News roundup for Saturday, July 18, 2026, Day 1,016 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.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The number of Palestinians being killed in Gaza is lower since the October 2025 “ceasefire” began, about 280 days ago – about 4 per day, vs. over 100 per day during the 733 days of the “war.” But Israel is actively working (with Trump’s “Board of Peace“) to ethnically cleanse Gaza of its Palestinian population, even as the low-level killing continues. Genocide experts, along organizations like the United Nations and Amnesty International, maintain that the genocide is ongoing.
Three children were among at least nine Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza on Saturday, medics said.
DEATH TOLL – GAZA GENOCIDE (tentative):
- At least 1,144 since ceasefire began Oct. 11, 2025 (247 children, 191 women)
- 5 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire began – one by friendly fire, and four others in incidents during the first three weeks of the ceasefire.
- 73,250 killed (~22,000 children, 33,000 women and girls) since October 2023
- More statistics below
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.)
Palestinian woman dies after Israeli army delays ambulance for more than 30 minutes in Ramallah: 30-year-old Sujoud Fuqaha, mother of 2, died after the ambulance transporting her to the hospital was forced to wait for more than half an hour at military gate before being granted permission to pass. Fuqaha had suffered a heart attack. Medical workers made urgent verbal appeals for the gate to be opened in an effort to save her life, but to no avail.
Palestinian teenager Fadi Hamdallah al-Nassan, who played for his country’s national youth football team, has died from a gunshot wound sustained when Israeli settlers attacked his village in the occupied West Bank. Fadi, 17, was shot on July 11 and succumbed to his injuries on Saturday. The wound was reportedly inflicted by an expanding bullet*.
His death has drawn new attention to the escalating violence carried out by Israeli settlers and soldiers against Palestinian communities across the West Bank.
*NOTE: The use of expanding bullets is prohibited under international law, and is listed as a war crime in the Statute of the International Criminal Court. Israel famously used them during Gaza’s Great March of Return in 2018-2020.
The War on Palestinian Schools: In the short term, schools are sanctuaries for children to eat, rest, and receive aid, and when they are shut down, children are denied access to these services; in the long term, a less educated Palestinian work force will inevitably limit social mobility. Historically, Palestinians have had high rates of literacy, far exceeding global averages. “Education is a central part of Palestinian society’s sense of itself—it’s a crucial crucible for belonging, identity, collective politics.”
West Bank: Israeli Invasions, Abductions, And Assaults
Smotrich brags about entrenching illegal settlements as foil to “leftist” PM candidates: “In the face of [Gadi] Eisenkot and Yair Golan who want to uproot settlements and establish a Palestinian State – we are deepening our roots, fortifying the settlement and strengthening our grip on the territories of our land*,” Smotrich said, referring to the expansion of Highway 465 in the occupied West Bank, which connects the east and west settlements of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council.
He vowed that the expansion would “create a completely different level of safety, security, and quality of life**,” and “constitute another step on the path to bringing hundreds of thousands of residents to the Binyamin region.” (Israeli media)
*NOTE: The West Bank, where Israeli settlements are located, is Palestinian territory, which means the settlements are illegal under international law. Smotrich’s plan to bring “hundreds of thousands” of Israelis to the region only further entrenches the illegal settlement enterprise – which many analysts see as a precursor to annexation (also illegal under international law).
**NOTE: Smotrich’s emphasis on “safety, security, and quality of life” is yet another iteration of Israel’s self-portrayal as a perpetual victim – or potential victim – enabling it to claim “self-defense” as an excuse for taking aggressive actions against its neighbors. In this case, Israel is appropriating Palestinian property, claiming it will make Israelis safer and happier, with no regard for Palestinian quality of life.
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.
Israeli war chief praises devastation of Gaza as ‘deliberate policy’: A report aired on Channel 14 on 12 July shows Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz and other senior officials openly celebrating the apocalyptic destruction of Gaza and the mass killing of Palestinians and their forced displacement: “This is all the result of a deliberate policy that [was designed] to remove threats.”
IRAN, LEBANON, & SYRIA – 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.
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 is not at war with Syria, the Israeli army has reportedly carried out over 1,600 violations inside Syrian territory since August 2025, and demanded the demilitarization of southern Syria – but also vowed to permanently occupy some areas.
IRAN
CENTCOM Statement on Recently Fallen, Missing U.S. Service Members
TAMPA, Fla. — On July 17, two U.S. service members in Jordan were killed in action as U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) and partner forces defended against Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks. Additionally,…
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) July 18, 2026
US bombs Iran for an eighth consecutive night
US says latest strikes on Iran are punishment for soldiers’s deaths: The deaths, which Trump described as “very sad”, bring the number of US personnel killed since the start of the war to 16, with more than 400 wounded.
