Compilation of news reports – IAK staff
Israeli assaults on Gaza Monday killed at least 22 Palestinians.
Human rights advocates in the United States and around the world on Monday condemned outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden for continuing to fuel Israel’s genocidal assault on the Gaza Strip with a pending $8 billion weapons package.
Since Axois revealed late Friday that his administration had notified Congress of the deal, Biden has faced a fresh flood of outrage, with critics calling the president “morally bankrupt” and his decision to keep arming Israel “willful madness.”
“Too many kids still alive in Gaza for Joe Biden’s liking,” Yousef Munayyer, a Palestinian American political analyst, said on social media. “This is an administration of cowards and criminals and will go down as a historic worst.”
Two men who resigned from the Biden administration over U.S. support for Israel’s assault on Gaza—which has killed at least 45,854 Palestinians and led to a genocide case at the International Court of Justice—shared sharp critiques on Monday.
“The Biden administration is ending its tenure as it has acted throughout it,” said ex-U.S. State Department official Josh Paul, “with a complete disregard for Palestinian humanity, American laws, and American interests.”
“Americans continue to struggle here at home, so the notion that the Biden administration would push another $8 billion in weapons to Israel on the backs of American [taxpayers] demonstrates how unmoored this administration has become from its values and its commitments to the American people,” said former Education Department official Tariq Habash. “The precedent set by the Biden administration will surely haunt our nation for many years to come” (continue reading here).
Scores of advocacy groups on Monday published a joint open letter decrying proposed U.S. legislation targeting the International Criminal Court with sanctions in retaliation for the tribunal’s recent issuance of arrest warrants for Israeli leaders accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
The Washington Working Group on the International Criminal Court published the letter—which has been signed by over 80 groups as of Monday afternoon—stressing that “the ICC performs a vital role in international affairs by investigating the worst international crimes that shock the collective conscience of humanity and investigating those accused of committing those crimes.”
“It does so in a manner that protects the due process rights of the accused, the sovereignty of states, including the United States, and the rights of victims,” the letter asserts. “As has been widely observed, supporting the work of the court is in the interest of the United States, and sanctioning it, conversely, undermines important U.S. interests.”
“The positive role of the ICC has been recognized through previous bipartisan support for investigations into war crimes allegedly perpetrated by Russian officials in the Ukraine conflict… attempts to bring justice for the victims of gross human rights violations in Myanmar, and as a pathway to accountability for perpetrators of atrocities in Sudan,” the letter adds.
On Friday far-right Congressmen Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Brian Mast (R-Fla.) introduced H.R. 23, the Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act, which would “impose sanctions with respect to the International Criminal Court engaged in any effort to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute any protected person of the United States and its allies” (continue reading here).
The decision to include the measure in the Rules package – the first piece of legislation of the new session – is not without its opponents. Congressman Thomas Massie (R-Ky) dissented on X: “The United States is a sovereign country, so I don’t assign any credibility to decisions of the International Criminal Court. But how did a bill to protect Netanyahu make it into the House rules package to be voted on immediately after the Speaker vote? Where are our priorities?!”
It is important to note that the package cannot be voted on until House leadership appoints the committee, which may come with additional challenges. Reports indicate that the appointments will likely happen by this Friday.
World Food Program condemns Israeli attack on its convoy in Gaza
The United Nations’ World Food Program (WFP) says that Israeli forces opened fire on its convoy in Gaza yesterday in an incident it described as “horrifying”.
The agency said that its convoy of three vehicles carrying eight staff members was struck by 16 bullets near the Wadi Gaza checkpoint, causing no injuries.
The convoy was clearly marked and had received prior security clearances from Israeli authorities, a WFP statement said.
The Israeli army has attacked aid convoys in the Gaza Strip numerous times, causing deaths. The most recent incident came last month, when an attack on Palestinian security guards escorting an aid shipment killed at least 12 people and injured dozens.
Hamas says it’s ready to free 34 captives under ceasefire deal, reports say
Hamas has said it is ready to release 34 captives as part of a ceasefire deal with Israel, the Reuters and AFP news agencies have reported, citing an official with the Palestinian group.
The Palestinian group, which governs the Gaza Strip, has approved the release of the captives “as part of the first phase of a prisoner exchange deal”, the AFP reported on Sunday, citing an unnamed Hamas official.
The initial swap would include all women, children, elderly people and sick captives being held in Gaza, the AFP reported the official as saying.
Reuters cited an unnamed Hamas official as saying a ceasefire deal would depend on Israel agreeing to a permanent ceasefire and its withdrawal from Gaza.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that Hamas had not shared details of the 34 captives with them.
Israeli army admits ambulance use in West Bank raid
Jenin homes on fire amid ongoing Palestinian Authority raid
Multiple videos circulating online, which have been verified by Al Jazeera, show smoke rising over an area of Jenin amid the ongoing military operation by the Palestinian Authority (PA).
