Compilation of news reports – IAK staff
Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 123 Palestinians since Wednesday’s announcement of a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas, according to an official tally. The dead include 33 women and 33 children. More than 270 Palestinians were also injured since the accord.
Israel kills 19 after ceasefire deadline, Netanyahu warns truce is ‘temporary’
Israeli airstrikes killed at least 19 civilians in Gaza and wounded 36 more early on Sunday, shortly after a ceasefire was slated to begin.
Gaza’s Civil Defense Department said the civilians were killed in attacks across the Gaza Strip, including Beit Lahiya, Gaza City, and Al-Bureij.
The Israeli military said it continued to carry out its attacks, saying that Hamas had still not provided a list of the captives to be released. The group said the delay in providing the names was due to “technical reasons”, adding that the list would be given “at any moment”.
Despite this, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court in connection to alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Israel in Gaza, warned the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire was “temporary” in his first public speech since the agreement was finalized.
Netanyahu also insisted Israel is “reserving the right” to continue its war if needed.
In comments posted on X shortly after giving a lengthy speech, Netanyahu reiterated that Israelis are “victorious” as they “refuse to surrender to those who rise up against us to destroy us”.
“I tell you – the campaign is not over yet,” he said. “A long and challenging journey lies ahead of us. This is not the time to divide and scatter, this is the time to unite and connect.”
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In Gaza, a moment where death and the ceasefire intersect
Journalist Hossam Shabat — who has not left northern Gaza since the war began and who has not seen his family in over a year — reports from Gaza City on three days of hope and death, between when the ceasefire was announced and when it is scheduled to be implemented.
In these final hours, where blood is mixed with prayer, civilians in northern Gaza are living the cruelest of moments waiting for the ceasefire to come into effect. Three full days between the announcement of the deal and its implementation. Three days of death as the merciless bombing continues.
Time now is measured not in minutes, but in lifetimes of pain and tears. With every passing moment the anxiety and tension of the people here grows, as they wonder whether they will stay alive long enough for the fire to cease.
The occupation intensified its bombing in the first hours after the ceasefire was announced. Fifty airstrikes in less than 24 hours. They targeted shelters, homes, and tents of the displaced. More destruction, more blood.
Just minutes after the announcement, the courtyard of Al-Ahli hospital was filled with martyrs. Administrators were forced to set up a makeshift field hospital in the courtyard to handle the flood of wounded coming in.
These moments are the embodiment of the opposing forces of hope and tragedy, between unfulfilled joy and the sorrow that haunts everything around us.
We are living in a moment where death and the ceasefire intersect. The hope for a lasting peace lingers as a dream for millions. Every time the war machine stops, people breathe a sigh of relief, but as time passes, the fear and anxiety return. The peace we yearn for will only come through radical political change, by ensuring the rights of civilians and providing an environment of safety and life.
Until then, this time of pain of blood will continue to haunt this devastated landscape and the return to a normal life will remain a distant dream.
Final preparations underway in Egypt to deliver aid to Gaza
Final preparations are underway in the Egyptian city of Arish to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza via the Rafah border crossing, with two Egyptian ministers overseeing the efforts.
Minister of Health Khaled Abdel Ghaffar and Minister of Social Solidarity Maya Morsy arrived at Arish Airport early today to inspect hospitals’ readiness to receive injured Palestinians from Gaza and monitor final aid delivery arrangements to the Gaza Strip, the Egyptian state news agency reported.
Arish and its airport in North Sinai serve as a hub for receiving and transporting international relief aid into Gaza.
Aid trucks reported to be carrying tens of thousands of essential food items for Gaza’s residents are currently lined up at the Rafah border crossing.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has said it plans to bring ready-made hospitals into the Gaza Strip within the next two months after the ceasefire.
Israel Pledges to “Allow” Rebuilding of Gaza Strip as Part of Ceasefire Deal
Israel has pledged to allow the rebuilding of infrastructure in the Gaza Strip, as part of the cease-fire and hostage release deal with Hamas approved by the Israeli cabinet on Saturday.
Israel and Hamas agreed to return residents of northern Gaza to their homes, but since most buildings there are in ruins and uninhabitable, it was decided during the negotiations to begin rehabilitating Gaza by first setting up caravan cities financed by the international community.
As part of the agreement, Israel committed to significantly increase the scope of humanitarian aid entering Gaza, allowing in 600 trucks carrying food a day. Products allowed in will be those previously approved for entry before the war began.
Furthermore, it was decided to expand topics defined as humanitarian and to allow the rebuilding of vital infrastructure in Gaza. This will include major roads, schools, hospitals and water, sewage and power infrastructure.
In order to achieve this, Israel has committed to allowing Egyptian-owned construction companies to enter the Gaza Strip, along with heavy equipment, building materials, iron and other material.
NOTE: The vast majority of the international community – including the US – concurs with international law which considers the Gaza Strip to be de facto occupied by Israel.
