Compilation of news reports – IAK staff
(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 835th day.)
Israeli fire killed three Palestinians in two separate incidents in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, despite the declared “ceasefire” that took effect on October 11, 2025.
Since the “ceasefire” began on October 11, Israel has killed at least 486 Palestinians. At least 1,341 have been injured. Death toll figures are tentative.
At least 25 Palestinians in Gaza have died due to the extreme cold, including 21 children, since the start of Israel’s genocidal war in October 2023. At least 11 Palestinian children have died of extreme cold this winter.
Israel has so far violated the 11 October ceasefire deal in Gaza at least 1,300 times (as of Jan. 15, 2026). More statistics below.
GAZA NEWS & HEADLINES:
(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.
UPDATE: Ran Gvili, Israel’s last remaining hostage in Gaza, has been found
+++
Top US envoys on Sunday met Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and reportedly urged him to reopen the Rafah crossing into Gaza, but it won’t happen until after the body of the last hostage in Gaza is located.
Israel’s demand for the return of the last hostage, Ran Gvili, has been widely seen as the last obstacle to opening the Rafah crossing – the border was supposed to have opened during the initial phase of Donald Trump’s plan to end the war last October (continue reading here).
*NOTE: As CNN reported In October 2025, “senior figures in the Israeli political establishment believe that some hostages’ bodies will never be returned.” Remains of both Israelis and Palestinians lie beneath some 61 million tons of debris. Not only did Netanyahu violate the ceasefire by refusing to open the Rafah crossing thus far, he is now setting up new, possibly unachievable requirements. What some say is the “last obstacle” to opening the crossing may be just the latest of many more to come.
Israel’s claims and promises carry little weight: historically, Israel has lied to the US and the world many times. Among Israel’s lies are numerous atrocity stories about the October 7th attack that have since been proven untrue (more examples here).
The Israeli military has also disseminated false stories about its own actions throughout the war. Previously, Israel has been caught in many lies – for examples, see this and this. Many of Israel’s lies have been debunked even by traditionally pro-Israel mainstream media.
UPDATE: Now that the last remains have been found, it remains to be seen to what extent Netanyahu will keep his promise to open the Rafah crossing.
+++
Netanyahu says Rafah crossing will be pedestrian-only*
Although Trump’s plan calls for a full reopening of Rafah, Netanyahu’s office said access will be “limited”, and for “pedestrian passage only, subject to a full Israeli inspection mechanism” – making some analysts concerned that the result would be the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza, a long-held Israeli goal. Netanyahu has also made it clear that he wants more Gazans leaving than entering.
A pedestrian-only reopening of Rafah would do nothing to move the tons of desperately-needed humanitarian supplies stranded in Egyptian warehouses.
*NOTE: This blocking of aid trucks into Gaza is another ongoing violation by Israel of the ceasefire terms. 600 truckloads of aid were supposed to be delivered every day for the last 107 days, but the actual numbers have fallen far short, prolonging Gaza’s crisis of food, medicine, and shelter.
As a de facto occupier of Gaza, Israel is obligated under the law of armed conflict to ensure that the occupied civilian population is provided with supplies essential to the survival to the fullest extent that it can, including basic food and medical supplies as well as clothing, bedding and means of shelter.
Humanitarian agencies have repeatedly stated that they have large quantities of sheltering materials, food, and medical supplies waiting just outside the border, but Israel does not allow them into the Strip.
+++
After brief celebrations over launching Gaza’s first radio station since the genocide, Israeli quadcopter drones blew up the transmission tower atop Shawwa Tower on Al-Wahda Street in Gaza City.
Israel’s message: there is no place for life in Gaza—contempt for Trump’s plan. pic.twitter.com/ZsFNjBZXej— Ramy Abdu| رامي عبده (@RamAbdu) January 25, 2026
OCCUPIED WEST BANK/EAST JERUSALEM NEWS & HEADLINES:
(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.)
West Bank: Palestinian killed near Ramallah
Palestinian Ammar Majed Hassan Hijazi, a 34-year-old man from Nablus, was killed early Sunday after Israeli occupation police opened live fire on a Palestinian vehicle near the town of Turmus Ayya.
According to sources, police ordered the driver to stop, but he attempted to reverse the vehicle, prompting officers to fire around seven bullets without prior warning. Israeli forces then prevented anyone from approaching the vehicle until his death was announced.
+++
ALL IN A DAY’S WORK: MORE ISRAELI OCCUPATION ACTIONS ON SUNDAY:
Invasions, Abductions And Violations In West Bank
Israeli Colonizers Injure Children, Attack Shepherds Near Hebron
ISRAEL NEWS & HEADLINES:
(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 passes along only factual reporting.)
Wave of Israeli attacks kills two in Lebanon in latest ceasefire violation
Deadly Israeli air strikes target areas across south Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley amid simmering regional tensions.
*NOTE: 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, and killing over 300.
NEWS & HEADLINES FROM ISRAELI MEDIA:
(You can learn a lot about a country from its headlines. Get a glimpse inside this country that is rife with turmoil and contradictions that receives $63 million a day from America.)
From Submarines* to Oct. 7: Netanyahu’s Lone-wolf Leadership and Dismissal of Expert Advice
More than nine years after the submarine affair was exposed – by journalist Raviv Drucker on Channel 10 News – the state commission of inquiry into defense procurements published its findings on Sunday.
The commission, headed by former Supreme Court President Justice Asher Grunis, harshly criticized the state’s handling of massive defense acquisitions. The report also implies that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to approve Germany’s sale to Egypt of two submarines was conducted “in total chaos and without clear direction,” endangering national security.
