News roundup for Tuesday, August 25, 2026, Day 1,055 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, 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 strikes have reportedly killed at least seven Palestinians across Gaza, in ongoing violations of a “ceasefire” that went into effect last October.
An Israeli strike destroyed a warehouse storing nutrition supplies intended for children, pregnant women, and breastfeeding mothers Tuesday in Gaza, Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) said, which said the entire stock was damaged and rendered unfit for human consumption.
“Access to Oxygen Is Not a Medical Luxury”: With No Spare Parts Allowed In, Gaza’s Hospital Equipment Is Collapsing: Israel’s restrictions on medical supplies and equipment are still making health care in Gaza all but impossible.
Remains of 20 Palestinians recovered from rubble in Gaza City
Israel expels Dutch officials from Gaza coordination center over settlement boycott: The move came in response to what Israel described as a series of anti-Israel measures by the Dutch government, the latest being a law banning trade in Israeli products from the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. Sa’ar said: “Our message is clear: Those who act against Israel will have no foothold in the region. Israel will not allow measures to be taken against it without a response*.”
*NOTE: This “response” is harmful not to the Netherlands, but to the people of Gaza, who are ostensibly the recipients of assistance from the Gaza coordination center. Additionally (or perhaps most importantly), Israel is setting up criteria in which it can select only pro-Israel backing, assuring that Gaza will be administered to Israel’s specifications.
ISRAELI MEDIA: ‘Israel Is Sending Armed Militias to Commit War Crimes – and I Have to Protect Them’: A Haaretz investigation, based on IDF soldiers’ testimonies, sources in Gaza and satellite imagery, reveals how Israel is cultivating a network of armed militias in Gaza – gangs of thugs that Israel ultimately can not control.
DEATH TOLL – GAZA GENOCIDE (tentative):
- At least 1,296 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.
- 73,431 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.)
ISRAELI MEDIA: By Smashing a Palestinian Monument, an Israeli Far-right Lawmaker Brought West Bank Reality to Light: Tzvi Sukkot took a hammer to a Palestinian monument in the West Bank, and thus exposed to Israeli and international media what Palestinian media already knows: the IDF doesn’t stop settlers’ violence, it often enables it.
IAK reported yesterday: ISRAELI MEDIA: Israeli Lawmaker Tzvi Sukkot confirms he destroyed monument in West Bank town while guarded by IDF: “Every child who sees every day a giant monument that glorifies murderers of Jews* will dream of being a terrorist**,” Sukkot said in a post to X/Twitter. Israeli forces can be seen guarding the MK and those accompanying him in the footage.
*NOTE: Sukkot’s premise – that the monument commemorating the intifadas glorified the killing of Jews – is patently false. The intifadas grew out of deep frustration and anger over Israel’s long-term military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and were directed against the occupier, Israel, not Jews (the first and second uprisings saw roughly 5,000 Palestinians and 1,200 Israelis killed).
Sukkot’s statement is another example of the intentional conflation of Israel with all Jews. This framing makes it easy to insist that criticism of or resistance against Israel is antisemitic (i.e. that anti-Zionism is antisemitism) – with the ultimate outcome that critics are discredited and silenced, and Israel enjoys impunity for its actions.
Israeli leaders and pro-Israel organizations have a long history of conflating Jews with the state of Israel – the so-called “Jewish State” (of which 21% of its residents are non-Jews).
**NOTE: Israel’s framing of Palestinians as terrorists is a political, not fact-based choice – one that portrays Palestinians as uncivilized aggressors, and Israelis as perpetual victims – or potential victims – enabling them to claim “self-defense” as an excuse for taking disproportionate actions.
While there are no doubt groups of Palestinians planning and carrying out operations against Israel, they are exercising – albeit imperfectly – their internationally recognized right to resist their oppressor and occupier (the UN extends that right to the point of armed resistance). Calling Palestinians, including resistance members, “terrorists” is an attempt to delegitimize the struggle of a people seeking freedom, justice, and self-determination.
תיעוד: חבר הכנסת צבי סוכות ניפץ אנדרטה למחבל בכפר מדאמא שליד שכם@HGoldich @glick_sh
צילום: סעיף 27א pic.twitter.com/CktNKehOG2— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) August 25, 2026
Israel on Tuesday announced the seizure of the Qalandia Training Center of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA*), north of occupied East Jerusalem claiming that UNRWA* had fenced off the land for decades despite having no ownership rights over it; UNRWA for its part maintains that the Qalandia Training Center is a UN facility and is protected under international law.