The Geneva Convention (original) Section IV outlines occupiers’ responsibilities, for example:
“To the fullest extent of the means available to it, the occupying power must ensure sufficient hygiene and public health standards, as well as the provision of food and medical care to the population under occupation.”
That is, international law places the responsibility for feeding, providing medical services, and guaranteeing the safety of the people of Gaza squarely on Israel.
Netanyahu’s expectation that the international community will do the work of reconstruction and care for all of Gaza’s needs is contrary to international law.
Hamas and Fatah poised to govern Gaza – Israel doesn’t want either
Palestine’s President Mahmoud Abbas has said that the Palestinian Authority (PA) was ready to assume “full responsibility” in post-war Gaza, in his first statement since a ceasefire deal was announced between Israel and Hamas.
Currently, Israel has no definitive stance on post-war governance beyond rejecting any role for both Hamas and the PA.
Smotrich expects ‘gradual takeover’ of entire Gaza Strip; Ben Gvir resigns from Israeli gov’t
Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has said his far-right Religious Zionism party will remain in the government despite having voted against a ceasefire deal, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to a number of demands and to achieving all the goals of the war in Gaza.
“Unfortunately, we were unable to prevent this dangerous deal, but we insisted and were able to ensure, through a government decision, in the cabinet, and other ways, that the war would not end in any way, without achieving its full goals, foremost among them the complete destruction of Hamas in Gaza,” Smotrich declared.
“We demanded and received a commitment to completely change the method of war,” including “through a gradual takeover of the entire Gaza Strip, the lifting of the restrictions imposed on us by the Biden administration, and full control of the Strip, so that humanitarian aid will not reach Hamas as it has been until now,” he added.
The far-right minister noted that there was “no other way to achieve the goals of the war”.
The far-right Jewish Strength (Otzma Yehudit) Party of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir resigned from the Israeli government on Sunday as a Gaza ceasefire agreement took effect, Anadolu news agency reported.
Ben-Gvir and other ministers from his party submitted their resignation letters to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Haaretz reported.
“From this time onwards the Otzma Yehudit Party is not a member of the coalition,” the party said in a statement.
Palestinian Shot and Killed After Alleged Stabbing Attack in Tel Aviv
Media sources said that an armed Israeli citizen shot and killed the Palestinian youth after he allegedly carried out a stabbing attack at a restaurant in Tel Aviv, on Saturday afternoon.
Sources added that an Israeli man in his thirties was stabbed by the suspect; he was transported to the Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv, where his condition was described as serious.
The Arab 48 News website quoted Israeli reports which stated that “the perpetrator of the stabbing operation is Salah Yahya (19 years old), a resident of the Tulkarm area, who stayed in the country illegally.”
It quoted the Israeli police who stated that “The initial investigation indicates that a ‘terrorist’ armed with a knife arrived at the restaurant area on ‘Lepontine’ Street and stabbed a citizen, seriously injuring him. An armed citizen who was near the scene opened fire on the ‘terrorist’ and he was neutralized.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I- VT) statement on the ceasefire agreement (excerpt)
Netanyahu’s war machine has damaged or destroyed two-thirds of all structures in Gaza, including 92 percent of the housing units. Most hospitals and primary healthcare facilities have been bombed, leaving Gazans without basic medical care.
The civilian infrastructure has been devastated, including 70 percent of water and sanitation plants. Every one of Gaza’s 12 universities has been bombed, as have hundreds of schools. There has been no electricity in Gaza for 15 months.
And Israel’s restrictions on humanitarian aid have left tens of thousands of children facing malnutrition and starvation.
Netanyahu has overseen these policies, and the ICC is right to indict him as a war criminal, alongside Mr. Sinwar.
This ceasefire is just the first step. Massive amounts of humanitarian aid must immediately reach starving, malnourished people in Gaza. The UN must be granted unfettered access to the Gaza Strip. The international community must insist that the ceasefire be made permanent. Credible plans for rebuilding Gaza must be laid out. Peaceful governance must be established, with the Palestinian people in control.
Finally, as Americans, we must grapple with our role in this dark chapter. The United States allowed this mass atrocity to continue by providing an endless supply of weapons to Netanyahu and failing to exert meaningful leverage. This blanket military support took place in clear violation of US and international law.
This must not happen again. Future political leaders should learn from this terrible lesson and restore respect for our own laws and moral principles (read the full statement here).
‘It better hold,’ Trump says of Gaza ceasefire, hostage deal
US President-elect Donald Trump said Saturday that the Gaza ceasefire and hostage-prisoner swap deal between Israel and Hamas “better hold,” warning that if it does not “all hell will break out.”
When asked about the likelihood of the deal’s success in a phone interview with NBC News, Trump responded: “Well, we’re going to see very soon, and it better hold.”
Trump also said he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to continue “doing what you have to do.”
“Just keep doing what you have to do. You have to have — this has to end. We want it to end, but to keep doing what has to be done,” Trump said in a phone interview with NBC News.
“Respect. The US has to get respected again, and it has to get respected fast. But respect is the primary word that I use,” Trump said, adding, “If they respect us, it will hold. If they don’t respect us, all hell will break out.”
