significant shift in tone and has prompted renewed scrutiny of media narratives, political talking points, and official statements made over the course of the war. Critics say the acceptance raises questions about earlier denials and the treatment of journalists, activists, and analysts who cited the Gaza figures and were accused of spreading misinformation.

While the Israeli military has not framed the acknowledgment as a formal admission of wrongdoing, the development is already being cited by commentators and human rights advocates as a turning point in public understanding of the scale of human loss in Gaza.

The debate over casualty figures remains politically charged, but Morgan’s post and the Haaretz report have intensified calls for greater transparency, accountability, and independent investigations into the conduct and consequences of the war.