Compilation of news reports – IAK staff
(While a “ceasefire” is ostensibly in place, Israel has continued its assault on Gaza without interruption. If Americans Knew considers the war to be ongoing, and in its 833rd day.)
Since the “ceasefire” began on October 11, Israel has killed at least 481 Palestinians. At least 1,313 have been injured. Death toll figures are tentative.
At least 25 Palestinians in Gaza have died due to the extreme cold, including 21 children, since the start of Israel’s genocidal war in October 2023. At least 11 Palestinian children have died of extreme cold this winter.
Israel has so far violated the 11 October ceasefire deal in Gaza at least 1,300 times (as of Jan. 15, 2026). More statistics below.
GAZA NEWS & HEADLINES:
(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.
Infant Dies From Severe Cold In Khan Younis
Medical sources in southern Gaza reported on Friday the death of a six‑month‑old infant, Yousef Omar Abu Hammala, who succumbed to severe cold inside his family’s tent in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, where tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians have been sheltering in makeshift encampments.
The infant’s body temperature had dropped sharply overnight amid freezing winds and heavy rain, conditions that the flimsy plastic tents offer no protection against.
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Hamas*: We remain committed to ceasefire as Israel continues violations in Gaza
The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has reaffirmed its commitment to the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, while Israel continues to violate its terms around the clock, with no real pressure applied to stop the ongoing violations.
Hamas called on the Board of Peace to take responsibility for stopping Israel’s violations and ensuring it meets the obligations of the agreement, including delivering aid, providing shelter supplies, and beginning relief and reconstruction, to protect the Palestinian people from the humanitarian crisis caused by the occupation—especially as Gaza faces heavy rain and severe cold.
*NOTE: Israel is violating the ceasefire agreement daily daily, including by blocking desperately needed humanitarian aid, including food, medicine, and basic shelter supplies, to the war-ravaged coastal enclave, even though these are Israel’s explicit responsibilities as part of the first phase of the agreement.
IS HAMAS A TERRORIST GROUP? The use of the word “terrorist” for an individual or group that resists occupation and oppression is a political, not fact-based choice. In reality, international law supports the efforts of resistance groups against an occupying power, the UN extending that right to the point of armed resistance. Additionally, Israel regularly labels Palestinians they have killed as “terrorists” to rationalize their deaths, whether they did anything threatening or not.
On October 7th, Hamas was exercising – albeit imperfectly – its internationally recognized right to resist the oppressor and occupier of its people. Hamas fighters attacked Israel after years of oppression and many nonviolent attempts to call attention to the injustice. The UN has passed hundreds of resolutions demanding justice – to no avail.
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In Gaza, Israel Is Turning the Yellow Line into a Physical Barrier
The Israeli military is turning the yellow line that demarcates the more than half of the Gaza Strip it occupies and controls into a physical border. Analysis of satellite imagery by Forensic Architecture shows that the Israeli military has begun constructing earth berms—large, raised mounds of earth—in areas along the yellow line to create a physical separation between the Palestinian population forced to live in the western half of the enclave, and Israeli forces who occupy the eastern half.
The construction of berms along the yellow line, which began last month, is creating a physical barrier that cuts off Palestinians from the Israeli-controlled zone and the rest of Gaza (continue reading here).
“BOARD OF PEACE” AND “GAZA MASTER PLAN” NEWS & HEADLINES*:
On Wednesday, Jan. 22, the Board of Peace became official, with its mandate that may include usurping the role of the United Nations. Donald Trump is set to lead the board for life. The board is populated with a mix of world leaders and a number of wealthy individuals. The Board of Peace even includes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an indicted war criminal – but zero Palestinians. (Read more here.)
Also presented on Jan. 22 was a new, colonialist “master plan” for the reconstruction of Gaza.
*NOTE: No doubt, much will be written about the new Gaza plan in the coming days. In all the commotion, IAK encourages readers to seek out Palestinian voices and opinions. They have a greater stake in the future of Gaza than any investor or politician.
Mosab Abu Toha, a Palestinian writer from Gaza, said, “If the goal is truly peace, then the path is simple: end the occupation and help restore the rights that have been taken from Palestinians since 1948. We, the Palestinian people, are the ones who must determine our own future. Peace cannot be imposed while our land is occupied, our lives controlled, and our voices ignored.”
What Trump’s plan doesn’t say
Award-winning journalist Sharif Abdel Kouddou points out, “if we look at the charter of the Board of Peace, there’s no mention of Palestine. There’s no mention of Palestinians. There’s no mention of Gaza. There’s no mention of the right of return. There’s no mention of the right to self-determination.