RELATED: UN condemns Israeli raid on Qalandia Training Center in occupied East Jerusalem
*NOTE: UNRWA, the United Nations body with a mandate to help Palestinian refugees, has been serving the refugees in exile in Gaza for decades as they wait for their internationally recognized right of return to be activated – a job that Israel as the occupying power should in most cases be doing and paying for.
After a years-long campaign to dismantle UNRWA, Israel outlawed the organization following an unsubstantiated accusation that 12 employees (out of a staff of 13,000) were part of the October 2023 attack. Israel’s brief dossier, allegedly proving their guilt, offered no compelling evidence. As of June 2026, Israel has still failed to provide evidence to back up its accusations against UNRWA.
Israel green-lights 18 West Bank settlement areas for future expansion: Watchdog
‘My land is forbidden to me’: Israel’s settlement push encircles Jenin: Land seizures, demolitions and military expansion are transforming the northern West Bank, as settlers return to areas evacuated two decades ago
Israel issues demolition notices in refugee camp in occupied Jerusalem:
More than 40 Congress members have penned a letter to US Sec’y of State Marco Rubio calling on him to push for the release of Sama Safi, a 20-year-old US citizen who has been detained by the Israeli military since June. The Palestinian American student’s health is reportedly deteriorating “under appalling conditions” in Israeli custody.
RELATED: Israel Has Imprisoned a 16-Year-Old Palestinian-American Boy for Two Weeks
Man who attacked Jerusalem nun acquitted due to mental illness, in spite of serious legal challenges: The nun’s attorney argued that Schreiber’s targeting of the nun rather than other people nearby raised doubts about whether the attack resulted from his illness. He also placed the case in the context of recurring harassment and attacks against Christian clergy in Jerusalem (original story here).
Invasions, Abductions and Colonizer Attacks Tuesday in the West Bank
Army Demolishes Structures, Uproots Trees in Nablus
Soldiers Invade West Bank Communities as Colonizer Attacks Escalate
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.
“This is our land*“: Netanyahu remarks signal clear plans to take over West Bank: “We cannot ignore the numbers: 104 communities that we established and legalized together, and 160 farms, with more to come,” Netanyahu told an event for settlers late on Tuesday. “You are fulfilling the vision of the Land of Israel, and this is our land. You are preparing the ground for a very large wave of immigration that will come,” he added, hailing “a tremendous effort by the government to fulfill the vision of generations.”
*NOTE: This expansionist rhetoric refers to Greater Israel. Read about it here, or watch the video below.
US delegation rebukes senior Israeli official over ‘escalating and serious’ settler violence in West Bank: A delegation of US Congress members and high-ranking advisors visiting Tel Aviv on Tuesday strongly reprimanded a senior Israeli official. During the meeting, which focused on settler violence, they said: “Do not take American support for granted when you allow these [violent] actions to continue. It will come back to you through the back door. How can you not understand this yourself?”
Schadenfreude: From hidden gas chambers to Israel’s viewing gallows: What’s the difference between Auschwitz-Birkenau complex and the Israeli Zionist gallows? Auschwitz-Birkenau did not come with a special “viewing chamber.”
ISRAELI MEDIA: Far-right Hardliner Reveals New Party Platform Ahead of Israel’s Election: Emigration*: The retired IDF general said at his party’s launch event that ‘There is only one solution for Gaza – emigration.’
*NOTE: Forced population transfer (“emigration”) is a crime against humanity, and a form of ethnic cleansing. If world leaders truly want to offer Gazans a good life outside Gaza, the just solution would be to return them to their homes in historic Palestine.
ISRAELI MEDIA: Netanyahu Guards Pointing Assault Rifles at Beachgoers Shows How He Sees Israeli Civilians: Twice this past week, Netanyahu’s bodyguards have drawn long guns on Israeli civilians, behavior that telegraphs a sense of intense, even mortal, personal embattlement. Netanyahu does not just fear an Iranian assassination plot – he fears Israel’s own citizens.
ISRAELI MEDIA: Israel’s Emigration Crisis Is About More Than War and Security Failures: The hundreds of thousands who have left Israel in recent years are not just fleeing a state of constant war; they are expressing a deeper loss of faith in the country’s leadership and future.
EXPLAINER – How Israel’s election system works
IRAN, LEBANON, & SYRIA – NEWS & HEADLINES:
IRAN
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.
