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\begin{filecontents}{references.bib}
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\end{filecontents}

\title{Counting the Living: Civilian Harm in the Palestinian Holocaust}

\author{ACB \\
Department of Conflict Studies \\
University of Humanitarian Research \\
}

\newcommand{\fix}{\marginpar{FIX}}
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\begin{document}

\maketitle

\begin{abstract}
This study examines civilian harm documentation in the Palestinian context through analysis of 41,236 conflict event records from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project spanning October 2023 to July 2025. The research addresses the significance of accurate civilian casualty reporting amid information suppression and narrative contestation. The complexity stems from multiple competing narratives, institutional constraints on data collection, and geopolitical pressures. A mixed-methods approach combining quantitative trend analysis with qualitative thematic coding of narrative descriptors provides insight into Palestinian lived experiences under conflict conditions. Quantitative findings indicate civilian fatalities constitute 71.9 percent of recorded deaths, with local sources demonstrating higher reliability indices (0.82) compared to institutional channels (0.46). Qualitative analysis identifies themes of witnessing under siege, loss as credibility, digital silencing, and resilient mourning. Analytic credibility is ensured through methodological triangulation and cross-validation of statistical patterns with narrative evidence. The study demonstrates how civilian documentation functions as moral witnessing when institutional accountability mechanisms are compromised, contributing to frameworks of epistemic justice in conflict settings.
\end{abstract}

\section{Introduction}
\label{sec:intro}

This study examines civilian harm documentation in the Palestinian context through analysis of 41,236 conflict event records from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project spanning October 2023 to July 2025. The research addresses the significance of accurate civilian casualty reporting amid information suppression and narrative contestation. The complexity of documentation arises from multiple competing narratives, institutional constraints on data collection, and geopolitical pressures that affect how civilian experiences are recorded and interpreted.

The Palestinian documentation context presents unique challenges rooted in historical dispossession, prolonged conflict, and social systems operating under severe constraints. These conditions transform the act of documenting civilian harm from a technical exercise into a political and moral endeavor. International frameworks often fail to provide adequate protection or accountability mechanisms, leading to what \citet{fricker2007epistemic} terms epistemic injustice, where certain voices are systematically excluded from official records. This complexity necessitates methodological approaches capable of navigating multiple layers of verification and interpretation.

A mixed-methods approach combining quantitative trend analysis with qualitative thematic coding of narrative descriptors provides insight into Palestinian lived experiences under conflict conditions. The qualitative dimension helps interpret experiences, communication patterns, and institutional narratives within Palestinian communities. Thematic analysis of narrative descriptors reveals how local actors document and communicate their experiences under conditions of siege and information suppression. This approach captures nuances that quantitative methods alone might miss, including the emotional and moral dimensions of witnessing \citep{margalit2002ethics}. By examining the language and framing used in event documentation, we can understand how credibility is constructed and maintained in high-stakes environments.

This research addresses three core questions that explore the intersection of documentation, credibility, and perception in conflict settings:
\begin{enumerate}
    \item How is credibility constructed across local versus international sources in documenting civilian harm?
    \item Which communicative factors foster trust in data and narrative about conflict events?
    \item How does institutional framing reshape perception of civilian harm in the Palestinian context?
\end{enumerate}
These questions are relevant for understanding how knowledge about conflict is produced, validated, and disseminated in contexts characterized by power asymmetries and information control.

The study makes several contributions to conflict documentation research. It develops a mixed-methods framework that integrates quantitative event data with qualitative narrative analysis. It provides empirical evidence regarding credibility differentials between local and international sources in conflict reporting. The research analyzes communicative factors that influence trust in conflict-related information and documents institutional framing effects on the perception of civilian harm. Methodologically, it offers innovations in triangulating different types of conflict data to enhance analytic rigor.

The findings have implications for education, humanitarian policy, and cross-cultural understanding. Educational programs can incorporate these insights to teach critical media literacy and conflict analysis. Humanitarian organizations can use the results to improve documentation practices and advocacy efforts. Cross-cultural understanding may be enhanced through recognition of how different actors construct and communicate knowledge about conflict. The study contributes to frameworks for ethical data collection and dissemination in conflict-affected regions \citep{creswell2018research}.

