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 799th day.)
Since the “ceasefire” began on October 11, Israel has killed at least 395 Palestinians. Among the dead are at least 136 children. At least 1,088 have been injured. Death toll figures are tentative. More statistics below.
Israel has so far violated the 11 October ceasefire deal in Gaza at least 813 times in 69 days.
GAZA NEWS:
(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.)
WINTER WEATHER: A spokesperson for the Palestinian Civil Defense in Gaza says “the bitter cold threatens the lives of young children who lack shelter and heating” in the bombarded enclave. A Palestinian infant froze to death in Gaza this week after going to hospital with hypothermia.
Beneath the Plastic Sheets: A Day in the Life of Gaza’s Displaced
The world speaks of a ceasefire and a ‘peace deal’, but for the two million souls trapped within the borders of the Gaza Strip, the word “peace” is a cruel abstraction.
Life in Gaza has transitioned from the immediate terror of a scorched-earth invasion to a slow, grinding struggle for survival against the elements and a calculated siege. The genocide has not ended; it has simply changed its primary weapon from the missile to the cold, and from the bullet to the blockade (continue reading here).
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More than 100 buildings partially or fully collapsed in Gaza during recent storm
Palestinian Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal has said at least 17 residential buildings have completely and 90 partially collapsed since the heavy rains and high winds lashed the enclave.
Winter rains also flooded 90 percent of tents in the war-torn enclave, leaving thousands of families without shelter, the spokesperson said in a statement.
Civil Defense teams received more than 5,000 calls for help from citizens since the storms began affecting the Gaza Strip last week.
At least 17 people died from the cold, including four children, while dozens of others died as a result of buildings collapsing, he said.
RELATED: Gaza flood was ‘utterly preventable tragedy,’ says Amnesty International
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Despite ceasefire deal, Israel refuses to open the Rafah border crossing, cutting Gaza off from the world
For many long months, the Rafah crossing had been a central issue in the ceasefire talks. So, when a ceasefire agreement was finally signed in mid-October 2025, with the reopening of Rafah listed among its main terms, hope swept across Gaza. The agreement clearly stated that Rafah would reopen to allow civilians to move safely and to restore the one lifeline Gaza relied upon for travel, treatment, and study.
Months have passed, however, and the crossing remains shut.
On December 3, Israel announced that the crossing would open in days, but Egypt denied that steps were being taken to open it. This had been Israel’s first comment on the crossing in months (continue reading here).
RELATED: Six Pulled Alive from Beneath Collapsed Roof, Israeli Airstrike Targets Civilians in Gaza City
OCCUPIED WEST BANK/EAST JERUSALEM 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.)
Israeli army arrests 40 Palestinians in West Bank raids
Four Palestinians Wounded as Israeli Forces Storm Jenin
Israeli Army Injures Four Palestinians In Nablus
Israeli Colonizers Intensify West Bank Attacks
Israeli Forces Uproot Olive Trees Near Salfit
Israeli Authorities Issue Eviction Orders, Colonizers Seize Homes in Silwan
NEWS & HEADLINES ABOUT 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 passes along only factual reporting.)
Groups slam Israel for closing probe into Palestinian teen’s death in prison
The Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society have condemned Israel for closing an investigation into the death of 17-year-old Walid Ahmed in Megiddo Prison in northern Israel.
The groups said an Israeli court closed the case after determining that “no direct crime” was committed against Ahmed, who was from the town of Silwad near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank (continue reading here).
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Israel seeks a rebrand amid Gaza genocide
Israel and the Israel lobby group AIPAC are desperate to rebrand the Gaza genocide as an unremarkable war. A return to business as usual in the United States is sought, where arms to Israel go uncontested and the apartheid state’s standing among Democratic and Republican politicians as well as grassroots voters is restored.
With opposition to Israel’s policies rising among Republican voters and sharply up among grassroots Democrats, Israel’s next military aid package from the US looms large for the Israel lobby (continue reading here).
