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 860th day.)
A 27‑year‑old Palestinian woman was killed on Sunday in Beit Lahia, while a child died after being repeatedly denied medical evacuation for treatment, in the midst of ongoing Israeli violations of the ceasefire.
Since the “ceasefire” began on October 11, Israel has killed at least 614 Palestinians. Over 1,640 have been injured. Death toll figures are tentative.
Israel has so far violated the 11 October ceasefire deal in Gaza at least 1,620 times (as of Feb. 1, 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.)
Average of five Palestinians killed by Israel every day in Gaza since ceasefire
The victims include 197 children, 85 women and 22 elderly people, representing 47.2 percent of the total fatalities.
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WATCH: Massive destruction in Beit Lahia, north of the Gaza Strip
مشاهد تكشف حجم الدمار الكبير الذي لحق بالمباني والبنية التحتية في بيت لاهيا شمال قطاع غزة نتيجة العدوان الإسرائيلي pic.twitter.com/yM2FPZylpn
— أنس الشريف Anas Al-Sharif (@AnasAlSharif0) February 22, 2026
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.)
Over 100 Palestinians arrested by Israel in West Bank since start of Ramadan, rights group says
The arrests were marked by “severe beating, organized acts of terrorism against detainees and their families, along with widespread sabotage and destruction of citizens’ homes, and confiscation of vehicles, money, and gold jewelry,” the Palestinian Prisoner Society said. Ramadan began on Wednesday.
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Dozens of illegal Israeli settlers storm Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque* on 5th day of Ramadan
Illegal settlers reportedly entered the flashpoint site and performed Talmudic and provocative rituals in the mosque courtyards under the protection of Israeli police.
*NOTE: Anyone can visit the Al Aqsa Mosque grounds, but only Muslims are allowed to pray there, according to an understanding known as the ‘status quo agreement,’ under which, since 1967, Israel has formally pledged to allow Muslims to pray at the site, while Jews pray at the Western Wall below.
In practice, however, restrictions have steadily eroded, particularly since 2023 (after extremist Itamar Ben Gvir became Minister of National Security). Many Palestinians fear this erosion will lead to open conflict.
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ALL IN A DAY’S WORK: MORE ISRAELI OCCUPATION ACTIONS ON SUNDAY:
Israeli Colonizer Attacks Escalate Across the Occupied 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 prison authorities prevent Palestinian prisoners* from Ramadan fasting at the proper time
Prison authorities refuse to alert detainees about times of dawn and sunset prayers to start and break fast, lawyer says.
*NOTE: The vast majority of the 9,000+ Palestinians being held in Israeli prisons are political prisoners; a growing number are children. Nearly 3,400 are administrative detainees, being kept behind bars without charge, trial, or access to a lawyer. Administrative detention is intended to be used only in “exceptional” circumstances, but Israel uses it widely. (Read more here.)
Israeli prisons regularly use torture (and have done so for over 50 years). The Palestinian detainee death toll since October 2023 is around 100, some of whom have not been identified.
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The Billionaires Securing Netanyahu’s Control Over Israeli Media*
The battle over Channel 13 reveals how Netanyahu has for years recruited foreign tycoons to help him reshape the media and kill critical coverage and journalistic independence.
*NOTE: A similar phenomenon is happening in the US: pro-Israel billionaires are securing control over American media and suppressing pro-Palestine voices.
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Hezbollah warns ‘no options left but resistance’ after deadly Israeli strikes on Lebanon*
A Hezbollah spokesperson on Saturday, referred to Israel’s recent killing of at least 12 in Lebanon as “a new massacre and a new aggression,” adding, “What option do we have left to defend ourselves and our country? What other option do we have besides resistance? We no longer have any option,” he added.
*NOTE: As IAK has pointed out for months, 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. Now Hezbollah – militia and political party in Lebanon – has had enough, and is threatening to fight back.
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’s Denial of the Widespread Killing in Gaza Was a Strategic Choice
The one who controls the numbers also controls the narrative that the war creates. The war in the Gaza Strip is no exception in this regard. Maintaining popular support for the war required obscuring the moral price.
