Compilation of news reports – IAK staff
ISRAEL-US WAR ON IRAN – NEWS & HEADLINES:
Why is If Americans Knew covering the war on Iran? It can not be overemphasized that Israel has been the impetus behind US policies and actions vis-a-vis Iran for years. This is especially true right now, under Donald Trump. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has been pushing the US to attack Iran for decades.
The American people have made clear that they do not want to go to 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.”
IRGC declares US, Israel-linked universities ‘legitimate targets’ after strikes on Iran’s campuses: IRGC warns that since Iranian universities were targeted, the eleven Israeli and American universities in West Asia are considered targets.
Iran warns of potential strikes on industrial sites in Israel, Gulf states: After Israeli-US airstrikes hit two of Iran’s largest steel factories on Saturday, Iran on Sunday published a list of industrial facilities in Israel and five Gulf countries that could be targeted in potential attacks.
Iran warns US ‘secretly plotting’ ground war while feigning diplomacy: Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Ghalibaf said, “The enemy publicly sends messages of negotiation and dialogue while secretly planning a ground attack.” Tehran is said to be mobilizing one million soldiers for a possible US ground invasion.
The report comes as an expeditionary force of 2,500 US Marines, accompanied by 2,500 sailors, arrived in the Middle East on Sunday aboard the USS Tripoli amphibious ready group, according to The New York Times.
Tel Aviv, Washington discuss potential establishment of bases in Israel: The Israeli proposal includes relocation of American bases from other areas in Middle East into Israel. No final decision has been made. More here.
RELATED: Report: Many Middle East US Bases “All But Uninhabitable” Due to Iran Strikes
Israel Is Dropping 2,000-Pound Bombs on Densely-Populated Tehran, Reports Say
DEATH TOLL – WAR ON IRAN (tentative):
- United States: 13
- Israel: 22
- Iran: at least 3,486 (1,568 civilian, 1,211 military, 707 unclassified)
- Other Arab states (including Palestine), at least 128
ISRAEL’S WAR ON LEBANON – NEWS & HEADLINES:
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 over 300. 80,000 residents remain displaced and unable to return home.
Additionally, Israel continues to occupy five Lebanese hilltops seized during the latest war, and other Lebanese areas it has held for decades. (Read about UNIFIL, the UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, here.)
Israeli artillery strike hits UN peacekeepers’ headquarters in south Lebanon, several injured
Netanyahu orders military to expand invasion of southern Lebanon
DEATH TOLL – WAR ON LEBANON (tentative):
- In Lebanon, at least 1,189 people have been killed (124 children and 86 women, 53 healthcare workers).
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.
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 893rd day.
Officers, Girl, Among Eight Killed In Israeli Strikes in Khan Younis: On Sunday, Israeli airstrikes targeting areas near two police posts and another location in Khan Younis in southern Gaza killed eight Palestinians, including a girl, and wounded four others, according to updated reports from medical sources in Gaza. The strike reportedly hit two police checkpoints in the al‑Mawasi area of western Khan Younis, Killing six Palestinians, including the girl and three police officers. Two others were killed as well.
DEATH TOLL – GAZA GENOCIDE (tentative):
- At least 692 since ceasefire began Oct. 11, 2025
- At least 72,268 killed (~22,000 children, 33,000 women and girls) since Oct. 7, 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.)
Netanyahu says Latin Patriarch can ‘hold services as he wishes’: After police barred the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, from holding Palm Sunday mass, Israeli PM Netanyahu claimed, “Out of special concern for his safety, Cardinal Pizzaballa was asked to refrain from holding mass,” adding that he had reversed the decision and ordered that the patriarch be allowed to conduct services “as he wishes.”
Religious leaders in the region consider the closure “unjustified and politically motivated.”
Sunday Dawn Invasions and Abductions in the West Bank
Israeli Soldiers and Paramilitary Forces Continue West Bank Escalation Throughout Sunday
DEATH TOLL – WEST BANK (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 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.)
EXPLAINER: What Does Israel’s Final Vote on Death Penalty for Palestinians* Mean? Israel is poised to finalize a law institutionalizing the execution of Palestinians, in a move widely condemned as discriminatory, unlawful, and a dangerous escalation of occupation rule.
*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, Israeli human rights groups B’Tselem and Yesh Din , the International Court of Justice, and more.
Knesset approves 2026 budget, Israel’s largest ever, sending billions to Haredi* institutions: Coalition votes at 11th hour, avoiding early elections, after marathon filibuster; $271 billion wartime budget includes boost to defense spending; voting interrupted by missile sirens.
