Transparency
Methodology and sources
Casualty figures from armed conflicts are incomplete, revised over time and collected using different methods. Death by War preserves the source, reporting period and limitations instead of presenting any number as an unquestionable final count.
Our approach
Death by War does not conduct casualty investigations. The site organizes figures published by named sources and explains what each figure represents. Sources are selected according to their transparency, continuity and suitability for responsible public presentation.
Figures from different conflicts are not automatically comparable. A reported death, a verified civilian death and an estimated conflict fatality are different measurements and are labelled separately throughout the site.
Gaza data
The Gaza series is downloaded from the open-source Tech for Palestine daily casualties dataset . The underlying reports primarily come from the Gaza Ministry of Health, with the Gaza Government Media Office and UN OCHA identified for some entries.
The cumulative figures show the latest reported totals. The monthly series sums deaths and injuries added to the source reports during each calendar month. These monthly figures do not necessarily show when every death or injury occurred.
Daily reports can include deaths registered retrospectively, bodies recovered later or records added after review. Demographic breakdowns, including figures for children and women, are updated less frequently than the overall totals.
Israeli figures
Israeli figures are presented separately from the Gaza reporting series. Identified fatalities in Israel are attributed to UN OCHA, while figures for Israeli soldiers are attributed to the Israel Defense Forces.
These figures describe different populations and time periods. Some categories overlap and must not be added together. No directly comparable daily Israeli figure is inserted when a suitable source is unavailable.
Ukraine data
Ukraine figures come from the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine . The tracker presents civilian casualties individually verified by OHCHR since 24 February 2022.
Verification can involve interviews, witness accounts, open-source material, forensic records and official information. Because this process takes time, casualties can be added to later reports even when they occurred during an earlier period.
The Ukraine figures do not include military deaths and do not represent every casualty reported by Ukrainian or Russian authorities. OHCHR states that the actual number of civilian casualties is likely considerably higher, particularly in places where access or verification is difficult.
Historical wars
Historical war totals are estimates assembled from published historical and research sources. They are not live casualty trackers and should not be interpreted as exact counts.
Definitions vary between sources. Some estimates include only direct military and civilian deaths, while others also include deaths caused indirectly by famine, disease or displacement. When credible estimates differ, ranges and explanatory notes are preferable to false precision.
Why the trackers differ
Gaza figures are reported totals compiled from recurring local reports. Ukraine figures are individually verified civilian casualties documented by UN human rights monitors. Historical figures are research estimates that can cover both direct and indirect deaths.
These series answer different questions. Their values can be displayed alongside one another for context, but they must not be treated as measurements produced by the same method.
Update and validation process
Automated update scripts download source data, check its structure and perform basic plausibility tests. A new local data file is written only after the complete update succeeds. If a source cannot be reached or validation fails, the last valid copy remains online.
Sources without a stable machine-readable feed are reviewed separately and display their source date. Death by War does not insert invented values when current data is unavailable.
Important limitations
- Reports produced during war can be incomplete and revised retrospectively.
- Reporting dates do not always correspond to the dates on which deaths occurred.
- Access restrictions can cause substantial undercounting.
- Indirect deaths caused by hunger, disease, displacement or loss of healthcare are not fully represented by current conflict trackers.
- Death by War attributes figures to their original sources and does not independently verify every individual casualty.
Corrections
Questions, source suggestions and correction requests can be sent to info@deathbywar.com .