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, 1,444 people have reportedly been killed since the conflict began (240 children).
- In Lebanon, at least 1,021 people have been killed (at least 118 of them children, 79 women, and 40 healthcare workers).
- In other Arab states (including Palestine), at least 90 people have been killed.
IRAN:
Iranian missile defense systems successfully hit stealth F-35: CENTCOM: Iran says it hit the F-35 stealth fighter jet in Iranian airspace. CENTCOM said the roughly $100M US warplane made an emergency landing during a combat mission. The pilot is reportedly in stable condition.
IRGC spokesman killed in US-Israeli strikes on Iran
Iranian foreign minister says Israeli premier’s ‘open disdain for Jesus Christ is remarkable’: Thursday evening, Netanyahu said: “Jesus Christ has no advantage over Genghis Khan. Because if you are strong enough, ruthless enough, powerful enough, evil will overcome good. Aggression will overcome moderation.” On Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Netanyahu’s “open disdain for Jesus Christ (PBUH) is remarkable,” and,”For a man so reliant on goodwill of Christians in the United States, Netanyahu’s open disdain for Jesus Christ (PBUH) is remarkable.”
U.S./TRUMP ADMINISTRATION:
US to send three more warships and thousands more troops to Middle East, reports say
Trump administration making detailed preparations for ground troops in Iran: Report: Report day after president said, ‘No, I’m not putting troops anywhere.’
Trump mulls risky Kharg Island takeover to force Iran to open strait: The island processes 90% of Iran’s crude oil exports.
Trump says US wants talks with Iran but there’s ‘nobody to talk to’ after killing of senior officials: ‘We’re having a hard time. We want to talk to them, and there’s nobody to talk to,’ says US president.
Trump says he doesn’t want ceasefire in Iran: ‘You don’t do a ceasefire when you’re literally obliterating the other side,’ says US president of conflict with Iran.
ENERGY WAR:
Iran war’s energy impact forces world to pay up, cut consumption
Infrastructure strikes in Iran war escalate global energy crisis
Iran conflict disrupts oil and gas supply: Around a fifth of the world’s global crude and natural gas supply has been suspended amid attacks on infrastructure and disruption to the Strait of Hormuz, a vital passage for oil and liquified natural gas (LNG). There are also concerns that the disruption could affect food security, as significant volumes of the world’s fertilizer are shipped through the Strait.
U.S. Allows 30-day Sale of Iranian Oil in Bid to Tame Energy Prices: The waiver will bring some 140 million barrels of oil to global markets and help relieve pressure on energy supply, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent posted on X. The move reflects White House worries that the surge in oil prices after nearly three weeks of U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran will hurt U.S. businesses and consumers ahead of the November midterm elections.
ISRAEL’S WAR ON LEBANON:
Western media whitewashes Israel’s attempted murder of British journalist in Lebanon: Israel has a history of deliberately killing Lebanese journalists since the war began in 2023.
RELATED: Moscow lodges formal complaint with Israel over targeted attack on RT crew
The moment Israel targeted British journalist Steve Sweeney in southern Lebanon.pic.twitter.com/sbxhDAK5fI
— Lowkey (@Lowkey0nline) March 19, 2026
MORE ON IRAN WAR:
US demands trillions in ‘war ransom’ from GCC allies: Report: Omani journalist Salem Al-Jahouri said in an interview with BBC Arabic, “The American president is demanding that the GCC states [Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman] pay approximately $5 trillion if they want this war to continue, and if they want it to stop, they must pay $2.5 trillion to the United States for what has been accomplished.”
Yemen’s Houthi leader signals military readiness amid regional escalation: Al-Houthi says ‘all options’ on table following US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
Russia offers to halt sharing intel with Iran if US does the same with Ukraine: Report
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 883rd 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.
Eid in Gaza Displays Palestinians’ Profound Loss — and Continued Resilience: With 1,109 out of Gaza’s 1,244 mosques destroyed, we are celebrating Eid amid rubble, mourning those who are missing.
