Three years later: More than 87,000 civilians recognized as victims since October 7th

Israel’s Defense Ministry and National Insurance Institute released figures Sunday detailing the deaths, injuries and bereavement recorded since October 7, 2023, ahead of the third anniversary of the Hamas massacre and the outbreak of war.

The Defense Ministry said 1,318 people had been added to Israel’s official count of fallen military and security personnel since the attack. Separately, the National Insurance Institute reported that 1,029 civilians had been killed in terrorist attacks during the same period, including 63 children and teenagers and 88 foreign nationals.

The Defense Ministry’s total includes 1,153 IDF fallen, among them 43 members of local emergency response teams, alongside 116 police officers, nine Shin Bet personnel, five Fire and Rescue Service personnel and 11 Israel Prison Service personnel.

It also includes 24 people who died from war-related disabilities.

More than 7,150 relatives joined the Defense Ministry’s circle of bereaved families: 2,143 parents, 355 widows, 880 orphans and 3,772 siblings. The ministry said the figures cover those who fell in Gaza, southern and northern Israel, Lebanon and the West Bank.

Civilian losses and lasting trauma

Of the 1,029 civilian victims reported by the National Insurance Institute, 668 were men and 361 were women. The 63 victims aged 18 and under included six children aged three or younger.

The institute said 87,286 civilians had been recognized as victims of hostilities since the start of the war.

Its figures included 34,878 people recognized on the basis of psychological harm, 3,171 for physical injuries and 2,355 for both physical and psychological injuries. Twenty-four victims were amputees.

The civilian deaths also left 1,216 people without a parent, including 345 children under 18. Another 300 people lost a spouse, 231 women and 69 men.

The institute recorded 1,204 bereaved parents, including 156 left with no surviving children, and 2,281 bereaved siblings.

Billions in assistance

The National Insurance Institute said it had paid approximately NIS 662 million (approximately $216 million) in assistance grants to 83,563 civilians affected by the October 7 attack.

It also reported paying more than NIS 5 billion ($1.63 billion) in housing grants to over 110,000 residents of northern and southern Israel who evacuated independently, and more than NIS 1.4 billion ($458 million) in return grants to approximately 110,000 people.

The Defense Ministry said it had expanded emotional support, financial assistance and memorial services for bereaved families over the past three years, recruiting additional social workers and hundreds of therapists.

Its services include hundreds of support groups, a network of approximately 500 volunteers and more than 1,000 individual support plans for orphans aged four to 21. A dedicated program also supports women who were pregnant when they lost their husbands.

The ministry said military funerals had been held at 282 cemeteries and military burial sections across Israel. More than 30 military cemeteries and burial sections have been expanded, with work underway to expand another 20. Three new cemeteries serving the Druze community were built in Yarka, Sajur and Jatt.

Aryeh Moalem, head of the ministry’s Families, Commemoration and Heritage Department, said Israel’s obligation to those who died extended to sustained care for their relatives.

Three years after the war began, he said, the department remained committed to preserving the memory of the fallen and ensuring their families would never have to face their loss alone.