As we know a common strategy for downplaying or outright denying the genocide of Gaza is to discredit the death toll. Gaza's Ministry of Health and the statistics they publish are a frequent target, despite being historically accurate and relied upon by other international governments and agencies.

Up until approximately May-June of 2024, the reported death toll reached around 40,000 persons, and didn't receive any substantial updates after that time despite the rest of 2024 seeing daily massacres, aerial bombardment, and the complete leveling of civilian infrastructure.

In late 2024, The Lancet, an esteemed medical journal released a study claiming a death toll of at least 186,000 persons, possibly higher. Of course the journal was relentlessly attacked, and doctors in Palestine associated with the study were detained and tortured. (Lancet) (Author tortured)

Unfortunately for anyone who was paying attention to the daily carnage throughout 2024 it was painfully obvious that the death toll was going to be well into the 6-figure range.

Up until October 2023, the total population of Gaza was estimated between 2.2-2.3 million people.

On February 4, 2025, Trump held a meeting with Netanyahu at the White House, in contravention of the ICC's international arrest warrants. During this meeting Trump said in reference to Palestinians in Gaza:

"...all of them - there's 1.7 million or maybe 1.8 million people..." - source

Such a figure has never been stated by any official of the US government since October 2023. That is a discrepancy of 400,000-600,000 human beings. Clearly US government agencies have secretly been keeping a toll on the deaths in Gaza, a figure substantially higher than any previous public estimate, all while publicly denying a genocide and demonizing anyone who suggested otherwise.

Considering that Israel maintains a complete blockade of the Gaza Strip and prevents Palestinians from leaving or entering, the only explanation is that between 400,000 and 600,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Genocide from October 2023 through January 2025. There is quite literally no where else that all of these bodies could have gone. This is only one of the many ways in which the US government is directly complicit in Israel's genocide against Palestinians.

• https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/gaza-war-lie-ceasefire-trump-just-told-you (main quote)

• https://www.timesofisrael.com/full-text-with-netanyahu-in-oval-office-trump-talks-of-permanently-resettling-gazans/ (full transcript of meeting)

• https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)01169-3/fulltext (study)

• https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)02807-1/fulltext (torture)