Press Coverage of Civilian Casualties
AP/Yahoo
AP very likely is providing the Lebanese health ministry total deaths figure in its main article, "Hezbollah claims victory against Israel." Using the now four-day-old figures on civilian and overall deaths in Lebanon - and it is wrong for AP not to be providing the breakdown - the math for a best estimate looks like this: 628 x 791?/ 715 = 694.75
Lebanon said nearly 791 people were killed in the fighting. Israel said 116 soldiers and 39 civilians died in combat or from Hezbollah rockets.
http://news.yahoo.com/...
http://news.yahoo.com/...
FoxNews/AP
Fox's latest is the same AP report as above. Its lead-in headline is Fox-ier, however: "Hezbollah Leader Rattles Fragile Peace."
http://www.foxnews.com/...
CNN
CNN's second or third story on its main page (depending on how you assess such things) continues to use the less-reliable-than-the-health-ministry Lebanese security forces figures, which don't seem to subdivide those killed into civilians and non-civilians. They also report confusion and apparent earlier exaggerated numbers of overall and civilians deaths in Israel Defense Forces reports. I think this adds to the evidence already seen on the Lebanese side, that it is not ideal to rely on a country's security forces for casualty totals. Better to rely on a perhaps less politicized bureaucracy like a health ministry. Anyway, these discrepancies push me toward relying on the AP figures for the number of Israeli civilians killed.
Olmert said Monday that the death toll in more than a month of fighting stands at 159 Israelis, including civilians and soldiers. Earlier, IDF reported 167 deaths, including 114 military personnel and 53 civilians, and said 865 people had been wounded.
The IDF said its troops had killed more than 530 Hezbollah fighters, releasing the names of 180 of them. But Lebanon said most of the 890 people killed before Sunday's bombardments were civilians. Lebanese Internal Security Forces also reported more than 3,800 wounded, most of them civilians.
http://www.cnn.com/...
Reuters
I believe Reuters continues to add together data from security sources to its own estimates. I think the results are much less reliable and `confirmed' than the figures provided by the Lebanese health ministry. For the numbers of Israelis killed, the CNN report above similarly indicates that relying on security services figures is not the option with the best chance of accuracy.
About 1,110 people in Lebanon and 156 Israelis have been killed in the war. Israel says it killed about 530 Hizbollah fighters. Hizbollah has acknowledged only about 80 dead.
http://today.reuters.com/...
AFP
Like Reuters, AFP seems to be adding data from security sources to its own estimates for the Lebanese side, and reporting Israeli security services figures for that side of the conflict. Not the best approach, if confirmed facts are the goal.
The cessation of hostilities followed a UN resolution aimed at ending the deadliest cross-border conflict in a quarter century, which has claimed the lives of about 1,150 people in Lebanon and 158 Israelis.
http://www.afp.com/...
BBC
BBC states in a chart (reproduced as best I can below) in its main Lebanon article that it relies on the IDF for its figures on Israeli civilian and non-civilian deaths. Security services are not the best source, but perhaps no other sources are available (except to the AP?). BBC does not state a source for the round number figures (and non-distinction between civilian and non-civilian deaths) provided regarding the Lebanese side.
Some 1,000 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and 157 Israelis, 114 of them soldiers, have died in the 34-day conflict.
IMPACT: 34 DAYS OF FIGHTING
Lebanon deaths:
About 1,000 - mostly civilians
No precise data on Hezbollah dead
Israeli deaths:
Soldiers: 114 (IDF)
Civilians: 43 (IDF)
Lebanon displaced:
700,000 - 900,000 (UNHCR; Lebanese govt)
Israeli displaced:
500,000 (Human Rights Watch)
Lebanon damage:
$2.5bn (Lebanese govt)
Israel damage:
$1.1bn (Israeli govt)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/...
Please donate to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, at www.ifrc.org, to assist Lebanon.