News roundup for Friday, August 7, 2026, Day 1,036 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, just 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.
Israeli occupation forces continued to violate the “ceasefire” agreement in the Gaza Strip on Friday, as civilians were injured in multiple attacks, including strikes near hospitals, tented classrooms, and areas sheltering displaced families.
More than 58,000 chickenpox infections have been recorded since the beginning of the year, medical sources in Gaza reported, describing a rapidly expanding outbreak driven by catastrophic humanitarian conditions.
UN reports 33% increase in aid supplies entering Gaza in July, but major restrictions remain: A UN spokesperson on Friday reported that the entrance of aid improved in July compared with June. The amount is still below the levels Gaza was receiving before the genocide, and humanitarian needs across the enclave remain “immense.” According to the humanitarian branch of the UN, food security and nutrition conditions are somewhat improved across Gaza – however, needs remain high and recent gains are highly fragile.
*NOTE: Not only is Israel blocking Gaza’s ability to feed itself, it is also blocking humanitarian organizations’ ability to feed Gaza. As part of the October 2025 ceasefire agreement, Israel was supposed to restart the full quantity of aid into Gaza (600 trucks a day), along with rehabilitation of infrastructure (water, electricity, sewage), rehabilitation of hospitals and bakeries, and entry of necessary equipment to remove rubble and open roads – none of these commitments have been fulfilled. The UN reports an average of 108 trucks of aid entering Gaza per day, less than 20% of the amount agreed upon. A 33% increase in this case is not that much.
Trump and Israel are demanding that Palestinians disarm. Here is why that is wrong and unjust: Demands that Hamas disarm follow decades of international calls for a “demilitarized Palestinian state.” These demands insist that Palestinians surrender their right to self-defense, a right no people should relinquish.
Israeli ministers have called for the resumption of a military offensive in the Gaza Strip and the rejection of a roadmap for implementing the second phase of US President Donald Trump’s ceasefire plan, Israeli media reported Friday. Last Friday, the Trump-chaired Peace Council announced that Hamas had approved the roadmap, while Israel was still considering its position.
DEATH TOLL – GAZA GENOCIDE (tentative):
- At least 1,255 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.
- 73,382 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.)
Elderly Palestinian-American man injured in Israeli soldiers’ assault in occupied West Bank: An elderly Palestinian-American man, Khamis Rabee Jabara, 80, suffered a head wound Thursday evening after Israeli forces assaulted him. In a video, Jabara was seen lying on the ground surrounded by Israeli soldiers, with blood flowing from his head.
Israel is revoking entry permits for U.S. activists involved in West Bank: Jewish volunteers who accompany Palestinian farmers during harvests say their travel authorizations vanished, sometimes while they were still in the country.
Israel orders uprooting of trees on 316 dunums in West Bank for settlement expansion: Israel has reportedly issued 59 orders since the beginning of 2026 to remove tree cover from 2,480 dunums of Palestinian-owned land.
6 Palestinians, including 2 medics, injured in Israeli attacks in West Bank
Israeli occupiers intensify attacks on Bedouin community near Ramallah
Israeli raids, occupier attacks target 5 Palestinian communities across occupied West Bank
Israel orders uprooting of trees on 316 dunums in West Bank for settlement expansion
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.
Israel’s New York consul cancels ‘NY Times’ subscription over ‘false blood libels*’: In May, Times columnist Nicholas Kristof published a piece titled “The Silence that Meets the Rape of Palestinians,” in which he accused Israeli guards of sexually assaulting Palestinian prisoners. The column also included allegations that Israeli guards trained dogs to rape male prisoners. Israel’s Foreign Ministry called it “one of the worst blood libels ever to appear in the modern press,” and part of a coordinated anti-Israel campaign.
*NOTE: Credible testimonies abound (including at least one video) of Palestinians being sexually abused at the hands of Israeli soldiers – some of whom have become folk heroes. (American mainstream media have, for the most part, failed to cover this issue in any meaningful way.) Israel partisans’ accusation of “blood libel” and an “anti-Israel campaign” conveniently play the victim card, rather than addressing the allegations of rape.
