News roundup for Thursday, May 7, 2026, Day 944 since Israel began its 2023 genocide on the Palestinian people.
Compilation of news reports – IAK staff
NEWS & HEADLINES FROM GAZA:
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.
Three Palestinians were killed and several others were critically wounded on Thursday after Israeli occupation drones carried out multiple strikes west of Gaza City.
The catastrophic impasse in Gaza is the new status quo: If there is one conclusion that can be drawn six months after the Gaza ceasefire entered into effect with U.S. President Trump’s “20-point plan,” it is that the end of the war in Gaza is farther off today than when it was in October, with the topic of reconstruction hardly even being discussed. Gaza has never figured into Israel’s plans as a place whose people would be allowed to rebuild their lives.
UAE sends Trump’s Board of Peace* ‘$100m’ for training of new Gaza police force: Emirati security firm to build force of around 27,000 Jordanian and Egyptian trained police officers, report claims.
*NOTE: The so-called “Board of Peace” for Gaza is stacked with wealthy and powerful Israel supporters, dictators, and authoritarians, as well as Israeli prime minister and war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu and two other Israelis – both real estate tycoons – but no Palestinians. In fact, the organization’s charter makes no reference to Gaza. The lower-tier technocratic committee, made up of Palestinians, will do the grunt work in Gaza – if and when Israel allows the group to enter the Strip.
DEATH TOLL – GAZA GENOCIDE (tentative):
- At least 846 since ceasefire began Oct. 11, 2025
- 72,628 killed (~22,000 children, 33,000 women and girls) since October 2023
- More statistics below
GAZA FLOTILLA – NEWS & HEADLINES:
Read about the Gaza Flotilla 2025 missions here and here, and the deadly 2010 mission here; find out about the global flotilla movement here.
Rights Group Seeks Doctor for Hunger-striking Gaza Flotilla Detainee in Israel: Saif Abu Keshek, held in Israel with Thiago Ávila after a Gaza-bound flotilla was intercepted in international waters, has refused food and water for over a week, urging prison authorities to allow a doctor visit amid pressure from Spain and Italy.
Gaza-bound flotilla reports sexual violence, physical assaults against activists in Israeli custody: At least four activists were reportedly sexually assaulted while in Israeli custody; detainees were also subjected to deliberate deprivation tactics including exposure to cold conditions, confiscation of warm clothing and inadequate access to food, water and bedding, resulting in cases of hypothermia and hyperthermia. The group said the abuses reflected “a broader pattern of treatment intended to dehumanize those standing in solidarity with the Palestinian people.”
NEWS & HEADLINES FROM THE OCCUPIED WEST BANK/EAST JERUSALEM:
Every day, Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem endure dozens of incidents like the ones below, at the hands of Israeli soldiers and/or settlers. 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.)
Israeli occupiers (i.e. settlers) storm Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque amid tensions: Dozens of Israeli occupiers reportedly stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem on Thursday, as a graduation ceremony was held for soldiers at the Western Wall (Al-Buraq Wall). The governorate posted videos on Facebook showing extremist occupiers inside the mosque compound under police protection.
New $270 million Israeli-only* roads project in the West Bank is Netanyahu’s latest bid to impose de facto annexation: After failing to dismantle Hamas, destroy Hezbollah, topple the Iranian government, or redraw the Middle East, Netanyahu and his allies have only one thing left to show for their time in power: the de facto annexation of the West Bank.
*NOTE: This is just one of many examples of Israel’s apartheid framework, which extends in various forms across Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and inside Israel (where 21% of residents are Palestinian). Multiple human rights organizations have documented and reported that Israel is indeed practicing apartheid, including: Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the Israeli human rights groups B’Tselem, and Yesh Din , the UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine, the International Court of Justice, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), and Harvard Law School’s International Human Rights Clinic.
Israel’s war on the West Bank comes for Palestinian greenhouses: In Jayyous and neighboring villages, Palestinian farmers have been served dozens of new demolition orders intended to push them off their land.