Several homes appear to have been affected as the PA carries on with its crackdown on the Jenin Brigade of armed factions.
The PA has banned Al Jazeera from the occupied West Bank and also ordered the closure of several Al Jazeera websites.
PA suppresses criticism of Jenin operation in West Bank
The Palestinian Authority’s (PA) ban on Al Jazeera is part of a broader attempt to silence criticism of its security operation in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, activists and analysts say.
The ban came almost a month after the PA launched a crackdown on a coalition of armed groups that call themselves the Jenin Brigades. The groups are affiliated with Palestinian factions such as Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and even Fatah, the party that controls the PA.
Since early December, the PA has besieged the Jenin camp and cut off water and electricity to most of its residents in an ostensible attempt to restore “law and order” across the West Bank.
However, its indiscriminate tactics in Jenin coincide with a wider attack on free speech, activists and human rights groups told Al Jazeera (continue reading here).
Israeli soldiers abroad targeted by dozens of criminal complaints over Gaza genocide
Pro-Palestine organizations have filed at least 50 criminal complaints in courts around the world targeting Israeli soldiers for their role in Tel Aviv’s ethnic cleansing campaign in Gaza, according to reports in Hebrew media.
“About 50 complaints have been filed against reserve soldiers, 10 of which have been investigated without any arrests recorded so far,” Israeli Broadcasting Corporation (KAN) reported on 6 January.
Hours after the news was broadcast, Israeli news outlet Yedioth Ahronoth revealed that the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) filed a new complaint against an Israeli soldier vacationing in Thailand. “The Palestinian foundation was looking for legal representation to represent it in complaints of war crimes in Thailand’s courts,” the Israeli daily reports.
According to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, authorities are aware “of at least 12 cases” in which complaints have been filed against Israeli soldiers on leave after serving in Gaza. “Such complaints have been filed in Brazil, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Belgium, the Netherlands, Serbia, Ireland, and Cyprus,” Israeli media reported, with other statements adding South Africa, Morocco, and France to the list.
Netanyahu approves new ‘offensive and defensive’ operations in occupied West Bank
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced that he approved a series of additional military operations in the West Bank.
According to Netanyahu’s office, these operations include “additional offensive and defensive measures” in the West Bank, as well as arresting perpetrators of operations against Israel and bringing them to justice.
Earlier today, Netanyahu vowed to liquidate those responsible for killing three Jewish settlers in the West Bank earlier on Monday.
“We will reach the killers, settle our accounts with them and with those who helped them, and no one will escape from us,” Netanyahu stated.
Israel’s national broadcaster Kan reports the Israeli military will be immediately accelerating work to build a bypass road around the Palestinian village of Funduq in the occupied West Bank.
This will happen starting tomorrow [Tuesday], and there will be a “permanent military presence along the route” in the coming weeks, it cited an unnamed military source as saying.
‘Nablus and Jenin should look like Jabaliya’, Israeli minister says
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says “[the village of] Funduq, Nablus and Jenin should look like Jabalia, so that Kfar Saba does not become Kfar Aza, God forbid”, referring to a town in central Israel and a community near Gaza that was affected in the October 7, 2023 attacks.
He made the comments on X following the bus shooting attack earlier today that killed three people near the Palestinian village of Funduq in the occupied West Bank.
Doctors Against Genocide Hold Global Sick-Out to Highlight Atrocities in Gaza
The “Sick From Genocide” global vigil, organized by Doctors Against Genocide (DAG) and several other organizations demonstrating against Israel’s thus-far 15-month genocidal war on Gaza, features pop-up clinics in cities across the world, including in the U.S. Health care workers participating in the event are urging others in their profession to take a day of mental health leave “to reflect on the immense moral injury of funding a genocide and engage the most important aspect of treatment: publicly demanding an end to the genocide in Gaza.”
“After witnessing 15 months of relentless violence and destruction in Gaza, we can no longer carry on as if everything is normal,” the account for DAG wrote in a post on X. “The international system has failed, and we are sick — sick from genocide, sick from complicity, and sick from silence.”
Rupa Marya — a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, who is currently on paid suspension after condemning the U.S.’s financial backing of Israel’s genocide — provided a statement to Truthout regarding Monday’s call to action.
“Since October 2023 we have watched in horror as Israel has targeted our Palestinian colleagues and destroyed hospitals under false pretense,” Marya, who is the author of “Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice,” said in her statement. “The Israeli military has rounded up physicians and other healthcare workers and tortured them, some to death such as Dr. Adnan Al-Bursh, professor of orthopedic surgery.”
“Currently the Israeli military has abducted our colleague, pediatrician Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya and sent him to the same torture facility where Dr. Al-Bursh was killed,” Marya pointed out. “We are calling for his immediate release and the release of the hundreds of healthcare workers who the Israeli military has detained” (continue reading here).