UN Warns of Worsening Children’s Mental Health Emergency: Palestine is facing an unprecedented mental‑health emergency, with more than one million children in Gaza now requiring psychological and social support and 96 percent reporting that they feel death is imminent. “Alarmingly, one in five adults thinks about suicide almost daily,” she said, describing the situation as a “large‑scale mental‑health emergency.”
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.)
Palestinian worshippers forced to pray in street as Israel bars Eid access to Al-Aqsa: Israeli authorities seal off mosque and Old City during Eid prayers for first time since 1967.
Israeli Forces Assault, Abduct Palestinians in West Bank
Israeli Soldiers Bulldoze Land, Uproot Olive Trees, Near Ramallah
Israeli Colonizers Attack School, Vehicles in Two West Bank Areas
Illegal Israeli settlers boast in WhatsApp group about escalating violence against Palestinians: In a WhatsApp group named “News from Us,” the settlers said that in the past month, they have attacked the town of Mikhmas 5 times, Masafer Yatta 3 times, raided 26 Palestinian villages, injured 37 Palestinians, set fire to two mosques, and torched 16 homes and 19 vehicles.
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.)
Why Israel’s defense in ICJ genocide case has disintegrated: Tel Aviv boasts of a ‘robust and independent’ legal system – but the recent dismissal of charges against soldiers shows how empty these words really are.
FIFA finds Israel Football Association (FA) guilty of ‘grave’ violations, stops short of major sanctions: The committee said the IFA failed to act against racism and allowed the exclusion of Palestinians from football infrastructure in settlements in the occupied West Bank. It described the conduct as “institutional complicity” in a system of segregation.
RELATED: Israel has ‘brought football into disrepute’, says FIFA
Israeli army says hit military targets in Syria*: Israel claimed the strike was in response to an attack on Druze citizens in Suwayda.
*NOTE: Although Israel is not at war with Syria, the Israeli army has carried out over 1,000 airstrikes and 400 cross-border raids on Syria since December 2024, killing approximately 30 Syrians. The situation appears to meet the criteria for occupation – and where occupation exists, the occupying power is bound by extensive legal obligations.
MORE NEWS & HEADLINES:
Trump administration seeks billions from Harvard in anti-Semitism* lawsuit: Harvard quickly rejected the lawsuit’s allegations, saying it was “yet another pretextual and retaliatory action” from the Trump administration.
*NOTE: Pro-Palestine demonstrations on college campuses have been overall peaceful and non-confrontational, and have notably included a significant number of Jewish students – a fact that is generally ignored by politicians and mainstream media. The premise that protests against the genocide in Gaza are somehow endangering Jews, is not rooted in reality. When there has been violence, it has generally come from pro-Israel counter-protesters and police (more info here and here).
FIFA’s inaction on football clubs based in Israeli settlements flouts international law: Amnesty: ‘By refusing to take action against clubs based in Israeli settlements, FIFA has failed to enforce its own rules and is blatantly flouting international law,’ Amnesty International says.
Ahead of Netanyahu visit, Human Rights Watch urges Hungary to arrest Israeli premier: ‘Despite its move to leave the ICC, Hungary is still a member country and is still obligated to arrest and surrender individuals wanted by the court,’ says human rights group.
India bans ‘The Voice of Hind Rajab’, citing threats to relationship with Israel: Film board censors Oscar-nominated docudrama about five-year-old Palestinian girl killed in Gaza by Israeli forces.
ICYMI, A SELECTION OF YESTERDAY’S HEADLINES:
Israel assault kills 1,000 in Lebanon, one million people displaced
Israel bans Eid prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque, citing security restrictions
Why soaring Israeli morale over the war on Iran exposes deeper delusion
Joe Kent hints to Tucker Carlson that Israel may have killed Charlie Kirk to stoke Iran war
(Read yesterday’s daily update here.)
STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – MARCH 20, 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 20, 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)
- 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
- Israeli media reports grotesque settler attack in West Bank
- UK security adviser attended US-Iran talks and judged deal was within reach
