Editing Israeli–Palestinian conflict (section)

=== Criticism of casualty statistics ===
The Israeli-based [[International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism]] (ICT) claimed that Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups overestimated the percentage of civilians killed since the IDF suspected many of those killed to be possible militants.<ref>Mor, Avi, et al. [http://www.ict.org.il/Portals/0/Articles/ICT_Cast_Lead_Casualties-A_Closer_Look.pdf "Casualties in Operation Cast Lead: A closer look."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110101130822/http://www.ict.org.il/Portals/0/Articles/ICT_Cast_Lead_Casualties-A_Closer_Look.pdf |date=1 January 2011 }} Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya. 2009. PDF.</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=9 September 2009 |title=B'Tselem: 773 of Palestinians killed in Cast Lead were civilians |language=en |work=[[Ynet News]] |url=https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3774217,00.html|access-date=5 March 2022 |archive-date=5 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220305205558/https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3774217,00.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

During [[Operation Cast Lead]], Israeli figures reported the number of Palestinians killed at 1,166 Palestinian, 60 percent were classified as "terrorists" by Israeli officials. This discrepancy is partially due to Israel's classification of Gazan police, who did not take part in hostilities, as combatants. The broad consensus among human rights organizations is that these police were primarily civilians, as they did not actively participate in hostilities nor were they part of armed groups. The accuracy of Israeli casualty figures was further questioned based on the number of children killed. Israel reported 89 Palestinian minors killed, whereas the human rights organization B'Tselem reported 252, substantiating their figures with birth and death certificates and other documents in almost all cases. The Israeli figures also stand out against the figures published by the US Department of State, which reported the number killed "at close to 1,400 Palestinians, including more than 1,000 civilians."<ref>{{cite book|author=Norman Finkelstein|title=Gaza: An Inquest into Its Martyrdom|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gaza&pg=PA|year=2018|publisher=Univ of California Pres8 |isbn=978-0-520-96838-7|quote=Israeli officials alleged that total Palestinian deaths came to 1,166, of whom at least 60 percent were "terrorists." The discrepancy in the ratio of Palestinian combatant to civilian deaths partly resulted from disagreement on the proper classification of Gazan police. See Shay Fogelman, "Shock and Awe," Haaretz (31 December 2010). The broad consensus among human rights organizations was that these police should overwhelmingly be classified as civilians because they did not take a direct part in hostilities and were not members of Palestinian armed groups. The veracity of Israeli figures could be tested by scrutinizing the "under 16" subclassification. Whereas Israel alleged that 89 Palestinians under age 16 were killed, B'Tselem reported that 252 Palestinians under 16 were killed and that it had "copies of birth certificates and death certificates along with other documents regarding the vast majority of the minors who were killed." For critical analysis of Israeli casualty figures, see Public Committee against Torture in Israel (PCATI), No Second Thoughts: The changes in the Israeli Defense Forces' combat doctrine in light of "Operation Cast Lead" (2009), pp. 9–11. This study showed that Israel abruptly altered the figures it tabulated for Palestinian deaths, and concluded that "the casualty estimates provided by other sources (around 1,400 killed) are more credible than those provided by the IDF Spokesperson." Even the largely apologetic US Department of State 2009 Human Rights Report put the number of dead "at close to 1,400 Palestinians, including more than 1,000 civilians." }}</ref>