Here in the U.S., a top State Department official said Wednesday the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli airstrikes is likely far higher than the more than 10,000 reported by the Gaza Health Ministry. Barbara Leaf, the assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, was testifying to a House panel.

Barbara Leaf: “It is very difficult for any of us to assess what the rate of casualties are. We think they’re very high, frankly. And it could be that they’re even higher than are being cited. We’ll know only after the guns fall silent.”

Barbara Leaf’s testimony comes after President Biden and senior White House officials cast doubt on the Gaza Health Ministry’s count of the killed and wounded — even though human rights groups, the United Nations and even the U.S. State Department regularly cite those figures.