Sixty More U.S. Soldiers Reported Injured in Iran War: A government official accused the Pentagon of “an accounting trick” in its slow tally of Iran war casualties.
The Warnings That Came Before a War* Now Reaching the Six-Month Mark: Trump dismissed concerns from vice president, intelligence chief over global energy risks, military readiness. Israeli PM Netanyahu told him** that Iran was at its weakest point in decades. The US was to overpower the Islamic Republic while Israel killed Iran’s top leadership.
*NOTE: 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.
**NOTE: This is yet another example of Israel’s efforts to get the US to do what is in Israel’s, not America’s, interests. A few of many other times are here, here, and here.
Iran inflicted billions in damage to U.S. intelligence sites, sources say: The attacks on buildings and surveillance equipment in the Middle East caused unprecedented damage for the CIA and other U.S. spy agencies.
Rubio tells allies U.S. shifting from strikes to sanctions on Iran: No new strikes “for the time being.”
Report: U.S. to Hold Off Iran Strikes Until After U.S. Midterms
‘Possible future war’ with US could spread across region, target energy infrastructure: Iranian army
LEBANON
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.
UNIFIL says ‘entire neighborhoods’ wiped out in southern Lebanon: UN peacekeeping force reports extensive destruction of civilian infrastructure, says some damage appears ‘systematic rather than selective.’
SYRIA
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.
Israel will not leave Mount Hermon, Syrian buffer zone: Defense minister
DEATH TOLL – WARS ON IRAN & LEBANON (tentative):
-
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- 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 4,348 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 40 soldiers, 4 civilians)
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MORE NEWS & HEADLINES:
OPINION: No, the Democratic Party is not shifting on Israel: The Democratic establishment is still firmly in the pro-Israeli camp while trying to appeal to its pro-Palestine voters ahead of the midterms. We should not mistake election-season displays of sympathy for a human-rights awakening on Palestine.
Moskowitz* to take over as top Democrat on Middle East subcommittee: Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) was named on Tuesday as the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Middle East Subcommittee, succeeding Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA).
*NOTE: Moskowitz is one of Israel’s staunchest House allies. He’s backed by AIPAC, opposes any conditioning of military aid, vehemently opposes BDS, and has led resolutions condemning the United Nations for an alleged anti-Israel bias.
From Colombia to Venezuela, Palestine is a global litmus test: Across continents, shifting political power reshapes alliances with Israel and recognition of the Palestinian struggle, writes Hossam el-Hamalawy.
UK’s Burnham said poised to ban trade with settlements; critics fear ‘de facto boycott’ of Israel: 140 members of Parliament (out of 650) sign letter of support.
📊 NEW: Across the first six states set to vote in the 2028 Democratic presidential primaries, virtually no likely Democratic voters say Israel is not committing genocide in Gaza. The “no” response never rises above 5%, according to YouGov polling reported by IMEU.
Even in South… https://t.co/R2Ja5PRPAF
— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) August 25, 2026
ICYMI, A SELECTION OF YESTERDAY’S HEADLINES:
(Read yesterday’s daily update here.)
STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – August 25, 2026*:
- At least 74,616 Palestinians killed, 187,437 injured – including:
- Gaza: at least 73,431 killed (~22,000 children, 33,000 women and girls), 174,437 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 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)
- El-Sayed’s GOP Opponent Attended 3 AIPAC-Hosted Fundraisers in 1 Day
- Israel making Lebanon a burned out hellscape and US paying for it
- What the ‘Iran Experts’ Didn’t Tell the White House
- War On Iran: – Borg Concedes Loss Of Control In Middle East
- Flashback: The role of the Israel lobby in Jon Ossoff’s ascendance
- Commentary: Is Israel Planning to Assassinate President Trump?
- The Palestinian-American determined to defend his home from Israeli settlers
- Palestinian Doctor Suffered a Cardiac Episode in IDF Custody, Remains Detained
- From Lionel Messi, Kanye West to Taylor Swift: Celebrities are “Protected” By Israeli Security Teams
- Federal Judge Says, ‘To Be American Is to Be a Zionist’
- Israel is sponsoring ads on Ted Cruz’s podcast. Is that legal?
- Benedict Cumberbatch, Mark Ruffalo among 20 Marvel stars backing release of Marwan Barghouti
- Guilt, grief and strength: Gaza’s ‘sole survivor’ children face life alone
- Israeli media: 94 Percent of Gazans Need Shelter and Housing Assistance, UN-backed Survey Says
