News roundup for Sunday, August 16, 2026, Day 1,045 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, over 300 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 with organizations like the United Nations and Amnesty International, maintain that the genocide is ongoing.
A Palestinian child died Sunday from wounds sustained a day earlier, and several other Palestinians were injured in attacks on displaced families and residential areas in Khan Younis and the Nuseirat refugee camp.
The IDF should “kill 30 or 40” people in Gaza every night, Itamar Ben Gvir* said in a recent podcast. “There are people there who are not worthy of life. They shouldn’t live. They’re not even people,” the far-right national security minister added. The remarks are the latest in a long record of extreme statements from Ben-Gvir.
*NOTE: To learn about the Jewish supremacist Israeli minister Itamar Ben Gvir, read: Let’s stop pretending Ben-Gvir is not the true face of Israel
RELATED: Ben-Gvir vows to let former Gaza captive take part in executions of Palestinian prisoners
How a simple lighter has become the backbone of life in Gaza: “Our whole daily life depends on fire,” one woman told Al Jazeera. “But getting a fire started begins with a lighter and this small object has become one of the hardest things to find in Gaza.”
‘I couldn’t watch my children cry from hunger’: Inside the ‘displacement economy’ Gazans built to survive the genocide: In Gaza’s displacement camps, survival has bred a new economy: a gym owner forges weights from empty cans, a supermarket owner turns baker, a housewife becomes a street vendor — each person rebuilding a livelihood from the wreckage of genocide.
Gaza genocide: How Israel made horror a ritual of daily life: The buzzing of drones, the hunt for water, the crumbling teeth and the worn sandals reveal what casualty figures cannot convey about Israel’s ongoing slaughter.
Egypt’s Sisi meets Kushner for talks on Gaza ceasefire
WATCH: Israel releases 35 Palestinian prisoners back into Gaza: Emotional reunions greeted 35 Palestinians prisoners released by Israel into Gaza. More than 9,400 Palestinians remain imprisoned, with rights groups documenting torture, sexual violence and deliberate starvation in Israeli detention.
RELATED: ISRAELI MEDIA: Malnutrition, Illness and Death – The Routine for Palestinian Prisoners at Israel’s Megiddo Prison
DEATH TOLL – GAZA GENOCIDE (tentative):
- At least 1,264 since “ceasefire” began Oct. 11, 2025 (270 children). Children, women, and the elderly account for 35.3% of those killed and 49.1% of those wounded.
- 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.
- 73,393 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 families in West Bank’s Qusra besieged by soldiers, settlers for eighth day straight: UN representatives reportedly came to the homes with supplies for the families, who were running out of food and water. Israeli troops refused to allow a water tanker to be delivered. Settlers have cut off the town’s electricity and water, and have been attempting to set up new illegal outposts in the area for four months.
Israeli occupiers (i.e. settlers) reportedly erected tents Sunday for a new illegal settlement outpost northwest of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, in an attempt to seize Palestinian land and establish a new outpost. If the attempt succeeds, the number of illegal settlement sites in the area will rise to six.
There Is No Israeli Settlement Without Violence – Even the ‘Mainstream’ Ones: The “settlerism” that is spreading in Israel is the opposite of democracy. It preserves and intensifies violent, oppressive military rule over people who don’t have control over their own lives and aren’t allowed to vote and shape their own future.
‘Spearhead of annexation’: Israel hands West Bank rule to civilian police: Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz on Friday ordered the military to prepare a plan for transferring civilian law enforcement in the occupied West Bank to the Israeli police. Palestinian officials and a wide array of political experts warn this structural shift represents a dangerous acceleration of illegal annexation, apartheid, and ethnic cleansing.
ISRAELI MEDIA: ‘Step toward sovereignty’: Ben-Gvir praises transferring West Bank security from IDF to police: The move comes amid criticism levied at the military of its failure to control settler extremists, who in recent days have targeted Palestinian homes in the village of Kusra.