By examining both statistical patterns and narrative content, this research provides a comprehensive understanding of how civilian harm is documented and communicated in the Palestinian context. The integration of quantitative and qualitative approaches allows for triangulation of findings and deeper insights into the complexities of conflict documentation. The study builds on previous work in conflict studies \citep{pettersson2021patterns, raleigh2010acled} and media witnessing \citep{allan2017citizen, frosh2022media} while addressing gaps in the representation of Palestinian epistemic agency.

The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. Section \ref{sec:related} reviews related work in conflict documentation and moral witnessing. Section \ref{sec:background} provides background on the Palestinian context and data collection challenges. Section \ref{sec:framework} outlines the theoretical framework of epistemic trust and moral witnessing. Section \ref{sec:method} describes the mixed-methods approach. Section \ref{sec:results} presents quantitative and qualitative findings. Section \ref{sec:discussion} discusses implications, and Section \ref{sec:conclusion} concludes with limitations and future work.

\section{Related Work}
\label{sec:related}
Prior scholarship includes quantitative conflict event analysis and qualitative studies of witnessing, trauma representation, and media ethics. Research on trauma representation in conflict contexts examines how personal suffering is documented and communicated \citep{zelizer2021about, caruth1996unclaimed, herman1992trauma, lacapra2000writing}. However, few studies integrate both statistical conflict mapping and interpretive moral-witness analysis, and there's an underrepresentation of Palestinian epistemic agency in global media datasets. This research contributes by offering a joint moral-statistical model demonstrating how data transparency functions as testimony, building upon established frameworks of epistemic justice and moral witnessing.

\section{Background}
\label{sec:background}

The documentation of Palestinian experiences occurs within a context of prolonged conflict and information asymmetry. The dataset integrates NGO, media, and local monitoring reports compiled by ACLED, reflecting asymmetrical reporting power between civilian agencies operating under siege and state military communiqués. Data entries serve as micro-narratives of credibility where each record represents a documented claim under epistemic risk. Ethical tensions arise from information suppression, digital disconnection, and narrative warfare that amplify what \citet{fricker2007epistemic} identifies as epistemic injustice. The real-world stakes are significant, as the politics of who counts the dead defines the legitimacy of humanitarian appeals and international accountability.

This study draws upon several theoretical frameworks that inform the interpretive orientation toward Palestinian experiences. Oral history provides a methodological foundation for understanding how personal narratives preserve collective memory under conditions of systematic erasure. Decolonial theory offers critical perspectives on knowledge production, challenging dominant narratives that marginalize Palestinian voices. Narrative inquiry examines how stories function as sites of resistance and meaning-making in contexts of political violence. These frameworks collectively inform an approach that centers Palestinian epistemic agency while acknowledging structural constraints on knowledge production.

The societal setting encompasses Palestinian communities navigating complex political realities across Gaza, the West Bank, and the diaspora. Institutional dynamics include both local documentation efforts by community organizations and international monitoring mechanisms that often operate under different epistemological assumptions. The tension between these knowledge systems creates a contested terrain where the validation of Palestinian experiences becomes inherently political. This setting requires analytical approaches that can account for power differentials in how knowledge is produced, circulated, and authorized.

The concept of epistemic injustice, as developed by \citet{fricker2007epistemic}, provides a theoretical lens for understanding how Palestinian testimonies may be systematically discredited or excluded from official records. This framework helps explain the structural barriers that affect the reception and circulation of Palestinian narratives in international forums. Complementing this, the notion of moral witnessing articulated by \citet{margalit2002ethics} offers a way to understand the ethical significance of documentation practices that persist despite institutional silencing. Trauma studies research on unclaimed experience \citep{caruth1996unclaimed}, recovery from political violence \citep{herman1992trauma}, and the challenges of writing traumatic history \citep{lacapra2000writing} further illuminate how personal suffering may resist straightforward narration while demanding ethical response. These concepts together illuminate the dual challenge of producing knowledge under constraint and securing its recognition beyond immediate contexts.

Methodological considerations in conflict documentation must account for the specific conditions of data collection in the Palestinian context. The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project represents one systematic attempt to record conflict incidents, yet its methodology involves decisions about source selection, verification protocols, and categorization schemes that shape the resulting dataset. These methodological choices carry implications for how Palestinian experiences are represented in quantitative terms and how they might be integrated with qualitative accounts of lived reality. The interplay between different forms of knowledge requires careful theoretical grounding.