*NOTE: In 2013-14, in what has been described as the “gravest corruption case in Israel’s history,” David Shimron (Netanyahu’s personal attorney, former chief of staff, close friend, and 2nd cousin) allegedly attempted to push through a $480 million deal (some sources place the value at $1.7 billion) for the purchase of submarines and patrol boats from a German shipbuilding company in which he had a financial interest. Read more about the “Submarine Affair” here, and about corruption in the Israeli government here.
OTHER NEWS & HEADLINES:
“CBS Evening News” With Tony Dokoupil Is a Pro-Israel Right-Wing Show for Absolutely No One
I watched the first two weeks of Bari Weiss’s attempt to reshape evening news. I’m left wondering who it’s even for.
Before landing this plush gig at Bari Weiss’s CBS News,Tony Dokoupil, the shiny new host of “CBS Evening News, was best known for hassling the writer Ta-Nehisi Coates for his “extremist” belief that apartheid is morally wrong (continue reading here).
+++
Mike Huckabee’s distorted theology does not speak for Christians worldwide
For Huckabee, Christian Zionism is framed as an affirmation of biblical promise. But for Palestinian Christians like myself, and for Palestinians more broadly, its political outworking has meant dispossession, restriction, fear and loss.
This is not theoretical. It is the daily reality of Palestinian Christians and Muslims alike, including the congregations Jerusalem’s church leaders shepherd. Yet Huckabee shows little interest in listening to those who bear the cost of the ideology he blesses. Their suffering becomes theologically inconvenient (continue reading here).
RELATED: In This Palestinian Christian Village, the Hypocrisy of Christian Zionism Is Unmistakable
+++
How Minnesotans became Palestinians: Top 5 Ways they are Occupied
Occupied people do not have rights, and they do not even have the right to have rights. They are lesser.
+++
US military moves Navy, Air Force assets to the Middle East: What to know
Trump says US ‘armada’ is heading towards the Gulf, raising fears of a military escalation in the region.
+++
Columbia appoints new president, Jewish legal scholar Jennifer Mnookin, after two years of unrest*
Mnookin’s appointment comes after almost two and a half years of unrest and scandal in relation to Columbia’s handling of pro-Palestinian protests and antisemitism post October 7.
*NOTE: The “unrest” referred to here is campus protests against the genocide in Gaza in 2023-2024, which were widespread on campuses around the world. Columbia was a leader in the movement, but its administration (and donors), permeated with Israel supporters, took an especially punitive stance against student protesters. Pro-Palestine demonstrations on college campuses have overall been peaceful and non-confrontational, and have notably included a significant number of Jewish students. When there has been violence, it has generally come from pro-Israel counter-protesters and police.
+++
State Dept Memos Admit It Had Almost No Grounds to Deport Pro-Palestine Students
The memos were released by a judge who, last week, slammed Rubio, Noem, and Trump for “unconstitutional” actions.
+++
Spain Opens Probe Into Israeli Tourism Firms
ICYMI, A SELECTION OF YESTERDAY’S HEADLINES:
Israeli drone strike kills two children collecting firewood in Gaza
Buying peace, selling Gaza: Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ and the monetization of ruins
(Read yesterday’s daily update here.)
STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – JANUARY 25, 2026*:
- At least 72,768 Palestinians killed, 182,419 injured – including:
- At least 71,660 killed in Gaza (~22,000 children, 33,000 women and girls)
- At least 1,108 killed in the West Bank (~230 children)
- At least 171,419 injured in Gaza
- About 11,000 injured in the West Bank
*NOTE: Thousands of those killed in Gaza have yet to be identified, and an estimated 10,000 more are still buried under rubble. Additionally, the numbers of injured and starved are very conservative estimates. Only the dead who are brought to hospitals are included in the official fatality count.
Reported Israeli death toll from October 7, 2023 – January 25, 2026: ~1,661 – including ~1,139** on October 7, 2023 (~36 children), 471 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.
By one count, Israeli attacks have killed approximately 278 Palestinian journalists and media workers; Palestinians have killed 4 Israeli journalists (other groups have tallied between 215 and 332 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)
- Oppose Israel’s Abuses While You Still Can
- UNRWA Heads Tell Ha’aretz: ‘We Don’t Radicalize Palestinians – Their Lived Existence Does’
- Plans Call for “New Rafah” Built in Israel’s Image — Without Palestinians
- Posing as priest, reporter is spat at many times, highlighting anti-Christian sentiment in Israel
- Leaked Documents: “Planned Community” in Rafah Would Force Palestinians Into Israeli Panopticon
- ‘Permits of Humiliation’: How Israel Strangles Christian Education in Jerusalem
- Brutal Beatings, Arson, and Impunity: A Palestinian Plant Nursery Becomes a Target for Settler Pogroms
- On Iran’s protests, Israeli hypocrisy knows no limits
- A Cease-fire for Israelis and a War for Palestinians
- ‘When will Baba come back?’ Gaza’s widows and orphans struggle to survive
- Genocide research institute levels accusations against Germany for denying Israel’s genocide against Palestinians
- How an Israeli Firm Spreads Lies and Chaos Around the World
- ADL ‘Helping’ Ted Cruz and Ben Shapiro ‘Take Down’ Tucker Carlson and Nick Fuentes, CEO Suggests
- Israel is Destroying Hope for the Future: Reproductive Violence in Gaza
