1,029 Civilians Murdered Since October 7, Including 63 Children, New Data Show

By David Israel • October 4, 2026

Jerusalem, 4 October, 2026 (TPS-IL) — Israel’s National Insurance Institute reported Sunday that 1,029 civilians have been murdered since the war began with Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack, including 63 children and teenagers and 88 foreign nationals, as the Defense Ministry separately reported that 1,318 members of Israel’s security forces have fallen since the war’s start.

The figures were released as Israel marks three years since the start of what it calls the “Iron Swords” war.

on October 7, 2023, Hamas-led terrorists attacked communities and military positions in southern Israel, killing approximately 1,200 people and abducting 252 people to the Gaza Strip. Of the total civilian toll, 778 were murdered on the day of the massacre itself, including 70 foreign nationals, while 252 more, including 18 foreigners, were killed over the course of the war that followed. Of the 252 hostages taken that day, 216 civilians have since been returned from Gaza: 154 alive, including 29 foreign nationals, and 62 whose bodies were recovered for burial in Israel, including six foreigners.

The National Insurance Institute reported that more than 7,150 family members have joined Israel’s bereaved families since the war began, including 2,143 bereaved parents, 355 widows, 880 orphans, and 3,772 bereaved brothers and sisters.

The war’s toll extends far beyond the dead: the institute said it is handling 87,286 recognized victims of hostile action overall, including 24 who lost limbs. Of those, 74,558 were recognized from the day of the massacre alone, with another 12,832 added since, including 63 foreign nationals. Some 43,004 civilians have filed for disability recognition, and 40,407 have already been granted disability status: 34,878 for psychological injury, 3,171 for physical injury, and 2,355 for a combination of both.

The institute also detailed the war’s financial toll over three years: NIS 58 billion ($19 billion) paid in reserve-duty compensation, more than NIS 9 billion ($2.95 billion) distributed to victims of hostilities, bereaved families, hostages and their relatives, and roughly NIS 8 billion ($2.6 billion) paid to evacuees. It has funded over NIS 750 million ($245 million) in rehabilitation costs for victims’ families, and paid NIS 662 million ($217 million) in direct assistance grants to more than 83,500 civilians affected by the October 7 Attack.

The Defense Ministry’s Families, Commemoration and Heritage Division reported that the 1,318 fallen since the war’s start include 1,153 IDF soldiers, among them 43 members of civilian security squads; 116 Israel Police personnel; nine Shin Bet personnel; five Israel Fire and Rescue Services personnel; 11 Israel Prison Service personnel; and 24 disabled veterans who died from war-related disabilities.

Beyond the casualty and financial accounting, the division also detailed its commemoration efforts over the past three years. Its Unit for the Commemoration of Fallen Soldiers conducted funerals at 282 cemeteries and military burial sections across Israel and arranged for fallen soldiers buried in battlefields to be brought home. It expanded more than 30 military cemeteries and burial sections and is working to expand 20 more, built three new cemeteries for Israel’s Druze community in Yirka, Sajur and Jath, and expanded the cemetery in Maghar. The division also expanded its Paths of Memory app to locate the graves of more than 20,000 fallen soldiers nationwide.