News roundup for Saturday, August 8, 2026, Day 1,037 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, just over 300 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.
Israeli forces killed a Palestinian and wounded nine others, including four children, in separate attacks across the Gaza Strip on Saturday, according to medical sources. Two others succumbed to wounds sustained in earlier attacks.
‘Used as human bait’: Leaked image shows elderly Palestinian men before execution by Israeli forces: The newly shared photograph adds to a series of images and testimonies that have raised allegations about the treatment of Palestinian civilians during Israeli military operations in northern Gaza.
UNRWA* has been with me since birth, I cannot imagine a future without it: The UN body has been part of the lives of millions of Palestinian refugees. Post-genocide Gaza cannot cope without it.
*NOTE: UNRWA, the United Nations body with a mandate to help Palestinian refugees, has been serving nearly 6 million registered Palestine refugees refugees in Gaza, the West Bank, and elsewhere for decades as they wait for their internationally recognized right of return to be activated. After a years-long campaign to dismantle UNRWA, Israel outlawed the organization following an unsubstantiated accusation that 12 employees (out of a staff of 13,000) were part of the October 2023 attack. Israel’s brief dossier, allegedly proving their guilt, offered no compelling evidence. As of June 2026, Israel has still failed to provide evidence to back up its accusations against UNRWA.
To learn the real reason why UNRWA was banned from Gaza (and the West Bank), read this.
DEATH TOLL – GAZA GENOCIDE (tentative):
- At least 1,257 since “ceasefire” began Oct. 11, 2025 (270 children). Children, women, and the elderly account for 35.3% of those killed and 49.1% of those wounded.
- 5 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire began – one by friendly fire, and four others in incidents during the first three weeks of the ceasefire.
- 73,384 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.)
ISRAELI MEDIA: Over 20 Palestinians Reported Wounded in West Bank Settler Attacks* and IDF Raids Over the Weekend: Settlers reportedly wounded one resident of a village near Bethlehem after firing live ammunition, pepper-sprayed paramedics and broke ambulance windows.
*NOTE: Israeli settlers – many fueled by extremism – have carried out a number of mass attacks or “pogroms.” These well-organized groups aim to destroy the West Bank economy and/or drive out the indigenous Palestinians (including Palestinian Christians). Settlers enjoy impunity – even support and assistance from the Israeli government and military – as they attack Palestinians on a daily basis. Meanwhile Palestinians are not allowed to own weapons.
Israeli occupiers (i.e. settlers) attacked a mosque in the occupied West Bank late Saturday; Israeli forces arrested seven Palestinians who were inside the mosque, following the assault.
Israeli Forces Intensify Invasions Across West Bank on Saturday
Israel Expands Illegal Colony Outpost on Sinjil Farmlands
Colonizer (i.e. Settler) Attacks Escalate Across West Bank Saturday
Israel Issues Tender for 627 New Colony Units on Palestinian Land in “Kochav Ya’akov”
DEATH TOLL – WEST BANK/EAST JERUSALEM (tentative):
💢🇵🇸 Israeli settlers attacked Wadi al-Rakhim in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, setting fire to Palestinian homes and belongings. Six Palestinians, including women, were wounded in the attack. One man was shot with live fire by settlers from the Susya settlement, and five others… https://t.co/eygyE1KdB7 pic.twitter.com/CQY7BvcJAy
— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) August 9, 2026
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.
ISRAELI MEDIA: Israel set to transfer one billion shekels to Defense Ministry for ‘urgent, classified procurement’: The resolution calls for the procedure “in light of the state of emergency in which the State of Israel finds itself; given the urgent and immediate need to provide an operational response.”
IRAN, LEBANON, & SYRIA – 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.
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 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.
IRAN
The Strait will reopen once the U.S. “accepts [Iran’s] conditions” and “abandons its interventionist approach,” according to General Hossein Mohebbi, the spokesperson for Iran’s IRGC. Iran’s conditions include U.S. compensation for alleged violations of the June 17 MoU.