Israeli Army Invades Several West Bank Communities
Israeli Forces Abduct Palestinians Across the West Bank
Israeli Colonizers (i.e. Settlers), Soldiers, Shoot Two Palestinians, Assault Eight, In Hebron
Colonizers Escalate Attacks Across Occupied West Bank
Israel Forces Silwan Home Demolition, Evacuations
Palestinian doctor injured in attack by Israeli occupiers in West Bank
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 MEDIA: Statues smashed, crosses broken in St. Anthony’s Church in Jaffa, one suspect arrested*: According to the police, they were called on Sunday morning and informed of the incident. Police arrived at the scene to investigate and found that the church had been vandalized.
*NOTE: While the Jerusalem Post does not mention the cultural or ethnic background of the suspect, he/she was most likely Jewish. Muslims and Christians famously live in harmony in Palestine and Israel; meanwhile, Jewish Israelis have recently carried out a number of desecrations of Christian holy places and attacked people who were visibly Christian.
ISRAELI MEDIA: Smotrich outlines 10-year plan to bring 1M Jewish immigrants from North America, Europe: “We now need to take aliyah and deal with it at the same scale, the same investment, the same intensity with which we dealt with security and settlement,” said the finance minister.
ISRAELI MEDIA: Hamas? Hezbollah? Israelis Found a New Villain: Zohran Mamdani*: The Israeli media’s obsession with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is part of a much older instinct: to cast Israel’s critics as the existential enemy. It serves a purpose: vilifying critics shields Israelis from unpleasant realities.
*NOTE: NYC mayor Mamdani recently recorded a video in which he declared that Israeli PM Netanyahu is not welcome in New York because he is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes.
Ben-Gvir vows to let former Gaza captive take part in executions of Palestinian prisoners
Israel creates fake think tank in likely attempt to dupe AI chatbots
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
US oil reserves plunge to 40-year low as war on Iran strains energy supplies: President Trump said US consumers should not complain about ‘paying more’ for gasoline due to his war on Iran.
Former US lawmaker claims high-level talks underway on potential nuclear weapons use against Iran: Marjorie Taylor Greene offers no evidence for allegation, warns such escalation could trigger ‘nuclear holocaust.’
Trump Threatens to ‘Bomb the Shit Out of Oman’ if It Hampers Iran War
Report: Iran Preparing for Wider War as It Expects U.S. and Israel to Do the Same: The Wall Street Journal reports that Tehran has given the IRGC expanded control of the country’s military, while expanding its counterintelligence efforts within Iran and increasing domestic production of missiles and drones.
LEBANON
Israel escalates strikes on strategic hill near Nabatieh after attack wounds three soldiers: Following a Hezbollah operation Saturday morning that injured 3 Israeli soldiers, Israeli forces have been retaliating: on Saturday, they killed 11 civilians, including children. Sunday they intensified attacks across south Lebanon, including the Ali al-Taher hill east of the city of Nabatieh, which they have been trying unsuccessfully to capture for months. Sunday’s escalations have included phosphorous artillery shelling*.
*NOTE: Use of white phosphorus in civilian areas is considered a war crime due to its extremely dangerous effects on the human body. White phosphorus ignites instantly when in contact with oxygen. It can burn through the human body, including through bone, causing severe, excruciating damage. It can also cause extreme harm when inhaled, with risks of suffocation, cardiovascular failure, coma, death, and other lifelong effects. The substance burns at temperatures of up to 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit.
RELATED: The scars left behind by Israel’s white phosphorus in Lebanon
Israel’s ‘pilot zones’: Withdrawal on paper, continued occupation of south Lebanon: Middle East Eye visited two of the villages touted as models for Israel’s withdrawal. Residents say Israeli troops were never there to begin with.
RELATED: Israel’s ‘pilot zones’ turn Lebanese sovereignty on its head
Israeli army prepares for possible days-long escalation in Lebanon: Report: Military plans further attacks on Hezbollah infrastructure, according to Israel’s Channel 12.
DEATH TOLL – WARS ON IRAN & LEBANON (tentative):
- United States: 18 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 4,346 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 40 soldiers, 4 civilians)
MORE NEWS & HEADLINES:
AIPAC is pouring millions into a California special election against Aisha Wahab: Wahab has not been particularly vocal on Israel, and her term would last just 5 months, but AIPAC is in this race deep.
