News roundup for Saturday, August 23, 2026, Day 1,052 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.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The number of Palestinians being killed in Gaza is lower since the October 2025 “ceasefire” began, over 300 days ago – about 4 per day, vs. over 100 per day during the 733 days of the “war.” But Israel is actively working (with Trump’s “Board of Peace“) to ethnically cleanse Gaza of its Palestinian population, even as the low-level killing continues. Genocide experts, along with organizations like the United Nations and Amnesty International, maintain that the genocide is ongoing.
One Palestinian was killed and others were injured Saturday in an Israeli drone strike targeting the courtyard of a home in Deir al-Balah, in the latest violation of an ongoing ceasefire, a medical source said.
Guilt, grief and strength: Gaza’s ‘sole survivor’ children face life alone: Thousands of children who lost their families in Israeli strikes navigate grief, trauma and adulthood with little support.
RELATED: On grief and being the only survivor in your family in Gaza
DEATH TOLL – GAZA GENOCIDE (tentative):
- At least 1,285 since “ceasefire” began Oct. 11, 2025 (270 children). Children, women, and the elderly account for 35.3% of those killed and 49.1% of those wounded.
- 5 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire began – one by friendly fire, and four others in incidents during the first three weeks of the ceasefire.
- 73,419 killed (~22,000 children, 33,000 women and girls) since October 2023
- More statistics below
FLASHBACK, March 2024: Israeli troops admit to using the Hannibal Directive
During a TV show on Hebrew Channel 13, Israeli army commander Bar Zonshein admits to implementing the Hannibal Directive. pic.twitter.com/4JHDAuaOPY
— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) March 29, 2024
RELATED: Western media ignores Israeli confirmation of Hannibal Directive on 7 Oct
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 MEDIA: Israeli Settlers Set Fire to Buildings in Two Palestinian West Bank Villages Near Nablus: Footage shows the words ‘Revenge for Benayahu 30’ spray-painted on a building, referring to a July shooting in the West Bank village of Tell, near Nablus, in which four Palestinians and two Israelis were killed after settlers stormed Palestinian land; a confrontation escalated into physical clashes between unarmed Palestinians on one side and rifle-wielding settlers and Israeli soldiers on the other (read about original incident here).
ISRAELI MEDIA: Israeli Settlers Call Them ‘Hikes.’ Palestinians Keep Ending Up Dead: Armed settlers are increasingly venturing into Palestinian-controlled areas of the West Bank under the guise of “hikes,” provoking deadly clashes.
RELATED: US Citizens Killed By Israeli Soldiers and Settlers in Palestine
An American citizen was abducted by Israeli forces. His release doesn’t mean the violence stopped: There is not a single community spared from the horrors of Zionist occupation. It is clear that the goal of Israeli settlers and the Israeli military is to do whatever they can to make conditions unlivable for those they wish to displace.
Israeli army briefly detains Palestinian mayor, municipal council members in West Bank raid
Israeli army, occupiers injure at least 20 Palestinians across West Bank
West Bank: Israeli Forces Shoot 3 Palestinians in Ar-Ram, Abduct and Assault Others
DEATH TOLL – WEST BANK/EAST JERUSALEM (tentative):
**TRIGGER WARNING: DISTURBING VIDEOS**
🇵🇸 A young Israeli settler was filmed assaulting elderly Palestinian amputee Saeed al-Amour in al-Rakeez, Masafer Yatta, in the occupied West Bank on Saturday.
WAFA reports armed settlers attacked al-Amour under the protection of Israeli forces, leaving him injured and requiring… https://t.co/TKE5yNPkwJ pic.twitter.com/H4FjQpi9rc
— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) August 23, 2026
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: Palestinian Doctor Suffered a Cardiac Episode in IDF Custody, Remains Detained: The IDF arrested Palestinian gynecologist Dr. Dima Amin at her home in Ramallah on suspicion of incitement through social media posts. She reportedly suffered a cardiac event after soldiers forcefully tightened her handcuffs. Restraint intended to cause pain or suffering is recognized as a form of torture under Israeli and international law (more about medical professionals in Israeli custody here).
The real reason Netanyahu added Mamdani* to his ‘enemies list’: Netanyahu’s campaign billboard lumps Zohran Mamdani with Iran and Hezbollah as an “enemy”, an admission that he’s losing America, and that no successor will fix Israel’s underlying apartheid problem.
*NOTE: NYC mayor Mamdani recently recorded a video in which he declared that Israeli PM Netanyahu is not welcome in New York because he is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes.
ISRAELI MEDIA: Netanyahu Is Dragging Israel Into Another Pointless Conflict – This Time With Turkey
Convicted spy and former US intelligence analyst Jonathan Pollard announces Knesset run: Pollard will run on the slate of the newly formed Israel First Party founded by Israel’s former deputy foreign minister Sharon Haskel.
Israeli activists protest mistreatment of Palestinian women at Damon Prison
Netanyahu vows to block Palestinian state as polls put his bloc short of majority
Israeli premier turns to anti-Türkiye campaign as polls show Likud losing ground
Israeli PM Netanyahu seeks to escalate the genocide in Gaza and initiate new wars in West Asia to “disrupt or delay” upcoming Knesset elections, Israeli army officials told Maariv on 22 August. The unnamed officials warned that Netanyahu does not want military operations in Gaza to end and could escalate attacks on Palestinians for political reasons as elections approach. Many Israelis blame Netanyahu for the alleged intelligence failure that led to the October 7th 2023 attack.
