News roundup for Wednesday, September 2, 2026, Day 1,063 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 320 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.
Hospitals in Gaza received the bodies of eight Palestinians Wednesday—seven newly killed in Israeli attacks and one who succumbed to earlier wounds—and received 31 wounded Palestinians. Israeli attacks continued across the Gaza Strip despite the ceasefire.
What do you do when you can’t hear the bombs? Being deaf during the Gaza genocide: Amid Israel’s genocide in Gaza, Palestinians with hearing impairments have been left particularly vulnerable, unable to hear incoming missiles or evacuation orders. Fadl Kuraz is one of the few who have devoted their lives to helping them survive.
Israel ‘seeking Trump’s support for plan to expel Palestinians from Gaza’: Israel’s defense minister has said his country is seeking Donald Trump’s support to approve plans to expel Palestinians from the Gaza Strip in what has widely been condemned as a potential war crime. Israel Katz said there was “no real solution for Gaza in the end without this migration.” He said the Israeli government was “organized and prepared to get them out by sea, by air, by every way possible”.
Palestinian prisoner doctor Abu Safiya* says Israeli prison guards continue to beat him, threaten him to keep silent: Attorney says Kamal Adwan Hospital director has been held without charge or trial since December 2024.
*NOTE: Read about Gaza’s beloved pediatrician, Dr. Hussam Abu Sufiya, who has been held in Israel without charge, tortured and medically neglected, since December 2024 here. 13 other Gazan doctors are also being held by Israel.
New Gaza flotilla* due to set sail in October in bid to break Israeli blockade: Ships will stop in Spain, Portugal and Italy to gather support and raise funds for their cause before departing for the Palestinian enclave.
*NOTE: Read about the Gaza Flotilla missions earlier in 2026 here, here, and here; 2025 missions here and here, and the deadly 2010 mission here; find out about the history of the global flotilla movement here and here.
In Gaza, Netanyahu says IDF will retain Yellow Line positions: “We control the territory. We are not withdrawing. We are staying on this line,” the Israeli premier said.
GAZA DEATH TOLL – (tentative) since “ceasefire” began Oct. 11, 2025:
- 1,326 (35% of those killed, 49% of those wounded were children, women, and the elderly)
- 5 Israeli soldiers – one by friendly fire, and four others in incidents during the first three weeks of the ceasefire.
- 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 Snipers Kill Two Palestinian Teens During Colonizer (i.e. Settler) Attack in Al-Mughayyir: Media sources reported that a group of illegal Israeli colonizers stormed the village of Al-Mughayyir on Wednesday evening, while occupation forces closed its entrance and invaded the village.
Israeli sharpshooters, positioned on the rooftops of homes, opened fire towards Palestinians who confronted the colonizer attack, critically injuring Khalil Rasem Abu Alia, 16, and Omar Mohammad Naji Al-Naasan, 19. with live ammunition. The two teens were pronounced dead at the hospital.
66 Palestinian villages forcibly expelled by Israel from West Bank since October 2023: Rights group: Israeli rights group B’Tselem says Israeli forces demolished all homes in Khirbet al-Taban, displacing about 70 Palestinians, including 28 children, in southern West Bank.
The group said the displacement operations have forcibly removed about 4,931 Palestinians from their homes, including approximately 2,339 children and teenagers.
Palestinians in fear as Israeli forces mount pogroms on West Bank mosques: Palestinian witnesses recount the coordinated Israeli army and settler attacks on mosques in the occupied West Bank. The anti-Palestinian rhetoric and physical attacks have particularly exploded in recent weeks as Israeli politicians campaign for next month’s general elections.
Israeli settlers ‘hike’ through my West Bank village. Next is the violent land grab: Organized groups now roam through Qira armed with rifles, renaming our shrines and surveying our fields as part of a process that ends in Palestinian dispossession.
‘It’s déjà vu’: Israel moves to seize land in Bil’in — once again: The army issued a confiscation order for a new ‘security road,’ which experts say will help cement a settlement corridor in the heart of the West Bank. 19 years ago, the Israeli Supreme Court forced Israel to back off from land confiscation in Bil’in.