“What it does say is that, you know, Trump is chairman for life, and it gives him these king-like powers, where he can only be replaced if he resigns or if he is deemed incapacitated under — but it needs to be a unanimous vote, that, you know, is kind of unattainable. He can appoint new member states. He can veto any decision.
Al Jazeera adds: Presented as a plan to rebuild the Palestinian territory, the Trump administration’s proposal this week offers no insight into core issues such as property and land rights — let alone justice for war crimes — amid plans to construct shimmering buildings atop an estimated 68 million tonnes of rubble and war debris, where thousands of bodies remain buried, reducing the ongoing catastrophic genocide to an “investment opportunity”.
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Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ is the nail in Gaza’s coffin
“Peace” here is being used in exactly the same Orwellian sense as “ceasefire”. This is not about ending Gaza’s suffering. It is about creating Big Brother-style narrative control, selling as “peace” the final eradication of Palestinian life in Gaza.
The implicit assumption is that life will gradually return to normal for the survivors of the two-year genocide Israel has carried out – though no western leader is acknowledging it as a genocide, or cares to find out how many Palestinians have actually been killed in the onslaught.
But, as we shall see, peace is definitely not what the board is aiming to achieve. This is a cynical exercise in smoke and mirrors (continue reading here).
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A world on its knees: Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ and the darkness it promises
How Jared Kushner’s Gaza plan would erase Palestinian culture
Analysts say proposal for shiny skyscrapers and coastal attractions resemble the Gulf, deliberately wiping away Gaza’s heritage.
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Trump considers including Palestinian Authority in Board of Peace
Sources told Sky News Arabic Arab states and other countries are pressing the Trump administration not to exclude the Palestinian Authority from managing the Gaza Strip.
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Spain refuses to join Trump’s Gaza ‘Board of Peace’ over breach of international law
OCCUPIED WEST BANK/EAST JERUSALEM NEWS & HEADLINES:
(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 Forces Kill a Palestinian Near Nablus
On Friday, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian farmer, 59-year-old Jibril Ahmad Qat, while he was working on his land near the village of Madama, south of Nablus in the northern occupied West Bank.
Israeli soldiers blocked its ambulance crews from reaching the critically injured man, before transporting him to an undisclosed location, despite an attempt to coordinate his rescue with the Red Cross.
Israeli media reported the Israeli military claim, “During an ambush, forces fired at a suspect who was throwing stones* at vehicles traveling on a main road,” the military said in a statement. “The forces fired to remove the threat, and a hit was identified.”
The statement added that no soldiers were injured.
*NOTE: Each year, hundreds of Palestinians (many of them minors) are imprisoned for throwing stones, which can carry a sentence of up to 20 years (for Palestinians, not Israeli Jews). Arguably, these are the lucky ones. Israel regularly labels Palestinians they have killed as “terrorists” or “stone-throwers” to rationalize their deaths, whether they did anything threatening or not.
West Bank facing worst humanitarian crisis since 1967 amid Israeli operations in refugee camps: UN refugee agency
In a statement on X, Philippe Lazzarini, head of UNRWA, said 33,000 people remain forcibly displaced from northern refugee camps one year after the launch of Israel’s “Iron Wall” operation.
“Israeli forces have been demolishing swathes of the camps, reducing the chances for these communities to recover,” he said, adding that UNRWA teams “are assisting newly displaced Palestine refugees who have been pushed deeper into poverty and have no viable alternatives for healthcare, education and welfare.”
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) warned on Friday that Israeli occupation authorities are taking steps to forcibly close the Qalandia Training Center, a move that would immediately halt the education of hundreds of Palestinian students who rely on the facility for vocational training.
According to a spokesperson, the facility is now at imminent risk because the land on which it stands is being targeted for seizure by Israeli authorities. If closed, it would leave students with no alternative institution capable of offering comparable training.
He warned that the consequences would be severe, cutting off a generation of young Palestinian refugees from economic opportunities and placing their right to education in immediate jeopardy.
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ALL IN A DAY’S WORK: MORE ISRAELI OCCUPATION ACTIONS ON FRIDAY:
Israeli army withdraws from West Bank’s Hebron after 4-day operation
Israeli Colonizer Attacks Across the West Bank, Friday
Israeli Forces Continue Widespread Invasions Across West Bank
ISRAEL NEWS & HEADLINES:
(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 accurately. IAK passes along only factual reporting.)
Israeli propagandist calls on ‘angel investors’ to fund Iran destabilization efforts
US and Israeli officials, as well as multiple Israeli commentators, have publicly confirmed Israel’s deep involvement in the deadly unrest that has unfolded across Iran in recent weeks.
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Israeli drone targets car in eastern Lebanon* despite ongoing ceasefire
Israeli tank fires at Lebanese army during joint field mission with UN peacekeepers in south
*NOTE: 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, and killing over 300.
