Compilation of news reports – IAK staff
WARS ON IRAN, LEBANON – 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.”
DEATH TOLL (all numbers are tentative):
- 13 US troops have been killed since the war on Iran began, according to US Central Command (CENTCOM), 200 injured.
- In Israel, 18 people have been killed and 3,727 injured.
- In Iran, 1,500 people have reportedly been killed since the conflict began (240 children).
- In Lebanon, at least 1,029 people have been killed (at least 118 of them children, 79 women, and 40 healthcare workers).
- In other Arab states (including Palestine), at least 89 people have been killed.
ISRAEL-US WAR ON IRAN:
“DUELING THREATS” Iran vows to destroy Middle East water and energy facilities if US attacks power plants: After Netanyahu blocked US efforts to end the war, Tehran has threatened to “irreversibly destroy” essential infrastructure across the Middle East, if the US follows through on Trump’s threat to “obliterate” Iran’s power plants unless the strait of Hormuz is fully opened within two days. Amnesty International said recently that such attacks would violate international law and possibly amount to war crimes.
US issues worldwide security alert urging Americans to exercise ‘increased caution’ amid Iran war: State Department warns of possible targeting of US interests globally by Iran-aligned groups.
US, Israel say Iran war may last several more weeks: Report: The Trump administration announced that its efforts in Iran are expected to take several more weeks, Israel’s Channel 12 reported Sunday. The US aims to both reopen the Strait of Hormuz and eliminate Iran’s alleged broader influence over global energy prices. Israeli army spokesperson Effie Defrin also said Sunday that strikes on Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah group were expected to continue for “several more weeks.”
Trump halts US strikes on power plants after claiming ‘very good conversations*’ with Iran: Trump said he had ordered the Pentagon to halt strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure for a five-day period in light of the positive talks. The price of oil and gas immediately fell and markets rallied following the US president’s announcement. Trump had warned on Saturday that Iranian power plants would be destroyed if Tehran failed to “fully open” the Strait of Hormuz to all shipping within 48 hours.
*NOTE: Iran denies that any negotiations or discussions have taken place since the war began.
Housing sales in Dubai down 25% amid Mideast tensions
Lindsey Graham on Iran’s Kharg Island: ‘We Did Iwo Jima. We Can Do This’:
Lindsey Graham on Kharg Island: “We did Iwo Jima. We can do this.” pic.twitter.com/JQJ5lZdvJ8
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 22, 2026
ISRAEL’S WAR ON LEBANON:
More Than 1 Million People in Lebanon Have Been Displaced. These Are Their Stories: Israel’s military strikes in Lebanon sparked a humanitarian crisis, driving thousands to the streets of Beirut.
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 886th day. Since the “ceasefire” began on October 11, Israel has killed at least 680 Palestinians. Over 1,813 have been injured. Death toll figures are tentative. Israel has so far violated the 11 October ceasefire deal in Gaza at least 1,620 times (as of Feb. 1, 2026). More statistics below.
Israeli Strikes Kill Five in Gaza Amid Deteriorating Conditions: Israeli drone strikes on Sunday killed five Palestinians and wounded more than eight others in separate attacks across the Gaza Strip, as Israeli forces continued daily violations of the ceasefire agreement in place since October 2025.
Child denied* life-saving bone marrow transplant by Israel ‘because he is from Gaza’: Gaza-born boy with leukemia denied bone marrow transplant over ID status, as Israeli authorities block treatment access.
*NOTE: According to Doctors Without Borders, over 18,000 Gazans are in need of medical evacuation – over 1,000 have died already due to Israel’s refusal to allow evacuations.
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 forces arrest* 7 Palestinians, assault elderly man in West Bank raids: Over 9,300 Palestinians are currently held in Israeli prisons, according to Palestinian figures, including 350 children.
*NOTE: To learn about the horrific situation in Israel’s prisons for Palestinians, read this and this.
Overnight pogroms by Jewish settlers* target Palestinian villages across the occupied West Bank: Israeli settlers rampaged through at least six Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank overnight on 21 March, smashing cars, burning homes, and attacking and injuring Palestinians defending their homes. The Israeli army said the attacks came after an Israeli civilian died on Saturday “following a report received regarding a Palestinian vehicle that hit an Israeli vehicle”.
