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 851st day.)
A Palestinian man was killed, and ten others were injured on Thursday in continued violations of the “ceasefire” announced in October 2025.
Since the “ceasefire” began on October 11, Israel has killed at least 591 Palestinians. Over 1,583 have been injured. Death toll figures are tentative.
Israel has so far violated the 11 October ceasefire deal in Gaza at least 1,620 times (as of Feb. 1, 2026). More statistics below.
GAZA NEWS & HEADLINES:
(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.
Civil Defense in Gaza updates statistics
The Civil Defense in Gaza has said that around 8,000 bodies remain under the rubble of destroyed buildings across the territory, despite ongoing search and rescue efforts. He added that more than 3,000 people are still missing, with no confirmed information about whether they are alive, have died, or been detained.
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Children in Gaza forced to focus on work rather than school
Children in Gaza find themselves having to work to survive, sacrificing education and childhood dreams.
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UN Agencies Warn of Collapse of Gaza’s Education System
Palestinian ambulance officer from Gaza dies in Israeli custody*
OCCUPIED WEST BANK/EAST JERUSALEM NEWS & 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.)
2026 will be ‘toughest financially’ due to Israel’s withholding of tax revenues*: Palestine
Palestinian Finance Minister Istifan Salameh warned Thursday that the Palestinian Authority is facing an “existential threat” due to Israel’s continued withholding of tax revenues, stressing that 2026 will be its most difficult financial year.
Israel has seized around 70% of Palestinian revenues, Salameh said, exacerbating the fiscal deficit and undermining the government’s ability to meet its obligations, foremost among them paying salaries and providing basic services. He said 2026 would be the most financially challenging year in the history of the Palestinian Authority, warning that the Israeli policies toward Palestinians amount to “playing with fire.”
*NOTE: Israel collects import/export taxes on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, which is supposed to be handed over for the PA’s operating budget. Israel regularly keeps back some of this revenue (an amount now totaling over $4 billion), claiming it is being used illegally for the so-called Pay-For-Slay program (Palestinians often call it the Martyr’s Fund) – a social safety net for the Palestinian families that have lost their breadwinner due to the conflict with Israel.
Many “martyrs” were not killers or attackers, but were themselves killed while walking to school, participating in a peaceful demonstration, or sleeping in their beds – but Israel does not differentiate, claiming the program encourages Palestinians to volunteer for suicide missions.
Notably, Israel has its own compensation program for families of IDF soldiers killed or injured in the line of duty, as does the US. For a deep dive into the topic, read The Legitimacy of Family Compensation for Palestinians Killed, Injured, and Imprisoned.
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The Samaritans: A living bridge to Palestine’s past
Straddling the political and social realities of both Palestine and Israel, this unique ethno-religious community is striving to preserve its traditions.
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ALL IN A DAY’S WORK: MORE ISRAELI OCCUPATION ACTIONS ON THURSDAY:
Israeli Forces Abduct Dozens Across the Occupied West Bank
Israeli Colonizers Injure Elderly Woman Near Hebron
ISRAEL NEWS & HEADLINES:
(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.)
Number of Palestinian female prisoners in Israeli jails rises to 59
The Prisoners’ Media Office has said the number of Palestinian women held in Israeli prisons has risen to 59, following more than 680 arrests of women since 7th October 2023. The total includes minors and does not account for detainees from Gaza whose whereabouts are reportedly unknown.
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Israeli Rabbinical Judge Violated ‘Ethical Guidelines’ for Boasting About Destroying Homes in Gaza: Israeli Official
An Israeli rabbinical judge who drove an armored D9 bulldozer for the IDF in Gaza has been ruled to have violated ethical guidelines for expressing “extremist views,” including calling to “flatten the Gaza Strip” and boasting about the fact that many Palestinian bodies were left to be eaten by stray dogs and cats.
