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World March 5, 2026

Death toll rises across Middle East after U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran

As of March 5, involved governments report more than a thousand fatalities across multiple countries amid widening conflict

By Sofia Navarro
Death toll rises across Middle East after U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran

Since U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran began on February 28, governments across the Middle East have reported scores of deaths. As of March 5, the sixth day of the conflict, involved countries have released specific casualty figures for incidents tied to the attacks. These counts have not been independently verified.

Key Points

  • Multiple countries across the Middle East report fatalities linked to the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, with national authorities providing the figures.
  • Reported casualties include both civilian deaths and military fatalities, and incidents have occurred on land and at sea, involving a flagged commercial tanker.
  • Sectors explicitly referenced by the reports include national military forces and maritime shipping operations, as reflected by attacks on military facilities and a product tanker.

Scores of people have been reported killed across the Middle East since U.S. and Israeli forces attacked Iran on February 28, with Gulf states that host U.S. military bases and personnel and Lebanon swiftly drawn into the fighting. Below are the death tolls released by the countries involved, listed as of March 5, the sixth day of the conflict. The casualty counts in this report are those provided by the reporting authorities and have not been independently verified.

IRAN - 1,045 people killed. This total includes 175 schoolgirls and staff who died in a missile strike on a primary school in Minab in southern Iran on the first day of the war, according to the non-profit humanitarian group Iranian Red Crescent Society. It was reported that it is unclear whether the overall figure includes military casualties from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

ISRAEL - 10 civilians killed. Among these were nine people killed in an Iranian missile strike on Beit Shemesh, near Jerusalem, on March 1, according to Israel's ambulance service, Magen David Adom. The Israel Defense Forces has not reported any military casualties.

LEBANON - 77 people killed in Israeli strikes, according to Lebanon's health ministry.

BAHRAIN - One person killed after a fire broke out in Salman Industrial City following missile interception, the interior ministry reported.

KUWAIT - Three people killed, including two Kuwaiti soldiers, in Iranian attacks on the country, according to Kuwait's health and foreign ministries.

OMAN - One person killed after a projectile struck the Marshall Islands-flagged product tanker MKD VYOM off the coast of Muscat.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - Three people killed, according to the UAE's defense ministry.

U.S. MILITARY - Six U.S. service members were killed in a strike on a facility in Kuwait, according to U.S. Central Command.

SYRIA - Four people were killed when an Iranian missile struck a building in the southern city of Sweida, state news agency SANA reported.

The casualty figures span multiple countries and types of incidents, including strikes on populated areas, strikes targeting infrastructure and an attack on a commercial vessel. Reporting agencies and government ministries provided the numbers listed here. Some reports note uncertainty about whether specific categories of combatant casualties are included in national totals.

This compilation presents the totals as reported by the respective governments and agencies as of March 5. The situation remains volatile, and official counts may be updated by the reporting authorities.

Risks

  • Verification uncertainty: the death tolls are those reported by governments and agencies and have not been independently verified, creating uncertainty about the completeness of the counts - this affects assessments by governments and analysts.
  • Ambiguity in casualty categorization: it was reported that it is unclear whether Iran's overall death toll includes Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps military casualties, introducing uncertainty into comparisons across the figures.
  • Geographic spread of incidents: fatalities have been reported in several countries and at sea, indicating an expanded footprint of the conflict and uncertainty about where further incidents may occur.

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