It has now been 929 days since Israel began its 2023 genocide on the Palestinian people. Below is a roundup of news from Wednesday, April 22, 2026.
Compilation of news reports – IAK staff
ISRAEL-US WAR/CEASEFIRE ON IRAN – NEWS & HEADLINES:
It can not be overemphasized that Israel has been the impetus behind US policies and actions vis-a-vis Iran for years. 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.
The American people have made clear that they do not want to go to war with Iran, but Israel partisans and the Israel lobby use their massive political clout to bring about whatever is beneficial to Israel – including putting the US military in harm’s way. For more background on Israel’s role in American wars, watch IAK’s short film, “The Israeli Hit List.”
Iran demands end to US blockade as Trump announces unilateral truce extension: The Islamic Republic’s envoy to the UN demanded on 22 April an end to the US blockade on Iranian ports before any talks resume, coinciding with reports of Iranian attacks on container ships in the Strait of Hormuz. The demand came after US President Donald Trump unilaterally announced the extension of the two-week ceasefire, while vowing to maintain Washington’s illegal blockade.
US launches air bridge to restock Israeli air force munitions – Hebrew sources: The air bridge will be used to replenish Israeli Air Force stockpiles with munitions, in preparation for a possible renewal of war with Iran. Trump reportedly set Sunday as an unofficial deadline for negotiations with Iran, allowing time for a third US aircraft carrier to reach the region.
DEATH TOLL – WAR ON IRAN (tentative):
- United States: 13 (this number is believed by some to be an undercount)
- Iran: at least 3,636 (1,701 civilians, 254 children)
- Israel: 30 (including 16 Israeli soldiers, and 1 friendly fire – including both Iran and Lebanon-related deaths; another count shows 20 Israeli civilian deaths)
- Arab states (including Palestine, excluding Lebanon), at least 154
ISRAEL’S WAR/CEASEFIRE ON LEBANON – NEWS & HEADLINES:
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 signed a ceasefire agreement with Lebanon in November 2024, Israel has attacked Lebanon almost every day since, committing over 10,000 air and ground violations – the most violated ceasefire deal in recorded history – and killing at least 397. (Read about UNIFIL, the UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, here.)
Israel kills five in Lebanon in latest ‘war crimes’ as Beirut seeks ‘truce’ extension
Israeli military kills journalist in apparent deliberate strike: Israeli military pursued journalist Amal Khalil and photographer Zeinab Faraj as they rode in a car, then ran into a house. The photographer was rescued, but no one could save Khalil because Israel’s military “prevented the completion of the humanitarian mission by firing a sound grenade and live ammunition at the ambulance.”
The Israeli military denied blocking access for medical teams, and said it does not target journalists in its strikes.
French president confirms death of 2nd soldier after UNIFIL* attack in Lebanon
*NOTE: Read more about UNIFIL, the UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, here.
Israeli soldiers looting homes in Lebanon on large scale, report says: Testimonies describe widespread theft of motorbikes, televisions, paintings and sofas without accountability. Despite being aware of the practice, both senior and junior commanders have largely failed to take disciplinary action to curb it, according to testimonies.
Israeli extremists cross into southern Lebanon, call for settlement: Israeli extremists crossed into southern Lebanon on Wednesday evening and called for settlement in the Arab country, in a rare cross-border move following a similar incident in Syria hours earlier (see below). The group called for what they described as the “resumption of settlement.”
Lebanon says that over 3 days, Israeli ceasefire violations destroyed 428 homes in south
DEATH TOLL – WAR ON LEBANON (tentative):
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.
Five Palestinians, including three children, were killed and several others injured Wednesday evening when an Israeli drone strike hit a civilian gathering in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip.
Skin infections in Gaza tripling amid worsening shelter crisis: UN: UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the skin infection crisis is “impacting almost 10,000 people compared with about 3,000 in January,” and urged greater access for “the entry of anti-lice shampoo, lotions, hygiene supplies, pesticides and insecticides, to avert an even greater public health emergency and prevent further harm to civilians.” He also asked for “more robust and longer-lasting shelter solutions” to be allowed into Gaza.
DEATH TOLL – GAZA GENOCIDE (tentative):
- At least 786 since ceasefire began Oct. 11, 2025
- 72,560 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 Colonizers Kill a Palestinian in the West Bank: Illegal Israeli colonizers killed a Palestinian young man on Wednesday: Odah Atef Odah Awawda, 25, died shortly after his arrival to the hospital, as a result of a live gunshot wound to the back.
On Tuesday, Israeli colonizers killed the student Aws Hamdi Al-Na’san, 13, and Jihad Marzouq Abu Naim, 35, and injured four others with live rounds during an attack on the Al-Mughayyir Boys’ School in Al-Mughayyir village, northeast of Ramallah. Also on Tuesday, the child Mohammad Majdi Ahmad Al-Ja’bari, 15, was killed after a settler’s vehicle struck him north of Hebron; Mrs. Raja Fadl Bitawi, 47, succumbed to injuries she sustained in the Jenin refugee camp in 2023.
RELATED: Israeli Colonizers Killed Sixteen Palestinians This Year
Israel Moves to Reestablish Ganim Colony In Jenin: Israeli authorities are advancing steps to revive the illegal colony of Ganim in the Jenin district in the northern occupied West Bank, according to information published by the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth. The move is part of a broader push to restore colonial sites that were dismantled under the 2005 Disengagement Law.
Wednesday Dawn Invasion, Violations In West Bank
Israeli Colonizers Storm Many Areas in Occupied West Bank
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.
