Leaked Israeli Intelligence Database: Only About 1 in 4 Gaza Detainees Listed as Militants
A joint investigation by +972 Magazine, Local Call and The Guardian reported that a classified military intelligence database listed about 1,450 of ~6,000 Gaza detainees (held under the Unlawful Combatants Law in the war's first 19 months) as Hamas or Islamic Jihad fighters. The IDF called the figures "wrong." Some outlets reported the finding as "3 in 4 detainees are civilians."
On September 4, 2025, +972 Magazine, Local Call and The Guardian reported on numerical data from a classified database run by Israel's Military Intelligence Directorate, which lists 47,653 people the army considers Hamas or Islamic Jihad militants. As of mid-May 2025, about 1,450 of the roughly 6,000 Gazans Israel had detained under the Unlawful Combatants Law appeared in it — about one in four. (+972)
Limits of the data: the database excludes other armed groups and up to ~300 people held on October 7-related criminal charges; the journalists saw numbers only, not names or underlying intelligence. (+972)
IDF response: the army called the figures "wrong," said they "reflect a misunderstanding of the detention procedures in Israel," and said most unlawful-combatant detainees are members of terrorist organizations. (+972)
How it was reported: +972's headline said "Militants account for only 1 in 4 Gaza detainees"; Common Dreams' headline said "3 in 4 … are civilians" — a stronger claim than the data shows.
Sources & References
- 1. +972 Magazine / Local Call / The Guardian (Yuval Abraham): "Israeli intelligence data: Militants account for only 1 in 4 Gaza detainees" (Sep 4, 2025) — the underlying investigation, includes IDF response
- 2. Common Dreams (Stephen Prager): "3 in 4 Gaza Detainees Held Without Trial by Israel Are Civilians, Military Database Says" (Sep 4, 2025) — the circulating version of the claim
- 3. Al Jazeera: How many Palestinian detainees from Gaza does Israel think are fighters? (Sep 4, 2025)