Compilation of news reports – IAK staff
Israeli forces killed at least 78 Palestinians in Gaza on Thursday, including at least 6 aid seekers. In total, Israel has killed at least 2,362 aid seekers since May 27, 2025 (learn about aid seekers here).
The total known number of Palestinians who have died from malnutrition stands at 376, including 134 children.
Among those who died of starvation Thursday was prominent Palestinian academic, writer and poet Omar Harb.
For detail on Israeli attacks in Gaza on Thursday, go here.
GAZA NEWS:
(For some basic info on the Palestine-Israel conflict, go here. For more critical context, skim this, this, and this.To read about a remarkable but underreported, 20-month-long peaceful protest in Gaza against Israel, go here.)
Israel escalates random civilian killings in so-called humanitarian zone Al-Mawasi
The Israeli army’s escalation in targeting displaced people in Al–Mawasi is turning the Israeli-claimed “humanitarian zone” into a death trap. This forms part of a systematic policy of denying safety to Palestinians wherever they exist and converting every refuge into a target, as part of the genocide aimed at eliminating them in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli army is directly firing at displaced people in their tents in Al-Mawasi, southwest of the Gaza Strip, randomly killing and wounding them in a daily recurring crime carried out without any military or security necessity. The army is targeting the tents with sniper fire, random shooting from drones and nearby military vehicles, as well as airstrikes and artillery shelling, while at the same time claiming the area is a humanitarian zone and ordering over one million residents of Gaza City to evacuate there (continue reading here).
GAZA HEALTH OFFICIAL SAYS 28 CHILDREN KILLED BY ISRAEL EVERY DAY: Munir al-Bursh, director-general of Gaza’s Health Ministry, says at least 30% of Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza are children. This means “the [Israeli] occupation is killing 28 children every day” – roughly the equivalent of a classroom full of students every day.
“TENS OF THOUSANDS OF WOMEN HAVE GIVEN BIRTH IN THIS HELL”: Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, UN special rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, told the Gaza tribunal that there is often one toilet per 600 displaced people in overcrowded makeshift encampments. “As you can imagine, women and girls bear a disproportionately heavy burden,” he said. “Tens of thousands of women have given birth in the midst of this hell.”
More than 40% of Gaza aid delivery missions blocked, impeded by Israel: UN
The UN said Thursday that more than 40% of humanitarian aid delivery missions in the Gaza Strip were blocked, impeded or denied by Israel in the last week.
UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said that even approved missions require “teams having to wait on roads that are often dangerous, congested or impassable,” he said at a news conference.
“Denied movements included missions aiming to retrieve nutrition supplies, inspect a dumpsite to expand solid waste operations and repair roads to ensure safe passage of trucks along routes,” he said.
+++
Israel claims control of 40% of Gaza City amid famine and deadly bombardment
The Israeli military on Thursday said it controls 40 percent of Gaza City, the largest urban centre in the Palestinian territory which it is preparing to conquer after nearly two years of devastating war.
Israel has intensified in recent days its bombardments of the area of Gaza City, in the territory’s north, ahead of the planned offensive, despite mounting international pressure to halt the campaign.
In a televised briefing, Israeli military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said that “we hold 40 percent of the territory of Gaza City”, adding that the offensive “will continue to expand and intensify in the coming days”.
Huge number of “high-fatality incidents” in Gaza included civilian harm
Emily Tripp, executive director of Airwars, told the Gaza tribunal,“We found at least 65 incidents of civilian harm in the first three weeks, where at least 20 civilians were killed, so that is 20 civilians killed in a single strike or in a series of strikes in a single location.
“This is three times the number of high-fatality incidents we recorded during the battle of Mosul, a battlefield so deadly that the UN deemed the whole city almost uninhabitable after the campaign was over, and bodies are still being recovered almost a decade [later],” she said.
GAZA HEADLINES:
Gaza Mental Health Professionals Warn of Urgent, Widespread Trauma Crisis
View this post on Instagram
NOTABLE QUOTE: Negotiating an end to one’s own genocide is “repugnant”
Diana Buttu, Palestinian lawyer who has served as an advisor to Palestinian negotiators in previous deals, on the current ceasefire negotiations:
The idea that Palestinians have to negotiate an end to genocide is so repugnant.
If you look at any other genocide, there’s never been a situation where those who are being slaughtered have to negotiate with the people who are slaughtering them [to put] an end to their genocide.
The fact that they’ve been put in this position is absolutely horrendous.
READ IT ALL: Hamas to Trump: We Are Ready to Release All Israeli Captives in Comprehensive Ceasefire Deal
OCCUPIED WEST BANK/EAST JERUSALEM HEADLINES:
(For background on the West Bank, read this and this. For information on the significance of Israeli settlers in the West Bank, read this and this.)
MSF warns Palestinians in West Bank face ‘risk of ethnic cleansing’
Doctors Without Borders (known by its French acronym MSF) says Palestinians in the occupied West Bank face a campaign of forced mass displacement by Israeli soldiers and settlers that “significantly” increases the risk of ethnic cleansing.
