BBC says it can’t verify Israeli claim of 10,000 Hamas fighters killed

A new report from the BBC says it can't confirm the claim by Israel's military that it killed 10,000 Hamas fighters in its war on Gaza.

BBC said it reached out to Israel's military for details regarding how it came to that figure, but did not receive a response. The news agency further reported that there is an inconsistency in terms of the public statements from Israel about how many fighters have been killed.

After reviewing all 280 videos posted to the Israeli military's YouTube channel from 7 October up to 27 February, BBC Verify, an evidence-gathering unit at the BBC, found "very few contained visual evidence of fighters being killed".

The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza has said that the death toll is at least 30,035, and the ministry has previously said that around 70 percent of those killed are women and children. AT least 7,000 are missing.

And Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin on Thursday morning said that more than 25,000 Palestinian women and children have been killed by Israel since 7 October. If that figure is compared with the total death toll from the health ministry, it would mean that more than 80 percent of all deaths have been women and children.