News roundup for Friday, July 3, 2026, Day 1,001 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.
2 Palestinians were killed Friday, including a child who died when an Israeli drone dropped a bomb on him while he was collecting water east of Gaza City.
In a recent analysis, titled “The cost of war in Gaza on women and girls,” UN Women said the toll included more than 22,000 women and 16,000 girls, averaging at least 47 women and girls killed each day. Around 11,000 women and girls suffered life-changing injuries resulting in permanent disabilities, according to the report.
1,000 days of genocide: Gaza’s journalists pay devastating price for documenting Israeli atrocities
Basem Naim, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, reported that Israel has committed 3,503 violations of the ceasefire agreement since it came into effect last October. The alleged violations included 1,359 shooting incidents, 1,546 shelling incidents, 145 ground incursions, 387 airstrikes, 66 arrests, and 387 house demolitions, averaging 13.3 incidents per day.
DEATH TOLL – GAZA GENOCIDE (tentative):
- At least 1,059 since ceasefire began Oct. 11, 2025 (247 children, 191 women)
- 5 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire began – one by friendly fire, and four others incidents during the first three weeks of the ceasefire.
- 73,074 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.)
Rights center documents 83 Israeli attacks on Christians in 3 months, mostly in occupied Jerusalem: This April to June saw 83 Israeli attacks on Christians in Israel or Israeli-occupied territories in 76 incidents, most of them in Jerusalem, according to a report released Friday. The Religious Freedom Data Center, which tracks such incidents, found the high number of spitting incidents (47) “striking.”
Israel’s Security Cabinet on 2 July approved the construction of 13 new illegal settlements* in the central occupied West Bank, a move that threatens to isolate occupied East Jerusalem from the rest of the Palestinian territories.
*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. It is noteworthy that settlers are only rarely prosecuted for their crimes.
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.
Friday: Israeli Invasions Throughout West Bank, 18 Wounded
Israeli Colonizers (i.e. Settlers) Seize ‘Ein Rawabi Spring East of Anata
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.
ISRAELI MEDIA: Marwan Barghouti* to Bid for Palestinian Presidency From Israeli Prison, Report Says: According to Sky News Arabia, Barghouti told his lawyer he is determined to run if elections are held. He remains one of the most popular Palestinian political figures despite being imprisoned by Israel for nearly 25 years
*NOTE: Marwan Barghouti, a Palestinian legend for his activism and long imprisonment, enjoys unparalleled popularity and is often described as Palestine’s Nelson Mandela. His power and influence are unique. If Palestinian elections were held, Barghouti could be elected president even from prison. He is now 67, and has been repeatedly assaulted in recent months by his Israeli jailers, leading to serious concerns over his safety.
RELATED: Israel tightens solitary confinement of jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, his office says
ISRAELI MEDIA: It’s Hard to Be a Thinking Person in Israel Today. The Kids’ Test Scores Prove It: Israel is consciously making itself dumber. Israeli students ranked last (or next to last) among students in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The tests measured the reading and math skills needed to cope with daily tasks – that is, this is life-threatening idiocy. Yet this report is almost identical to one in 2017.
Israel is an apartheid state – and its weird marriage laws show us how
ISRAELI MEDIA: Finance and Defense ministries reach deal to give IDF an extra NIS 15 billion (about $5 billion)
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.
SYRIA
‘Expel the Sunni and Shia’: Settler project for ‘Greater Israel’ sets its sights on Syria
DEATH TOLL – WARS ON IRAN & LEBANON (tentative):
- United States: 13 (or more) 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 4,297 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:
The Pentagon has “struggled” to meet weapons systems delivery timelines, The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a report on 2 July, despite pledges to quickly replenish the military following an illegal war on Iran that cost billions and burned through stockpiles.
‘May God have mercy on their martyrs’: Egypt’s soccer coach celebrates historic win with Palestinian flag: “My heart and soul are with them,” he said after a win against Australia. “May God have mercy on their martyrs. I dedicate this victory to the Egyptian people and to the Palestinian people, the good and noble people.”
Fashion brands are notorious for trying to play both sides, doing their best to stay out of politics at all costs. But by picking the Palestinian-born singer Saint Levant as its global ambassador, Italian fashion house Prada took a clear position.https://t.co/1ehhkxwidS
— New Lines Magazine (@newlinesmag) July 2, 2026
ICYMI, A SELECTION OF YESTERDAY’S HEADLINES:
Gaza officials say famine has returned
Trump’s Board of Peace says UNRWA has ‘no place’ in Gaza
Israel Normalizes Torture Through Public Abuse Videos
Hind Rajab Foundation calls on top prosecutor to investigate Ben Gvir ahead of NYC visit
(Read yesterday’s daily update here.)
STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – July 3, 2026*:
- At least 74,251 Palestinians killed, 186,456 injured – including:
- Gaza: at least 73,074 killed (~22,000 children, 33,000 women and girls), 173,537 injured
- West Bank/East Jerusalem: at least 1,177 killed (~244 children), 12,919 injured
*NOTE: Thousands of remains in Gaza have yet to be identified, and thousands more are still buried under rubble; others are reportedly missing.
Reported Israeli death toll from October 7, 2023 – July 2, 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)
- British Museum made false claims about its removal of ‘Palestine’ from displays
- Huckabee: Israel ‘the 436th congressional district’ of US
- The Gaza Ethnic Cleansing Agenda Continues To Roll Forward
- America’s Hard Left and Right Have Had It With Israel
- Massie Introduces House Resolution to Honor USS Liberty Crew & Declassify Files
- Palestinian Prisoner Society: Israel Normalizes Torture Through Public Abuse Videos
- EU hides secret Gaza files as UN says Israel is committing genocide
- Israeli forces kill Palestinian goalkeeper Saleem Al-Ashqar in Gaza
- US Presbyterian Church votes to recognize Gaza genocide
- NYT Reported Iran Deal From Pro-Israel, Pro-War Perspective
- How to Show That Israel’s Sexual Violence Against Palestinians Is Systemic — and Has Gone on for Decades
- 22 Democrats Join GOP to Block Lebanon War Powers Resolution, Enabling Netanyahu’s Sabotage of US-Iran Ceasefire
- Israeli land theft in West Bank since October 7 equal to previous 22 years
- 103 Nails on the Map: How Israel’s Government Is Burying the Two-state Solution
