An agreement has now been reached to end the US-Israeli war with Iran and official figures show that thousands of people have been killed across the Middle East in this war that began in February.
More than 7,300 people have died in Iran and Lebanon since February 28. According to official reports from both countries, these include hundreds of children and dozens of health workers. Apart from this, many people have been killed in other parts of the area.
However, some analysts say that these figures are almost certainly low.
Experts told BBC Verify that accurate reporting is being hampered by unreliable data and restrictions on access to the internet, media and government restrictions, as well as the presence of armed groups in some areas.
Dr Ian Overton, executive director of the UK-based charity Action on Armed Violence, said ongoing conflict in many countries means casualty figures are "often incomplete, delayed or impossible to independently verify."
He further said that "the final death toll will probably remain disputed years after the conflict ends."
iran
According to official Iranian government figures, at least 3,468 Iranians were killed between the beginning of the US and Israeli attacks in mid-April, including 499 women.
State news agency IRNA reported on 26 April that these included 1,460 civilians and 2,008 military personnel.
But US-based human rights activist news agency HRANA said it believed the figure was higher - 3,636 deaths.
In a report released on 18 May, HRANA said their figures included 1,701 civilians, including 307 children, 1,221 military personnel and 714 people whose identity or status could not be confirmed.
The organization said that the figures recorded by them should be considered 'minimum', because gathering information on deaths has been extremely difficult. This is due to difficulty in accessing opportunities, government-imposed internet blackouts and political repression.
"Information about those killed by authorities is often suppressed, and families may be pressured not to discuss the circumstances of death publicly," said Skyler Thompson, the organization's deputy director.
Iranian officials have accused the US and Israel of targeting civilian structures across the country.
Multiple investigations found that a US missile strike targeted a school in the city of Minab on the first day of the war. According to Iranian officials, 168 people were killed in this attack, including 110 children. The US military has said that it is investigating this attack.
A few days later, Iranian officials said 20 people were killed when a missile hit a sports hall during a girls' volleyball match in the city of Lamerd.
The US has denied the attack, but experts told BBC Verify that US-made Precision Strike Missiles (PRSM) were likely used in the attack.
lebanon
After the assassination of Iran's supreme leader, on March 2, Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel and the conflict resumed. In response, Israel launched a campaign of airstrikes and ground attacks in southern Lebanon.
Lebanese health officials say 3,912 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since then, including 366 women and 247 children.
It is not clear how many of them are Hezbollah fighters. BBC Verify contacted the Health Ministry but did not receive a response.
Hezbollah has not released its figures, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last month that 3,000 fighters had been killed since the war with Iran began.
In early March, Lebanon's health ministry said 41 people were killed in a major Israeli air and ground offensive on a town in the eastern Beqaa Valley.
The IDF said its troops were attempting to recover the body of an Israeli air force soldier who went missing in Lebanon 40 years ago, but Lebanese officials said three of their soldiers were killed, as well as several civilians and children.
According to Lebanese officials, Israel's massive attacks on April 8 killed at least 361 people in just 10 minutes. The IDF said it targeted 250 Hezbollah operatives that day. Lebanon's Health Ministry opposed this and said that a large number of those killed were civilians.
Meanwhile, the United Nations has said that seven of its peacekeepers have also been killed in Lebanon. The latest case among these is of June 4.
Israel's campaign has come under severe criticism due to the large number of civilians killed. On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump sharply criticized the IDF's actions, saying that "too many people have been killed."
"You don't have to tear down an apartment building every time you're looking for someone, because there are a lot of people living in those apartments and not all of them are Hezbollah," Trump said at the G7 summit in Paris.
israel
Israeli officials said that as of June 18, 60 people had been killed, most of them in Iranian attacks and fighting with Hezbollah.
According to government figures given to the BBC, these include 29 civilians, 21 of whom were killed in Iranian missile attacks. The remaining 31 IDF soldiers were killed in the fighting. One person was accidentally killed by 'friendly fire'.
Israel has repeatedly accused Iran of using cluster bombs in populated areas of the country. In one attack, a couple in their 70s were headed to an air-raid shelter when small bombs from a cluster bomb fell on the city of Ramat Gan, killing them, the IDF said.
In March, Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused Tehran of committing war crimes by targeting civilian areas with cluster bombs.
"Cluster bombs spread small shells over large areas where they can hit anyone, which is against the laws of war," said Patrick Thompson, crisis, conflict and weapons researcher at HRW.
Deaths across the Middle East
In response to the US-Israeli attacks, Iran also attacked neighboring Arab countries where US bases are located.
The Iranian military launched a series of attacks with ballistic missiles and explosive drones, many of which hit civilian targets – airports, energy plants and ports. In many cases, missiles were shot down mid-air and their debris fell on residential areas.
BBC Verify has previously documented attacks on military targets in eight countries – Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan, Bahrain and Oman.
Iran's neighbors expressed displeasure over these attacks. "Your war is not with your neighbors, and by escalating tensions in this way, you confirm the views of those who consider Iran the main threat to the region," Dr. Anwar Gargash, an adviser to the UAE president, wrote on Twitter.
It is difficult to get a final tally of deaths across the region because not all countries have published total figures. But official statements and media reports have recorded deaths in most Gulf countries, such as the UAE's Defense Ministry, which said 13 people were killed there.
According to data collected by Al Jazeera and Agence France Presse, more than 100 people have been killed in Iraq. At least 80 of them were members of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a paramilitary organization composed of Iran-backed Shia militias, who were killed in American and Israeli strikes.
He further says, "The experience of conflicts in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere suggests that the final figure of deaths will probably remain disputed and their number may be much higher than currently available figures."
Additional reporting: Giddy Kleiman
