News roundup for Sunday, May 3, 2026, Day 940 since Israel began its 2023 genocide on the Palestinian people.
Compilation of news reports – IAK staff
GAZA FLOTILLA – NEWS & HEADLINES:
Read about the Gaza Flotilla 2025 missions here and here, and the deadly 2010 mission here; find out about the global flotilla movement here.
![Thiago de Avila (L) and Saif Abukeshek (R) [abukeshek/Instagram]](https://israelpalestinenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/5-3-d.jpg)
Global Sumud Flotilla says Israel subjected abducted activist to ‘systematic torture’: “Participant eyewitnesses provided harrowing testimony of Saif Abukeshek’s screams echoing throughout the ship as he was subjected to systematic torture after being separated from the others,” the coalition said.
Who are the two Gaza flotilla activists abducted by Israel? Spanish national Saif Abu Keshek and Brazilian Thiago Avila, who were among 175 activists detained by Israel on Gaza-bound aid flotilla, are the only ones still held.
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.
The Israeli army killed two Palestinians in Gaza on Sunday, including a teenager, in continuing its violations of the ceasefire agreement for the 206th consecutive day,
DEATH TOLL – GAZA GENOCIDE (tentative):
- At least 830 since ceasefire began Oct. 11, 2025
- 72,610 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.)
A Palestinian, 25-year-old Nayef Firas Ziyad Samaro, was killed and five others, including a child, were injured on Sunday in Israeli attacks in Nablus, a city in the northern part of the occupied West Bank, and East Jerusalem, the Health Ministry said.
Israeli authorities force Palestinians to ‘self-demolish*’ homes, shops in occupied East Jerusalem: Mohammad Abu Tir, a Palestinian resident, was reportedly compelled to demolish his home, with Israeli authorities citing construction “without a permit” for the demolition. The home housed a family of nine. Israeli authorities also imposed fines totaling 45,000 shekels (about $12,000).
*NOTE: Most home demolitions undertaken by Israel are due to Palestinians’ “building without a permit.” Israel admits that its construction permit system is highly discriminatory. Between 2016 and 2020, 99.1 percent of Palestinian requests for building permits were rejected, according to data provided by the IDF’s Civil Administration. According to UN data, at least 13,800 homes have been demolished, displacing over 22,000 Palestinians, since 2009.
Israeli Occupation Forces Escalate West Bank Invasions
DEATH TOLL – WEST BANK/EAST JERUSALEM (tentative):
ISRAEL-US WAR/CEASEFIRE ON IRAN – NEWS & HEADLINES:
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 American people have made clear that they do not want the US embroiled in a 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 – WAR ON IRAN (tentative):
- United States: 13 (or more)
- Iran: at least 3,636 (1,701 civilians, 254 children)
- Israel: 35 (16 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.)
Israeli attacks killed 20 people in the last 24 hours in Lebanon, the Health Ministry said Sunday.
Like in Gaza, Israel is targeting rescue workers in South Lebanon, killing over 100 since March: Lebanese rescue workers now wait 15 minutes after each strike before responding, the only way, they say, to stay alive long enough to reach the wounded amid Israel’s implementation of its Gaza “double-tap” policy in Lebanon.
Israel Said It’s Applying the Gaza Model in Lebanon. This Is What the Devastation Looks Like. An entire street is leveled. Houses and shops are flattened, including a popular cafe. This is what is left of the town of Bint Jbeil, just a couple of miles from the Israeli border. Israel has razed numerous border villages like this as part of an effort to lay the groundwork for a larger occupation. The approach, Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, said, was modeled on tactics the military used in Gaza, where the Israeli military reduced entire neighborhoods, buildings and streets to rubble.
Israel issues new displacement orders in south Lebanon amid deadly escalation
DEATH TOLL – WAR ON LEBANON (tentative):
- Lebanon: at least 2,679 people have been killed (including 260 women, 177 children, possibly 1,000+ military)
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 approves plan to spend “tens of billions of dollars” on new fighter jets: Israel gave final approval for a plan to purchase two new combat squadrons of F-35 and F-15IA advanced fighter aircraft from Lockheed Martin and Boeing in a deal worth tens of billions of dollars, the defense ministry said on Sunday. The deal is a first step in a 350 billion shekel ($119 billion) plan to bolster Israel’s military and “strengthen readiness ahead of a demanding decade for Israeli security,” it said.
ISRAELI MEDIA: Israel Ups Production of Arrow Interceptors, But Iran Is Making Missiles Even Faster
MORE NEWS & HEADLINES:
On World Press Freedom Day, Palestinian press union reports 300 Israeli violations in 2026: Journalists are facing “the fiercest Israeli war machine,” Omar Nazzal from the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate said on Sunday, noting that more than 4,000 violations have been recorded against them since the start of the war on Gaza in October 2023.
ICYMI, A SELECTION OF YESTERDAY’S HEADLINES:
Flotilla activists detained by Israel ‘go on hunger strike’
Sign Language amid War: A Deaf Journalist Bringing Gaza’s Pain to the World
Footage shows Israeli settler desecrating Cathedral of Saint James in Jerusalem
Israel army admits troops damaged Catholic ‘religious building’ in Lebanon
Netanyahu’s Exploitation of the Christian Right Is Blowing Up in His Face
(Read yesterday’s daily update here.)
STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – MAY 3, 2026*:
- At least 73,764 Palestinians killed, 184,145 injured – including:
- Gaza: at least 72,610 killed (~22,000 children, 33,000 women and girls), 172,448 injured
- West Bank/East Jerusalem: at least 1,156 killed (~240 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 – May 3, 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)
- Israel’s New Ambassador to the ‘Christian World’ Served as Envoy to Azerbaijan During the Ethnic Cleansing of Christians from Nagorno-Karabakh
- Israeli Strikes Kill at Least 32 Across S Lebanon, Including Children – Amid “Ceasefire”
- Israel to pour $730m into propaganda arm amid reputational crisis
- Real Cost of Iran War Likely Double the $25 Billion Figure the Pentagon Gave to Congress
- Israel conducts farthest-ever strike in long history of attacks on Gaza humanitarian aid flotillas
- US ships 6,500 tons of munitions, equipment to Israel in 24 hours
- A New Library in Gaza Rises From the Ashes of Destruction
- Israel’s top Jewish religious body ‘refuses to condemn’ smashing of Jesus statue
- Nun assaulted in Jerusalem amid ‘pattern’ of anti-Christian attacks by Israelis
- Former Tik Tok official describes massive pressure from Israel lobby
- How Tony Dokoupil Became the Face of ‘Zionist Fanatic’ Bari Weiss’s CBS
- Far Right Israeli Settler Movement Enters Syria in a Push for “Greater Israel”
- ‘People Have the Right to Be Buried’: In Gaza, Thousands of Palestinians Remain Trapped Under Rubble
- Born during Israel’s genocide: Gaza’s child survivors bear the scars of war