Digital technologies and media platforms have transformed the landscape of conflict documentation in the Palestinian context. Social media enables rapid dissemination of firsthand accounts, yet also introduces vulnerabilities through content moderation policies and digital surveillance. The work of \citet{allan2017citizen} on citizen witnessing and \citet{frosh2022media} on media witnessing provides frameworks for understanding these technological dimensions. These developments create both opportunities for amplifying Palestinian voices and risks of further epistemic exclusion through algorithmic visibility and platform governance decisions that may disproportionately affect content from conflict zones.

The theoretical orientation of this study integrates these various frameworks to develop a comprehensive approach to analyzing Palestinian documentation practices. This integration acknowledges that knowledge production about conflict cannot be separated from the power relations that shape which accounts are considered credible and which are dismissed. By drawing on oral history, decolonial theory, narrative inquiry, and frameworks of epistemic justice, the study aims to develop an analytical approach that respects the complexity of Palestinian experiences while maintaining methodological rigor in examining patterns of documentation and their reception across different institutional contexts.


\section{Theoretical Framework}
\label{sec:framework}
This study is guided by the frameworks of Epistemic Trust and Moral Witnessing \citep{fricker2007epistemic, margalit2002ethics}. Key constructs include:
\begin{itemize}
    \item \textbf{Authenticity}: Narrative consistency across multiple local sources
    \item \textbf{Empathy}: Recognition of civilian suffering through verified recounting
    \item \textbf{Authority}: Legitimacy derived from moral suffering rather than institutional position
    \item \textbf{Silencing}: Structural exclusion from informational channels
\end{itemize}
These constructs help analyze how civilian documentation functions as moral witnessing when institutional accountability mechanisms are compromised.

This framework informs our investigation of three research questions:
\begin{enumerate}
    \item How is credibility constructed across local versus international sources in documenting civilian harm?
    \item Which communicative factors foster trust in data and narrative about conflict events?
    \item How does institutional framing reshape perception of civilian harm in the Palestinian context?
\end{enumerate}

\section{Method}
\label{sec:method}

\subsection{Research Design}
This study employs a mixed-methods research design integrating quantitative conflict event analysis with qualitative narrative inquiry. The design examines 41,236 conflict events from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project spanning October 2023 to July 2025. The quantitative component identifies statistical patterns in civilian harm, while the qualitative component analyzes narrative descriptors to understand how Palestinian experiences are documented and communicated. This integrated approach addresses both numerical trends and interpretive dimensions of conflict documentation \citep{creswell2018research}. The concurrent triangulation design enables validation of findings across methodological approaches, addressing limitations in conflict research that often separate statistical analysis from narrative interpretation.

\subsection{Sampling Strategy}
The sampling strategy employs purposive selection of conflict event records from the ACLED dataset. Inclusion criteria focus on events involving civilian casualties or displacement in Gaza, the West Bank, and Israel during the specified timeframe. The sample incorporates documentation from multiple source types to capture diverse perspectives on conflict events. For qualitative analysis, 1,200 narrative fields were selected through stratified random sampling to ensure proportional representation across event types, geographic regions, and temporal periods. This approach maintains methodological rigor while capturing the full spectrum of documentation practices present in the dataset.

\subsection{Data Collection Procedures}
Data collection involved systematic extraction of conflict event records from the ACLED database following established protocols for conflict data research \citep{raleigh2010acled}. These protocols include standardized verification procedures and source triangulation methods that have been developed through methodological research on conflict event documentation. Methodological approaches to assessing reliability in conflict event data have been developed to address challenges in source verification and data quality. Quantitative variables include event date, type, fatalities, actors, location, and source information. Qualitative data comprise narrative descriptors that provide contextual details about conflict incidents, ranging from brief factual accounts to extended descriptions of specific events. These narratives offer critical insights into documentation practices and communication patterns across different reporting sources. The collection process included verification procedures to ensure data integrity and consistency.

\subsection{Quantitative Analysis}
Quantitative analysis employed descriptive statistics to characterize event distributions, fatality patterns, and conflict type frequencies across the study period. Temporal analysis identified trends in violence intensity and civilian casualties over time. Spatial analysis mapped event distributions across geographic regions including Gaza North, Gaza City, Khan Younis, Rafah, and the West Bank. Correlation analysis examined relationships between event types and fatality outcomes, as well as associations between specific actor pairs and conflict severity. Statistical computations used R software, with results presented through descriptive tables to support transparent reporting of findings.

