Israel one year into war: 885 civilians killed, 70,000 wounded – National Insurance Institute

Some 885 civilian casualties were added to the total number of victims killed in terror attacks, according to the National Insurance Institute (NII) on Sunday. The total count did not include members of the security forces or emergency standby squads.

Seven of the casualties were added just last week as a result of the Jaffa terror attack, who were not included in the NII’s findings.

Of the 878 victims counted, 578 were men and 300 were women. Among them, 53 were children and teenagers under the age of 18: four were aged 0-3, two were 3-5, three were 5-8, nine were 8-12, eight were 12-14, and 27 were 14-18. Additionally, 72 of the victims were foreign citizens.

Out of the victims, 803 were from the country’s South, 29 from the North, and 26 from the center. 

Three people were killed outside of Israel this year, all during a shooting attack in Alexandria, Egypt. An Egyptian policeman opened fire on them while they were visiting an archaeological site just a day after the war began.

View of the National Insurance Institute (bituach leumi) offices in Jerusalem, October 26, 2020 (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)

Since the start of the war, 921 people have been orphaned—479 men and 442 women. Among them, 291 are under the age of 18.

In addition, 226 people have become widows as a result of the current war.

The NII report revealed that 1,078 bereaved parents lost a child, including 119 parents who lost all their children. Additionally, 1,880 citizens were left without any siblings.

Furthermore, 12 families experienced more than one loss (for example, father and son or two parents who were murdered, not including entire families who were murdered).

Hostages currently detained in Gaza

Following October 7, 217 civilians who were not members of the security forces were kidnapped to the Gaza Strip.


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Some 143 civilians were returned from captivity, of which 116 hostages were released (92 Israeli citizens and 24 foreigners) and 27 civilian hostages (26 Israeli citizens and another foreign citizen) whose bodies were brought for burial in Israel.

The number of civilian hostages stands at 74 (73 of them being from the war current and another civilian, Elizabeth Tsurkov, who was abducted in Baghdad by Qataib Hezbollah in July 2023).

Of these, 52 civilians are defined as hostages (45 Israeli citizens and seven foreigners), and 22 civilians are considered as missing who are still in Gaza (19 Israeli citizens and three foreigners).

Currently, 101 hostages are currently held in Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip. 

Since the war began, over 70,000 victims of hostilities have received treatment, including 12 amputees. Among the total victims, 647 are foreign citizens who were wounded on October 7.

In the past year, Israel has seen the most extensive reserve mobilization it has ever known.

The NII stated that among the many grants and payments transferred to the various populations in the past year, more than NIS 21.6 billion were paid as remunerations for those serving in reserves.

According to the NII, this is the first time in Israel’s history that a “monthly payment plan was advanced,” in which the reserves received payment at the beginning of each calendar month and not at the end of the service period, as was done before the war.”