A demographic breakdown of the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry's own fatality list is circulating widely on social media. It shows that men of fighting age make up a far larger share of the dead than their share of Gaza's population.
The chart compares the ministry's list of identified fatalities from October 7, 2023 through May 7, 2026 against U.S. Census Bureau population estimates for Gaza, broken down by age and sex. The list contains 72,835 names.
The pattern is stark. Adult men, especially those between 18 and 45, along with older teenage boys, appear far more often on the list than their share of the population would predict. Women and young children appear less often. Males aged 15 to 45 make up about 45.7 percent of listed deaths but only about 24.7 percent of the estimated prewar population. Among Gazans aged 20 to 39, roughly 3.2 to 3.6 men died for every woman.
The overall figures point the same way. Of the 72,835 names, 36,067 are adult men, 11,733 are adult women, 12,803 are boys and 8,834 are girls. Another 2,089 are elderly men and 1,309 are elderly women. That means adult men below retirement age account for nearly half of all identified fatalities, while children make up about 30 percent. Gaza's population is young: before the war, about 47 percent of Gazans were estimated to be under 18.
The chart was shared on X by the account @jew_viking. He argued that the data undercuts accusations of genocide against Israel, adding that genocide would be expected to kill women, young children and the elderly at or above their share of the population. But the chart shows a war in which military-age men die first, as would be expected when an army fights an armed group embedded among civilians that also recruits older teenagers. The account added that responsibility for minors killed in the fighting rests with the groups that recruit them. "The early 'Israel is killing babies' line does not match Hamas's own age-and-sex data," it wrote.
The analyst who first compiled the chart made a similar case. He said the pattern is consistent with a large combatant component in the toll, since Gaza's terror groups recruited heavily among men of fighting age. He noted that the pattern also reflects the general wartime tendency for civilian men to die at higher rates than women. He added that the overrepresentation of men is even stronger among deaths recorded after the October 2025 ceasefire.
The findings cut against a claim made repeatedly throughout the war. Gaza authorities have consistently said women and children make up a large majority of the dead. In mid-November 2023, the ministry reported that two-thirds of those killed were women and children.
The ministry's list does not distinguish between combatants and civilians. It covers only identified victims of violent deaths and excludes about 3,000 unidentified bodies as well as deaths from hunger or disease.
Israel's critics maintain that genocide is defined by intent rather than by casualty ratios. They also point to a household survey published in The Lancet Global Health that estimated a higher overall toll than the ministry's.
The imbalance is growing, not shrinking. According to the chart's author, the overrepresentation of men is even stronger among deaths recorded after the October 2025 ceasefire. He said the male share of the list is still rising and is expected to pass 50 percent for men aged 18 to 45 in a future update.