Israeli daily Ha’aretz reported that another night of violence was expected Sunday night into Monday, after social media calls urged people to carry out another night of “revenge and expulsion of the enemy.”
*NOTE: More than 700,000 settlers (or “colonizers”) 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.
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.
Including 2 Children, Soldiers Abduct 6 Palestinians in Bethlehem, Hebron
Jerusalem: Occupation Forces Shoot One, Evict Two Families From Their Homes
Army Assaults Child, Abducts Workers, In West Bank
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.)
IDF: Israeli Killed Near Lebanon Border Struck by IDF Friendly Fire, Not Hezbollah: An IDF general said the incident in which Misgav Am’s Ofer Moskovitz was killed involved ‘several serious operational failures’ in planning and execution, adding that the shells were fired at an incorrect angle and not in line with procedures.
Trump Calls Israel’s President Herzog a ‘Liar, Weak Person, Pathetic’ for Not Granting Netanyahu Pardon: Trump claimed Herzog had agreed to pardon Netanyahu, ‘but never did,’ adding that ‘Bibi should be focused on the war, not on nonsense’ (for context of this story, go here).
OPINION (EXCERPT) The Self-Undoing of Israel: Has Zionism Crossed the Point of No Return? Israel’s fixation on existential danger even at the height of military superiority points to something deeper. It suggests a political culture haunted by its own origin story. One possible explanation is moral and historical illegitimacy. Israel knows, at some buried but irrepressible level, that it was founded on the destruction of another people, on expulsion, massacre and erasure. A state built on the ruins of Palestine cannot indefinitely silence the history beneath it (continue reading here; read about the founding of Israel here).
MORE NEWS & HEADLINES:
Dr. Jack Sara, president of Bethlehem Bible College: On using the name of Jesus in vain by Netanyahu: Here in Jerusalem, Jesus’ name is not an idea but a living memory—spoken in prayers, whispered in grief, and held onto in hope. It is a land that has seen too much war, too much loss, and too many attempts to claim God for one side or another. And so, when the name of Jesus is invoked in political speech, especially in ways that distort His life and message, it cannot go unanswered (continue reading here; read about Israel’s treatment of Christians here, and what the Bible says – or rather, doesn’t say – about Israel here).
ICYMI, A SELECTION OF YESTERDAY’S HEADLINES:
Trump Gives Iran 48-hour Ultimatum to Reopen Strait of Hormuz
War crimes: Sa’ar says targeting civilians is ‘mad Iranian regime’s strategy’
‘Gaza model*’: Netanyahu, Katz instruct IDF to strike bridges, homes in southern Lebanon
With Gaza’s Libraries in Ruins, Palestinians Fight to Preserve Historical Memory
Israeli Officers Who Killed West Bank Palestinian Family Won’t Be Questioned, Sources Say
(Read yesterday’s daily update here.)
STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – MARCH 22, 2026*:
- At least 73,386 Palestinians killed, 184,612 injured – including:
- At least 72,253 killed (~22,000 children, 33,000 women and girls), 172,912 injured in Gaza
- At least 1,133 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 22, 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 281 Palestinian journalists and media workers (as of Jan. 21, 2026); Palestinians have killed 4 Israeli journalists (other groups have tallied between 215 and 333 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’s assassination game: Take all pragmatists off the board
- Food shortages return to Gaza as Israel tightens aid restrictions under the cover of its war on Iran
- Meet the former fashion blogger and shady doctor behind the ‘30,000 dead’ Iran psy-op
- Vatican Secretary of State to Trump, Israel: End the war as soon as possible
- The Majority of Americans Believe War Against Iran Benefits Israel More Than US
- Efforts to shut down pro-Palestinian speech face series of setbacks in court
- What has Israel done to my brother?
- Trump: Israel attacked Iranian gas field without US knowledge. No more such attacks!
- America’s friends must help extricate it from an unlawful war
- Democratic Nat’l Committee’s Kneejerk Backing of Israel Is Political and Moral Failure
- Major revelations from former counterterrorism chief Joe Kent’s extensive interview
- More than half of Palestinian child detainees have no charges
- Grieving Parents in Iran Spend Every Night at the Graves of Their Children, Killed by U.S. Strike
- How ignorance, misunderstanding and obfuscation ended Iran nuclear talks