The group said that, so far this year, its teams have “witnessed policies and practices that are blatantly designed to remove people from their land and prevent any possibility of return,” along with Israeli settler violence that “continues with impunity.”
“These actions are entrenched in the broader settler-colonial process, where the risk of ethnic cleansing – through the forced removal of Palestinian communities – will cement permanent demographic change” (read the MSF report here).
+++
Palestinian Authority faces collapse over financial strain, warns Israeli security agency
According to Israeli Channel 12, Israel’s domestic intelligence agency, Shin Bet, reported that the PA’s deteriorating economic situation, rising unemployment, and the failure to pay salaries to its security personnel “are factors that could lead to further escalation” in the West Bank.
Much of the strain has been brought on by Israel’s ongoing incursions, which have destroyed homes and infrastructure, and displaced at least 40,000 Palestinians.
Over the past 6 years, Israel has withheld around $3 billion in clearance funds – customs duties collected by Israel on behalf of the PA for imported goods – leaving the PA unable to fully pay its 245,000 beneficiaries, including 144,000 active civil and military employees, as well as retirees and welfare recipients.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry has accused the international community of failing not only to halt “genocide, displacement and annexation,” but also to stop the humanitarian crisis and famine imposed on Palestinians in Gaza.
Israeli settlers attack village in West Bank, injuring 13 including infant
Israeli Forces Abduct Six Palestinians Near Nablus
Soldiers Abduct Five Palestinians In Hebron
Israeli Soldiers Shoot Two Palestinians Near Ramallah
ISRAEL NEWS & HEADLINES:
(Get a glimpse inside Israel and the turmoil within its government. Often, our news items and headlines are taken from Israeli media.)
The new Israeli map proposing to annex 80% of the West Bank, explained
More than 80 percent of the occupied West Bank would become part of Israel, according to a new annexation proposal drafted by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Monday.
The hardline Minister presented a map showing all of the West Bank as a part of Israel, including Bethlehem, the Jordan Valley, and the entire Palestinian countryside, while only six Palestinian cities — Jenin, Tulkarem, Nablus, Jericho, Ramallah, and Hebron — were marked as isolated ghettoes.
Smotrich said that if the Palestinian Authority (PA) opposes his plan, Israel would “uproot it like it did with Hamas.” Smotrich also called on Netanyahu to implement his proposal if he wished to “enter history as a great leader” (continue reading here).
ISRAEL HEADLINES:
A losing battle: Israel’s struggle against genocide scholars
Israel escalates deadly attacks on south Lebanon
Israel’s Defense Minister Again Threatens to Unleash Biblical Plagues on Yemen
ISRAELI NEWSPAPER HEADLINES:
After 700 Days of War, Israel Is in the Hands of an Evil and Indifferent Government
FLOTILLA NEWS & HEADLINES:
(Read about the Gaza Freedom Flotilla 2025 missions here and here; learn about the deadly mission in 2010 here; and find out about the global flotilla here. Get live updates on the Global Flotilla from Al Jazeera here.)
The Sumud Flotilla is sailing toward Gaza — with more ships set to join pic.twitter.com/nsxSYrjSnx
— Global Sumud Flotilla (@GlobalSumudF) September 4, 2025
Mandla Mandela: Palestinians face a ‘far worse form of apartheid’
Nelson Mandela’s grandson, Mandla Mandela, who is joining the flotilla in Tunisia, has told reporters that Palestinians face worse conditions than those his grandfather fought against.
Boarding a flight to Tunisia on Wednesday, Mandela urged the global community to come to the aid of the Palestinians.
“Many of us that have visited the occupied territories in Palestine have only come back with one conclusion: that the Palestinians are experiencing a far worse form of apartheid than we ever experienced,” he said.
FLOTILLA HEADLINES:
Gaza-bound flotilla condemns Israeli minister’s plan to seize boats, designate activists ‘terrorists’
PROTEST, BOYCOTT, & OTHER NEWS:
‘Off To Jail’: Gaza Aid Whistleblower Arrested For Interrupting Senate Hearing
Two United States military veterans, including a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) whistleblower, were arrested for interrupting a Senate Foreign Affairs Committee hearing. They said “the U.S. government is complicit” in the Israeli government’s genocide in Gaza and were quickly removed by U.S. Capitol police.
GHF whistleblower Anthony Aguilar stood up. “You have an obligation to the Constitution of the United States.” Former U.S. Army intelligence analyst Josephine Guilbeau also spoke up. “Israel is ethnically cleansing Gaza. They’re building a concentration camp!”
While police handcuffed and escorted the military veterans, Aguilar said, “When the United States Congress comes after veterans, they will come after you. Every American sitting at home right now needs to realize that you are paying for genocide.”
US sanctions Palestinian rights groups for supporting ICC Israel probe
The United States has added three prominent Palestinian rights groups, Al-Haq [“The Truth”], Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) and Al-Mezan [“The Scale (of justice”)] Center for Human Rights to its sanctions list.
The groups were added to the Department of the Treasury’s “Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List” on Thursday.
