Compilation of news reports – IAK staff
WAR 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).
- In Israel, 15 people have been killed and 1,929 injured, the majority with minor injuries.
- In Iran, 1,444 people have reportedly been killed since the conflict began.
- In Lebanon, at least 850 people have been killed (at least 91 of them children).
- In other Arab states, at least 46 people have been killed.
IRAN:
Iran says 223 women, 202 children killed in US-Israeli attacks: At least 153 health centers damaged in attacks across Iran, says Health Ministry. The fatalities included three pregnant women and 12 children under the age of five. The total death count stands at 1,444.
Top Iranian official warns of alleged plan to stage 9/11-style attack and pin blame on Iran: “I’ve heard that the remaining members of Epstein’s network have devised a conspiracy to create an incident similar to 9/11 and blame Iran for it,” Ali Larajani said on X. “Iran fundamentally opposes such terrorist schemes and has no war with American people.”
RELATED: War on Iran may provoke a terrorist attack in US – and that may be the point: ‘Of course there’s going to be retaliation,’ says one expert. ‘It may be that this is what Trump’s interested in.’
U.S./TRUMP ADMINISTRATION – IRAN:
US spent $12B since start of strikes on Iran, says White House economic adviser
If Seizing Iran’s Nuclear Material Is the Endgame, Here’s What It Would Take: Gaining control of Iran’s enriched uranium would be difficult, but leaving it there is dangerous too. Seizing it could require “potentially the largest special forces operation in history.”
ISRAEL – IRAN:
Israel may call up 450,000 reservists amid preparations for possible ground operation in Lebanon
Israel allocates $825M to buy ‘urgent security supplies’: War on Iran for Israel has reached 22 billion shekels ($7 billion), Israeli Channel 12 reports. The cost of the ongoing war on Iran for Israel has reportedly reached 22 billion shekels ($7 billion). The US has spent at least $12 billion (see above).
IDF planning 3 more weeks of operations to systematically degrade Iran’s defense industry
LEBANON & MIDDLE EAST:
At least 850 people have been killed, including 107 children, in relentless Israeli attacks across Lebanon since March 2, the Lebanese Health Ministry said Sunday.
IDF sends ground forces into southern Lebanon in targeted assault on Hezbollah*: Division 91 has launched a targeted ground operation in southern Lebanon. The operation is aimed at expanding the security zone, destroying Hezbollah’s terror infrastructure, and eliminating operatives active in the area – all with the goal of creating an additional layer of protection for residents of the north.
*NOTE: Israel’s incursions into southern Lebanon have regularly involved the killing of hundreds of civilians and destruction of civilian infrastructure and property, amid dubious claims of Hezbollah presence. Israeli forces have also targeted UN international peacekeeping forces.
EUROPE & BEYOND:
Bombing hospital or school aren’t ‘miscalculations’ but ‘war crimes’: WHO chief: ‘Starving civilians isn’t a negotiating tactic. These are war crimes. Full stop. Call it what it is,’ says Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Pope appeals for ceasefire, dialogue amid Middle East conflict: ‘Violence can never lead to the justice, the stability and the peace that peoples are awaiting,’ says Pope Leo XIV.
War on Iran Is Enriching Weapons Firms as It Tanks the Global Economy: The military-industrial complex rakes in profits as the rest of the world suffers, economist C. P. Chandrasekhar argues.
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 878th day.)
Since the “ceasefire” began on October 11, Israel has killed at least 663 Palestinians. Over 1,762 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 attacks kill 13 in Gaza, including 2 children and a pregnant woman: An attack on Sunday hit a house in Nuseirat refugee camp, killing a couple in their 30s and their 10-year-old son, and a 15-year-old neighbor. The woman was pregnant with twins. Another strike hit a police vehicle, killing nine police officers*.
*NOTE: Since October 2023, the Israeli army has killed more than 787 members of Gaza’s security and police services.
Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt will reopen Wednesday for movement in both directions, allowing limited travel of people, Israel announced Sunday.
Israel preparing for deployment of international force to Gaza in May: The force set to arrive in the Gaza Strip on May 1, is allegedly part of the next phase of US President Donald Trump’s plan for the territory, according to Israeli media. The multinational force is expected to include around 5,000 soldiers from Indonesia alongside dozens of troops from Kazakhstan, Morocco, Albania and Kosovo.
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.)
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.)
Education Ministry Suspends Israeli Teacher Whose Friend Spray-painted Palestinian Flag Colors at West Bank Bus Stop: Video footage shows the Jerusalem school teacher did not participate in the act, yet she was arrested alongside her friend and interrogated for five hours. The Education Ministry suspended her from teaching for two weeks.
MORE NEWS & HEADLINES:
War on Iran may provoke a terrorist attack in US – and that may be the point: ‘Of course there’s going to be retaliation,’ says one expert. ‘It may be that this is what Trump’s interested in.’
Republican rebukes FCC chair’s threats to revoke broadcast licenses over Iran war: “I’m in big support of the first amendment,”Sen. Ron Johnson (R) said. “I do not like the heavy hand of government, no matter who’s wielding it.” Senator Chris Murphy (D) said on social media, “A truly extraordinary moment. We aren’t on the verge of a totalitarian takeover. WE ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF IT. Act like it.”
Germany ‘secretly financed’ much of Israel’s Dimona nuclear project, report claims: Throughout years, since establishment of State of Israel, Germany played vital role in supporting Tel Aviv not only politically but also founding nuclear facility, according to report.
Tucker Carlson Claims CIA Read His Texts to Build Foreign Agent Case Over Contact With Iran: It was not immediately clear whether any investigation or referral actually exists, or whether Carlson was attempting to get ahead of a potential legal move or generate attention around the claim.
It’s Time to Cut Ties With the Anti-Defamation League: While the ADL attacks and smears Palestinians and supporters of Palestinian justice, it gives cover to and helps legitimize (often antisemitic) right-wing politicians and others who back Israel.
ICYMI, A SELECTION OF YESTERDAY’S HEADLINES:
(Read yesterday’s daily update here.)
Entire families wiped out and towns emptied as Israel’s war on Lebanon intensifies
Israeli Forces Fatally Shoot Palestinian Father, Mother and Two Children in West Bank
Nablus: Colonizers Kill a Palestinian, Injure Three in Qusra
STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – MARCH 15, 2026*:
- At least 73,371 Palestinians killed, 184,561 injured – including:
- At least 72,239 killed (~22,000 children, 33,000 women and girls), 172,861 injured in Gaza
- At least 1,132 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 15, 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)
- ‘Of Course’: IDF Drops Case Against Soldiers Accused of Raping Palestinian Prisoner
- Don’t Fall for the Regime Change Talk. Israel Is ‘Mowing the Lawn’ in Iran
- Will Israel and the US wreck the Gulf States along with Iran?
- US so far burned through ‘years’ of munitions in Iran war: Report
- How the Israeli Tail Wags the American Dog
- Outdated intel likely led to deadly U.S. strike on Iranian elementary school, sources say
- Pentagon insider says high U.S official Douglas Feith reported to Netanyahu
- In fond memory of Walid Khalidi, the historian of Palestine
- Are we on the precipice of World War III?
- Israeli strategic plans to “remake the Middle East” from the 1950s and since
- Honoring Gaza’s women who refused to let the world look away
- Israel Decided the War, But Trump’s America Fights and Pays the Bill
- Conscientious Objector Group: Phone ‘Ringing Off Hook’ As Huge Mobilization Underway
- U.S. support for Israel continues to plummet, despite media’s best efforts
