LONDON: The Israeli military has admitted that the number of Palestinians killed in the Gaza conflict has been about 70,000 — in line with figures from the Gaza Health Ministry, Israeli media reported on Thursday.

Throughout the two-year conflict, Israeli officials refused to accept the numbers provided by the ministry, despite them being widely regarded as accurate by international bodies, including the UN.

A senior security official has now confirmed the overall figure, but said the actual breakdown of the toll was still under review, The Times of Israel reported.

The official claimed the proportion of civilians to militants killed was unknown, along with how many people had died directly from the fighting.

The official also rejected the ministry’s figures stating that 440 Palestinians had died of malnutrition and starvation during the conflict.

Haaretz newspaper reported that the Israeli military’s figure did not include those still missing, possibly buried under rubble.

The Gaza Health Ministry says 71,667 people have been killed in the territory by the Israeli military since the conflict started in October 2023, after a Hamas raid into Israel killed more than 1,200 people.

A report by +972 Magazine in August, based on leaked Israeli army data, suggested that 83 percent of Palestinians killed in Gaza had been civilians.