It has now been 924 days since Israel began its 2023 genocide on the Palestinian people. Below is a roundup of news from Friday, April 17, 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.”
The Islamic Republic of Iran announced on 17 April the full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, following the fulfillment of its condition for a complete cessation of hostilities in Lebanon. Trump announced that the US naval blockade of the strait will continue for Iran only “until such time as our transaction with Iran is 100% complete.”
Trump says US naval blockade on Iran will end ‘as soon as the agreement gets signed’: Asked whether the war would be over this weekend, Trump indicated that talks are ongoing. “We were having a big day. We’ll see how it all turns out, but it should be good,” he said.
US to get ‘all’ of Iran’s nuclear dust ‘with lots of excavators’: Trump: “The USA will get all nuclear dust,” Trump said. “We’re going to get it by going in with Iran, with lots of excavators.” While implying the risks, he said, “We’re going to take it anyway, but taking it, taking it that way, is slightly more dangerous, but we’re going to get it anyway.”
For more statements on the Iran ceasefire by President Trump (and in many cases, counterclaims by Iran) read this.
Persian Gulf oil production can take two years to recover from war: IEA chief: “The recovery will be gradual as damage from the conflict has affected oil fields, refineries, and pipelines across the Persian Gulf,” Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), told Bloomberg on 17 April.
Middle East conflict having ‘massive global impact’ on food security, warns senior WFP official: ‘Our estimates are that if this war continues into July with oil prices above $100 a barrel, some 45M additional people will be pushed into acute hunger,’ says Carl Skau of the World Food Program.
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 11 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.)
Trump “prohibits” Israel from bombing Lebanon – unsuccessfully: On Friday, Trump announced that the United States will not allow the continuation of bombings in Lebanon. “Israel will not be bombing Lebanon any longer. They are PROHIBITED from doing so by the U.S.A. Enough is enough!!!” the U.S. president wrote on his social media network, Truth Social. Only minutes after Trump’s post, an Israeli drone strike killed one person in southern Lebanon, just one of “a number of violations” of the ceasefire within hours of it going into effect.
Why did Israel continue bombing? “Self-defense*”: The ceasefire agreement states that Israel will not attack Lebanese targets unless in self-defense, preserving its right to take “all necessary measures in self-defense, at any time, against planned, imminent, or ongoing attacks.” It is not clear at this time what imminent attack Friday’s strikes were intended to prevent.
*NOTE: Israel regularly frames all manner of hostile actions as “self-defense,” which enables Israel to portray itself as the victim. It often claims that a group “was about to attack,” or “wants to wipe out all Jews” (read more here – also check out Israel’s history of preemptive strikes).
Israeli Defense Minister: IDF will not withdraw from positions in Lebanon during ceasefire: “The ground maneuver into Lebanon and the strikes against Hezbollah throughout Lebanon have achieved many accomplishments, but they have not yet been completed,” he added. Katz also vowed that the army will continue blowing up civilian homes.
Israel’s “Black Wednesday” Massacre Leaves Lebanese Families Giving DNA to ID Loved Ones’ Remains: “The bodies arrive completely disfigured,” said a spokesperson from the Lebanese Ministry of Health. “The remains are scattered and the features obliterated. We are often not dealing with whole bodies. We are dealing with human fragments that the force of the explosions has turned into medical puzzles.” (Read about Black Wednesday here.)
Israel’s long history of stoking sectarian tensions in Lebanon, and what it means for the ceasefire: Netanyahu may have been “coerced” by Trump into a ceasefire with Lebanon, but this won’t stop Israel from following a well-worn playbook: exploit sectarian divisions to weaken or disarm resistance while entrenching Israeli expansionism.
Nearly 40,000 homes have been destroyed or damaged, according to a preliminary assessment by Lebanese authorities conducted before the truce. Many families trying to return home at the beginning of the ceasefire found nothing but destruction and simply left again.
DEATH TOLL – WAR ON LEBANON (tentative):
- In Lebanon, at least 2,294 people have been killed (including 260 women, 172 children)
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.
Two Palestinians were killed and several others were injured, on Friday, when Israeli occupation forces bombed a water desalination plant in the Al‑Shuja’iyya neighborhood, east of Gaza City.
