We're providing detail on why the Gaza casualties update for January 11th listed a total of 531 killed for that 48 hour period.
The Gaza Ministry of Health noted in their January 11th update that they've added 499 to the number of those killed in that 48 hour period (on top of 32 for that specific time period) due to the decision of a judicial body which ruled on the deaths of a number of people reported missing to date.
As expected in a conflict where the mass destruction of residential and civilian buildings is widespread, many individuals who are reported missing must be presumed dead when their bodies cannot be recovered. "Judicial bodies" are tasked with investigating these disappearances, including verifying the last known locations and events leading up to them. This process highlights the meticulous efforts made by Gaza’s officials to ensure their reports are accurate and resistant to outside scrutiny. However, the result of these thorough procedures is that these deaths are often viewed as underreported due to the rigid framework they follow. For example, a recent report published in The Lancet revealed that the number of Gazans dying from traumatic injuries could be undercounted by as much as 41%. We’ve also provided a detailed analysis of other estimates suggesting underweighting of other factors that lead to higher casualties.