Rabbi Avraham Zarbiv made the comments during an appearance on Israel’s Channel 14 last year, where he estimated that he destroyed about 50 Palestinian homes and other buildings per week during his time in Gaza. At the time, the Hind Rajab Foundation, which seeks to prosecute IDF soldiers overseas, filed a complaint against Zarbiv with the International Criminal Court (ICC) and called for his arrest (continue reading here; read about the the effort to hold Israeli soldiers accountable here; find out who Hind Rajab was here).
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Israeli military closes dozens of war crimes cases over fears of ICJ scrutiny
Israeli authorities have dismissed criminal probes related to the deaths of detainees, for fear that the cases may attract global scrutiny.
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After Israel Killed 265 Journalists in Gaza, Herzog Says Media Barred for ‘Protection’
Israeli President Isaac Herzog claimed during an Australian television interview that Israel bars international journalists from Gaza in order to protect them. The statement has drawn renewed scrutiny, as it comes amid the killing of at least 265 Palestinian journalists, mass protests during his Australia visit, and growing legal accusations that senior Israeli officials — including Herzog — bear responsibility for incitement and crimes committed during the war on Gaza.
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Trump says Israeli president’s refusal* to pardon Netanyahu is ‘disgraceful’
‘You have a president who refuses to give him a pardon. He should be ashamed of himself,’ US president says.
*NOTE: President Herzog responded to Trump’s comment: “For the sake of clarity, as has been explained repeatedly, the Prime Minister’s request is, according to the procedures, under review at the Ministry of Justice for a legal opinion. Only upon completion of that process will President Herzog consider the request in accordance with the law, the best interests of the State of Israel, guided by his conscience, and without any influence from external or internal pressures of any kind.”
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Israeli forces stage new raid into Syria’s* Quneitra countryside
*NOTE: Although Israel is not at war with Syria, the Israeli army has carried out over 1,000 airstrikes and 400 cross-border raids on Syria since December 2024.
NEWS & HEADLINES FROM ISRAELI MEDIA:
(You can learn a lot about a country from its headlines. Get a glimpse inside this country that is rife with turmoil and contradictions that receives $63 million a day from America.)
Jews pray on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount as decades-old status quo* begins to shift
Police are allowing limited Jewish prayer on Temple Mount, marking the most significant shift to the status quo since 1967 – and stirring quiet tension on one of the world’s most contested sites.
*NOTE: Anyone can visit the Al Aqsa Mosque grounds, but only Muslims are allowed to pray there, according to an understanding known as the ‘status quo agreement,’ under which for decades, Israel has formally pledged to allow Muslims to pray at the site, while Jews pray at the Western Wall below. The agreement has been in place since Israel captured the Old City of Jerusalem from Jordan in 1967.
In practice, however, restrictions have steadily eroded. Since 2023, Israeli police have increasingly allowed Jewish visitors to pray inside the compound. Authorities have also permitted audible group prayer, singing and, in 2024, public Torah lessons, particularly on the eastern side of the compound. Many Palestinians fear this erosion will lead to open conflict.
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Israeli Settlers Destroy Over 15 Palestinian Homes Using Bulldozers
A village resident told Haaretz that the demolitions were carried out throughout Tuesday, from morning until dark. ’30 settlers arrived in the morning, accompanied by several soldiers in uniform and carrying weapons … Most of my family, about 60 people, were left homeless.’
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IDF Orders Soldiers to Prevent Palestinians From Plowing Their Land in West Bank
Haaretz has learned that IDF soldiers were deployed to block Palestinian agricultural activity following requests by Israeli settlers. The military issued specific closed military zone orders and sometimes the forces also used crowd dispersal measures.
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The resignation of the flagship Human Rights Watch group’s Israel-Palestine team is just the latest example of how October 7 and the Gaza war have triggered unprecedented infighting in the global human rights community. Could the whole edifice be imploding?
NOTABLE QUOTE: “the memory of the Holocaust can not remain a site of uniqueness”
Ha’aretz editorial on building a state around trauma:
A Holocaust deemed incomparable to current atrocities ceases to function as a warning. The Shoah’s historical singularity is beyond dispute. But if that singularity removes it from all human context, it loses its ethical force and serves only as a shield against reality.