An India-Israel corridor is the biggest Middle East story nobody is talking about
Is this a genocidal statement?:
IRAN, LEBANON, & SYRIA – NEWS & HEADLINES:
IRAN
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.
Iranian army says its military doctrine shifting from ‘defensive to offensive’
LEBANON
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.
Israeli forces used phosphorus* shells and carried out airstrikes and heavy artillery fire across several areas of southern Lebanon overnight and early Saturday, Lebanese state media reported.
*NOTE: Use of white phosphorus in civilian areas is considered a war crime due to its extremely dangerous effects on the human body. White phosphorus ignites instantly when in contact with oxygen. It can burn through the human body, including through bone, causing severe, excruciating damage. It can also cause extreme harm when inhaled, with risks of suffocation, cardiovascular failure, coma, death, and other lifelong effects. The substance burns at temperatures of up to 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit.
SYRIA
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.
Israel bombed Syria to provoke Turkiye, US envoy says
Israeli drone strike injures 1 in southwestern Syria
DEATH TOLL – WARS ON IRAN & LEBANON (tentative):
- United States: 18 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 4,346 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 40 soldiers, 4 civilians)
MORE NEWS & HEADLINES:
Trump-Appointed Federal Judge Says, ‘To Be American Is to Be a Zionist*’: Judge Roy Altman boasts about taking ‘10% of the entire federal judiciary in America” on trips to Israel,’ and promotes his genocide-denying book from his chambers.
*NOTE: Zionism, the ideology on which Israel is built, is a supremacist ideology – the ideology under which 750,000 Palestinian people were dispossessed and exiled to Gaza and other locations. By its very nature, Zionism requires an exclusively Jewish population – or a Jewish overclass – and has necessitated Israel’s policies of occupation, apartheid, ethnic cleansing, genocide, and more. Anti-zionism opposes this supremacism and demands equality. It is not directed toward Jews, but toward the ideology. Many Jews are antizionists.
RELATED: Western allies slam Israel for ending World Central Kitchen strike probe
More than 100 French and British former diplomats have said Palestine is being erased in front of the world’s eyes, and called for urgent action including trade and arms sales bans to press Israel to accept a Palestinian state. The unprecedented joint letter dispenses with diplomatic language by accusing Israel of ethnic cleansing and warning that the world no longer sees Israel as a genuine democracy.
*NOTE: Paramount is owned by Paramount Skydance Corporation, a media company led by CEO and Chairman David Ellison. Ellison is the largest private funder of the Israel Defense Forces, and is deeply tied to the Israeli national security state; he counts Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu among his closest friends.
Jewish surgeon Dr. Mark Perlmutter, who stars in the new documentary American Doctor, calls Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer “prostitutes for the Israeli lobby.”
He says srael’s influence over Washington is so extensive that “the United States Congress building is the most… pic.twitter.com/cG3S9O0QON
— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) August 22, 2026
ICYMI, A SELECTION OF YESTERDAY’S HEADLINES:
Israel executes prominent ‘father of martyrs’ Fathi Khazem in his home in Jenin
ISRAELI MEDIA: It’s Not Just Violence: Israel Is Crushing the Palestinian Economy Too
With ICC sanctions, Trump wants to make the world safe for war criminals
(Read yesterday’s daily update here.)
STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – August 22, 2026*:
- At least 74,594 Palestinians killed, 174,364 injured – including:
- Gaza: at least 73,419 killed (~22,000 children, 33,000 women and girls), 174,364 injured. Children, women, and the elderly account for 35.3% of those killed and 49.1% of those wounded during the “ceasefire”
- West Bank/East Jerusalem: at least 1,185 killed (~251 children) since Oct. 7, 2023, 13,000 injured
*NOTE: Thousands of remains in Gaza have yet to be identified, and as many as 15,000 more are still buried under rubble; others are reportedly missing.
Reported Israeli death toll from October 7, 2023 – August 21, 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)
- Israeli Media: The IDF’s Gaza Investigations Aren’t Professionalism – They’re Political Theater (MSF agrees)
- BBC cancelled interview on Israel’s killing of Hind Rajab
- Tucker Carlson says Israel pushed him to report false allegations against Hunter Biden
- Flashback: Israel killed Israelis, confirms 7 October documentary
- Has Trump turned the tables on Iran – or is another round of war coming?
- The day Israel murdered World Central Kitchen staff
- Is Hamas Really the reason there is no Mideast Peace?
- West Bank: Israel-Backed Settler Violence Drives Displacement
- Israel allows Jewish ritual at Al-Aqsa Mosque in unprecedented violation of status quo
- Whistleblower: Antisemitism charges against ivy league schools fraudulent, Congress opens investigation
- Trump Welcomes Israel-Firster Alan Dershowitz Into the GOP, Shills His New Book
- US cries foul as Israel bombs Turkey-linked airbase in Syria
- Michigan 8 case is part of a broader pattern of repression
- Pro-Israel Groups Want You to Believe That Israel’s National Security Minister… Doesn’t Represent Israel