ISRAEL HEADLINES:
Israeli army shells south countryside in new violation of Syria’s sovereignty*
*NOTE: The Israeli army has carried out over 1,000 airstrikes and 400 cross-border raids on Syria since December 2024.
‘We’ll have to pass,’ UN officials say when asked for any positive message about Israel amid holiday season
HEADLINES FROM ISRAELI MEDIA:
(Get a glimpse inside this country that is rife with turmoil and contradictions that receives $63 million a day from America.)
‘Gaza Belongs to Israel’: Settler Activists Illegally Breach Enclave, Raise Israeli Flag
Israel’s Health Ministry Cancels Infant Mortality Prevention Program for Bedouin Community
Flooding* in Gaza Strip hampers search for remains of final hostage Ran Gvili
*NOTE: Amnesty International has stated that the flooding in Gaza was fueled by Israel’s ongoing restrictions on the entry of critical supplies to repair vital infrastructure, and was “utterly preventable.” The flooding has killed dozens of Palestinians.
Netanyahu’s Coalition Advances a Nightmare Vision of the State of Israel
Palestinian trash burning is a national security threat, Israeli ministers declare
US agency implements ZAKA*’s knowledge
*NOTE: ZAKA, an ultra-orthodox Israeli search-and-rescue organization, has proven again and again to be an unreliable source, to say the least. Yet Western media repeated their stories for months. IDF soldiers and others also made claims that were later debunked. See many examples here.
OTHER NEWS & HEADLINES:
3 in 4 Republicans Under 45 Say They Prefer US Fund Health Care Over Israel
Polling conducted last month asked whether or not Republican voters believe that the U.S. should give Israel funding when such funds could instead be used to fund health care at home.
A majority of respondents, at 65 percent, said that they believe the U.S. should “reinvest” taxpayer funding for Israel into lowering the cost of health care at home. This proportion grows to a whopping 74 percent among younger Republicans, aged between 18 and 44 years old (continue reading here).
RELATED: Poll: Younger Republicans Break with GOP Orthodoxy on Israel
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BBC caves after backlash for accurately calling First Intifada ‘largely unarmed and popular uprising’*
JERUSALEM POST: The BBC received backlash for referring to the First Intifada as a “largely unarmed and popular uprising,” in an article on Wednesday.
The wording appeared in a piece about the UK Police’s decision to arrest those who chant ‘Globalize the Intifada’ at a protest in the UK, in light of the antisemitic terror attack in Bondi Beach on Sunday.
While explaining the term intifada, the BBC wrote, “it was a largely unarmed and popular uprising that continued until the early 1990s,” implying that it was not a significant threat (continue reading here).
*NOTE: Mondoweiss explains the First Intifada’s nature as a largely unarmed and popular uprising“: At its core, “globalize the intifada” captures the idea that the Palestinian Intifada — the term Palestinians popularized during their grassroots uprising against the occupation back in 1987, and which means to “shake off” and “rise up” — was never just a local uprising confined to the streets of Gaza or the alleyways of the West Bank.
It was, instead, a model of struggle that revealed how ordinary people could resist a system of domination with nothing but their own bodies, voices, and determination. To globalize the Intifada means to recognize that this form of resistance — decentralized, popular, and rooted in everyday life — carries lessons for oppressed peoples everywhere.
The uprising was carried on the shoulders of civilians, workers, farmers, mothers, children, and teachers. All of them transformed resistance into a daily practice.
In this way, the Intifada was immune to the tactics normally used by occupiers to crush revolts. What made it endure was precisely that resistance was normalized into the daily rhythm of life. Palestinians went to work, to school, to the market, and in the same breath, participated in protests, strikes, or acts of defiance (continue reading here).
RELATED: Read more about the pervasive pro-Israel bias in Western media here.
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U.N. Experts Blast U.S. Universities for Human Rights Violations Against Gaza Protesters
A commission of top United Nations human rights watchdogs sent a series of blistering letters to the heads of five U.S. universities raising sharp concerns over the treatment of pro-Palestine students, The Intercept has learned.
