Compilation of news reports – IAK staff
ISRAEL-US WAR ON IRAN – NEWS & HEADLINES:
Why is If Americans Knew covering the war on Iran? It can not be overemphasized that Israel has been the impetus behind US policies and actions vis-a-vis Iran for years. This is especially true right now, under Donald Trump. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has been pushing the US to attack Iran for decades.
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 weighing possible withdrawal from Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
Pentagon prepares for weeks of ground operations in Iran: If President Donald Trump approves the plans, such an effort would mark a new phase of the war that could be significantly more dangerous to U.S. troops than the first four weeks.
Over a dozen US troops wounded in Iranian strike on Saudi airbase: Iranian missile and drone retaliatory strikes targeted Prince Sultan Airbase in Saudi Arabia on 27 March, wounding at least 12 US troops and damaging aircraft and buildings, just hours after Israeli attacks hit Iranian nuclear facilities.
US amphibious ship USS Tripoli arrives in Middle East, CENTCOM says
Israel threatens strikes on all components of Iran’s defense industry: “Over the next few days, we will complete the attack on all fundamental and vital components of Iran’s defense industry,” said an Israeli military spokesperson.
As war on Iran enters second month, Yemen’s Houthis open new front: The Houthis, who control much of northern Yemen, entered the fray on Saturday with two missile and drone attacks on Israel in the space of fewer than 24 hours. The group pledged to continue fighting in support of “resistance fronts in Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq, and Iran”.
DEATH TOLL – WAR ON IRAN (tentative):
- United States: 13
- Israel: 22
- Iran: at least 1,937 (240 children, 237 women)
- Other Arab states (including Palestine), at least 121
ISRAEL’S WAR ON LEBANON – NEWS & HEADLINES:
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 over 300. 80,000 residents remain displaced and unable to return home.
Additionally, Israel continues to occupy five Lebanese hilltops seized during the latest war, and other Lebanese areas it has held for decades. (Read about UNIFIL, the UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, here.)
Journalists, paramedics killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon: An Israeli attack on a clearly marked press vehicle killed 3 journalists, while a total of 9 paramedics were killed in 5 separate attacks on healthcare in southern Lebanon.
*NOTE: Israel’s killing of members of the press and healthcare workers is a familiar pattern: In Gaza, where at least 270 journalists and over 1,700 medics were killed in the past almost 2 1/2 years. Israel has now killed more journalists than any other nation in the Committee to Protect Journalists’ recorded history.
DEATH TOLL – WAR ON LEBANON (tentative):
- In Lebanon, at least 1,189 people have been killed (124 children and 86 women, 53 healthcare workers).
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.
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 892nd day.
Israel kills three in latest Gaza ceasefire violations: Israeli forces opened fire on a group of Palestinians in Gaza City overnight on Friday and Saturday, killing two brothers, Fahmi Omar Qaddoum and Saed Omar Qaddoum. Several other people were reportedly injured, some critically. Another Palestinian man was killed, and others were injured, when an Israeli military drone struck a civilian vehicle in southern Gaza.
DEATH TOLL – GAZA GENOCIDE (tentative):
- At least 692 since ceasefire began Oct. 11, 2025
- At least 72,268 killed (~22,000 children, 33,000 women and girls) since Oct. 7, 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.)
BREAKING: ‘Grave Precedent’: Israel Blocks Christian Leaders from Holy Sepulchre on Palm Sunday: The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Custody of the Holy Land said Israeli police prevented Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa and Father Francesco Ielpo from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Sunday morning.
The two leaders were reportedly stopped “while proceeding privately and without any characteristics of a procession or ceremonial act” as they made their way to celebrate Palm Sunday Mass, and were “compelled to turn back.”
Their statement stressed that “for the first time in centuries, the Heads of the Church were prevented from celebrating the Palm Sunday Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.” All prayer sites in Jerusalem have been closed during Israel’s war with Iran.
Christian leaders in Jerusalem call on Israel to reopen Church of the Holy Sepulchre ahead of Easter: Western churches in 2026 mark Easter on April 5 and Eastern churches on April 12. Celebrations include Good Friday prayers, Holy Fire Saturday, and Easter liturgies in Jerusalem. Arab and Islamic leaders consider the closure “unjustified and politically motivated.”
FROM EASTER 2025: ‘They are trying to make it unbearable’: Jerusalem Christians face Easter under Israeli crackdown
Israeli soldiers echo settler* ideology after targeting Palestinians and detaining CNN crew in the West Bank: Twelve hours after Israeli settlers brutally attacked several Palestinians and established a new illegal outpost in their village, the Israeli military stepped in – to detain the Palestinians and journalists, not the settlers.
The two hours Jeremy Diamond and his crew spent detained laid bare the settler ideology motivating many of the soldiers who operate in the occupied West Bank – and the ways in which soldiers frequently act in service of the settler movement. Their comments build on a large body of evidence documented by journalists, activists and Palestinians that show Israeli soldiers supporting or standing idly by as Israeli settlers attack Palestinians or encroach on their land ( watch Jeremy Diamond’s video report here).