Palestinian churches urge international action to save Christian schools in Jerusalem: Churches committee says Israeli refusal to issue, renew entry permits for West Bank teachers threatens to disrupt 2026-27 school year.
Palestine accuses Israel of ‘stealing artifacts’ from West Bank Sebastia archaeological site: Foreign Ministry says excavations and land-clearing at West Bank heritage site violate international law.
Israeli Army Demolishes Palestinian Home Near Bethlehem
Soldiers, Colonizers Continue West Bank Attacks
Israeli Bulldozers Continue Land Destruction Near Salfit For Fourth Day
DEATH TOLL SINCE OCT. 7, 2023 – 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.
Israel charges 12 prison guards with ‘reckless homicide’ for beating Palestinian detainee to death* in 2023: The Public Committee Against Torture dismissed the charges as ‘a drop in the ocean’ in a prison system built on the systematic torture of Palestinians.
*NOTE: Imprisonment in Israel routinely includes beatings, torture, starvation, sexual abuse, and systematic denial of basic rights, alongside degrading and inhumane detention conditions – including for children. At least 90 Palestinian detainees, and likely over 100, have died in Israeli prisons since the start of the Israeli genocide in Gaza; 327 have died since the Israeli occupation of the West Bank in 1967.
The Israeli NGO B’Tselem investigated allegations of torture in Israeli prisons and published their findings in a 2024 report called, Welcome to Hell: the Israeli Prison System as a Network of Torture Camps. Torture is a war crime.
Family of American Student Urges US to Secure Her Release from Israeli Detention: Sama Safi’s arrest is part of a “concerted effort to crush the new generation of Palestinian leaders,” her aunt said (read Sama’s original story here).
ISRAELI MEDIA: Netanyahu’s Oct. 7 phone call to IDF chief took place three hours after attack began – report: Earlier this week, Netanyahu claimed that IDF officers deliberately did not wake him for over an hour because they knew he would prevent the massacre.
FM Sa’ar threatens retaliation if UK imposes sanctions on West Bank settlements
ISRAELI MEDIA: In first, Olmert confirms Israel in 2008 killed top Assad adviser who oversaw nuke facility: In his new book, ex-PM recounts how Syria’s Muhammad Suleiman was shot in the back of the head by elite troops who emerged from the ocean to breach his beachfront property.
Leaked Files Reveal Uganda’s Secret Drone Deals with Israel: As Uganda prepares to deploy troops to a Gaza “stabilization force,” internal documents show a years-long Israeli program to upgrade the country’s drone capabilities.
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.
The Iranian Red Crescent urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate the deadly US strike, in which 5 were killed and 68 injured at a wedding, in a statement on Wednesday. The total number killed Tuesday night/Wednesday morning is 18 (2 of them children), with 108 injured.
President Trump said Wednesday that the US is confronting Iran to protect Israel, the Middle East, and Western nations from potential attacks. Earlier, Trump reassured the Israeli public: “Israel should not worry. You know why? Because I’m the president and I will take care of Israel.”
ISRAELI MEDIA: Trump: ‘Israel should not worry’ about latest Iran clashes, war will wind down soon
ISRAELI MEDIA: Defense Minister Israel Katz says any Iranian attack would free IDF ‘from any restrictions’: His comments came following a statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday that an attack by the Iranian regime would be “one of their last decisions.”
Katz: Iran attack would send regime back to ‘Stone Age and darkness’
Iran’s IRGC claims US personnel killed, drones destroyed in attack on Kuwait air base
Hurting Everyday Iranians Doesn’t Help American Interests: Experts say Tehran will dig in, not back down, amid “economic D-Day.”
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.
Deadly bombardment hits south Lebanon amid reports Hezbollah ‘destroyed’ Israeli army vehicle
Israeli strikes kill one in south Lebanon as Rome talks remain stalled: Israeli attacks on Nabatieh followed an Israeli claim that Hezbollah launched two explosive drones at its troops near the strategic Ali al-Taher Ridge.
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.
Israeli bid for security deal with Syria failed on buffer zone dispute: Report: Senior official says Israel refused to withdraw from buffer zone it considers ‘security asset.’
