Hamas' leader in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday said 80 militants were killed during the 11-day war with Israel that ended last week, providing the group's first official tally for losses sustained in the fighting.
Gaza's Hamas-run slotxo xo Health Ministry has put the number of Palestinians killed in the Israeli offensive this month at 254, including 66 children, 39 women, and 17 people above the age of 60. But it did not give a breakdown between civilians and combatants.
Speaking to The Associated Press, Hamas leader Yehiyeh Sinwar said those killed last week included 57 members of his group's armed wing, 22 members of the smaller Islamic Jihad group and one member of a small group called the Popular Resistance Committees.
Hamas presented a list from the Health Ministry identifying women and children who died. The oldest was a 90-year-old man, while there were eight children aged 2 or under. The list has not been independently verified, but many of the names were already well known.
Twelve people were killed in Israel - mostly from rocket fire - and all but one were civilians.
As with previous rounds of fighting, the number of civilian deaths has become an issue of dispute between Israel and the Palestinians.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed that some 200 militants were killed but has not provided any evidence backing up the figures.
The International Criminal Court has launched an investigation into possible war crimes by both Hamas and Israel - including the possibility of disproportionate force by Israel and indiscriminate rocket fire by Hamas.
Israeli officials say any civilian casualties are unintended and that the army takes great effort to avoid them. They accuse Hamas of putting civilians in danger by launching rockets from residential areas and inviting Israeli reprisals. They also note that Hamas rockets are fired indiscriminately toward Israeli population centers.