*NOTE: Learn more about Israeli settler violence here and here.
Amir Survived a Settlers’ Bullet Once. This Time, They Shot Him Through the Heart – in Front of His Father: In a sickening déjà vu, settlers again killed a young Palestinian, who has two small children, before his own father’s eyes – and then stabbed and seriously wounded the older man.
DEATH TOLL – WEST BANK (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 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.)
Palestinian Journalist Dies in Israeli Prison: Palestinian prisoner advocacy orgs announced on Saturday the death of imprisoned Palestinian journalist Marwan Fathi Hussein Herzallah, 54, from Nablus, inside Israel’s Megiddo prison. Harzallah, an employee of the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) in Nablus, had been detained since 8 January 2026 and remained in pre‑trial detention on allegations of “incitement.”
He previously survived a gunshot injury inflicted by Israeli forces in 1995, which resulted in the amputation of one of his legs. His son, Tahrir Harzallah, is also held under administrative detention, without charges or trial.
Israel Court Reiterates That State Must Adequately Feed* All Palestinian Prisoners, Not Just Underweight: Israel’s Prison Service argued that Palestinian security prisoners are being weighed, and those with sharp weight loss receive added food and medical or dietary care, but the petitioning NGO said that inmates reported no improvement in food distribution, with some claiming portions had decreased.
*NOTE: According to the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, “The basic daily food rations shall be sufficient in quantity, quality and variety to keep prisoners of war in good health and to prevent loss of weight or the development of nutritional deficiencies. Account shall also be taken of the habitual diet of the prisoners.”
RELATED: 17-year-old Palestinian child prisoner starved to death by Israeli prison guards
Iran, Hezbollah launch simultaneous retaliatory strikes on Israel’s southern, northern regions: Iranian missiles triggered sirens in Israel’s southern Negev region, which also includes the Dimona Nuclear Plant, and in illegal Israeli settlements around the Gaza Strip. Simultaneously, Hezbollah launched a rocket attack on northern Israel, triggering sirens in the Galilee region.
OPINION (Ha’aretz): Each and Every Israeli Bears Responsibility for anti-Palestinian Pogroms in the West Bank
MORE NEWS & HEADLINES:
Inside the Grassroots Campaign That Pushed a Drone Company Out of Brooklyn: After 17 months of campaigning, Demilitarize Brooklyn Navy Yard won its first victory, setting its sights on the future.
Psychoanalysts are resigning from the International Psychoanalytical Association over its anti-Palestinian double standard: The Palestine Mental Health Network is urging mental health professionals to resign from the International Psychoanalytical Association over the organization’s anti-Palestinian bias.
ICYMI, A SELECTION OF YESTERDAY’S HEADLINES:
OPINION: To End the Iran War, Trump Must Divorce Israel
Israel plans to occupy at least 10% of Lebanese territory
Israel kills 3 Palestinians in West Bank – one a teen
Arrest of pro-Israel terror group member foils plot to assassinate pro-Palestinian leader in NYC
(Read yesterday’s daily update here.)
STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – MARCH 28, 2026*:
- At least 73,411 Palestinians killed, 183,695 injured – including:
- At least 72,268 killed (~22,000 children, 33,000 women and girls), 171,995 injured in Gaza
- At least 1,143 killed (~232 children), 11,700 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 (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 – March 28, 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 conflict with Lebanon or the war with Iran).
By one count, Israeli attacks have killed approximately 282 Palestinian journalists and media workers (most recent March 9, 2026); Palestinians have killed 4 Israeli journalists (other groups have tallied between 215 and 351 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)
- Researchers at Human Rights Watch Resign Over Blocked Report on Palestinian Refugee Return
- Jewish Groups Are Backing a War Americans Don’t Want
- Eric Fingerhut Thinks He’s the President of the Jews
- Top Jewish Philanthropists, Rabbis Urge Israeli President to Take Action Against ‘Jewish Extremists’
- Don’t Be Fooled. Zionist Leaders Have Always Wanted to Control Southern Lebanon
- Israel’s widespread use of torture is a core element of its genocide against the Palestinian people
- In Israel’s War on Iran, Many Middle East US Bases Rendered “All But Uninhabitable”
- ‘Burn the lawn’: Israel pursues ‘Rafah model’ in southern Lebanon
- A genocide here, an amputation there
- ‘No Innocent Children’: Far-right Israeli Lawmaker Defends Killing of Palestinian Family
- Mossad’s promises helped Netanyahu convince Trump that Iran could be toppled
- US Arms Control Official Refuses To Comment When Asked If Israel Has Nuclear Weapons
- Veterans warn US landing could be ‘more Gallipoli than Vietnam’
- In the West Bank, life is a constant battle – 3 articles
