Compilation of news reports – IAK staff
(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 820th day.)
At least 15 Palestinians, including five children, were killed in Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip on Thursday in a series of Israeli attacks that struck displacement tents, schools sheltering civilians, residential areas, and agricultural zones across the devastated Gaza Strip.
Since the “ceasefire” began on October 11, Israel has killed at least 439 Palestinians. At least 1,223 have been injured. Death toll figures are tentative.
Israel has so far violated the 11 October ceasefire deal in Gaza at least 969 times in 91 days. More statistics below.
GAZA NEWS & HEADLINES:
(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.)
Israel Kills Five Children in Surge of Attacks on Gaza “Safe Zone”
Over the course of a single day—overnight on Wednesday into Thursday evening—the Israeli military targeted residential homes, schools sheltering displaced Palestinians, and tent encampments.
In Mawasi Khan Younis, two separate airstrikes killed four Palestinians in their tents on the beach; another was killed when Israeli forces bombed a tent sheltering displaced people in Khan Younis. In the Jabaliya refugee camp, two Palestinians were killed when Israeli forces struck a school sheltering displaced families; near Gaza City, an Israeli airstrike slammed into a residential building, killing two (continue reading here).
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35,000 ‘Partially or Completely’ Deaf in Gaza Due to Israeli Bombings – Report
According to a survey by a local non-profit organization, 35,000 children and adults have partially or completely lost their hearing during the last two years of war.
Due to Israel’s ongoing blockade, not a single hearing aid has entered the Gaza Strip for nearly a year, according to one of the doctor.
Hearing loss can result from injuries or exposure to sound waves, even if a person was not physically injured,” Dr. Ramadan Hussein, an audiologist working with the Atfaluna Society for the Deaf, reportedly said, adding, “these hearing disorders are, most often, irreversible” (continue reading here).
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Israel blocks entry of school supplies, claims education is not a critical activity
Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, reported on Thursday: “Our partners note that scaling up learning spaces for school-age children remains a critical priority; however, this depends on the timely entry of essential supplies, which continue to be denied entry by the Israeli authorities, who say that education is not a critical activity during the first phase of the ceasefire, which we continue to be in.”
Humanitarian groups have set up more than 420 temporary learning spaces across the Strip, serving more than 230,000 students, supported by over 5,500 teachers. Before the war, Gaza had approximately 625,000 students with over 22,000 teachers, and a literacy rate of 97 percent, which is among the highest globally (continue reading here).
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Palestinian group Hamas said Thursday it is prepared to facilitate the transfer of administrative responsibilities in the Gaza Strip to an independent committee, underlining that it does not intend to be part of any future governance arrangements in the territory.
In a statement, Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem said the group is awaiting the formation of a committee of independents to oversee the administration of Gaza across various sectors, noting that the proposal has already received the backing of Hamas and other Palestinian factions (continue reading here).
OCCUPIED WEST BANK/EAST JERUSALEM NEWS & HEADLINES:
(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.)
Settlers wound 3 Palestinians, torch cars in latest West Bank attack; 3 arrested
Three Israelis were arrested after settlers wounded three Palestinians and set fire to cars near Nablus in the northern West Bank on Thursday, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society and Israeli security forces.
However, footage from the attack showed at least a dozen people taking part in the attack at the al-Junaida dairy factory in the village of Deir Sharaf, and the mayor of nearby Beit Lid said it took Israeli security forces over an hour to disperse the attackers.
תיעוד נוסף וקשה מדיר שרף מוקדם יותר היום: הפורעים מכים – באלות, בידיים, ברגליים – פלסטיני על הרצפה. כאמור שלושה פלסטינים נפצעו באירוע בסך הכול pic.twitter.com/5jWnlz6cA1
— Nurit Yohanan (@nurityohanan) January 8, 2026
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Israeli authorities have released journalist Samer Khuweira, father of four, in the West Bank after detaining him for more than nine months. He appeared visibly emaciated and in poor health.
Khuweira was arrested on April 10 2025 and placed in administrative detention soon afterwards. The detention was renewed three times before he was released.
*NOTE: The vast majority of Palestinians being held in Israeli prisons are political prisoners; thousands are administrative detainees, being kept behind bars without charge, trial, or access to a lawyer. A growing number are children. Administrative detention is intended to be used only in “exceptional” circumstances, but Israel uses it widely. (Read more here.)
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Israel is quietly erasing Palestinian refugee camps from existence in the West Bank
Israel’s most recent demolition orders are an extension of this logic — the destruction of Palestinian homes not because they were used for military purposes, but because the architecture of the camps does not conform to Israel’s security vision.
The Israeli strategy to “re-engineer” the camps is part of Israel’s broader project to alter the social, demographic, and geographic characteristics of the West Bank, especially marginalized communities whose societies have served as incubators for resistance (continue reading here).
