The Human Cost

Yom Kippur War

15,200

estimated total dead

Each dot below represents 1,000 human lives. Scroll to watch the scale unfold.

Military Dead

14,000 soldiers killed in combat, from wounds, or from disease. Each = 1,000 lives.

Israel β€” 2,656 military dead
Arab Coalition (Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq) β€” 11,344 military dead

Civilian Dead

1,200 civilians killed β€” from violence, famine, disease, and displacement. Wars are not fought only by soldiers.

Civilian dead β€” 1,200

Deadliest Engagements

Crossing of the Suez Canal7,500
Valley of Tears (Golan Heights)3,000
Battle of the Chinese Farm1,800
Other Engagements1,700

For Perspective

How Yom Kippur War's dead compare to other conflicts and events.

Yom Kippur War β€” total dead15,200
Israeli dead (Six-Day War, 1967)776
Israeli dead (Yom Kippur War, 1973)2,656
Arab coalition military dead11,344
U.S. dead (Korean War)36,574

Milestones of Loss

776 dead

Israel lost 776 soldiers in the Six-Day War β€” the Yom Kippur War killed more than three times as many in 19 days

2,656 dead

2,656 Israelis killed β€” the shock of losses against an enemy considered defeated shaped Israeli security doctrine for a generation

7,000 dead

Egypt's Suez crossing alone cost both sides roughly 7,500 lives in the first three days

11,344 dead

Arab coalition military dead β€” Egypt and Syria suffered catastrophic losses, yet achieved their political objectives

14,000 dead

~14,000 total military dead in 19 days β€” one of history's most costly conventional wars per day fought

All figures are historical estimates and vary across sources. The true human cost of war is impossible to fully quantify β€” these numbers represent the best scholarly consensus. Each number was a person with a name, a family, and a life unlived.