Compilation of news reports – IAK staff
Israeli forces killed at least 89 Palestinians in Gaza on Friday, including 6 aid seekers. In total, Israel has killed at least 2,603 aid seekers since the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation opened on May 27, 2025 (learn about aid seekers here).
The number of known starvation/malnutrition deaths stands at 459, including 154 children.
(NOTE: 720 martyrs have been added to the cumulative statistics of martyrs, whose data has been completed and approved by the Judicial Committee following up on the Reports and Missing Persons file.)
Additional statistics below. For detail on Israeli attacks in Gaza on Friday, go here.
CEASEFIRE NEWS & HEADLINES:
Hamas agrees to release hostages but rejects foreign governorship of Gaza
Hamas agreed to release all Israeli captives held in Gaza on Friday, after what it described as “in-depth consultations” with leadership ranks, Palestinian factions and mediators
“The movement announces its agreement to release all Israeli prisoners, both living and dead, according to the exchange formula contained in President Trump’s proposal, provided the field conditions for the exchange are met,” Hamas said in a statement.
“In this context, the movement affirms its readiness to immediately enter into negotiations through the mediators to discuss the details of this. The movement also renews its agreement to hand over the administration of the Gaza Strip to a Palestinian body of independents (technocrats), based on Palestinian national consensus and Arab and Islamic support,” the group added.
Trump, on his TruthSocial account, responded, “Based on the Statement just issued by Hamas, I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE. Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly!” (continue reading here)
For more details on Hamas’ partial, conditional approval, read:
Hamas just accepted Trump’s ‘peace’ plan. Here’s what it didn’t accept.
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Israel says Gaza City still a ‘combat zone’ after Trump says ‘stop bombing’
The Israeli military has warned Palestinians that Gaza’s north remains a “combat zone”, telling its residents to move south, after United States President Donald Trump demanded Israel “stop bombing” the enclave when Hamas partially accepted his ceasefire plan.
In a statement on X, the Israeli army said on Saturday that the area north of Wadi Gaza, which includes decimated Gaza City, is “still considered a dangerous combat zone” and called on residents there to move south via Rashid Street, the coastal route. It added that Israeli forces continue to surround Gaza City and “attempts to return there pose a significant risk” (continue reading here).
CEASEFIRE HEADLINES:
Why the Trump-Blair Gaza plan is unlawful
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.)
Is Israel planning large-scale massacres in Gaza City?
UNRWA warned that statements by Israel officials labeling the roughly 250,000 civilians [some sources put the number much higher] remaining in Gaza City and northern Gaza as “terrorists or terror supporters” suggest Israel may be planning large-scale massacres.
Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini condemned the rhetoric, saying it amounts to intent to kill “women, children, elderly and vulnerable people unable to move out.” On October 1, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said, “This is the last opportunity for Gaza residents who wish to do so to move south. Those who remain in Gaza will be considered terrorists and terror supporters.”
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‘Our children are wasting away before our eyes’: starvation deaths on the rise in Gaza as famine continues
While the Gaza Strip requires 600 trucks of aid daily, the actual number entering through all the crossings ranges between 10 to 80 per day, with the number fluctuating constantly. This amount rarely surpasses meeting 14% of the population’s needs, a level that the Israeli army has maintained since it first began allowing aid into the Strip.
“As the starvation policy pursued by the Israeli occupation continued, recent months saw the crisis reach its peak,” said a spokesperson for the Health Ministry. “We’re now in the most difficult stage to date.”
Dr. Dagran warned that if the blockade of Gaza continues, “we will witness catastrophic levels of starvation and malnutrition” (continue reading here).
Palestinian agency says water supply resumes in central Gaza
The Ramallah-based Palestinian Water Authority said Friday that running water would return to central Gaza after damage to supply lines caused by Israel’s attacks on the territory cut off access for over nine months.
The authority said that during a trial, its teams restored flows to communities hooked up to the water main, encompassing nearly one million people living or displaced in Al-Maghazi, Al-Bureij, Nuseirat and Deir Al-Balah.
“We repair, but we don’t know when it will be destroyed again,” a UN source said (continue reading here).
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Gaza has become journalism’s graveyard. Killing journalists is killing the truth
Never before Gaza has the profession of journalism seen such a massacre in its ranks. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has recorded no comparable death toll since its formation 99 years ago.
In this context, the recognition of the state of Palestine by a growing number of countries comes too late. It does not protect the living or bring justice to the dead. Diplomacy is catching up with history, but only after the irreparable has been done.
For several years now, IFJ has been calling for an international UN convention that would oblige states to protect journalists and punish their killers. Until such a convention exists, impunity will prevail and protect the Israeli leaders responsible for these crimes.
Israel kills journalists. Killing journalists is killing the truth. And a world without truth is a world where executioners reign supreme (continue reading here).