DEATH TOLL – WARS ON IRAN & LEBANON (tentative):
- United States: 18 since Feb. 28, 2026
- Iran: at least 3,636 since Feb. 28, 2026
- Lebanon: at least 4,352 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:
ISRAELI MEDIA: Top Democratic Senator Slams ‘Confirmed’ Israeli Plan to Ethnically Cleanse Gaza: Senator Chris van Hollen criticized Israeli Defense Minister Katz’s recent comments on the transfer of Palestinians from Gaza, calling it a confirmation of his report from last year on Israel’s ‘Plan to Ethnically Cleanse Gaza of Palestinians.’
Haley Stevens Smears Bernie Sanders and Abdul El-Sayed, Calls Anti-Zionism a ‘Sickness’: The Michigan loser endorsed the victor, then went to Israel to complain about El-Sayed’s ‘poisonous’ approach, and said she doesn’t know ‘what Bernie Sanders has done for peace in the Middle East.’
RELATED: Haley Stevens is an enemy of international law
US President Donald Trump’s approval rating has dropped to a record low of 32 percent due to the war on Iran and its economic fallout, a University of Massachusetts (UMass) Amherst national survey revealed on 1 September.
UK must end all trade with Israel, says co-founder of BDS movement*: Omar Barghouti described sanctions against individual settler groups or extremist ministers as a “smoke and mirrors cop-out and distraction” from the UK’s legal obligation under international law to end all support for Israel, including arms exports, trade deals and academic relations that “may directly or indirectly enable Israel’s illegal occupation” of Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
*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. Inspired by the South African anti-apartheid movement, the BDS call urges action to pressure Israel to comply with international law.
Over 55,000 urge new UK premier to hold Israel accountable over Gaza genocide: Petition calls on Andy Burnham government to uphold Palestinian rights, pursue accountability for Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Australian judge says IHRA definition ‘does not reflect’ true meaning of anti-Semitism*
*NOTE: Read more about the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, which curtails legitimate criticism of Israel, here and here.
Brazilian activist demands Tunisia release Sumud Flotilla organizers: Activists say four organizers of flotilla that sought to break Gaza blockade have been held in Tunisia since March.
Germany approves nearly $930M in arms exports to Israel amid Gaza genocide
Israel receives sixth Drakon submarine for its navy from Germany
European gas prices hit highest level since 2023 as US escalates strikes on Iran: Traders are pricing in the possibility of a prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz weeks before the winter heating season.
ICYMI, A SELECTION OF YESTERDAY’S HEADLINES:
Israeli Raid Forces Gaza Kindergarten to Frantically Evacuate 200 Children
Israeli Defense Minister Katz says Palestinians will leave Gaza
Top US lawmaker Mike Johnson says lying is part of some Iranians’ religion
That diamond ring on your finger could be enabling Gaza genocide
(Read yesterday’s daily update here.)
STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – SEPTEMBER 2, 2026*:
- At least 74,652 Palestinians killed, 187,509 injured – including:
- Gaza: at least 73,462 killed (~22,000 children, 33,000 women and girls), 174,509 injured.
- West Bank/East Jerusalem: at least 1,190 killed (~251 children), 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 – September 2, 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)
- ‘They destroy, we build’: Gazans rebuild their homes out of mud and rubble
- Israeli Raid Forces Gaza Kindergarten to Frantically Evacuate 200 Children
- US army secretary resigns amid signs of Pentagon unease with Iran war
- Israel targets identity of Palestinian students in Jerusalem
- Israeli Officials Promote Antisemitic Conspiracy Theories About Israel
- Senator Chris Van Hollen says AIPAC is spending $50,000 on attack ads against him
- Is Israel paving streets with Gaza rubble containing bodies – and is the Board of Peace funding it?
- Board of Peace told PA to remove ‘Palestine’ from textbooks, former UK envoy says
- The Kushner-Soros Money Trail Nobody Talks About
- NY TIMES: These Generals Fought for Israel. Now They See ‘Jewish Terrorism’ as the Threat.
- Gaza ‘ceasefire’ has merely slowed the pace of societal destruction
- Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For… Israel
- Israeli army shoots first and finds reasons to justify mass killings later, veterans group says
- Palestinian Christian Family Displaced by Israeli Colonizers
