According to AFP, for every Hamas fighter killed in the Gaza Strip, about two civilians have been killed, senior Israeli military officials said on Monday on condition of anonymity.

Palestinians were injured during the terrorist attacks in GazaPhoto: ashraf amra / AFP / Profimedia

“I’m not saying it’s good that we have a two-to-one ratio,” the official told a briefing, adding that the use of human shields was part of Hamas’ “core strategy.”

“We should hope that this ratio will be much lower in the next phase of the war,” he added.

The growing death toll and humanitarian crisis in Gaza have sparked outrage around the world.

Gaza’s health ministry, which is run by Hamas, says Israel’s war since October 7 has killed nearly 16,000 people, 70 percent of them children and women.

According to Israel, on October 7, the Hamas group killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and about 240 people were kidnapped and taken to a small Palestinian territory.

How many Hamas fighters were killed?

Asked about reports of 5,000 Hamas fighters dead, a senior official said: “The numbers are more or less correct.”

The United States, Israel’s main ally, has urged it to do more to avoid civilian casualties as operations push into the south, where many Gazans have taken refuge after fleeing the devastated north.

The army is deploying high-tech mapping software to try to reduce the number of non-combatant deaths, according to senior Israeli military officials.

The system combines mobile phone signals, aerial surveillance and artificial intelligence to support a constantly updated map showing the population concentration in an area.

Each of the 623 cells on the map is color-coded, with zones marked in green where at least 75% of the population has been evacuated.

“In the south, because the population has almost doubled, operations are much more calculated,” the official said. “We need a lot more time to make sure our efforts (to warn civilians) are effective.”

They added that the map, which is the result of eight years of research, is being made available to commanders and units in the field.

However, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has questioned the utility of such a tool in a region where access to telecommunications and electricity is sporadic.