EXPLAINER: What is Gaza’s Ministry of Health and how does it calculate the war’s death toll?

By ISABEL DEBRE
Associated Press

JERUSALEM (AP) — As the Israel-Hamas war rages, international and local monitoring groups in Gaza have been unable to keep up. The only source reporting how many people have been killed in Hamas-ruled Gaza is the Ministry of Health. Over past wars, the ministry has largely maintained a track record of accuracy. Its death toll counts usually stand up to U.N. scrutiny, investigations and Israel’s own tallies. But an explosion at al-Ahli Hospital in mid-October has called the health ministry’s credibility into question. Confusion over that toll has raised doubts over whether ministry numbers can be trusted.