An Amnesty International report released on Saturday concluded that some of Iran’s drone strikes on Bahrain and Saudi Arabia may constitute war crimes, citing two strikes which killed four civilians, and otherwise noting “very little documentation of Iranian attacks on the GCC due to restrictions on access to information by GCC governments.”
ISRAELI MEDIA: Israel May Be Dragged Into a U.S.-Iran Fight Again as Threat of Ground Invasion Looms: For now, Trump and Tehran prefer to have Israel watch from the sidelines, while experts warn of ground invasion: airstrikes in southern Iran may be part of preparations for an American ground offensive around the Strait of Hormuz.
LEBANON
A Lebanese soldier was killed Saturday after a “suspicious object” exploded in an army vehicle in the southern town of Mansouri in the Tyre district, the Lebanese army said. 2 others were also injured in the explosion. Authorities have launched an investigation.
The Israeli army continued attacks on areas in southern Lebanon on Saturday, with airstrikes, artillery shelling, explosions, sound-bomb attacks and tree-cutting operations that caused injuries, according to the Lebanese official National News Agency.
SYRIA
Israeli force of 6 military vehicles invades Quneitra, Syria: Incursion comes amid continued, repeated Israeli violations of Syrian sovereignty.
DEATH TOLL – WARS ON IRAN & LEBANON (tentative):
- United States: 16 since Feb. 28, 2026
- Iran: at least 3,636 (1,701 civilians) since Feb. 28, 2026 (another source puts the number at 3,499)
- Lebanon: at least 4,328 people since March 2, 2026
- Arab states: at least 154 (including Palestine, excluding Lebanon)
- Israel: at least 60 people (Iran killed 20 civilians; Hezbollah killed 36 soldiers, 4 civilians)
MORE NEWS & HEADLINES:
AIPAC Takes Center Stage at Abdul El-Sayed Michigan Primary Rally Headlined by Bernie Sanders and AOC: El-Sayed declared that ‘it’s time to decide that we are no longer going to send unconditional foreign military aid to foreign governments,’ while Sanders railed against AIPAC and what he described as an ‘election between Abdul and the billionaire class.’
Digital campaign debunks Israel’s narrative about Gaza ceasefire: Activists launched a digital campaign under the hashtag, “They Lied to You,” in an effort to bring the suffering in the Gaza Strip back to the forefront of global attention. The campaign stresses that the decline in media coverage does not mean the genocidal war has ended or that the suffering of its residents has stopped.
Thousands of people gathered in London Saturday to protest Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, calling on the incoming prime minister, Andy Burnham, to take immediate action. Demonstrators demanded that he impose an arms embargo on Israel and pressure Tel Aviv to end its siege and war on the enclave. Burnham is set to officially become the UK’s next prime minister on Monday
ICYMI, A SELECTION OF YESTERDAY’S HEADLINES:
Israel pushes its “Yellow Line” to Gaza’s main north-south artery
Israeli Settlers Filmed Taking Palestinian Livestock Under IDF Protection
AIPAC removes donation options for House Democrats who voted to cut aid to Israel on site
(Read yesterday’s daily update here.)
STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – July 18, 2026*:
- At least 74,431 Palestinians killed, 186,751 injured – including:
- Gaza: at least 73,250 killed (~22,000 children, 33,000 women and girls), 173,751 injured
- West Bank/East Jerusalem: at least 1,181 killed (~244 children), 13,000 injured
*NOTE: Thousands of remains in Gaza have yet to be identified, and thousands more are still buried under rubble; others are reportedly missing.
Reported Israeli death toll from October 7, 2023 – July 18, 2026: ~1,663 – 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).
**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)
- Israel admits it holds Gaza bodies as bargaining chips
- Mahmoud Khalil files lawsuit accusing Trump officials, pro-Israel groups of conspiracy
- Democrats Rejected U.S. Aid to Israel, and AIPAC Couldn’t Stop Them
- Kamala Harris’ Palestine shift is all for show, don’t fall for it
- Palestine Letter: The school of Palestinian journalism
- Amid the ongoing genocide, Gaza’s food crisis worsens with closure of World Central Kitchen centers
- Iran Sent Message to JD Vance Warning that Kushner and Witkoff Were “Abusing” Their Inside Access to Negotiations
- Inside the Pentagon Plan to Stitch Israel Into American Defense
- Rep. Ro Khanna: ‘Israel Has Lost Americans Under 50. Bibi Netanyahu Has Antagonized an Entire Generation’
- ‘They want to break our will’: Gaza flotilla activist tells of rape in Israeli detention
- The not-so-secret Israeli strategy: This is the real Gaza plan
- Senators Block $1.15 Trillion Pentagon Bill Over Trump’s Illegal Iran War, Israel Integration
- Tucker Carlson’s left-right, third party dream
- Family Wiped Out, Police Targeted: Israel’s Genocide Claims 16 More Lives