On the other hand, Israel’s accusations of “mass rape” by Hamas members on October 7th have turned out to be pure fabrication, as independent news sites revealed early on, and consistently reported ever since. Israel has failed to produce a single identified victim or firsthand testimony, any forensic evidence or credible eyewitnesses. Mainstream media have disingenuously continued to report falsehoods.
Netanyahu seeks $13.7 billion increase to defense buildup plan, sparking Finance Ministry backlash
ISRAELI MEDIA: The power to paralyze a country by sea: Israel Navy unveils new vision: From protecting shipping lanes and gas rigs to confronting Iran, Turkey, and Gaza-bound flotillas, the sea has become a strategic front capable of shifting the balance of war. Israeli Navy chief Vice Adm. Eyal Harel wants to expand the missile-boat fleet and turn Israeli into a regional maritime power.
Israel’s Brutal Retaliation Against Imprisoned Palestinian Doctors Seeking Legal Appeals
ISRAELI MEDIA: Former Netanyahu Aide Says Staff Were Asked to Pledge Personal Loyalty to PM’s Family
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.
LEBANON
Israel targets southern Lebanon with phosphorus bombs, state media reports
SYRIA
Israeli forces enter southwestern Syria, set up checkpoint
Israel expands Syria occupation, conducts 20 incursions in one week: Israeli forces carried out 20 incursions and military movements in southern governorates of Syria in the past week, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported. Israeli troops conducted land-clearing operations, erected checkpoints, installed surveillance cameras, and carried out aerial reconnaissance, while imposing “new realities on the ground along the border strip,” SOHR wrote.
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 4,333 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:
Author of DNC Autopsy Found Gaza Policy Hurt Harris in 2024—But Never Submitted Finding to Party Leadership: DNC chair Ken Martin resisted calls to release the autopsy in full, perhaps to avoid publicizing findings that portrayed Israel as an albatross around the party’s neck.
In the key swing state of Michigan, the losses in heavily Arab and Middle Eastern communities, a swing accounting for nearly 20% of the 234,291-vote shift that handed President Donald Trump the state.
ICYMI, A SELECTION OF YESTERDAY’S HEADLINES:
Trump’s Gaza Board of Peace issues first building contract – for a military base
Israeli bulldozers uproot West Bank olive trees ahead of harvest season
An Israeli professor lost a prestigious US job offer after speaking out on Gaza. Now the university is paying him $250,000
(Read yesterday’s daily update here.)
STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – August 7, 2026*:
- At least 74,567 Palestinians killed, 187,236 injured – including:
- Gaza: at least 73,382 killed (~22,000 children, 33,000 women and girls), 174,236 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 7, 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)
- Tucker Carlson unveils 10-point manifesto amid third-party speculation
- Unicef: At least 300 children reportedly killed in Gaza in past 300 days
- The Briton who helped 6,000 Jews move to Israel
- Sewage, trash, rodent catastrophe in Gaza
- Trump Undercuts His Own Peace Plan while Israel Ramps Up Killing in Gaza
- Israel’s Lobby: America in the Grip of a Foreign Power
- Lebanon: Israel’s Killing of Journalist an Apparent War Crime
- New party emerging on opposition to U.S. wars, AIPAC, and corporate money
- How complicit media tried to sell a genocide
- Israel Has Imprisoned a 16-Year-Old Palestinian-American Boy for Two Weeks
- ‘Silent extermination’: Israel bombs medicine stores in Gaza, worsening the Strip’s dire healthcare crisis
- El-Sayed overcomes $30 million AIPAC spend, wins Michigan primary
- “For Your Eyes Only”: Israel’s Mole Inside the United Nations
- UK tribunal upholds protection for anti-Zionist beliefs: ‘It’s coherent to describe Zionism as racist’
