It has now been 915 days since Israel began its 2023 genocide on the Palestinian people. Below is a roundup of news from Wednesday, April 8, 2026.
Compilation of news reports – IAK staff
ISRAEL’S WAR ON LEBANON – NEWS & HEADLINES:
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. Additionally, Israel continues to occupy five Lebanese hilltops seized during the latest war, and other Lebanese areas it has held for decades. (Read about UNIFIL, the UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, here.)
At least 254 killed after Israel hits Lebanon with massive wave of airstrikes
Israeli air raids have torn through densely populated commercial and residential districts in central Beirut without warning. Residents and local officials insisted that the buildings struck were not military sites.
The Israeli military described the bombardment as the largest coordinated strike of the current war, with more than 100 Hezbollah-linked targets hit within 10 minutes in Beirut, southern Lebanon and the eastern Bekaa Valley. The Israeli military said it had targeted missile launchers, command centers and intelligence infrastructure, and accused Hezbollah of using civilians as human shields.
Lebanon declares Thursday day of mourning after Israeli air strikes
When the ceasefire deal was announced late on Tuesday, Pakistan’s prime minister, whose country served as a mediator, announced that it applied to “everywhere including Lebanon and elsewhere.” But Israel declared that it did not consider Lebanon covered by the Iran-US truce.
Iran War Ceasefire Begins to Break Down: Iran’s speaker of parliament said the U.S. and Israel violated three clauses of the 10-point plan Trump had called a “workable basis.” “Now, the very ‘workable basis on which to negotiate’ has been openly and clearly violated, even before the negotiations began,” a spokesperson wrote. “In such a situation, a bilateral ceasefire or negotiations is unreasonable.”
‘The Nakba Is Being Recreated’: The Israeli Obsession With Lebanon’s Litani River
Calls for ‘Full Arms Embargo’ Against Israel as Lebanon Massacres Imperil Ceasefire Hopes: “The United States and all other countries need to cut off weapons to Israel immediately.”
DEATH TOLL – WAR ON LEBANON (tentative):
- In Lebanon, at least 1,497 people have been killed (130 children and 101 women, 57 healthcare workers). THIS NUMBER HAS NOT BEEN ADJUSTED YET TO INCLUDE WEDNESDAY’S MASSACRE.
ISRAEL-US WAR/CEASEFIRE ON IRAN – NEWS & HEADLINES:
It can not be overemphasized that Israel has been the impetus behind US policies and actions vis-a-vis Iran for years. 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 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.”
‘In no way do we trust America’: Iranians react to two-week ceasefire
Iran warns US must choose between ceasefire and war via Israel, ‘it cannot have both’
Netanyahu said Israel remained prepared to confront Iran again if necessary, as it still had “objectives to complete.”
DEATH TOLL – WAR ON IRAN (tentative):
- United States: 13 (this number is believed by some to be an undercount)
- Iran: at least 3,636 (1,701 civilian, 1,221 military, 714 unclassified; at least 254 children)
- Israel: 30 (including 11 Israeli soldiers, and 1 friendly fire – including both Iran and Lebanon-related deaths)
- Arab states (including Palestine, excluding Lebanon), at least 144
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.
Al Jazeera journalist Mohammed Wishah was killed Wednesday in an Israeli drone strike in the Gaza Strip. The attack hit a car he was traveling in on al-Rashid Street, the coastal road that runs west of Gaza City.
Al Jazeera Media Network said, “As Al Jazeera mourns its correspondent Mohammed Wishah, who joined the Network in 2018, it affirms that his killing was not a random act but a deliberate and targeted crime intended to intimidate journalists and prevent them from carrying out their professional duties.”
DOUBLE-TAP: “The vehicle was hit the first time and caught fire. When civil defense teams and ambulances arrived, clearly marked and with medical personnel present, the site was targeted again,” according to a witness.
“The bodies were charred, and there were around 10–20 injuries in the second strike, as people had gathered around the vehicle when it was hit again.”
The Gaza Government Media Office says at least 262 journalists have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 2023.
DEATH TOLL – GAZA GENOCIDE (tentative):
- At least 736 since ceasefire began Oct. 11, 2025
- At least 72,291 killed (~22,000 children, 33,000 women and girls) since Oct. 7, 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.)
Israeli forces shot and killed Alaa Khaled Sbeih Wednesday night, after illegal settlers stormed the village of Tayasir, east of Tubas in the northwestern part of the West Bank. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) reported that Israeli troops detained its ambulance crew, seizing their mobile phones, inspecting their ID’s, and preventing them from reaching the scene for two hours.
Israeli army opens fire during raid on refugee camp in West Bank, injuring Palestinian child: Boy, 15, shot during Israeli raid on Al-Arroub refugee camp south of Hebron.