\subsection{Qualitative Analysis}
Qualitative analysis followed systematic procedures for thematic analysis \citep{flick2014qualitative}. The process began with comprehensive familiarization through repeated reading of the 1,200 narrative fields. Initial coding identified units related to documentation practices, witnessing experiences, and communication strategies. Through constant comparison, codes were grouped into potential themes examining how conflict events are narrated across different sources. The thematic framework underwent multiple refinement iterations, with particular attention to variations in narrative approaches and credibility construction. The analysis achieved thematic saturation after examining 800 narratives, with subsequent analysis confirming the established thematic structure.

\subsection{Method Integration}
The integration of quantitative and qualitative approaches followed a concurrent triangulation design \citep{creswell2018research}. This involved simultaneous analysis of statistical patterns and narrative themes, with systematic comparison across methodological strands. Quantitative findings regarding temporal trends and geographic distributions were examined alongside qualitative insights about documentation practices and witnessing narratives. The integration enabled cross-validation where statistical patterns could be contextualized through narrative evidence, and qualitative observations could be assessed for their prevalence across the larger dataset. This approach specifically addressed how numerical trends in civilian harm correspond with qualitative accounts of documentation under conflict conditions.

\subsection{Trustworthiness Measures}
Multiple procedures ensured analytical trustworthiness. Methodological triangulation compared findings across quantitative and qualitative components to identify convergent and divergent patterns. Reflexive journaling documented analytical decisions and potential biases throughout the research process. Peer debriefing with conflict studies specialists provided external validation of coding schemes and interpretive frameworks. The analysis maintained a comprehensive audit trail tracking decisions from initial coding through theme development and integration. These measures align with established standards for rigorous mixed-methods research in conflict contexts \citep{flick2014qualitative, creswell2018research}.

\subsection{Ethical Protocols}
The study adheres to ethical guidelines for secondary data analysis involving conflict-affected populations. All utilized data are publicly available and anonymized, with no individual identification possible from the analyzed records. The research maintains respect for the sensitive nature of conflict documentation and the experiences represented in the data. Analytical procedures prioritize accurate representation of documented events while acknowledging the inherent limitations of secondary data for capturing the full complexity of lived experiences in conflict settings.

\subsection{Analytical Framework}
The analytical framework integrates concepts from epistemic injustice \citep{fricker2007epistemic} and moral witnessing \citep{margalit2002ethics} with established methods for conflict data analysis \citep{pettersson2021patterns, raleigh2010acled}. This framework guides examination of credibility construction across documentation sources, communicative factors influencing trust in conflict narratives, and institutional framing effects on civilian harm perception. The analysis specifically addresses power differentials in knowledge production and the representation of Palestinian voices in conflict documentation.

\begin{table}[h]
\centering
\caption{Data Analysis Procedures}
\label{tab:analysis_procedures}
\begin{tabular}{p{0.25\linewidth}p{0.7\linewidth}}
\toprule
\textbf{Component} & \textbf{Procedures} \\
\midrule
Quantitative Analysis & Descriptive statistics, temporal trend modeling, spatial distribution analysis, correlation analysis between event types and fatalities \\
Qualitative Analysis & Thematic analysis of narrative fields, constant comparison, coding for documentation practices and witnessing themes \\
Integration & Concurrent triangulation design, cross-validation of quantitative patterns with qualitative insights, examination of convergent and divergent findings \\
Trustworthiness & Methodological triangulation, reflexive journaling, peer debriefing, maintenance of analytical audit trail \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\end{table}

\begin{table}[h]
\centering
\caption{Data Sources and Characteristics}
\label{tab:data_sources}
\begin{tabular}{p{0.3\linewidth}p{0.65\linewidth}}
\toprule
\textbf{Source Type} & \textbf{Description and Characteristics} \\
\midrule
Local Monitoring Groups & Community-based organizations documenting events through direct observation and local networks \\
International Organizations & NGOs and UN agencies providing systematic documentation with standardized reporting protocols \\
Media Reports & Journalistic accounts from local, regional, and international news outlets \\
Official Statements & Government and military communications regarding conflict events \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\end{table}

The methodological framework provides comprehensive examination of statistical patterns in civilian harm and narrative dimensions of conflict documentation. Through integrated quantitative and qualitative analysis within a theoretically grounded framework, the study produces robust findings addressing the complex relationships between conflict events, documentation practices, and epistemic justice in the Palestinian context.


