News roundup for Thursday, June 25, 2026, Day 993 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.
Hospitals received two Palestinians killed and 15 wounded during the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health in Gaza reported.
Israel Bombed Palestinian Children One Day After UN Report on Israel’s Killing of Children: Eleven-year-old Ahmed Al-Raqab was playing outside his family tent pitched on Gaza’s sandy coastline in Al-Mawasi, west of Khan Younis, on Wednesday when the Israeli missile struck, killing him and severely wounding several others.
“The children were playing and they fired a missile directly on them,” Ahmed’s father, Sabri Al-Raqab, said. “He was carrying a watermelon. What was this child’s crime? He picked up a watermelon and they fired at him. Is he a fighter? He’s not a fighter. He’s a child.”
The latest Israeli attacks on children came a day after a UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry released a report that concluded, “Israeli authorities and security forces have deliberately targeted Palestinian children, resulting in genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Gaza Strip.” The UN inquiry said that during the first two years of the Israeli assault, over 20,000 children were killed and more than 44,000 injured.
Gaza ceasefire talks return to square one, raising fears of wider Israeli escalation and displacement plans: Taher al-Nunu, part of Hamas’s political bureau, accused Israel of effectively returning negotiations to “square one” by introducing new conditions into the ongoing discussions. According to al-Nunu, Israeli negotiators have continued to focus on issues relating to Palestinian factions’ weapons, tunnels and military infrastructure, which Hamas argues fall outside the understandings reached during earlier stages of mediation.
CRITICAL BACKGROUND: Israel’s Best-Kept Secret: Palestinian Resistance Never Agreed to Disarm
The State of Israel Vs Dr Hussam Abu Safiya: Silencing a witness: Israel’s military claims Dr Abu Safiya held a rank in Hamas. In eighteen months, it has produced no charge, no evidence, no trial. Last week, the Israeli Supreme Court rejected his appeal behind closed doors, on “confidential” intelligence that neither he nor his lawyers may see and that will never be published. When even the editors of Haaretz, Israel’s oldest newspaper, write that the state must indict him or release him, you know the secrecy is not an accident. It is the point.
DEATH TOLL – GAZA GENOCIDE (tentative):
- At least 1,031 since ceasefire began Oct. 11, 2025 (247 children, 191 women)
- 5 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire began – one by friendly fire, and four others incidents during the first three weeks of the ceasefire.
- 73,043 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.)
Archbishop of Canterbury calls for end to Israeli occupation of Palestine: Sarah Mullally, the Archbishop of Canterbury and head of the Church of England, calls for an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestine after a pilgrimage in which she met Palestinians attacked by settlers and others detained without trial.
Crimson Thread: The new Israeli separation wall that cuts through the ‘breadbasket of Palestine’: Israel’s latest wall in the northern Jordan Valley is cutting Palestinian farmers off from their land, destroying crops and accelerating displacement.
Soldiers Attack Wedding In Anata, Abduct 3 Siblings, Injure Residents
West Bank Abductions During Israeli Invasions
Army Injures Two Palestinians, Including Journalist, in Jordan Valley
Israeli Colonizers (i.e. Settlers) Escalate Attacks Across West Bank Communities
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.
Voter support for Netanyahu slumps as opposition surges ahead of upcoming Israeli elections: Poll
Israeli prime minister faces calls to resign during military ceremony: Report
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
‘Leave Lebanon now or flee in defeat’: IRGC Quds Force chief issues new warning to Israel
LEBANON
At least six people were killed Thursday and two more wounded in a pair of Israeli drone strikes targeting vehicles in Lebanon’s Nabatieh District.
Israel says troops will not withdraw from Lebanon, Gaza, and Syria ‘security zones’: A now daily mantra from Israeli leaders, lest US negotiators forget: Israel has no intention of submitting to the US-Iran memorandum of understanding. “We must remain in the security zone in Lebanon, in Syria and in Gaza, and not for a limited time,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said; “I have made it clear to the IDF: you have full freedom of action,” PM Netanyahu declared.