In a subsequent statement, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the rights groups were targeted for having “directly engaged in efforts by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute Israeli nationals, without Israel’s consent” (continue reading here).
+++
US sanctions ‘cement complicity in Israel’s crimes’: Legal group
The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), a US-based legal advocacy group, has condemned the Trump administration’s decision to sanction three prominent Palestinian rights groups, just months after sanctioning Palestinian prisoner advocacy group Addameer [“Conscience”] and UN special rapporteur on Palestine, Francesca Albanese.
“By targeting civil society, human rights organizations, and international mechanisms, the administration is attempting to undermine the infrastructure of support for the most vulnerable communities,” CCR said in a statement, adding, “this dangerous, authoritarian sequence should alarm us all.”
RELATED: Israel thanks US for sanctioning prominent Palestinian rights groups
+++
Judge says Trump admin used anti-Semitism as ‘smokescreen’ for Harvard cuts
A United States federal judge has ruled that the administration of President Donald Trump violated the law when it cancelled research grants worth more than $2.2bn to Harvard University.
The decision from District Judge Allison Burroughs on Wednesday is a major setback for the Trump administration, which has sought to pressure universities into compliance with policies opposing pro-Palestine protests and diversity initiatives.
In her ruling, Burroughs wrote that “a review of the administrative record makes it difficult to conclude anything other than that Defendants used anti-Semitism as a smokescreen for a targeted, ideologically motivated assault on this country’s premier universities”(continue reading here).
Democratic Senators Urge Trump to Cut U.S. Funding to GHF, Launch Investigation
US’s Rubio blames countries recognizing Palestine for Israeli annexation push
Northwestern president to step down over pro-Palestinian campus protests
She’s Challenging an AIPAC Democrat. A National Progressive Group Wants In.
Finland joins declaration on two-state solution between Israel, Palestinians
ICYMI (IN CASE YOU MISSED IT) – A SELECTION OF YESTERDAY’S HEADLINES:
STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – SEPTEMBER 3, 2025*:
- At least 65,334 Palestinians killed, 171,235 injured – including:
- at least 64,300 killed in Gaza (~18,500 children)
- at least 1,034 killed in the West Bank (~210 children)
- at least 162,005 injured in Gaza
- at least 9,230 injured in the West Bank
- at least 376 have died from malnutrition in Gaza, including 134 children
According to Palestinian authorities, during the ceasefire Jan. 19 – March 18 2025, Israeli attacks killed at least 170 Gazans, and Israel committed at least 962 ceasefire violations.
At least 2,362 Palestinians have been killed while trying to access aid parcels from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which started operating on May 26, 2025.
Since the Israeli army resumed its assaults on Gaza on March 18, 2025 it has killed at least 11,768 people. 52 Israeli soldiers (most recent Aug. 29) have been killed during the same time period.
*NOTE: Thousands of those killed in Gaza have yet to be identified, and an estimated 14,000 more are still buried under rubble. Additionally, the numbers of injured and starved are very conservative estimates.
Reported Israeli death toll from October 7, 2023 – September 3, 2025: ~1,629 – including ~1,139 on October 7, 2023 (~36 children), 456 military forces since the ground invasion began in Gaza, 46 military and civilians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Israel. (72 soldiers have reportedly died due to “operational incidents.”)
By one count, Israeli attacks have killed approximately 241 Palestinian journalists and media workers; Palestinians have killed 4 Israeli journalists (other groups have tallied between 197 and 316 Palestinian journalists killed – depending on the criteria used).
NOTE: It is unknown at this time how many of the deaths and injuries of Israelis on October 7 were caused by Israeli soldiers.
- Human rights reports on Israel-Palestine (regularly updated)
- Negotiations for next U.S.-Israel aid deal faces uphill battle with changing political tides
- Global appeal: Gaza’s journalists need urgent protection
- Is Hamas A Terrorist Organization?
- In Gaza City, I Have Surrendered to an Unknown Fate
- Israeli settlers illegally seize land belonging to Doctors Against Genocide co-founder
- How disability can become a death sentence in Gaza today
- Israel committing genocide in Gaza, world’s top scholars on the crime say
- Report: Internal IDF Document Concludes Months-long Gaza Offensive Failed
- Largest Gaza aid flotilla sets sail as famine deepens
- Israel blocking outside journalists from Gaza doesn’t help its cause
- South Africa Vs. Israel, And Power Without Competence
- Netanyahu’s delusion: If you don’t support me you’re not ‘MAGA’
- How Karim Khan’s Israel war crimes probe was derailed by threats, leaks and sex claims
- Gaza genocide: ‘There is nothing to occupy. The city itself no longer exists’
- Palestinian Liberation From Israeli Colonization Will Liberate the United States, Too
- U.S. Support for Israel Comes at a Staggering, Multifaceted Price
- The CIA, Mossad, and Epstein: Unraveling the Intelligence Ties of the Maxwell Family
- ‘Starvation Is Everywhere’: Virtual Tours of Gaza Clinics Expose the Scale of the Horror
- The Palestine Chronicle Case: When Truth Becomes the Crime