This is sometimes called “strategic ignorance.” Stressing the unreliability of numerical estimates turned ambiguity into an asset for people who wanted to justify the war. In this way, discussion was diverted from the moral question to the technical one of how the dead were counted.
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Conversations with foreign diplomats suggest many recognize Israel’s concrete steps to displace Palestinians and annex their land. But with their main priority being to keep Netanyahu moving forward with Trump-led efforts to rebuild Gaza, they are less inclined to press him over the West Bank.
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In [Palestinian] Area C*, Faster Demolitions Clear the Way for Jewish Expansion
With most of the West Bank closed to Palestinian development, residents build without permits – while demolitions, settler violence and land policy shifts expand Jewish construction.
In Area C, any new Palestinian structure, electricity pole, or water pipe requires a permit from the Civil Administration – a permit that is almost never granted. Between 2009 and 2020, for example, the Civil Administration issued only 66 building permits to Palestinians, while 22,000 permits were issued to Jewish citizens.
*NOTE: Contrary to Amb. Mike Huckabee’s statement (“Area C is Israel”), Area C of the West Bank is part of the occupied Palestinian Territories – that is, the State of Palestine in the eyes of 80% of United Nations countries. Area C, which includes over 60% of the West Bank, is under full Israeli administration in what was meant in 1995 to be a temporary arrangement. This has forced Palestinians to build “illegally,” which has led to rampant demolition of Palestinian structures by Israeli forces.
To learn more about Areas A, B, and C, go here. For more on home demolitions, go here.
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‘Reoccupying what is already ours’: Far-right minister raises Israeli flag in West Bank
Far-right Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu raised an Israeli flag on a West Bank mountain summit, calling it a symbolic step showing Israel “reoccupying” the West Bank and vowing to use it for religious observance.
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At the Western Wall, Netanyahu’s Coalition Criminalizes Jewish Pluralism
Last week, the Supreme Court ordered the government to implement a 2017 decision to expand the egalitarian prayer space [mixing of the sexes and acceptance of non-Orthodox Jewish prayer] at the Western Wall. In response, as a favor to Netanyahu’s extremist coalition, the Knesset will vote on a bill to give the Chief Rabbinate complete authority over all parts of the Western Wall. [The Chief Rabbinate is Orthodox, but just 13% of Israeli Jews are Orthodox.]
That would effectively turn egalitarian and pluralistic prayer there into a criminal offense bearing a maximum sentence of seven years in jail.
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West Bank Mosque Torched in Suspected Settler* Attack
Last week, Israeli settlers shot and beat a 19-year-old Palestinian-American, who died the next day. As of January, the Israeli military had recorded a total of 1,720 settler attacks on Palestinians since October 7, 2023.
*NOTE: Israel has built around 280 settlements and 256 settlement outposts, home to more than 700,000 illegal settlers, on Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. Some settler groups have a history of violence against Palestinians, often with the assistance of Israeli military forces – a phenomenon that has grown significantly worse since October 7th, 2023.
In a landmark advisory opinion on July 19, 2024, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian land “illegal” and demanded the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Learn more about Israeli settler violence here and here.
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US avoids condemning* settler killing of Palestinian-American in armed West Bank attack
Asked for comment on killing of 19-year-old Nasrallah Abu Siam in settler attack, US State Department says it has ‘no higher priority’ than safety of Americans, and is ‘monitoring’ the situation.
*NOTE: When Palestinian-Americans are killed in Israel, the US government consistently has little or no response, giving Israel the benefit of the doubt or the opportunity to whitewash the incident.
OTHER NEWS & HEADLINES:
The Carlson-Huckabee interview may be the wake-up call Americans needed*
The interview between prominent American conservative journalist Tucker Carlson and US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has highlighted — perhaps more than any other political or media spectacle — the growing suspicion that American officials may be more loyal to a foreign country than they are to the US. This may well turn out to be a defining moment for how Americans view their government’s relationship with Israel.
