How we stay balanced

This guide is for people who want to understand the conflict, not to be told what to think about it. We aim for the standard of the best international news organisations: accurate, fair, and honest about what is known, what is disputed and what nobody knows yet.

Our six rules

1. Facts first, with sources. Every number carries its date and its source. Tap any bold number on the site to see them.
2. Say who says it. When something is a claim, we say whose claim it is: "according to Gaza's Health Ministry", "the Israeli army says", "a UN inquiry found".
3. Two stories, in their own words. Israelis and Palestinians often remember the same events very differently. Where that happens, we show both views side by side, as their own people would tell them — not as their opponents would describe them.
4. The same standards for everyone. Civilians killed are "killed", whoever killed them. Attacks on civilians are described plainly, whoever carried them out. The laws of war apply to every side.
5. People are not their governments. Criticism of the Israeli government is not criticism of Jews. Criticism of Hamas is not criticism of Palestinians or of Muslims.
6. Say what we don't know. Casualty counts in war are estimates. Some events are still being investigated. Final court rulings are years away.

How we handle disputed numbers

Deaths in Gaza come from Gaza's Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government. The UN, most governments and major news organisations use them, because in earlier wars they turned out to be close to later independent counts. Israel says they are inflated and that they hide how many of the dead were fighters. The ministry's lists do not say who was a fighter. Two independent, peer-reviewed studies (in The Lancet and The Lancet Global Health) estimated that the real number of deaths is higher than the ministry's count. The Israeli army says it killed more than 24,000 militants; this cannot be independently checked. We show all of these.

Deaths in Israel come from Israeli official sources (the National Insurance Institute, the army, the police), cross-checked by news agencies such as AFP. They are not seriously disputed.

Words we use — and why

• "Occupied" for the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza, as the United Nations, the International Court of Justice and international news agencies do. We explain that Israel disputes this.
• "Hamas fighters" or "militants", as Reuters, AP and the BBC do. We also explain that the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and others list Hamas as a terrorist organisation. And we describe exactly what Hamas-led fighters did on 7 October: they killed civilians in their homes and at a music festival, and took hostages. These are war crimes.
• "The 1948 war" in our own voice. We explain why Israelis call it the War of Independence and Palestinians call it the Nakba.
• "Genocide", "apartheid", "ethnic cleansing" are not words we use in our own voice, because they describe crimes that courts have not yet ruled on. We report who has used them — and who rejects them — and what courts have and have not decided.

What this guide leaves out

A short guide cannot cover everything. We say little about Israel's internal politics, about Lebanon, Syria and Iran, and about the many people on both sides working for peace. There are no photographs, on purpose: we want to inform, not to shock or to sway feelings. The sources page lists books and reports to go further.

Corrections and updates

The situation changes every week. The date of the last update is shown at the bottom of the menu. If you find an error, please tell the people who run this site — a correction is always welcome.

Who made this

This is an independent, non-commercial educational project. It has no ads, no tracking and no cookies. Research and drafting were assisted by AI tools; every figure links to its source so that you can check it yourself.