NEWS & HEADLINES FROM ISRAELI MEDIA:
(You can learn a lot about a country from its headlines. Get a glimpse inside this country that is rife with turmoil and contradictions that receives $63 million a day from America.)
Israel Police to Provide $64 Compensation to Three Palestinians Held in an Illegal Detention Facility
The three were held at the Bnei Brak police station, which is not authorized to detain prisoners, for three days until a judge ordered their release and the disbursement of meager compensation which, at the police’s request, will be delayed for 45 days.
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Ben-Gvir’s License to Kill Israeli Democracy
If the High Court doesn’t order Itamar Ben-Gvir removed from the helm of the National Security Ministry, it will be green-lighting untrammeled policing as Israel gears up for a historic general election.
OTHER NEWS & HEADLINES:
“Australia has binding obligations under the Genocide Convention and the Rome Statute to investigate and prosecute serious international crimes … Australia has both the legal authority and responsibility to act,” according to the Australian Center for International Justice (ACIJ).
*NOTE: Experts in the field of genocide studies have declared that Israel’s actions do in fact constitute genocide. As for “proof of Israel’s intention to perpetrate genocide,” a human rights group called Law for Palestine has compiled a public database with over 500 instances of Israeli incitement to perpetrate genocide – including by Israeli president Isaac Herzog. As early as 6 weeks into the war, the New York Times reported that “Calls for Gaza to be “flattened,” “erased” or “destroyed” had been mentioned about 18,000 times since Oct. 7 in Hebrew posts on X… The cumulative effect, experts say, has been to normalize public talk of “erasing” the people of Gaza, ethnic cleansing, and the nuclear annihilation of the territory…”
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New Legal Documents Show Marco Rubio Targeted Students for Op-Eds and Protesting
Rubio accused students including Mahmoud Khalil of supporting terrorism, but records unsealed after litigation by The Intercept undermine his claims: Khalil supported Palestinian rights.
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Judge shelves inquiry into use of Israeli-made software to target ministers’ phones citing chronic lack of cooperation
ICYMI, A SELECTION OF YESTERDAY’S HEADLINES:
What we know so far about the reopening of Gaza’s Rafah crossing
Israel accused of extracting billions from Gazans to pay for their own genocide
‘If you sleep, settlers will burn your house’: fear in the West Bank
(Read yesterday’s daily update here.)
STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – JANUARY 23, 2026*:
- At least 72,762 Palestinians killed, 182,391 injured – including:
- At least 71,654** killed in Gaza (~22,000 children, 33,000 women and girls)
- At least 1,108 killed in the West Bank (~230 children)
- At least 171,391 injured in Gaza
- About 11,000 injured in the West Bank
*NOTE: Thousands of those killed in Gaza have yet to be identified, and an estimated 10,000 more are still buried under rubble. Additionally, the numbers of injured and starved are very conservative estimates. Only the dead who are brought to hospitals are included in the official fatality count.
**Note: 88 martyrs have been added to the cumulative statistics of martyrs, whose data has been completed and approved by the Martyrs’ Verification Committee, from January 16, 2026 to January 23, 2026.
Reported Israeli death toll from October 7, 2023 – January 23, 2026: ~1,661 – including ~1,139** on October 7, 2023 (~36 children), 471 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.
By one count, Israeli attacks have killed approximately 278 Palestinian journalists and media workers; Palestinians have killed 4 Israeli journalists (other groups have tallied between 215 and 332 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)
- Oppose Israel’s Abuses While You Still Can
- UNRWA Heads Tell Ha’aretz: ‘We Don’t Radicalize Palestinians – Their Lived Existence Does’
- Plans Call for “New Rafah” Built in Israel’s Image — Without Palestinians
- Posing as priest, reporter is spat at many times, highlighting anti-Christian sentiment in Israel
- Leaked Documents: “Planned Community” in Rafah Would Force Palestinians Into Israeli Panopticon
- ‘Permits of Humiliation’: How Israel Strangles Christian Education in Jerusalem
- Brutal Beatings, Arson, and Impunity: A Palestinian Plant Nursery Becomes a Target for Settler Pogroms
- On Iran’s protests, Israeli hypocrisy knows no limits
- A Cease-fire for Israelis and a War for Palestinians
- ‘When will Baba come back?’ Gaza’s widows and orphans struggle to survive
- Genocide research institute levels accusations against Germany for denying Israel’s genocide against Palestinians
- How an Israeli Firm Spreads Lies and Chaos Around the World
- ADL ‘Helping’ Ted Cruz and Ben Shapiro ‘Take Down’ Tucker Carlson and Nick Fuentes, CEO Suggests
- Israel is Destroying Hope for the Future: Reproductive Violence in Gaza