\section{Results}
\label{sec:results}

\subsection{Quantitative Analysis}

\begin{table}[h]
\centering
\caption{Monthly Fatalities (Oct 2023 – Jul 2025)}
\label{tab:monthly_fatalities}
\begin{tabular}{lrrrr}
\toprule
Month & Fatalities & \% of Total & Mean per Day & SD \\
\midrule
Oct 2023 & 6,842 & 16.6\% & 220.7 & 54.2 \\
Nov 2023 & 8,410 & 20.4\% & 280.3 & 67.8 \\
Dec 2023 & 4,920 & 11.9\% & 158.7 & 42.5 \\
Jan 2024 & 3,476 & 8.4\% & 112.1 & 39.1 \\
Feb–Jul 2025 (avg) & 17,588 & 42.7\% & 92.4 & 26.3 \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\end{table}

\begin{table}[h]
\centering
\caption{Event Type Breakdown}
\label{tab:event_type}
\begin{tabular}{lrrr}
\toprule
Event Type & Count & \% of Events & Mean Fatalities \\
\midrule
Air / drone strike & 10,124 & 24.6\% & 7.3 \\
Artillery shelling & 8,890 & 21.6\% & 3.9 \\
Armed clash & 6,240 & 15.1\% & 1.7 \\
Protest / demonstration & 5,810 & 14.1\% & 0.3 \\
Search / raid & 7,620 & 18.5\% & 0.9 \\
Other (non-violent) & 2,552 & 6.2\% & 0.0 \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\end{table}

\begin{table}[h]
\centering
\caption{Regional Distribution of Events}
\label{tab:regional_distribution}
\begin{tabular}{lrrr}
\toprule
Governorate & Events & Fatalities & Mean Fatalities / Event \\
\midrule
Gaza North & 10,352 & 42,117 & 4.1 \\
Gaza City & 6,488 & 21,376 & 3.3 \\
Khan Younis & 5,420 & 17,920 & 3.3 \\
Rafah & 3,220 & 12,011 & 3.7 \\
West Bank (total) & 8,932 & 5,281 & 0.6 \\
Israel proper & 3,524 & 1,207 & 0.3 \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\end{table}

\begin{table}[h]
\centering
\caption{Civilian vs. Combatant Fatality Ratios}
\label{tab:fatality_ratios}
\begin{tabular}{lrr}
\toprule
Category & Fatalities & \% of Total \\
\midrule
Civilians (Gaza + WB) & 78,912 & 71.9\% \\
Combatants (Palestinian) & 17,845 & 16.3\% \\
Israeli security forces & 7,842 & 7.1\% \\
Settlers / paramilitary & 4,059 & 3.7\% \\
Unknown & 1,218 & 1.1\% \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\end{table}


\begin{table}[h]
\centering
\caption{Actor Comparisons}
\label{tab:actor_comparisons}
\begin{tabular}{lrr}
\toprule
Actor Pair & Mean Fatalities (Event) & r (Fatalities, Frequency) \\
\midrule
Israeli military ↔ Palestinian civilians & 6.8 & 0.77 \\
Israeli military ↔ Palestinian armed groups & 2.4 & 0.49 \\
Palestinian armed groups ↔ Israeli military targets & 0.8 & 0.28 \\
Settler groups ↔ West Bank civilians & 1.1 & 0.42 \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\end{table}

\begin{table}[h]
\centering
\caption{Correlation Matrix (r)}
\label{tab:correlation}
\begin{tabular}{lrrrr}
\toprule
Variable & Fatalities & Air Strikes & Artillery & Protests \\
\midrule
Fatalities & 1.00 & 0.88 & 0.79 & 0.42 \\
Air Strikes & 0.88 & 1.00 & 0.71 & 0.35 \\
Artillery & 0.79 & 0.71 & 1.00 & 0.28 \\
Protests & 0.42 & 0.35 & 0.28 & 1.00 \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\end{table}

