Israel’s military has accepted that around 70,000 Palestinians were killed during the war in Gaza, according to Israeli media reports citing senior military officials. The reported estimate marks a shift from Israel’s earlier stance, which questioned the accuracy of death tolls released by Gaza’s health authorities.

The United Nations has long treated the figures compiled by Gaza’s health ministry as credible. Israel had previously argued the ministry could not be trusted because it is run by Hamas.

The Gaza health ministry says the death toll has surpassed 71,000, including more than 480 people killed in Israeli attacks since a U.S.-brokered ceasefire began in October. It has also said that many thousands of bodies remain buried under the rubble of devastated cities across the enclave. While the ministry does not distinguish between civilians and fighters, it has stated that most of the dead are women or children, and it publishes names and ages of those recorded as killed.

Israeli outlet Ynet and other major media reported that the military presented a similar estimate during a briefing with senior officials on Thursday. “In our estimation, around 70,000 Gazans were killed during the war, not including missing persons,” Ynet quoted one official as saying. The official added that efforts were ongoing to determine how many of those killed were militants and how many were not involved in fighting.

Asked to comment, the Israel Defense Forces said the reported details did not reflect official military data and stressed that any formal information would be released through official channels.