*NOTE: To read about Haredi exceptionalism, go here.
High Court orders freeze to proactive monitoring by Ben Gvir’s new ‘anti-incitement’ body: Ruling comes amid reports that new police department established under minister illicitly tracks ordinary citizens’ social media activity without concrete suspicions.
IDF Suspends* Reserve Battalion Whose Soldiers Detained CNN Crew in West Bank: The move comes after soldiers from the Netzah Yehuda reserve battalion detained a CNN crew at gunpoint near Tayasir. The unit, who openly endorsed extreme settler actions, will remain in reserve while undergoing ethics and professional retraining, the military said.
*NOTE: In most cases, when Israeli soldiers beat and/or detain innocent people, there are no repercussions. Often, even foreigners are treated poorly. In this case, however, the victims were a CNN team, headed by a well-known Hebrew-speaking journalist.
Israeli Support for Iran War Wanes After Early Enthusiasm, Poll Shows: The share of Israeli Jews who say they ‘somewhat’ or ‘strongly’ oppose the war has almost tripled – from 4 percent in the previous two polls to 11.5 percent.
Japanese atomic bomb survivors send letters to US, Israel urging peace amid Iran war: The letter, which called for an immediate ceasefire and condemned the attacks as outrageous, was sent earlier this month to embassies of the US and Israel, condemning their attacks on Iran. The Israeli Embassy in Tokyo reportedly refused to accept the letter co-signed by four atomic bomb survivor groups.
Israel says its forces cross from Syria’s Golan Heights into southern Lebanon* for ‘targeted operation’: The troops reportedly conducted reconnaissance and intelligence gathering, and worked to locate what the army described as enemy infrastructure.
*NOTE: Israeli military operations crossing from Syria into Lebanon, are considered violations of international law and UN Security Council Resolution 1701 by observers. These actions, involving troop movements through disputed (Golan Heights) or sovereign (Lebanon) territory, are often reported by UNIFIL as violations.
MORE NEWS & HEADLINES:
Pope apparently rebukes Pete Hegseth in remarks about leaders with ‘hands full of blood’: Pope Leo said during Palm Sunday mass that God ignores the prayers of leaders who wage war and have “hands full of blood” – just days after US defense secretary Pete Hegseth prayed for violence against enemies who deserved “no mercy.”
ICYMI, A SELECTION OF YESTERDAY’S HEADLINES:
One month of Iran war: Trillions wiped out as global markets slide
3 Journalists, 9 paramedics killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon
Israel kills three in latest Gaza ceasefire violations
Palestinian Journalist Dies in Israeli Prison
(Read yesterday’s daily update here.)
STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – MARCH 29, 2026*:
- At least 73,411 Palestinians killed, 183,695 injured – including:
- At least 72,268 killed (~22,000 children, 33,000 women and girls), 171,995 injured in Gaza
- At least 1,143 killed (~232 children), 11,700 injured in the West Bank
*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 – March 29, 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 conflict with Lebanon or the war with Iran).
By one count, Israeli attacks have killed approximately 282 Palestinian journalists and media workers (most recent March 9, 2026); Palestinians have killed 4 Israeli journalists (other groups have tallied between 215 and 351 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)
- Israeli police block Catholic cardinal from entering Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Palm Sunday
- Researchers at Human Rights Watch Resign Over Blocked Report on Palestinian Refugee Return
- Jewish Groups Are Backing a War Americans Don’t Want
- Eric Fingerhut Thinks He’s the President of the Jews
- Top Jewish Philanthropists, Rabbis Urge Israeli President to Take Action Against ‘Jewish Extremists’
- Don’t Be Fooled. Zionist Leaders Have Always Wanted to Control Southern Lebanon
- Israel’s widespread use of torture is a core element of its genocide against the Palestinian people
- In Israel’s War on Iran, Many Middle East US Bases Rendered “All But Uninhabitable”
- ‘Burn the lawn’: Israel pursues ‘Rafah model’ in southern Lebanon
- A genocide here, an amputation there
- ‘No Innocent Children’: Far-right Israeli Lawmaker Defends Killing of Palestinian Family
- Mossad’s promises helped Netanyahu convince Trump that Iran could be toppled
- US Arms Control Official Refuses To Comment When Asked If Israel Has Nuclear Weapons
- Veterans warn US landing could be ‘more Gallipoli than Vietnam’
