Palestine
In 1948 about 750,000 Palestinians were expelled or fled and over 500 villages and neighbourhoods were emptied, with massacres such as Deir Yassin, Tantura and Lydda. Killings continued in later decades, from Qibya and Kafr Qasim in the 1950s to Sabra and Shatila in 1982 and the Ibrahimi mosque in 1994. Thousands were killed in the two intifadas and in the Gaza wars of 2008–09 and 2014. Since October 2023 Israel's war on Gaza has killed at least 74,000 people by Health Ministry count, displaced 90% of the population and destroyed most mosques. In the West Bank killings, settler attacks and camp clearances rose sharply, and over 9,000 Palestinians are held in Israeli prisons, a third without charge.
Key numbers
Who is responsible
Zionist militias (Irgun, Lehi, Haganah) in 1948 and then the State of Israel: the Israeli army, Border Police, Prison Service, and settlers in the occupied territories. Lebanese Phalange militia at Sabra and Shatila under Israeli army cover; an Israeli inquiry held Defence Minister Ariel Sharon personally responsible.
Timeline
- 1948 Nakba: about 750,000 expelled; Deir Yassin, Tantura, Lydda massacres
- 1953 Qibya raid kills about 69 villagers
- 1956 Kafr Qasim (48–49 killed) and Khan Younis (275 killed)
- 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacre in Beirut
- 1987 First intifada; about 175,000 arrested by 1993
- 1994 29 worshippers killed in the Ibrahimi mosque; mosque later divided
- 2000 Second intifada; 3,174 killed by end of 2004 (B'Tselem)
- 2008 Gaza war: 1,387 killed (B'Tselem)
- 2014 Gaza war: 2,251 killed (UN inquiry)
- 2018 Great March of Return: 189 protesters killed
- 2023 War on Gaza begins; mass detention at Sde Teiman
- 2025 909 of Gaza's 1,244 mosques destroyed; West Bank camps emptied
- 2026 Gaza toll passes 74,000 despite the October 2025 ceasefire
Records (25)
Nakba: mass expulsion of 1948
About 750,000 Palestinians, around half of the Arab population of Palestine, were expelled or fled in 1948. Over 500 towns, villages and urban neighbourhoods were depopulated, and many were destroyed.
750,000 displaced
Source: Wikipedia: Nakba · Al Jazeera
Deir Yassin massacre
Irgun and Lehi fighters attacked the village of Deir Yassin near Jerusalem. More than 110 villagers were killed, about half of them women and children; older counts gave 254.
107–254 killed
Source: Al Jazeera · Wikipedia: Deir Yassin massacre
Tantura massacre and mass graves
After the Alexandroni Brigade took the coastal village on 22–23 May 1948, men and boys were executed. A 2023 Forensic Architecture study for Adalah located four probable mass graves; estimates of those executed range from 20 to 280.
20–280 killed
Source: The New Arab · Forensic Architecture
Lydda: Dahmash mosque killings and death march
In Operation Dani Israeli forces killed people sheltering in the Dahmash mosque (80–176) and elsewhere in Lydda, perhaps up to 200 or more in total. 60,000–70,000 people of Lydda and Ramla were then expelled on foot towards Ramallah.
200–450 killed
Source: Al Jazeera · Wikipedia: Expulsion from Lydda and Ramle
Saliha massacre
60–94 villagers who had taken refuge in a building were killed when it was blown up. The village was emptied of its people.
60–94 killed
Source: Al Jazeera
Qibya massacre
Unit 101 and a paratroop company raided the West Bank village at night, blowing up houses with families inside. About 69 villagers were killed, two thirds of them women and children; 45 houses, the mosque and the school were destroyed. UN Security Council Resolution 101 censured the raid.
67–69 killed
Source: Wikipedia: Qibya massacre
Kafr Qasim massacre
Israel Border Police shot villagers returning from work in the fields after a curfew they had not been told of. 48 were killed (19 men, 6 women, 23 children), 49 counting an unborn child.
48–49 killed
Source: Wikipedia: Kafr Qasim massacre
Khan Younis killings
During the occupation of Gaza in the Suez war, Israeli troops went house to house in Khan Younis. UNRWA received lists of 275 people killed on 3 November (140 refugees, 135 residents).
275 killed
Source: Wikipedia: Khan Yunis massacre (citing UNRWA report of 15 Dec 1956)
Sabra and Shatila massacre
Over 43 hours Phalangist militiamen killed Palestinian refugees and Lebanese civilians in the camps while the Israeli army surrounded them. Estimates range from 2,000 to 3,500; Israel put the toll at 800. An Israeli inquiry held Ariel Sharon personally responsible.
