Names released of over 50,000 people killed in Gaza

One of the hundreds of mass graves

The names and ID numbers of more than 50,000 people killed by Israel in Gaza in the last 18 months have been published by Iraq Body Count (IBC) a database of official statistics complied from hospital, morgue, NGO and other official records. (It does not count many thousands more people reported missing whose remains are under the rubble.)

The 981 page list makes chilling reading. One researcher said: "Reading out of names of the Gaza dead is a very spiritual ritual. Though at 10 names per minute it would take 83 hours non stop to read them all out. Even just reading out the 876 names of babies killed under the age of one would take 90 minutes."

John Sloboda, a Roman Catholic who is a member of the Westminster J&P Holy Land Roundtable and a co-founder of Iraq Body Count, told ICN:

"Naming those killed is the most basic way of recognising and honouring their dignity as individuals. Contemplating unimaginably large numbers can freeze us into helpless immobility, or lock us into abstractions.

"Reflecting for even a few seconds on a single name can be an act of prayerful recognition that this person was fully human, uniquely valued by God in all their individuality. And when there is opportunity, saying that name out loud provides physical expression to that act of recognition and respect.

"Having each name accessible in Roman script allows non-Arabic readers in the West to come that tiny bit closer to the reality of the victim and the tragedy of their life lost. In doing so we contribute in a small way to dismantling the toxic dehumanising narratives which surround us every day, and try to snuff out the human sympathy which should be our first impulse to the bereaved."

Read the list here: www.iraqbodycount.org/pal/moh_2025-03-23.pdf