Soldiers Shoot A Palestinian Child Near Jerusalem
Widespread Israeli Invasions Across Occupied West Bank
Israeli Colonizers Target Farmers, Shepherds in West Bank
Israeli Forces Assault A Palestinian Near Tulkarem
Israeli Army Demolishes Agricultural Structures in West Bank
DEATH TOLL – WEST BANK/EAST JERUSALEM (tentative):
NEWS & HEADLINES FROM ISRAEL:
Israel is a tiny country, about the size of New Jersey, with a population smaller than the US state of Georgia – about 10 million (of which about 20 percent are Palestinians), yet it is in the news constantly. As has been demonstrated again and again, however, mainstream media rarely covers Israel news accurately. IAK gets the facts – sometimes from Israeli media sites, where we can get a glimpse inside this country that is rife with turmoil and contradictions, and that receives $63 million a day from America.
Israel Can’t Afford Netanyahu’s Appetite for Endless War: It’s not just that the bill for two-and-a-half years of fighting is so enormous, it’s that the prime minister wants to keep on fighting.
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir is facing backlash after posting a TikTok video glorifying executions just weeks after Israel passed a controversial death penalty law targeting Palestinian detainees.
The video used the viral “voices in my head”… pic.twitter.com/lnO6sG8O31
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) May 7, 2026
ISRAEL-US WAR/CEASEFIRE ON IRAN – NEWS & HEADLINES:
It can not be overemphasized that Israel is the impetus behind US policies and actions vis-a-vis Iran. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has been pushing the US to attack Iran for decades, using lies and deception. Under President Trump, he got his wish.
The American people have made clear that they do not want the US embroiled in a war with Iran, but Israel partisans and the Israel lobby use their massive political clout to bring about whatever is beneficial to Israel – including putting the US military in harm’s way. For more background on Israel’s role in American wars, watch IAK’s short film, “The Israeli Hit List.“
Nearly $1bn in oil bets placed minutes before Axios reported on ‘US-Iran memo to end war’
DEATH TOLL – WAR ON IRAN (tentative):
- United States: 13 (or more)
- Iran: at least 3,636 (1,701 civilians, 254 children)
- Israel: 35 (16 Israeli soldiers, and 1 friendly fire – including both Iran and Lebanon-related deaths; another count shows 20 Israeli civilian deaths)
- Arab states (including Palestine, excluding Lebanon), at least 154
ISRAEL’S WAR/CEASEFIRE ON LEBANON – NEWS & HEADLINES:
Israel has invaded Lebanon seven times in the last half century. Between 1978 and 2000, Israel maintained an 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon — Hezbollah was formed to fight that occupation.
Although Israel signed a ceasefire agreement with Lebanon in November 2024, Israel has attacked Lebanon almost every day since, committing over 10,000 air and ground violations – the most violated ceasefire deal in recorded history – and killing at least 397. (Read about UNIFIL, the UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, here.)
At least seven people were killed and several others injured in Israeli airstrikes and drone attacks across southern Lebanon on Thursday, according to the National News Agency.
Israeli ‘double tap’ strike hits paramedics in south Lebanon: The second strike reportedly resulted in the injury of two members of the rescue team and significant damage to the ambulance.” As Mondoweiss reported this week, after Israel has killed more than 100 Lebanese rescue workers since March, they now wait 15 minutes after each strike before responding – the only way, they say, to stay alive long enough to reach the wounded amid Israel’s implementation of its Gaza “double-tap” policy in Lebanon.
Israeli army ‘ignored’ warnings of FPV drone threat ahead of war in Lebanon: The Israeli army’s Operations Division reportedly distributed a document in 2025 warning of the danger posed by this type of fiber-optic guided drone and highlighting the “urgent need” to develop defenses against it. At least two soldiers and a contractor have been killed by Hezbollah’s FPV drones in southern Lebanon, while dozens of troops have been wounded.
Senators press US military on Israel’s displacement campaign in Lebanon: In letter to CENTCOM commander, 12 Democrats raise questions about possible US role in Israel’s ‘mass evacuation zones’.