Israeli Strikes Killed Average of 47 Women and Girls a Day During Gaza War, UN Says: More than 38,000 women and girls were killed in Gaza between October 2023 and December 2025, according to the report by U.N. Women, an agency that focuses on gender equality. “Women and girls accounted for a proportion of deaths far higher than those observed in previous conflicts in Gaza,” Sofia Calltorp, the agency’s humanitarian action head, told reporters in Geneva. “They were individuals with lives and with dreams,” she added.
DEATH TOLL – GAZA GENOCIDE (tentative):
- At least 766 since ceasefire began Oct. 11, 2025
- 72,345 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 police bar Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa preacher from entering mosque for Friday prayers
Colonizers Burn Vehicles, Army Breaks Into Shops, In Hebron
Army Abducts 70 Palestinians Across West Bank This Week
Israeli Colonizers Attack Communities In West Bank
Occupation Obstructs Prisoners’ Day March near Bethlehem
West Bank Communities Face New Colonizer Assaults
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.
Palestinian rights group warns of ‘unprecedented escalation’ in abuses against detainees: The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) warned in a statement marking Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, that thousands of Palestinians are being held in “harsh and life-threatening conditions,” with practices that may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. Hundreds, including women, children, journalists and medical personnel, described severe ill-treatment such as beatings, sleep deprivation, starvation and medical neglect, as well as sexual violence.
RELATED: Number of Palestinian Prisoners Rises By 83% Since October 2023
*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.
MORE NEWS & HEADLINES:
Protesters worldwide mark Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, call for repeal of execution law: Over 137 events across 19 countries were held on Friday, according to the Red Ribbons Campaign, in honor of the more than 9,600 Palestinians currently held in Israeli jails.
Tennessee advances ‘Judea and Samaria’ bill, sends measure to governor: The bill, titled the “Recognizing Judea and Samaria Act,” would prohibit Tennessee state agencies from using the term “West Bank” in official products.
The Global Sumud Flotilla continued its journey toward Gaza on Friday, after setting sail from Barcelona. The flotilla was created to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza, deliver humanitarian aid and draw international attention to the situation in the enclave. The mission includes around 70 vessels and nearly 1,000 participants from 70 countries, making it significantly larger than a previous mission in September 2025, which included 42 boats and 462 participants.
ICYMI, A SELECTION OF YESTERDAY’S HEADLINES:
26 million Iranians volunteer to defend country, including public figures
US Statement on Lebanon Ceasefire Leaves Major Loophole That Israel May Exploit To Continue Attacks
Four Palestinians, including a 9-year-old child, killed Thursday
Israeli Soldiers Kill A Palestinian Teen Near Jerusalem
(Read yesterday’s daily update here.)
STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – APRIL 17, 2026*:
- At least 73,494 Palestinians killed, 183,942 injured – including:
- Gaza: at least 72,345 killed (~22,000 children, 33,000 women and girls), 172,242 injured
- West Bank/East Jerusalem: at least 1,149 killed (~232 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 17, 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)
- Senate again fails to block weapons to Israel
- Think the Iran war is a disaster? Blame these DC think tanks first.
- Number of Palestinian Prisoners Rises By 83% Since October 2023
- Mearsheimer: Israel Owns Trump
- Mark Levin and Jonathan Pollard Push for Nuking Iran
- TCN: America Enables Israel’s Crimes
- Israel’s Next Leader Will Be Just Like Bibi – but Without the Corruption
- Born into war, raised across borders: The story of Gaza’s premature babies separated from their parents amid Israel’s genocide
- Israeli soldiers suspected of raping Palestinian detainee allowed to return to service
- Gaza flooded with sweets as fuel and medicine withheld, health official warns
- Commentary: take away Israel’s biggest weapon
- The Myth of Israel as ‘US Aircraft Carrier’ in Middle East
- Israeli Media: ‘Diseases Are Everywhere’: Gaza’s ‘Catastrophic’ Healthcare Crisis Is Worsening
- Declassified Files Expose Jewish Pre-state Underground Militia’s Contacts With Nazi Germany