“From Ground Zero” tells essential stories of Palestinians in Gaza
Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Michael Moore has announced that he is an executive producer on a film depicting the plight of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since October 7th, 2023.
“From Ground Zero,” made by Watermelon Pictures, brings together short films by 22 filmmakers, featuring a variety of genres, including fiction, animation, and documentary.
“No filmmaker, writer or artist should ever have to tell the story of their own extermination. Yet 22 courageous Palestinian filmmakers found a way to film their story this past year in Gaza using whatever tools they could pull from the rubble of their homes and cities,” wrote Moore on X.
“The fact that this film exists at all is a human and cinematic miracle,” he added.
“From Ground Zero” hit theaters on Jan. 3.
IMEMC Daily Reports
In #Gaza, there is no distinction.
Humanitarian workers, whoever they are, have been regularly a target.This blatant disregard cannot be the new norm.
Humanitarian workers wherever they are, are #NotATarget 🛑 https://t.co/yqTIFnTJku
— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) January 6, 2025
No filmmaker, writer or artist should ever have to tell the story of their own extermination. Yet 22 courageous Palestinian filmmakers found a way to film their story this past year in Gaza using whatever tools they could pull from the rubble of their homes and cities. The… pic.twitter.com/6livD8qMuS
— Michael Moore (@MMFlint) January 6, 2025
STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – JANUARY 6, 2025:
Palestinian death toll from October 7, 2023 – January 6, 2025: at least 46,724* – 45,885 in Gaza; in the West Bank, Israeli soldiers and/or settlers have killed at least 839 Palestinians (~172 of them children).
Thousands of those killed in Gaza have yet to be identified, and an estimated 11,000 more are still buried under rubble.
According to a report in the Lancet, by multiplying the reported deaths by five, it is possible to reach a conservative estimate of total deaths (including indirect causes like starvation and lack of medicine). Using the latest figure from AFP (45,885), it is reasonable to estimate at least 229,425 total deaths in Gaza since October 7th, 2023.
According to a recent report by the UN Human Rights Office of identified fatalities in Gaza, about 44% were children. It is reasonable to estimate that 20,189 of known direct deaths and 100,947 of the total deaths are children.
Since Israel launched an extermination campaign in northern Gaza in early October, over 4,000 Palestinians have been killed or are missing and another 12,000 wounded.
Palestinian injuries from October 7, 2023 – January 6, 2025: at least 115,696 (including at least 109,196 in Gaza and 6,500 in the West Bank, including 830 children). [It remains unknown how many Americans are among the casualties in Gaza.]
Reported Israeli death toll from October 7, 2023 – January 6, 2025: ~1,595 (~1,139 on October 7, 2023, of which ~32 were Americans, and ~36 were children); 417*** (or 393) military forces since the ground invasion began in Gaza (updated: Dec. 17); 46 military and civilians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Israel) and~10,000 injured.
NOTE: It is unknown at this time how many of the deaths and injuries of Israelis on October 7 were caused by Israeli soldiers.
ADDITIONAL STATISTICS: Since October 7th, 2023:
- At least 50 Palestinians have died in Israeli prisons (at least 30 of them from Gaza).
- At least 43 Palestinians have died due to malnutrition (at least 37 of them children)**.
- About 1.9 million of Gaza’s 2.3 million population are currently displaced.
- About 345,000 Gazans are currently experiencing catastrophic levels of food insecurity.
*The Ministry’s figures have been contested by the Israeli authorities, although they have been accepted as accurate by Israeli intelligence services, the UN, and WHO. These data are supported by independent analyses, comparing changes in the number of deaths of UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) staff with those reported by the Ministry, which found claims of data fabrication implausible.
Previously, IAK did not include 471 Gazans killed in the Al Ahli hospital blast since the source of the projectile was being disputed. However, given that much evidence points to Israel as the culprit, Israel had previously bombed the hospital and has attacked many others, Israel is prohibiting outside experts from investigating the scene, and since the UN and other agencies are including the deaths from the attack in their cumulative totals, if Americans knew is now also doing so.
**Euro-Med Monitor reports that Gaza’s elderly are dying at an alarmingly high rate. The majority die at home and are buried either close to their residences or in makeshift graves dispersed across the Strip. There are currently more than 140 such cemeteries. Additionally, according to Euromed, thousands have died from starvation, malnourishment, and inadequate medical care; these are considered indirect victims as they were not registered in hospitals.
***The figure does not include the reportedly 59 Israeli soldiers – nearly 17% of the total Israeli military deaths – killed due to friendly fire in Gaza and other military-related accidents.
† For most of the conflict, women and children accounted for about 70% of deaths in Gaza, with children making up a little over 40% of those killed, according to official statistics.
Find previous daily casualty figures and daily news updates here.
- Human rights reports on Israel-Palestine (regularly updated)
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