Palestinean civilian death toll in Gaza soon to surpass Battle of Britain

Palestinean civilians are being killed at twice the rate of British civilians during the Battle of Britain and The Blitz.

In an interesting, if gruesome historical comparison, the civilian death toll among Palestinian residents of Gaza will soon surpass that of British civilians during the Battle of Britain.

According to official British sources, the total civilian losses in the six months from July to December 1940 were 23,002 dead as a result of the concentrated German bombing of military, industrial and civilian targets in London and other centres including Liverpool, Birmingham, Sheffield, Manchester, Coventry, and Southampton

A scene from Liverpool during The Battle of Britain (IWM)

By mid-December, the war in Gaza had claimed at least 20,000 civilians in just over three months since Israel launched its retaliatory strikes following the October 7 raid by Hamas when 1200 Israelis were killed. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decreed that the war on Hamas in Gaza will continue for "many more months". If the civilian death toll continues at the current rate, noted as one of the worst in recent history, it will quickly surpass the total of 60,000 British civilians killed during the entire duration of WWII.

Following heavy losses during the Battle of Britain, Germany began a strategy of nightly bombing raids which became known as The Blitz and continued until May 1941. After the last mass raid on the night of the 10th of May, almost 45,000 English civilians were dead, more than half of them in London. 

On the worst night during this period, known as “Black Saturday”, 7th September 1940, 450 civilian deaths were recorded. A number that is comparable to some of the worst days in the fighting and air raids on the Gaza Strip.