The memory of the Holocaust must function as a warning, not only about what was done to Jews but about what human beings are capable of doing to each other.
The Holocaust has become Israel’s chosen trauma, a source of cohesion but also a mechanism that entrenches moral exemption and diminishes guilt and the willingness to repair.
In an era when social media accelerates dehumanization and mass politics, and democratic and quasi-democratic regimes persecute refugees and migrants, the memory of the Holocaust cannot remain a site of uniqueness.
OTHER NEWS & HEADLINES:
What Carrie Prejean Boller tells us about Christian Zionism in the US
“My conversion to the fullness of the Catholic faith exposed what I was taught in American evangelicalism, a version of Christianity that fused Jesus with a political agenda and called it ‘God’s prophecy being fulfilled,’” she wrote. “It isn’t.”
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Compromised peace? Oslo Accords figure deeply linked to Epstein network
New documents reveal Terje Rod-Larsen facilitated visas for Jeffrey Epstein’s victims and was listed for a $10m payout, prompting Palestinians to question whether the peace process was engineered by blackmailed diplomats.
*NOTE: In 1993, Israeli and Palestinian leaders signed the Oslo Accords, a deal that was meant to initiate future peace talks that would eventually lead to a two-state solution. Among the requirements spelled out in the agreement was the withdrawal of the Israeli military from the Palestinian territories it had illegally occupied since 1967.
Thirty-three years later, Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territory has only gotten more entrenched, and many would say the Palestinian people are further away from an independent state than ever before. Read more about the Oslo Accords here and here.
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Israeli lawfare group moves to shut down Canadian outlet The Maple
The organization described its campaign as a mission to ‘bankrupt terrorism one lawsuit at a time.’
ICYMI, A SELECTION OF YESTERDAY’S HEADLINES:
Look closely at this extrajudicial killing Israel carried out in Gaza today.
When burning homes* no longer counts as terrorism in the occupied West Bank
Member of White House religious committee removed for questioning Zionism
(Read yesterday’s daily update here.)
STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – FEBRUARY 12, 2026*:
- At least 73,161 Palestinians killed, 182,691 injured – including:
- At least 72,049 killed in Gaza (~22,000 children, 33,000 women and girls)
- At least 1,112 killed in the West Bank (~230 children)
- At least 171,691 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 8,000 more are still buried under rubble; 3,000 more are reportedly missing, with no information about their fate.
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.
At least 25 Palestinians in Gaza have died due to the extreme cold, including 21 children, since the start of Israel’s genocidal war in October 2023. At least 11 Palestinian children have died of extreme cold this winter.
Reported Israeli death toll from October 7, 2023 – February 12, 2026: ~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 (by one count, there have been 59 victims) in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Israel.
By one count, Israeli attacks have killed approximately 281 Palestinian journalists and media workers (as of Jan. 21, 2026); Palestinians have killed 4 Israeli journalists (other groups have tallied between 215 and 333 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)
- AZAPAC, the new PAC opposing Israeli domination of U.S policies
- Haim Saban: Billionaire for Israel
- Rafah e-wallet plan highlights Israel’s deepening financial occupation
- Viral post claims Netanyahu sought legal approval, igniting speculation about Israel’s organ harvesting
- AIPAC Has a New Opponent: PAL PAC
- Right-Wing Catholic Off Trump Religion Panel After Israel-Gaza Remarks at Antisemitism Event
- Why Israel persecutes children like my son Shadi
- In Gaza, One Man Is Searching for the Remains of His Family With a Flour Sifter
- Mysterious ‘peace’ groups are sending Americans pro-Israel texts
- Epstein files: Western media must stop burying the Israel connection
- Software developer exposes Israeli nonprofits’ massive spending to influence Americans
- Ronald Lauder’s son-in-law Kevin Warsh emerges as the next Fed chair
- A 14-year-old Palestinian Bled to Death for 45 Minutes as Israeli Soldiers Stood Nearby
- The toxic legacy of genocide