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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 Sumud Flotilla from Al Jazeera here.)
As Israeli forces on Friday captured the last remaining vessel from the Global Sumud Flotilla that aimed to break Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip and deliver humanitarian aid, another group of boats was headed for the Palestinian territory.
The 11 vessels, most of which started sailing last week, are “carrying over 150 healthcare workers, journalists, and activists,” according to organizers, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) and Thousand Madleens to Gaza.
“As journalists and medical professionals, we carry the responsibility to speak truth and preserve life,” said Dr. Ricardo Corradini, a general surgeon from Italy, in a statement. “This mission is an appeal to our colleagues—and to the institutions that represent us globally—to break their silence, uphold their ethics, and stand on the right side of history” (continue reading here).
Israel arrests more than 20 journalists on Gaza flotilla
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has condemned Israel’s detention of more than 20 foreign journalists, who were among hundreds of activists seized from vessels in a Gaza-bound aid flotilla.
The journalists were arrested between Wednesday and Thursday when the Israeli navy began intercepting the boats ferrying politicians and activists towards Gaza, RSF said.
“Arresting journalists and preventing them from doing their work is a serious violation of the right to inform and be informed,” said Martin Roux, head of the group’s crisis desk. “RSF condemns the illegal arrest of the news professionals who were on board these ships to cover a humanitarian operation of unprecedented scale.”
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Netanyahu ordered drone attacks on Gaza-bound humanitarian aid boats off Tunisia, sources say
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly approved military operations on two vessels early last month that were part of a Gaza-bound flotilla carrying aid and pro-Palestinian supporters, including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, CBS News has learned.
Two American intelligence officials briefed on the matter told CBS News that Israeli forces on Sept. 8 and 9 launched drones from a submarine and dropped incendiary devices onto the boats that were moored outside the Tunisian port of Sidi Bou Said, causing a fire. The officials spoke under the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on national security matters.
Under international humanitarian law and the law of armed conflict, the use of incendiary weapons against a civilian population or civilian objects is prohibited in all circumstances (continue reading here).
FLOTILLA HEADLINES:
Israel forces Global Sumud Flotilla activists to kneel, zip-tied for hours after attack, says rights group
Global Sumud Flotilla detainees launch indefinite hunger strike following Israeli illegal attack on vessels
Italy paralyzed by general strike observed in solidarity with Gaza flotilla
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.)
Army Abducts Mother And Brother of Slain Palestinian In Ramallah
ISRAEL HEADLINES:
(Get a glimpse inside Israel and the turmoil and contradictions within the country. Often, our news items and headlines are taken from Israeli media.)
Israeli army drops grenades near UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon
HERE’S WHAT ISRAELIS ARE READING:
With a Little Help From Trump, Netanyahu Is Leading Israel to Catastrophe
OTHER NEWS & HEADLINES:
New poll shows strong Democratic voter support for US sanctions on Israel
Over 300 Dutch, Belgian cultural institutions launch boycott of Israel
Majority of Germans support EU sanctions on Israel to stop genocide in Gaza
ICYMI (IN CASE YOU MISSED IT) – A SELECTION OF YESTERDAY’S HEADLINES:
Newborn dies and three premature infants evacuated from Gaza City hospital to the southern Strip
More than 10,000 children in Gaza have ‘life-changing’ injuries: WHO
German weapons giant acts as sales rep for Israel’s “suicide drones”
(Read yesterday’s daily update here.)
TAKE ACTION FOR GAZA
If Americans Knew has prepared a whole set of resources for educating and informing the public on the situation in Gaza: short videos, statistics, links, and downloadable flyers that you can print and hand out.
Watch this introductory video, and visit the website. Then pitch in to make a difference!
STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – OCTOBER 3, 2025*:
- At least 68,123 Palestinians killed, 179,430 injured – including:
- at least 67,074 killed in Gaza (~20,000 children)
(Note: 720 martyrs have been added to the cumulative statistics of martyrs, whose data has been completed and approved by the Judicial Committee following up on the Reports and Missing Persons file.)
- at least 1,049 killed in the West Bank (~212 children)
- at least 169,430 injured in Gaza
- more than 10,000 injured in the West Bank
- at least 459 have died from malnutrition in Gaza, including 154 children
At least 2,603 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 unilaterally broke the January ceasefire on March 18, 2025, it has killed at least 13,486 people. 65 Israeli soldiers (most recent Sept. 28) 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 – October 3, 2025: ~1,658 – including ~1,139 on October 7, 2023 (~36 children), 466 military forces since the ground invasion began in Gaza, about 52 military and civilians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Israel.
By one count, Israeli attacks have killed approximately 270 Palestinian journalists and media workers; Palestinians have killed 4 Israeli journalists (other groups have tallied between 203 and 323 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)
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