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8/15 Petition to Biden & U.S. Congress

As of 8/15, Israel has murdered at least 40,005 Palestinians in Gaza since 10/7. Using the calculations shared in the academic paper “Counting the dead in Gaza: difficult but essential“, the current, total estimated death toll that includes indirect deaths due to lack of healthcare, food, and other basic necessities is 200,025. Even the researchers from the paper advise they are using the most conservative multiplier to calculate how many indirect deaths occur per deaths reported. In prior conflicts, the multiplier for indirect deaths range from 3 -15. The multiplier used for Gaza is 4, which is only slightly above the 3 from our country during the Iraq war from 2003 – 2007. The head of EU foreign policy recently stated the destruction caused by Israel in Gaza is likely even higher than what was done during WW2 to German cities like Dresden. If we use the average of these multipliers instead, 9, the estimated death toll would be approximately 400,050. We won’t know the true numbers until we have a permanent and total ceasefire.

I demand that you: 

– Hold Israel accountable for a permanent, immediate ceasefire, their violations of the Genocide Convention, and gross human rights violations by any means necessary

– Call for the immediate end of Israel’s occupation and apartheid and support Palestinians in their fight for freedom and peace

– Secure the immediate release and safety of all Palestinians who have been abducted and held captive by Israel, including those whose indefinite detention began prior to 10/7

– Permanently end all monetary, diplomatic, and military aid given to Israel and enforce Leahy Law

– Reallocate all funds given to Israel and commit additional resources for ongoing humanitarian relief for Palestinians starting with immediately resuming funding of UNRWA

– Immediately withdraw all U.S. troops, military assets, and all other assets deployed throughout the Middle East and cease all actions that further escalate a larger regional conflict

– Pass legislation that voids all anti-BDS laws at the federal level

– Vote no on H.R. 7521 and any similar legislation proposed

SOURCES

Al Jazeera 8/15 Live Updates

AA “Destruction in Gaza ‘comparable, if not higher,’ to WWII Germany, says EU foreign policy chief“

UNHCR “Global Burden of Armed Violence“

Estimated deaths as of 8/15 from multiple sources*

Al Jazeera quotes 40,005 dead as of 8/15/24. Al Jazeera always includes the most up-to-date official death tolls on their Breaking/live updates page. Because the daily live pages are refreshed so frequently for each new day, I can’t link you to a specific date. You can always check the Breaking/live section on their site for the most recent official numbers.

If you use the multiplier for the number of indirect deaths for every reported death from The Lancet’s academic article, “Counting the dead in Gaza: difficult but essential“, you can calculate the estimated total death toll. This calculation looks like:

(Gaza Ministry # x 4) + Gaza Ministry #
(40,005 x 4) + 40,005 = 200,025

*Why are multiple sources used for the death count?

Associated Press “Gaza health officials say they lost the ability to count dead as Israeli offensive intensifies“

The situation in Gaza has only gotten worse since the AP published this article on 11/21. The official numbers we are seeing from Gaza’s Ministry of Health are undercounted, and have been since at least 11/21.

EuroMed Monitor is a NGO established in 2011 that advocates for the human rights of all persons across Europe and the MENA region. They have a regional office in the Palestinian Occupied Territories. I believe their estimates are credible which is why I quote them, and will continue to, when referring to the estimated death toll.

My personal opinion is that the true number is even higher than estimated- people are dying from starvation, thirst, infections, and illnesses. Even if the genocide ended this moment, these types of deaths will unfortunately continue for some time. I believe their deaths should be counted. They may not have been shot/bombed/etc. by the Israeli military, but their deaths are directly attributable to the total siege, occupation, and intentional** destruction of civilian, water, waste management, and medical infrastructure by Israel.

**Why are you accusing Israel of intentionally destroying important infrastructure and targeting civilians?

It’s not an accusation. They’ve admitted to it.

The Guardian “‘The Gospel’: how Israel uses AI to select bombing targets in Gaza“

972 Magazine “‘A mass assassination factory’: Inside Israel’s calculated bombing of Gaza“