Pope renews call to end violence against Palestinians in occupied West Bank
Saudi school curriculum caves to Israel’s whitewashing demands*: The Saudi education system is reportedly continuing to soften its treatment of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in school curricula, removing what an Israeli org deems “hostile statements.” One notable change was the removal of the statement, “Muslims will not give up Jerusalem,” in a textbook, which allegedly portrayed Muslim control or presence in Jerusalem as being under threat, and that its removal eliminated a politically and religiously contentious reference to the city.
*NOTE: Israel and its partisans are quick to label speakers of inconvenient truths antisemites – then dismiss those truths. When a human rights org publishes a report stating that Israel is committing genocide or apartheid, for example, or an individual states that Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal (as Mayor Mamdani did), Israel partisans generally accuse them of spreading disinformation, being antisemitic, or peddling a blood libel. What the accusers do not do is engage with the facts in the report to show mistakes or lies – because the reports are legitimate and documented.
In this case, the Saudi textbook correctly described Muslims’ presence in Jerusalem as under Israeli threat (Christians are experiencing a similar threat).
Families of Four Sumud Flotilla* Activists Demand Release from Detention in Tunisia: The Sumud Flotilla is the Gaza-bound group of aid vessels that attempted to break the Israeli-imposed blockade on the Strip before they were intercepted by Israel. The four activists have been held in Tunis’s Mornaguia Prison for more than five months. The families pointed to official Tunisian rhetoric that considers normalization with Israel as “high treason.”
*NOTE: Read about the Gaza Flotilla missions earlier in 2026 here and here; 2025 missions here and here, and the deadly 2010 mission here; find out about the history of the global flotilla movement here.
ICYMI, A SELECTION OF YESTERDAY’S HEADLINES:
Settlers Continue to Roam West Bank Villages, Harass Palestinians Despite Massive IDF Presence
JPMorgan says Iran, Oman ‘legally justified’ to charge Hormuz navigation fees
‘Zero Aid to Israel,’ Ro Khanna Declares at Democratic National Committee Meeting
(Read yesterday’s daily update here.)
STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – August 16, 2026*:
- At least 74,578 Palestinians killed, 187,280 injured – including:
- Gaza: at least 73,393 killed (~22,000 children, 33,000 women and girls), 174,280 injured. Children, women, and the elderly account for 35.3% of those killed and 49.1% of those wounded during the “ceasefire”
- West Bank/East Jerusalem: at least 1,185 killed (~251 children) since Oct. 7, 2023, 13,000 injured
*NOTE: Thousands of remains in Gaza have yet to be identified, and as many as 15,000 more are still buried under rubble; others are reportedly missing.
Reported Israeli death toll from October 7, 2023 – August 16, 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)
- Catz Boasts Oracle is providing “scary” secret technology to the Israeli military
- How Israel invented false Iranian quote repeated by Waltz, Fox, etc
- CIA had ‘low confidence’ in Iranian threat before Trump switched planes in Turkey
- Meet the media and militiamen funded by ‘Lebanese AIPAC Guy’ pushing Beirut into Israel’s hands
- New oral history project eulogizes slain Palestinian journalists via friends’ voice notes
- Huckabee Calls Israeli Settler Siege of Palestinian Homes ‘an Act of Terror’ but Defends the Broader Settler Movement
- Research Reveals Systematic Suppression of Palestinian Digital Content Across Meta Platforms
- Controversial Israeli NGO is training U.S. sheriffs
- GOP senators not happy with Trump administration’s handling of Iran funding request
- Trump Says Lebanon Ceasefire ‘Working,’ Locals Would Beg to Differ
- The faces of the West Bank town of Tuba
- The Most Important Book of 2026: Clifton and Lustick’s “Israel’s Lobby”
- In West Bank Christian Village, a New Israeli Order Enables Settler Attacks While Claiming to Prevent Them
- Two girls shot in Gaza – BBC pieces together what happened and looks at dozens more child shootings