800–3,500 killed
Source: Al Jazeera · Al Jazeera
First intifada: killings and mass arrests
During the first intifada Israeli forces and settlers killed Palestinians across the West Bank and Gaza. B'Tselem-based counts range from 1,162 civilians to 1,489 Palestinians; about 175,000 Palestinians were arrested.
1,162–1,489 killed175,000 detained
Source: Encyclopedia.com (citing B'Tselem) · JMCC (citing B'Tselem)
Ibrahimi mosque divided
After the massacre an Israeli inquiry split the mosque's prayer hall into a Muslim section and a section for settlers. Israel has also blocked the call to prayer there (599 times in 2020).
Source: Anadolu Agency
Ibrahimi mosque massacre
During dawn prayer on a Friday of Ramadan, a settler from Kiryat Arba opened fire on worshippers in the Ibrahimi mosque in Hebron, killing 29.
29 killed
Source: Anadolu Agency · Wikipedia: Cave of the Patriarchs massacre
Second intifada killings
B'Tselem counted 3,174 Palestinians, including 617 minors, killed by the Israeli army and settlers from September 2000 to the end of 2004.
3,174 killed
Source: Al Jazeera (citing B'Tselem)
Jenin refugee camp assault
Human Rights Watch confirmed at least 52 Palestinians killed in the Israeli operation in Jenin camp, at least 22 of them civilians. It found evidence of war crimes, including unlawful killings and use of civilians as human shields, and that ambulances were blocked for 11 days.
52 killed
Source: Human Rights Watch
Gaza war 2008–2009 (Cast Lead)
B'Tselem counted 1,387 Palestinians killed in the 22-day assault on Gaza, 773 of whom did not take part in hostilities. The Israeli army gave 1,166.
1,166–1,387 killed
Source: Ynet (citing B'Tselem)
Gaza war 2014
The UN Commission of Inquiry documented 2,251 Palestinians killed, 1,462 of them civilians (551 children, 299 women), and 11,231 injured.
2,251 killed
Great March of Return shootings
The UN Commission of Inquiry found 189 Palestinians killed at the Gaza protests in 2018, 183 by live ammunition, including 35 children, three paramedics and two journalists.
189 killed
Source: UN (UNISPAL)
West Bank killings since 2023
UN OCHA data cited by Oxfam show 1,244 Palestinians, 268 of them children, killed in the West Bank in 2023–2025, more than in the previous 17 years; nearly 46,000 were displaced in three years.
1,169–1,244 killed46,000 displaced
Source: Anadolu Agency (Oxfam, UN OCHA)
Sde Teiman detention camp
Military camp in the Negev used to hold Palestinian men detained in Gaza without warrant. Whistleblowers told CNN detainees were blindfolded for weeks, beaten and strapped to hospital beds; it can hold up to 800.
800 detained
Source: The New Arab (CNN investigation)
Palestinians held in Israeli prisons
Over 9,350 Palestinians were held in Israeli detention in January 2026, including 3,385 under administrative detention without charge and 1,237 held as 'unlawful combatants'; groups counted over 9,600 by April 2026. People in military camps are not included.
9,350–9,600 detained
Source: Arab News (Palestinian prisoner groups, Israel Prison Service data)
Gaza 2023–: killings and destruction
The Gaza Health Ministry recorded at least 74,000 Palestinians killed by October 2026, at least 21,000 of them children, and more than 175,000 injured; a later toll passed 74,600. 1.98 million people (90%) were displaced and 82% of structures destroyed (UN OCHA). A Lancet study says the ministry count is a floor.
74,000 killed1,980,000 displaced
Source: Al Jazeera (Gaza Health Ministry, UN OCHA) · Middle East Eye
Gaza mosques destroyed
Gaza's Ministry of Awqaf reported 909 of the Strip's 1,244 mosques completely destroyed and 251 partly damaged, along with 22 cemeteries destroyed and 18 damaged.
909 mosques & sacred places destroyed
Source: WAFA (Gaza Ministry of Awqaf)
Great Omari Mosque destroyed
Gaza's oldest and largest mosque was largely destroyed in an Israeli air strike; most of the building collapsed and the minaret was partly destroyed. Israel said the site was used by Hamas.
1 mosques & sacred places destroyed
Source: Al Jazeera · NPR
Al-Shifa hospital left in ruins
After a two-week Israeli siege, the WHO said Gaza's largest hospital was 'an empty shell' with no patients left and numerous shallow graves dug outside its buildings. Health workers recovered bodies from mass graves at the complex.
Source: Dawn (citing WHO)
Jenin, Tulkarm and Nur Shams camps emptied
Israel's 'Iron Wall' operation forced the residents out of three northern West Bank refugee camps; UNRWA counted about 32,000–33,362 still displaced, and about half the structures in Jenin camp were destroyed or damaged by October 2025 (OHCHR).
32,000–33,362 displaced
Source: Al Jazeera (UN OHCHR report)