Smotrich claims settlers are “among the least violent people,” US supports settlement: Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said settlers were “among the least violent people”, adding that all measures taken in the West Bank had been coordinated with the US, and that Israel continues its settlement activity with “full support and coordination” with the US administration.
*NOTE: More than 700,000 settlers live illegally on Palestinian land in over 500 settlements and settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. Some settler groups have a history of violence against Palestinians, often with the assistance of Israeli military forces. Learn more about Israeli settler violence here and here.
In a landmark advisory opinion on July 19, 2024, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian land “illegal” and demanded the evacuation of all settlements.
UN calls out Israel over ‘highly provocative’ incursion into Syrian* territory: A UN envoy for Syria told a UN Security Council session Wednesday, “Israeli military activity in southern Syria continues in breach of existing agreements and international law…[I] call on Israel to cease violations, respect Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, adhere to the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement and prevent incidents such as the one today.”
*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. Israel has demanded the demilitarization of southern Syria, allegedly to prevent any “potential threat” from post-war Syria – but has vowed to stay permanently in what seems to be an informal border expansion.
Israel using Syria as launching point to attack Lebanon via incursions: Syria’s UN envoy: Syria’s ambassador to the UN said Wednesday that Israel “uses Syrian territory that it has infiltrated as a launching point for military attacks targeting brotherly Lebanon.” He added that Israel “deliberately targets civilians, abducts Syrian children and civilians” and “sprays unknown chemical substances on agricultural lands,” as documented by UN agencies. He warned the Security Council that Tel Aviv’s actions risk dragging the entire region into a wider conflict.
*NOTE: Israeli military operations crossing from Syria into Lebanon, are considered violations of international law and UN Security Council Resolution 1701 by observers. These actions, involving troop movements through disputed (Golan Heights) or sovereign (Lebanon) territory, are often reported by UNIFIL as violations.
B’Tselem: This proud war criminal is Israel’s example of a “model citizen”: Rabbi Avraham Zerbib, who was chosen this year to light a torch at the central ceremony of Israel’s 78th Independence Day, has committed war crimes and boasted of “levellng Gaza” in his role as a reserve bulldozer operator. Zerbib repeatedly called to raze the Gaza Strip and shared countless clips in which he flattens Palestinian homes.
The choice of him to light a torch, as an example of a “model citizen” and as someone who represents the “spirit of the nation,” sends a clear message to Israeli citizens and the entire world: In Israel, genocide, ethnic cleansing, and war crimes are the “spirit of the nation.” Zerbib is not ashamed of his actions, and the State of Israel is not ashamed either.
“אין להם למה לחזור ברפיח ובג’באליה… לעשרות אלפי משפחות אין נייר, אין תמונת ילדות, אין תעודות זהות, אין להן בית – אין להן כלום” – כך התגאה בראיון הרב אברהם זרביב שנבחר להדליק השנה משואה בטקס המרכזי של יוםהעצמאות ה-78 של מדינת ישראל.
הענקת הכבוד הגדול הזה למי שביצע פשעי מלחמה… pic.twitter.com/xjZIw5TRf8
— B’Tselem בצלם بتسيلم (@btselem) April 21, 2026
MORE NEWS & HEADLINES:
German state plans to criminalize questioning Israel’s right to exist
ICYMI, A SELECTION OF YESTERDAY’S HEADLINES:
Oil spills from the Iran war are visible from space
Israeli army blows up public school in southern Lebanon despite ceasefire
UN says attacks in Gaza surge 46% in weekly spike since ceasefire
Israeli occupiers’ fire turns morning at Palestinian school into panic and bloodshed
(Read yesterday’s daily update here.)
STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – APRIL 22, 2026*:
- At least 73,716 Palestinians killed, 184,017 injured – including:
- Gaza: at least 72,560 killed (~22,000 children, 33,000 women and girls), 172,317 injured
- West Bank/East Jerusalem: at least 1,156 killed (~240 children), 11,700 injured
*NOTE: Thousands of those killed in Gaza have yet to be identified, and an estimated 8,000 more are still buried under rubble (some sources put the number of missing as high as 14,000); 3,000 more are reportedly missing. Only the dead who are brought to hospitals are included in the official fatality count. Additionally, the numbers of injured are very conservative estimates.
Reported Israeli death toll from October 7, 2023 – April 22, 2026: ~1,661 – 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).
By one count, Israeli attacks have killed approximately 282 Palestinian journalists and media workers (most recent March 9, 2026; other groups have tallied between 215 and 356 Palestinian journalists killed – depending on the criteria used). Palestinians have killed 4 Israeli journalists (all on October 7, 2023).
**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)
- Gaza’s unseen casualties: A surge in stillbirths and birth defects
- ‘Day of Ordinary Terror’: Israeli Attack on West Bank School Kills Man, Child
- Final Gaza Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment
- Zionist Doxxing Campaigns Upended Their Lives. Now They’re Suing for Damages.
- Israeli soldiers using sexual assault to force Palestinians out of West Bank, report says
- Top Biden Official Supports Trump Iran Attack, Says Biden May Have Done The Same
- A history of Israel’s invasions of Lebanon
- How the powerful pro-Israel lobby keeps controlling Democrats in the US
- Replay: Israel’s slow ethnic cleansing of Christians from the Holy Land
- Israel is (still) killing aid workers in Gaza
- Catholics finally splitting with Trump over Iran war and Israel
- Israel’s “Black Wednesday” Massacre Leaves Lebanese Families Giving DNA To ID Loved One’s Remains
- ‘I Felt I Was a Monster’: IDF Soldiers Talk About the ‘Moral Injury’ – and the Silence
- ‘I thought I might die’: A Palestinian mother’s account of Israeli detention
