President Donald Trump’s assertion that the U.S. can relocate “1.7 or 1.8 million” Palestinians has raised questions about the death toll in Gaza.
Trump made the comments last week while announcing a surprise plan to take over the region, which has been devastated by the Israel-Hamas war that began in October 2023.
Gaza’s population was estimated at over 2.2 million before the war, and the Gaza Health Ministry’s official death count sits at 61,709.
Devi Sridhar, chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh, says she found Trump’s numbers “puzzling” — and a potential confirmation that the death toll is actually much higher, something researchers, doctors and public health experts have long said was the case.
WATCH | Trump wants to own, redevelop Gaza: During a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, U.S. President Donald Trump said he wants to see the U.S. own the Gaza Strip, develop it into the ‘Riviera of the …