*NOTE: For years, the pro-Israel lobby has had a tight grip on Congress and Western mainstream media. The most powerful lobbying group is AIPAC, the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee, which by law should be registered as a foreign agent. AIPAC is on a mission to keep Congress filled with the best pro-Israel legislators that money can buy. The group “babysits” each Congress member that has accepted AIPAC donations, to make sure they vote for any bill that helps Israel.
Public opinion in the U.S. is shifting away from support for Israel but few politicians seem to notice, choosing to obey their babysitter, instead of their constituents.
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14 countries condemn US envoy’s remarks on Israeli control over Arab lands
US envoy to Israel argues Israel has ‘biblical right’ to land stretching from Nile to Euphrates rivers, saying ‘It would be fine if they took it all.’
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US senator urges probe after Palestinian-American* teen killed in West Bank
US senator Chris van Hollen has spoken up following an Israeli settler’s killing of 19-year-old Palestinian-American Nasrallah Abu Siyam last week in the occupied West Bank: “State Department leaders often say their first priority is the safety of US citizens abroad, and yet they fail repeatedly to uphold that commitment when it comes to US citizens harmed or killed in the West Bank,” adding, “I have serious concerns about this latest killing of a 19-year-old Palestinian-American. When a US citizen is killed abroad, there must be an impartial investigation and accountability.”
*NOTE: When Palestinian-Americans are killed by Israeli forces or settlers, the US government consistently has little or no response, giving Israel the benefit of the doubt or the opportunity to whitewash the incident. For more on this, read No Protection, No Justice: US Citizens Killed with Impunity by Israel.
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US Envoy Witkoff says [nonsensically] Iran could be ‘a week away*’ from enriching uranium to weapons grade
US President Donald Trump’s Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff reportedly said Saturday that Iran could be about “a week away” from producing industrial-grade bomb-making material, calling the situation “very dangerous” and reiterating Washington’s red lines in ongoing nuclear talks.
*NOTE: Even the Israeli news outlet The Jerusalem Post called out Witkoff’s nonsense. Witkoff’s rhetoric mirrors that of Israeli PM Netanyahu – for 33 years:
NOTABLE QUOTE: “Free Palestine from now until the end of the world”
Syrian-Palestinian filmmaker Abdallah Al-Khatib’s acceptance speech at the Berlinale film awards ceremony:
View this post on Instagram
ICYMI, A SELECTION OF YESTERDAY’S HEADLINES:
Farmers in Gaza risk Israeli bullets to bring their fields back to life
(Read yesterday’s daily update here.)
STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – FEBRUARY 22, 2026*:
- At least 73,189 Palestinians killed, 182,741 injured – including:
- At least 72,072 killed in Gaza (~22,000 children, 33,000 women and girls)
- At least 1,117 killed in the West Bank (~230 children)
- At least 171,741 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 8,000 more are still buried under rubble; 3,000 more are reportedly missing, with no information about their fate.
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.
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.
Reported Israeli death toll from October 7, 2023 – February 22, 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.
By one count, Israeli attacks have killed approximately 281 Palestinian journalists and media workers (as of Jan. 21, 2026); Palestinians have killed 4 Israeli journalists (other groups have tallied between 215 and 333 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)
- ‘Christians Out’: Jerusalem Church Tagged With Hate Graffiti, Police Investigating
- Israeli Settlers Kill American Teen
- ‘We returned from hell’: Palestinian journalists recount torture in Israeli prisons
- Tucker Carlson interrogated in Israel, has passport seized after interviewing US ambassador
- 6,000 Amputees in Gaza Face Impossible Recovery amid Israeli War Ultimatum
- Compliant aid: Who are the Israel-approved NGOs scaling up in Gaza?
- Israel’s Favorite American President
- Israel’s “Yellow Line” Is a Death Trap for Palestinians. We Drove Into It.
- Why Israel’s expanding occupation in Syria presents a critical legal test
- Gaza is not a natural disaster. It is the victim of genocide enabled by global inaction
- Netanyahu’s plan to “end” US aid to Israel is to give even more money under a different name
- Noor’s short life of unimaginable suffering
- Israel Destroyed Gaza’s Hospitals. Now It’s Banning Doctors Without Borders.
- Is Spite of What Zionists Say, It’s a Good Thing to Criticize Governments