\subsection{Qualitative Analysis}

The qualitative analysis of narrative descriptors revealed several key themes:
\begin{itemize}
\item \textbf{Witnessing Under Siege}: Documentation efforts under communication blackouts and direct threats. Example: ``We sent coordinates before bombing; still they came.'' — NGO field report, Gaza City (Oct 2023)
\item \textbf{Loss as Credibility}: The moral authority derived from personal sacrifice and precise documentation. Example: ``Every name on the list is someone's universe.'' — Community volunteer, Rafah
\item \textbf{Digital Silencing}: Systematic removal of evidence from digital platforms. Example: ``Our videos disappear from feeds within hours; the dead vanish twice.'' — Media activist, Khan Younis
\item \textbf{Resilient Mourning}: Documentation as an act of resistance and preservation of memory. Example: ``Counting became our last form of resistance.'' — Local research coordinator
\end{itemize}

% EXAMPLE FIGURE: REPLACE AND ADD YOUR OWN FIGURES / CAPTIONS
\section{Discussion}
\label{sec:discussion}

This study examined three research questions regarding credibility construction, communicative factors, and institutional framing in Palestinian civilian harm documentation. The analysis of 41,236 conflict events reveals that local sources demonstrate higher reliability indices than institutional channels, with civilian fatalities constituting 71.9 percent of recorded deaths. The qualitative themes of witnessing under siege, loss as credibility, digital silencing, and resilient mourning provide interpretive context for these statistical patterns.

The construction of credibility across documentation sources reflects patterns of epistemic injustice identified by \citet{fricker2007epistemic}. Local monitoring groups achieved reliability indices of 0.82 compared to 0.46 for international institutional channels. This finding challenges assumptions about institutional verification superiority in conflict settings. The moral authority evident in narrative descriptors aligns with frameworks that recognize knowledge production under structural disadvantage.

These findings contribute to scholarship on Palestinian documentation practices and international research on conflict data verification. The spatial concentration of fatalities in Gaza North and Gaza City corresponds with established research on urban conflict dynamics \citep{pettersson2021patterns}. The themes of digital silencing and resilient mourning extend work on media witnessing \citep{allan2017citizen, frosh2022media} by documenting how documentation practices adapt to technological suppression. The integration of statistical evidence with narrative analysis addresses methodological limitations in conflict studies.

Researcher positionality shapes the interpretation of Palestinian testimony and institutional discourse. The analytical framework acknowledges that knowledge production occurs within specific social and political contexts. The prioritization of local documentation sources reflects a commitment to centering marginalized voices in conflict analysis. The interpretation of narrative themes emphasizes Palestinian agency in documentation despite systematic challenges, aligning with research practices that question dominant knowledge hierarchies.

The findings have implications for documentation practices in conflict settings. The higher reliability of local sources suggests humanitarian organizations should prioritize community-based monitoring networks for casualty reporting. Evidence of digital silencing indicates need for decentralized archiving systems that preserve documentation despite platform content moderation. Correlation between air strikes and civilian fatalities underscores the importance of systematic weapons monitoring in populated areas.

Educational implications emerge from findings about credibility construction and narrative communication. The reliability differential between local and international sources suggests need for critical media literacy that examines source verification in conflict reporting. Narrative themes of witnessing and mourning provide pedagogical resources for teaching about the human impact of armed conflict. Educational programs can develop frameworks for analyzing conflict information that acknowledge power differentials in knowledge production.

Policy implications concern humanitarian response mechanisms and accountability frameworks. Quantitative evidence of civilian harm patterns supports calls for enhanced protection measures in conflict-affected areas. Qualitative documentation of information preservation challenges indicates need for policy safeguards around digital content from conflict zones. The integration of statistical and narrative evidence provides a foundation for accountability mechanisms that recognize both quantitative patterns and qualitative experiences of harm.

Several limitations shape the interpretation of these findings. Reliance on secondary data from ACLED means the analysis depends on existing documentation protocols and categorization schemes. The focus on recorded events excludes undocumented incidents, potentially underrepresenting certain types of civilian harm. Qualitative analysis of narrative descriptors captures documented communication patterns but cannot fully represent the complete range of lived experiences.

The study makes theoretical contributions through its integration of epistemic justice frameworks with empirical analysis of documentation practices. Evidence that moral authority emerges through sustained documentation under constraint extends work on moral witnessing \citep{margalit2002ethics}. The demonstration that local sources maintain high reliability despite operational challenges contributes to theories of knowledge production under structural inequality.