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Looking for a way to help get the word out about Palestine? Go here.
STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – JANUARY 18, 2025:
Palestinian death toll from October 7, 2023 – January 18, 2025: at least 47,772* – 46,913 in Gaza; in the West Bank, Israeli soldiers and/or settlers have killed at least 859 Palestinians (~176 of them children).
Thousands of those killed in Gaza have yet to be identified, and an estimated 11,000 more are still buried under rubble.
According to a report in the Lancet, by multiplying the reported deaths by five, it is possible to reach a conservative estimate of total deaths (including indirect causes like starvation and lack of medicine). Using the latest figure from AFP (46,913), it is reasonable to estimate at least 234,495 total deaths in Gaza since October 7th, 2023.
According to a recent report by the UN Human Rights Office of identified fatalities in Gaza, about 44% were children. It is reasonable to estimate that 20,642 of known direct deaths and 103,209 of the total deaths are children.
(Gaza’s health ministry has used the estimate of 18,000 of the known deaths to be children since at least September 2024; total deaths since then have risen by about 5,000, which would add about 2,200 to the children’s death estimate. This indicates that the estimate of 20,587 is fairly accurate.)
Palestinian injuries from October 7, 2023 – January 18, 2025: at least 117,725 (including at least 110,750 in Gaza and 7,000 in the West Bank, including 830 children). [It remains unknown how many Americans are among the casualties in Gaza.]
Reported Israeli death toll from October 7, 2023 – January 18, 2025: ~1,616 (or 1,590) (~1,139 on October 7, 2023, of which ~32 were Americans, and ~36 were children); 436*** (or 405) military forces since the ground invasion began in Gaza (updated: Jan. 13, 2025); 46 military and civilians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Israel) and~10,000 injured.
NOTE: It is unknown at this time how many of the deaths and injuries of Israelis on October 7 were caused by Israeli soldiers.
ADDITIONAL STATISTICS: Since October 7th, 2023:
- At least 54 Palestinians have died in Israeli prisons (at least 35 of them from Gaza).
- At least 43 Palestinians have died due to malnutrition (at least 37 of them children)**.
- About 1.9 million of Gaza’s 2.3 million population are currently displaced.
- About 345,000 Gazans are currently experiencing catastrophic levels of food insecurity.
*The Ministry’s figures have been contested by the Israeli authorities, although they have been accepted as accurate by Israeli intelligence services, the UN, and WHO. These data are supported by independent analyses, comparing changes in the number of deaths of UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) staff with those reported by the Ministry, which found claims of data fabrication implausible.
Previously, IAK did not include 471 Gazans killed in the Al Ahli hospital blast since the source of the projectile was being disputed. However, given that much evidence points to Israel as the culprit, Israel had previously bombed the hospital and has attacked many others, Israel is prohibiting outside experts from investigating the scene, and since the UN and other agencies are including the deaths from the attack in their cumulative totals, if Americans knew is now also doing so.
**Euro-Med Monitor reports that Gaza’s elderly are dying at an alarmingly high rate. The majority die at home and are buried either close to their residences or in makeshift graves dispersed across the Strip. There are currently more than 140 such cemeteries. Additionally, according to Euromed, thousands have died from starvation, malnourishment, and inadequate medical care; these are considered indirect victims as they were not registered in hospitals.
***The figure does not include the reportedly 59 Israeli soldiers – nearly 17% of the total Israeli military deaths – killed due to friendly fire in Gaza and other military-related accidents.
† For most of the conflict, women and children accounted for about 70% of deaths in Gaza, with children making up a little over 40% of those killed, according to official statistics.
Find previous daily casualty figures and daily news updates here.
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- Human rights reports on Israel-Palestine (regularly updated)
- Biden worked ‘tirelessly around the clock’ – to prevent a ceasefire
- “Why Are You Not in the Hague?”
- How the State Department Let Israel Get Away With Horrors in Gaza
- The Ceasefire Charade
- Israel destroyed Gaza and the world remained silent
- WATCH: 60 Minutes Report on Gaza (Jan 13, 2025)
- Trump’s Mideast Envoy Forced Netanyahu to Accept a Gaza Plan He Repeatedly Rejected
- WATCH: How Pro-Israel Neocons Pushed for War in Iraq (Alison Weir)
- Scorched-Earth: Making Gaza Uninhabitable for Generations to Come
- Meta’s staunch support for Israel shines amidst genocide in Gaza
- From Gaza to California: the flames that connect us all
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- Blinken Declares Genocide in Sudan But Refuses to Acknowledge Genocide in Gaza
- Blood Splattered Madness
- Knesset members urge IDF to destroy Gaza’s food, water and power
- ‘No Civilians’: IDF Soldiers Reveal Killings, Lawlessness in Gaza
- Israel’s Judaization Policy Replaces Arab Towns with Synagogues
- Gaza is Now ‘Hell on Earth’—Exactly as Intended
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