The letters, which were sent on October 14 to the presidents and provosts of Columbia, Cornell, Georgetown, Minnesota State, and Tufts universities, called out school officials and U.S. law enforcement agencies for cracking down on student protesters and subsequently using immigration authorities to single out foreign students for detention and deportation (continue reading here).
RELATED:
The Israel-Affiliated Organization Leading the Backlash Against Student Protests
Detailed study finds 99% of pro-Palestine protests at US universities are peaceful
Oscars shortlist features three films centered on Palestinian stories
Three films centered on Palestinian stories have been shortlisted for the Academy Awards’ Best International Feature Film category, marking a significant moment for Palestinian cinema on the global stage.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that 15 films in total have advanced to the next round of voting for the 98th Academy Awards, selected from 86 eligible submissions worldwide.
The Palestine-related shortlisted films are All That’s Left of You, directed by Cherien Dabis and submitted by Jordan, Palestine 36, directed by Annemarie Jacir and submitted by Palestine, and The Voice of Hind Rajab, directed by Kaouther Ben Hania and submitted by Tunisia. While entered by different countries, all three films centre on Palestinian narratives and experiences (continue reading here).
RELATED:
Media Obscure Message of Oscar-Winning Documentary No Other Land
Israeli settler kills West Bank activist who worked on Oscar-winning film
ICYMI (IN CASE YOU MISSED IT) – A SELECTION OF YESTERDAY’S HEADLINES:
Exit-only from Rafah: Israel’s long game of displacement in Gaza
Israeli settler kills Palestinian teen after funeral for another teen killed yesterday
Defense Ministry’s COGAT claims food aid entering Gaza ‘five times greater’ than needed to sustain populace
(Read yesterday’s daily update here.)
STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – DECEMBER 17, 2025*:
- At least 71,767 Palestinians killed, 182,165 injured – including:
- At least 70,669 killed in Gaza (~22,000 children, 33,000 women and girls)
- At least 1,098 killed in the West Bank (~227 children)
- At least 171,165 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 10,000 more are still buried under rubble. 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.
Reported Israeli death toll from October 7, 2023 – December 17, 2025: ~1,661 – including ~1,139** on October 7, 2023 (~36 children), 471 military forces since the ground invasion began in Gaza, about 52 military and civilians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Israel.
By one count, Israeli attacks have killed approximately 275 Palestinian journalists and media workers; Palestinians have killed 4 Israeli journalists (other groups have tallied between 215 and 328 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
- Australians Being Massacred Shouldn’t Bother Us More Than Palestinians Being Massacred
- Pro-Israel billionaire Miriam Adelson green-lights a Trump 3rd term
- The Zionist Billionaire Circle Hiding in Plain Sight
- Israel’s all-seeing eye is the stealthiest cruelty of all in Gaza
- Poll: Younger Republicans Break with GOP Orthodoxy on Israel
- The lobby is milking the Bondi Beach attack to silence critics of Israel’s genocide
- Stop The Hate UK: The Shadowy Israel-Aligned Group Targeting MintPress staff & anti-genocide organizers
- CAIR designation: As MAGA turns against Zionism, Israel First right stokes Islamophobia
- Meet the U.S. Donors Funding ELNET, the AIPAC of Europe
- What are Israel Bonds, and why have they become a target for the BDS movement?
- Why Israel is Pushing for Regime Change in Venezuela through Washington – 2 articles
- Israeli Settlers Beat US Citizen, Threatened to Burn Palestinian Grandmother and Kids Alive
- The Aftermath of the 12-Day War Between Israel and Iran
- A smaller cage: Israel’s ‘two-state solution’ on Gaza’s ruins
- AIPAC Spent Millions to Keep Her Out of Congress. Now, She Sees an Opening.
- Tucker Carlson visits Gaza refugees, accuses Israel of murdering children