Tel Aviv denied on 25 June reports and claims of a withdrawal of its forces from certain parts of south Lebanon, vowing continued occupation of the country despite diplomatic pressure exerted by Tehran on Washington.
SYRIA
Israeli Forces in Southwest Syria Harass, Detain Civilians: New checkpoint established near al-Rafid, restricting farmer movements.
RELATED: “They Stole Our Home and Our Life”: Israel Permanently Displaces Syrians in Quneitra
DEATH TOLL – WARS ON IRAN & LEBANON (tentative):
- United States: 13 (or more) 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 4,057 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 36 soldiers, 4 civilians)
MORE NEWS & HEADLINES:
Lockheed Martin Gets $35 Billion THAAD Contract as Arms Makers Cash in on Iran War: Under the contract with the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency, Lockheed will quadruple the production of THAAD interceptors.
Yemen’s Houthi group vows to target any Israeli presence in breakaway Somaliland: Houthis say they “will not stand idly’ in face of any Israeli presence in Somaliland. (Original story here).
RELATED: Israel prepares to resume fighting on Yemen front, updates plans against Houthis
Over 1,150 health professionals and organizations launched a petition on 13 June calling for a boycott of the Israeli Medical Association (IMA), accusing it of failing to adhere to medical ethics and of “complicity” in the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. The push is being led by the People’s Health Movement (PHM), Doctors for Gaza, and the Health Advisory Council of the Jewish Voice for Peace group.
ICC judges launch legal challenge against US sanctions: 3 judges involved in Palestinian war crimes investigations say sanctions are unlawful, threaten judicial independence.
RELATED: ICC judge: “Living with US sanctions means living in constant uncertainty”
ICYMI, A SELECTION OF YESTERDAY’S HEADLINES:
Gaza officials warn of ‘silent famine’ as aid deliveries* fall far below planned levels
Our life stops’: West Bank childhood shattered by Israeli military raids
Cost of Israel’s wars since Oct. 7 nears $205B
Israeli former leaders threaten legal action over ‘Jewish terrorism,’ ‘ideology of ethnic cleansing’
How Jeffrey Epstein’s Israeli Network Shaped Congo’s Deadly Mineral Trade
(Read yesterday’s daily update here.)
STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – June 25, 2026*:
- At least 74,208 Palestinians killed, 186,083 injured – including:
- Gaza: at least 73,031 killed (~22,000 children, 33,000 women and girls), 173,417 injured
- West Bank/East Jerusalem: at least 1,177 killed (~244 children), 12,666 injured
*NOTE: Thousands of remains in Gaza have yet to be identified, and thousands more are still buried under rubble; others are reportedly missing.
Reported Israeli death toll from October 7, 2023 – June 25, 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)
- The NDAA Proposed Merger of the U.S. and Israeli Military is Strategically Unwise and Inherently Unconstitutional
- Victories by Pro-Palestinian Democrats Show the Party’s Shift on Israel
- Massie moves to strike $3.3B in Israel military aid from the budget
- How Jeffrey Epstein’s Israeli Network Shaped Congo’s Deadly Mineral Trade
- Gaza officials warn of ‘silent famine’ as aid deliveries fall far below planned levels
- Wheat harvest becomes act of defiance as West Bank farmers race to outrun Israeli settler attacks
- The ICC must investigate Israel’s genocidal use of sexual violence
- The Myth of Israeli Self-Sufficiency
- Internal Documents Show Trump’s “Board of Peace“ Moving to Crush Palestinian Self-Determination
- Israel Blocks Hundreds of Gaza Students from Scholarships Abroad
- Israel’s Attacks on Gaza’s Children (Photos)
- ‘His only crime is that he is a Palestinian doctor’
- ‘Killed pursuing her dream’: Gaza girl on her way to school dies in Israeli drone strike
- UN: Israel Continues to Commit Genocide and Other Atrocity Crimes by Deliberately Targeting Palestinian Children