Israel to reopen Al-Aqsa Mosque, Church of the Holy Sepulchre after nearly 6 weeks: Al-Aqsa Mosque will open for dawn prayers; entry allowed for all, Islamic Waqf Department says. The reopening of the Mosque includes allowing Jewish settlers come in to pray and perform rituals – for 6 hours each day, instead of the previous 5. These settlers, with protection from Israeli forces, are violating the so-called status quo law.*
*NOTE: Anyone can visit the Al Aqsa Mosque grounds, but only Muslims are allowed to pray there, according to an understanding known as the ‘status quo agreement,’ under which, since 1967, Israel has formally pledged to allow Muslims to pray at the site, while Jews pray at the Western Wall below.
In practice, however, restrictions have steadily eroded, particularly since 2023 (after extremist Itamar Ben Gvir became Minister of National Security). Many Palestinians fear this erosion will lead to open conflict.
Illegal Colonizers Carry Out Widespread West Bank Attacks
Israeli Forces Invade Multiple West Bank Towns
DEATH TOLL – 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.
The gallows law: Israel moves toward executing Palestinian children
Israeli cabinet ‘secretly approves record number’ of new West Bank settlements: The Wall & Colonization Resistance Commission warned that Israel is advancing a sweeping plan to establish 34 new colonial sites throughout the occupied West Bank, a move the Commission described as one of the most far‑reaching expansions of the settlement enterprise in years.
Commission head Moayyad Shaaban said the decision — approved discreetly by the Israeli “cabinet” — marks “a perilous escalation in the colonial project on Palestinian land and a calculated attempt to cement irreversible realities on the ground,” and the sheer scale of the plan reflects an effort to further fracture the territorial continuity of the West Bank, tightening the isolation of Palestinian communities and deepening geographic fragmentation.
*NOTE: Israeli settlements and settlers on Palestinian land are a violation of international law.
Hundreds of Israeli Soldiers Returned From War With Brain Injuries: ‘We Got a Different Child Back’: Due to the Gaza war, the number of Israeli soldiers diagnosed with brain injuries has significantly increased over the past two years and estimates suggest the phenomenon is even more widespread. But Israel has yet to formulate a comprehensive rehabilitation policy, and the burden of care often falls on their families.
MORE NEWS & HEADLINES:
Sen. Sanders to introduce resolution to halt US military aid to Israel: ‘We cannot allow Israel to continue shaping U.S. military and foreign policy,’ Bernie Sanders says
PEW RESEARCH: Negative views of Israel, Netanyahu continue to rise among Americans – especially young people: Some findings:
- 60% of U.S. adults have an unfavorable view of Israel, up from 53% last year.
- 59% have little or no confidence in Netanyahu to do the right thing regarding world affairs – up from 52% last year.
- In both political parties, majorities of adults under the age of 50 now rate Israel and Netanyahu negatively.
The survey was conducted March 23-29 among 3,507 U.S. adults. It was fielded about a month into the war on Iran.
Military aid to Israel emerges as the latest political litmus test for Democrats: Last week, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said she would vote against any military aid to Israel, even weapons deemed “defensive.” As support for Israel craters across the U.S., the issue of military aid has become the latest litmus test for Democrats.
We Called Out the Pentagon for Undercounting U.S. Casualties in Iran. They Keep Doing It: After we exposed what one source called a “casualty cover-up,” the Pentagon offered another lowball count.
ICYMI, A SELECTION OF YESTERDAY’S HEADLINES:
373 US service members have been wounded in the Iran operation
Netanyahu says Lebanon excluded from ceasefire
‘Dying of thirst’: Inside Gaza’s al-Mawasi water crisis
Supporters say Wisconsin mosque president was detained over Israel criticism
(Read yesterday’s daily update here.)
STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – APRIL 8, 2026*:
- At least 73,453 Palestinians killed, 183,837 injured – including:
- Gaza: at least 72,315 killed (~22,000 children, 33,000 women and girls), 172,137 injured
- West Bank/East Jerusalem: at least 1,148 killed (~232 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 – April 8, 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)
- Gazans face a triple crisis: severe shortages of water and bread, healthcare in tatters
- NY Times reports how Netanyahu took the US into Iran War
- Thousands dead and neighborhoods razed to the ground: Aid agencies fear southern Lebanon is becoming the new Gaza
- The war the US is fighting for Israel could cost trillions
- ‘Cigarette Burns, Nail Wounds’: Toddler Tortured in Gaza to Coerce Father
- Trump Says US Sent ‘a Lot of Guns’ to Protesters in Iran
- Israeli forces destroy 17 UN peacekeeper cameras in south Lebanon
- US-Israeli strikes ‘completely destroy’ synagogue in Tehran
- Archbishop for US Military Says Iran War Is Unjust Under Catholic Teaching
- Iranian leaders’ Open Letters to the American People
- U.N. experts demand Israel release prominent Gaza doctor after reports of ‘severe torture’
- Israel’s Latest Genocide Is Against the Shias of Lebanon. Why Is the World Silent?
- How Eliot Cohen’s influence over U.S. war-making paved the way for Trump’s war crimes in Iran
- Israelis don’t pay for the weapons we ‘sell’ to them — US taxpayers do