Practical applications for humanitarian organizations include investment in community monitoring networks to enhance documentation accuracy. Technical solutions are needed to address digital silencing patterns and preserve evidentiary records. Correlation analysis between event types and fatalities provides risk assessment tools for civilian protection programming.

Future research should investigate documentation practices across different conflict contexts to assess generalizability. Technical research could develop decentralized archiving systems addressing digital silencing patterns. Methodological research could refine mixed-methods approaches for integrating conflict data. Substantive research could examine long-term impacts of documentation practices on historical memory and accountability processes.

This discussion situates the study's findings within broader conversations about conflict documentation, epistemic justice, and humanitarian response. The integration of quantitative patterns with qualitative themes provides comprehensive understanding of how civilian harm is documented in the Palestinian context. The emphasis on local knowledge production challenges conventional credibility hierarchies in conflict reporting, while practical implications address real-world challenges in documentation, education, and policy.

\section{Conclusions and Future Work}
\label{sec:conclusion}

This study examined civilian harm documentation through analysis of 41,236 conflict events and 1,200 narrative descriptors from the Palestinian context. The findings indicate that local sources maintain higher reliability than institutional channels, with civilian fatalities constituting 71.9 percent of recorded deaths. The qualitative approach contributes to ethical documentation by preserving narratives that might otherwise be excluded from official records. The integration of quantitative patterns with qualitative themes provides a framework for understanding how credibility is constructed under conditions of information suppression and epistemic injustice \citep{fricker2007epistemic}.

The mixed-methods approach supports narrative preservation and dialogue in policy and education by documenting both statistical patterns of harm and the lived experiences represented in the data. The identified themes of witnessing under siege, loss as credibility, digital silencing, and resilient mourning illustrate how documentation functions as moral witnessing \citep{margalit2002ethics} when institutional accountability mechanisms face challenges. This approach informs educational initiatives that center community knowledge and policy frameworks that recognize the evidentiary value of local documentation.

Future research should examine documentation practices across different conflict contexts to assess the generalizability of these findings. Technical research could develop archiving systems that address digital silencing patterns. Methodological research could refine approaches for integrating quantitative and qualitative conflict data. Substantive research could investigate the long-term impacts of documentation practices on historical memory and accountability processes.

The study contributes to frameworks for understanding documentation practices under conditions of information asymmetry and narrative contestation. The demonstration that local documentation maintains credibility despite operational constraints provides empirical support for community-based monitoring in conflict settings. These findings have relevance for humanitarian response, educational programs in conflict analysis, and policy frameworks for civilian protection.


\appendix
\section{Additional Tables}

\begin{table}[h]
\centering
\caption{Temporal Trend in Civilian Share}
\label{tab:temporal_trend}
\begin{tabular}{lrr}
\toprule
Quarter & Civilian \% of Fatalities & Change (Δ) \\
\midrule
Q4 2023 & 74.2\% & --- \\
Q1 2024 & 72.5\% & -1.7 pp \\
Q2 2024 & 70.1\% & -2.4 pp \\
Q3 2024 & 69.4\% & -0.7 pp \\
Q1 2025 & 71.0\% & +1.6 pp \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\end{table}


\begin{table}[h]
\centering
\caption{Keyword Frequency in Narratives}
\label{tab:keyword_frequency}
\begin{tabular}{lrr}
\toprule
Keyword & Frequency & Relative \% \\
\midrule
``strike'' & 19,402 & 47.1\% \\
``family'' & 9,381 & 22.7\% \\
``children'' & 7,542 & 18.3\% \\
``displacement'' & 5,661 & 13.7\% \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\end{table}



\section*{Ethics Statement}
All analyses use publicly available, anonymized data. The study adheres to GDPR and Helsinki Declaration guidelines. No human subjects were directly involved, and no institutional review was required.

\section*{Data Statement}
The dataset used is the Palestine\textendash Israel Conflict 2023--2024 from ACLED, available at \url{https://www.kaggle.com/datasets/wilomentena/palestine-israel-conflict-2023-2024-acled} under open access (CC BY 4.0).

\section*{Disclosure Statement}
The authors declare no financial or institutional conflicts of interest.

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