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WEST BANK HEADLINES:
Israeli authorities order demolition of part of school in Jerusalem’s Old City
Israeli Army Abducts Nine Palestinians in West Bank
Elderly Palestinian Among Injured in Colonizer Attack Near Nablus
Israeli Forces Demolish Two Homes In Nablus
Israeli Army Demolishes Room, Bulldozes Land, in Hebron
Israeli Soldiers Seize 140 Dunams in Fandaqumiya, Jenin
ISRAEL NEWS & HEADLINES:
(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 passes along only factual reporting.)
The Palestinian Prisoner Society said five women were detained during the first eight days of January, including a journalist and two former detainees, amid what it described as an intensified campaign targeting Palestinian women – including minors.
The group said more than 650 Palestinian women have been arrested since October 2023; detentions have increasingly involved harsh treatment and serious violations, including physical assaults, sexual abuse, and degrading treatment. Most arrests were linked to posts on social media that Israel considers incitement (continue reading here).
RELATED:
A nation behind bars: Why has Israel imprisoned 10,000 Palestinians?
In Israeli prisons, Palestinians endure “incredibly shocking,” “monstrous” treatment
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Israeli soldier sentenced to 20 days after firing at Gazans celebrating New Year’s Eve
The footage shows the unnamed member of the Israel army discharging what appears to be a machine gun in the direction of Gaza, where Palestinians were marking the start of the new year.
An Israeli military spokesman claimed the soldier was “firing towards an open area and not at civilian homes in Gaza.” In a post on X, the spokesman added: “Still unprofessional and not in accordance with our orders.”
NOTE: Israel’s self-investigations – on the rare occasions when they do take place – consistently whitewash its crimes and fail to appropriately punish the perpetrators and tend to focus on individuals and individual incidents, ignoring the dangerous, far-reaching policies and assumptions rampant in Israeli thinking: impunity, lethality, and dehumanization.
Human rights groups have documented Israel’s lack of integrity when reporting on its own behavior toward Palestinians. Israeli sources, including the government itself, have a long track record of lying.
A video captures Israeli soldiers celebrating New Year’s by randomly firing at civilian homes in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/tQXm0f8a6c
— TIMES OF GAZA (@Timesofgaza) January 4, 2026
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ISRAEL HEADLINES:
1 person killed in Israeli drone strike in Lebanon despite ceasefire
Strike hits vehicle near Sidon amid continued ceasefire violations, Lebanese media say (*NOTE: Israel has attacked Lebanon almost every day since the ceasefire was reached on 27 November 2024. committing over 10,000 air and ground violations).
NEWS & HEADLINES (WITH NOTES) FROM ISRAELI MEDIA:
(You can learn a lot about a country from its headlines. Get a glimpse inside this country that is rife with turmoil and contradictions that receives $63 million a day from America.)
As ceasefire unravels*, Israel faces critical decisions on Gaza front
With ceasefires unraveling on nearly every front, Israel is once again confronting the unstable reality of the Middle East.
The coming weeks will decide whether the Jewish state drifts back into wider wars or secures at least one border that stays quiet. In the Gaza Strip, a [alleged] failed rocket launch aimed at Israeli territory has reignited fears that expanded operations there are becoming inevitable.
*NOTE: The ceasefire between Hamas and Israel is not “unraveling” – Israel is violating it daily. including by blocking desperately needed humanitarian aid, including food, medicine, and basic shelter supplies, to the war-ravaged coastal enclave, even though these are Israel’s explicit responsibilities as part of the first phase of the agreement. If full-scale war returns, it will be because Israel refuses to be at peace.
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Israel proposed using [stolen] PA funds* to cover cost of Gaza rubble clearance — official
Israel has proposed using a portion of the several billions of dollars in clearance revenues it is withholding from the Palestinian Authority to pay for the clearing of rubble for construction projects in Gaza, a PA official told The Times of Israel on Thursday.
Another idea proposed by Israel was using the clearance revenues to cover the cost of the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s operations during the war, according to the PA official.
Ramallah opposes both ideas, arguing that Israel has no right to use its “stolen” funds for rebuilding what the Israel Defense Forces destroyed in the Gaza Strip during the war against Hamas, the PA official asserted.
*NOTE: The money referred to here is taxes, collected by Israel on the PA’s behalf, which Israel is supposed to hand over for the PA’s operating budget. Israel regularly keeps back some of this revenue (an amount now totaling nearly $2 billion), claiming it is being used illegally for what Israel calls the Pay-To-Slay program (Palestinians often call it the Martyr’s Fund) – a social safety net for the Palestinian families that have lost their breadwinner due to the conflict with Israel.
Many “martyrs” were not killers or attackers, but were themselves killed while walking to school, participating in a peaceful demonstration, or sleeping in their beds – but Israel claims the program encourages Palestinians to volunteer for suicide missions.
Notably, Israel too has a compensation program for families of IDF soldiers killed or injured in the line of duty, as does the US.
For a deep dive into the topic, see The Legitimacy of Family Compensation for Palestinians Killed, Injured, and Imprisoned.