US CENTCOM chief visits Israel for talks on Iran, Gaza: Israeli broadcaster
The Pentagon is asking the U.S. defense industry to rapidly escalate the production and delivery of weapons, including munitions that are in extreme shortage due to the war with Iran, according to a Defense Department memo obtained by The Washington Post.
Israel is preparing for the possibility of carrying out unilateral strikes against Iran if the war between Washington and Tehran ends.
LEBANON
Israeli drone crashes in southern Lebanon, injuring girl, father: State media
Israeli army detains young man during raid in southern Syria: Report
Israel’s policy in southern Lebanon is overtly sectarian. Kfarshouba, a predominantly Sunni village, was spared from destruction only on condition that residents don’t shelter any displaced people from neighboring Shiite villages, The National reports.
Israel has destroyed at… https://t.co/Rn39zQstRh
— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) August 9, 2026
DEATH TOLL – WARS ON IRAN & LEBANON (tentative):
- United States: 18 since Feb. 28, 2026
- Iran: at least 3,636 (1,701 civilians) since Feb. 28, 2026 (another source puts the number at 3,499)
- Lebanon: at least 4,333 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 36 soldiers, 4 civilians)
MORE NEWS & HEADLINES:
ISRAELI MEDIA: Pro-Palestinian Groups Target American Medical Association Over ‘Silence’ on Jailed Gaza Doctor*: Pro-Palestinian groups are calling on U.S.-based healthcare workers to quit the American Medical Association, claiming that the organization failed to fulfill its “moral obligation” to demand that Israel release Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya – the director of Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital who has been held without charge since late 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.
Pharma Giant Teva Seeks to Hide Israel Ties From U.S. Jury in Price-fixing Trial: The company argued that strong public views over the Gaza war could prejudice proceedings and affect its ability to receive a fair hearing. The filing underscored how strong tensions over the war in Gaza have become in the U.S.
The Mecca Pact: A new Sunni security architecture born of American doubt
ICYMI, A SELECTION OF YESTERDAY’S HEADLINES:
UN reports 33% increase in aid supplies entering Gaza in July, but major restrictions remain
Trump and Israel are demanding that Palestinians disarm. Here is why that is wrong and unjust
Israel’s New York consul cancels ‘NY Times’ subscription over ‘false blood libels’
(Read yesterday’s daily update here.)
STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – August 8, 2026*:
- At least 74,569 Palestinians killed, 187,236 injured – including:
- Gaza: at least 73,384 killed (~22,000 children, 33,000 women and girls), 174,242 injured. Children, women, and the elderly account for 35.3% of those killed and 49.1% of those wounded during the “ceasefire”
- West Bank/East Jerusalem: at least 1,185 killed (~251 children) since Oct. 7, 2023, 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 – August 8, 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)
- Tucker Carlson unveils 10-point manifesto amid third-party speculation
- Unicef: At least 300 children reportedly killed in Gaza in past 300 days
- The Briton who helped 6,000 Jews move to Israel
- Sewage, trash, rodent catastrophe in Gaza
- Trump Undercuts His Own Peace Plan while Israel Ramps Up Killing in Gaza
- Israel’s Lobby: America in the Grip of a Foreign Power
- Lebanon: Israel’s Killing of Journalist an Apparent War Crime
- New party emerging on opposition to U.S. wars, AIPAC, and corporate money
- How complicit media tried to sell a genocide
- Israel Has Imprisoned a 16-Year-Old Palestinian-American Boy for Two Weeks
- ‘Silent extermination’: Israel bombs medicine stores in Gaza, worsening the Strip’s dire healthcare crisis
- El-Sayed overcomes $30 million AIPAC spend, wins Michigan primary
- “For Your Eyes Only”: Israel’s Mole Inside the United Nations
- UK tribunal upholds protection for anti-Zionist beliefs: ‘It’s coherent to describe Zionism as racist’