DEATH TOLL – WAR ON LEBANON (tentative):
-
NEWS & HEADLINES FROM SYRIA:
Although Israel is not at war with Syria, the Israeli army has reportedly carried out over 1,600 violations inside Syrian territory since August 2025. Israel has demanded the demilitarization of southern Syria, allegedly to prevent any “potential threat” from post-war Syria – but has vowed to stay permanently in what seems to be an informal border expansion.
MORE NEWS & HEADLINES:
Jared Kushner’s Role as ‘Special Peace Envoy’ Is a 5-Alarm Constitutional Fire. Here’s Why: Kushner claims to be representing the US in high-stakes foreign policy negotiations, while also pursuing billions from other nations for his firm. So, who is he actually working for, Kim Wehle asks.
Karim Khan describes threats from David Cameron and Lindsey Graham in new interview: ICC prosecutor says he has been exonerated by investigation into sexual misconduct claims and is ‘perplexed’ the case has not been closed.
RELATED: Spying & threats: Israel spent 9 years trying to keep the ICC off the trail of Israel’s war crimes.
US congressman Thomas Massie says pro-Israel groups behind 95 percent of funding against him: The Republican primary in Kentucky later this month will be one of the most expensive of all time.
ICYMI, A SELECTION OF YESTERDAY’S HEADLINES:
UN warns hunger deepening in Gaza as families survive on one meal a day
Board of Peace won’t hold Israel to Gaza truce terms if Hamas doesn’t okay disarmament offer
Israel Withholds Billions in Palestinian Authority Funds, Pushing West Bank to Brink
Israeli Court Orders Netanyahu to Hand Over Medical Records in Libel Suit After Cancer Revelation
Israeli fortifications in southern Syria damage thousands of acres of farmland, residents say
(Read yesterday’s daily update here.)
STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – MAY 7, 2026*:
- At least 73,784 Palestinians killed, 184,220 injured – including:
- Gaza: at least 72,628 killed (~22,000 children, 33,000 women and girls), 172,520 injured
- West Bank/East Jerusalem: at least 1,156 killed (~240 children), 11,700 injured
*NOTE: Thousands of those killed in Gaza have yet to be identified, and an estimated 8,000 more are still buried under rubble (some sources put the number of missing as high as 14,000); 3,000 more are reportedly missing. Only the dead who are brought to hospitals are included in the official fatality count. Additionally, the numbers of injured are very conservative estimates.
Reported Israeli death toll from October 7, 2023 – May 7, 2026: ~1,661 – including ~1,139** on October 7, 2023 (~36 children), 472 military forces since the ground invasion began in Gaza, about 52 military and civilians (by one count, there have been 59 victims) in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Israel (these numbers do not include deaths from the conflicts with Lebanon or Iran).
By one count, Israeli attacks have killed approximately 282 Palestinian journalists and media workers (most recent March 9, 2026; other groups have tallied between 215 and 356 Palestinian journalists killed – depending on the criteria used). Palestinians have killed 4 Israeli journalists (all on October 7, 2023).
**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)
- WATCH: Two Supreme Court Justices were secret agents who helped Israel cover up its attack on the USS Liberty
- Bari Weiss ‘Meddles’ With ‘CBS Sunday Morning’ Story on Palestine
- Zionists Are Gunning for Your Freedom of Speech
- The horrors in Gaza continue: Here are the facts
- Israeli General Is Running a Sophisticated, Sociological Engine of Violence
- Israel has stolen $4.8 billion from Palestinians
- The pro-Israel political consensus is collapsing in both parties
- Prominent Christian Zionist Group Is Lobbying U.S. Lawmakers on Israel—Without Revealing It’s Funded by Israel
- Israel’s subversion of Foreign Agents Registration Act
- Israeli Paper Admits That The Mossad Astroturfed The January Riots In Iran.
- Prominent Christian Zionist Group Is Lobbying U.S. Lawmakers on Israel—Without Revealing It’s Funded by Israel
- An All-American Retort to Israel’s Invasion of Lebanon
- How Dr. Adam Hamawy’s experience as a surgeon in Gaza inspired him to run for Congress
- Under Trump, Green Card Seekers Face New Scrutiny for Views on Israel