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HEADLINES FROM ISRAELI MEDIA:
Jewish American academic denied entry to Israel for being a ‘left-wing anarchist’
Incident is latest in series of deportations of foreign nationals, including Jews, for pro-Palestinian activities in West Bank, coordinated by Population Authority and police.
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Int’l Children’s Book Fair Rejects* Israeli Literary Institute on Political Grounds
The organizers of a major Italian children’s book fair rejected the application of an Israeli literary institute on political grounds Thursday, a move the institute described as an act of cultural boycott (*NOTE: BDS, the Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions movement, is a is a Palestinian-led movement for freedom, justice and equality. BDS upholds the simple principle that Palestinians are entitled to the same rights as the rest of humanity. While this event may not be part of the official movement, it is following the spirit of BDS).
OTHER NEWS & HEADLINES:
Social media calls the ICE killing incident “the full Israelification” of the US
Across social media, many users compared the actions of ICE and the US government to tactics associated with Israel and its army: “We are witnessing the full Israelification of the United States,” one social media user posted alongside US President Donald Trump’s statement on X, where he repeated the “self-defense” claim.
After Homeland Security claimed that Renee Nicole Good “weaponized her vehicle” and committed an act of “domestic terrorism”, Journalist Jasper Nathaniel responded, “Indistinguishable from IDF language”, meaning the Israeli army.
Journalist Sana Saeed commented, “The Israeli model of violence is an American one, a European one – it is not pathological *as a model*, even if expressions of it and how it is discussed are, The Israeli violence that shocks us, every single day, is only possible because of the permission, arms and impunity given to Israel by the United States and Europe” (continue reading here).
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Ethics complaints seek probes into US lawmakers over alleged Israel-linked gifts
The calls for investigation followed the participation of hundreds of US legislators in pro-Israel tours and advocacy delegations organized under the banner “50 States, One Israel”. The complainants said these trips were used to promote and defend Israeli policies, amounting to genocide.
The filings cite US ethical rules governing public office, which prohibit elected officials from accepting gifts, hospitality or travel funded by foreign governments or foreign-linked entities, particularly when such benefits are intended to exert political influence or involve participation in propaganda activities.
RELATED: Inside the Israel lobby’s lesser-known tool for influencing Congress: free travel
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MORE HEADLINES:
BBC’s pro-Israel training is nothing new
No question, anti-Semitism is a vile and unconscionable hatred, but one would think it’s hardly the most pressing threat to BBC culture in 2026. Unless there are other motivations for the training – “educational” objectives such as removing the word “Zionism” from critical discourse of Israel perhaps?
Romania deports Israeli settler under EU sanctions
Romanian authorities have deported an Israeli settler after stopping him at Iasi International Airport and informing him that he is subject to European Union sanctions.
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ICYMI (IN CASE YOU MISSED IT) – A SELECTION OF YESTERDAY’S HEADLINES:
Israel seizes 149 million shekels from Palestinian Authority funds
Israel ‘asphyxiating’ Palestinians under ‘apartheid system’ in West Bank
(Read yesterday’s daily update here.)
STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – JANUARY 8, 2026*:
- At least 72,494 Palestinians killed, 182,279 injured – including:
- At least 71,409 killed in Gaza (~22,000 children, 33,000 women and girls)
- At least 1,103 killed in the West Bank (~229 children)
- At least 171,304 injured in Gaza
- About 11,000 injured in the West Bank
*NOTE: Thousands of those killed in Gaza have yet to be identified, and an estimated 10,000 more are still buried under rubble. Additionally, the numbers of injured and starved are very conservative estimates. Only the dead who are brought to hospitals are included in the official fatality count.
Reported Israeli death toll from October 7, 2023 – January 8, 2026: ~1,661 – including ~1,139** on October 7, 2023 (~36 children), 471 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.
By one count, Israeli attacks have killed approximately 275 Palestinian journalists and media workers; Palestinians have killed 4 Israeli journalists (other groups have tallied between 215 and 328 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
- Israel Targeted Churches, Mosques, and Markets during the Genocide.
- ‘We Saved the Child From Drowning’: In Gaza, Winter Storm Makes Displacement Even Deadlier
- Palestinian church committee urges churches worldwide to protect aid work in Gaza
- BlackNest: Inside Canary Mission’s Secret Web of Unlisted Sites
- Israel’s role in Trump’s attacks on Venezuela
- This is how Israeli settlers, backed by the military, erased a Palestinian village from existence last week
- Israel is waging a reproductive genocide against Palestinian mothers in Gaza
- With Their Breadwinners Killed, Gaza’s Children Turn to Begging to Survive
- Israel And Its Supporters Deliberately Foment Hate And Division In Our Society
- ADL’s J7: Biweekly Jewish Nationalism Think Tank
- Israel gives war profiteers sole control of life-saving Gaza aid: Report
- Once Again, the New York Times Sells Israel’s Genocide in Gaza as Law Enforcement
- Israel Accuses Zohran Mamdani of Antisemitism for Reversing Orders Adams Gave Under Indictment
- Controlled Dissent: The Hidden System That Broke Charlie Kirk
