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 778th day.)
Since the “ceasefire” began on October 11, Israel has killed at least 342 Palestinians. Among them are at least 67 children. Death toll figures are tentative.
Israel has so far violated the 11 October ceasefire deal in Gaza at least 497 times.

GAZA NEWS:
(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.)
Over 92 Percent of Homes in Gaza Are Rubble. How Do We Even Start Rebuilding?
In the wake of the United Nations Security Council rubber-stamping Donald Trump’s plans for Gaza — including the creation of a so-called “board of peace” and a militarized “international stabilization force” — the very notion of rebuilding is slipping through the cracks, overshadowed by what is framed as the more urgent need to keep the peace in place. But peace manufactured this way is nothing but an expansion and deepening of the humanitarian crisis already unfolding.
Gaza City was already in a perpetual state of destruction and rebuilding long before the current genocide erupted. It has endured relentless aggression that reduced residential homes to rubble, wiped out entire neighborhoods, and massacred civilians. Five wars — 2008, 2012, 2014, 2021, and May 2023 — brutally dismantled Gaza’s infrastructure, economy, agriculture, education, and culture, leaving behind a consumed cycle of devastation.
Yet each time, once the bombardment stopped, reconstruction began, even if it was in a slow rhythm (continue reading here).
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More colonization: U.S. mulls expropriating Gazan land to build “safe communities”
Three sources confirmed that the Americans involved in the reconstruction of Gaza are focused on building so-called “safe communities” for Gazans in the Israeli-controlled part of the territory.
One diplomat said the current U.S. idea is to expropriate Gazan land and compensate the owners. The team is currently engaged in planning how to clear the rubble to build the new temporary communities – and the plans are moving forward rapidly.
The decisions are made at the White House or in consultations between the U.S. and Israeli governments (continue reading here).
NOTE: Palestinians have long feared that Israel would make good on their plans to forcibly displace some or all of the 2 million people in Gaza and expropriate their land to ultimately build Jewish settlements. Due to this fear, Palestinians have sought to remain in their homes, even if destroyed, and on their lands to avoid a repeat of the 1948 Nakba, despite Israel’s relentless bombing of the strip over the past two years.

NOTABLE QUOTE: “Should we place the noose around our own neck?”
Ihsan Ataya, a member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s political bureau, on Israel’s demand that Palestinian resistance groups disarm:
When the negotiating delegation discusses the clause regarding surrendering weapons, the question becomes: To whom would we hand over these weapons?
Is there a Palestinian state or a Palestinian government that defends our people in Gaza so that we may hand our weapons over to it? Or should we hand our weapons to our enemy and surrender?
Is it conceivable that the resistance—which was not defeated in the war, and which the enemy failed to eradicate, and which the enemy was forced to negotiate with its leadership for a prisoner exchange deal—would now raise the white flag, surrender, and place the noose around its own neck? (continue reading here).
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.)

Palestinian man killed by Israeli forces’ and colonists’ gunfire east of Ramallah
20-year-old Palestinian Bara’ Khairy Ali Maali was killed on Sunday evening by Israeli forces’ and colonists’ live fire during an attack on the village of Deir Jarir, east of Ramallah.
Armed colonists attacked residents’ homes on the outskirts of the village, while an Israeli army force stormed the area to provide protection for the colonists.
The occupation soldiers and colonists opened fire at residents who attempted to confront the attack, directly striking Maali in the chest with live ammunition.
Israel has killed at least 1,080 killed in the West Bank (~222 children).
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WEST BANK HEADLINES:
NEWS & HEADLINES ABOUT 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 passes along only factual reporting.)

Netanyahu doth protest too much: “We act without relying on anyone”
Israel hit both Gaza and Lebanon over the weekend, with PM Netanyahu defending the actions: “All the talk that ‘we must obtain approval’ from this or that party is simply a complete lie. We act without relying on anyone. [Decisions] go through the defense minister and eventually come to me, and we decide independently of any external actor, as it should be.”
Regarding Gaza, the premier claimed, “Since the ceasefire, Hamas has not stopped violating it*, and we are acting accordingly.”
“There were several attempts by them to infiltrate our territory beyond the Yellow Line** and harm our soldiers. We thwarted these forcefully, and we responded and exacted a very heavy price. Many terrorists*** were eliminated, and terrorists were also captured from the tunnels in Rafah,” Netanyahu added.
*NOTE: This statement is rich, coming from the Israeli military, which has violated the ceasefire at least 497 times by one count, killed over 342 Gazans, and withheld food and shelter from the wartorn population. Israel has had a pattern of justifying attacks on civilians and protected sites – especially hospitals – by making claims like this without providing a shred of evidence. Just a few examples: this, this, this, this.
**Israel stands accused of not only infiltrating Gaza beyond the Yellow Line (as it claims Hamas has done), but also moving the Yellow Line to expand Israeli-controlled territory. Israeli soldiers have also shot and killed hundreds of Palestinians who were on the “correct” side.
***The use of the word “terrorist” for a group that resists occupation and oppression is a political, not fact-based choice. In reality, international law supports the efforts of resistance groups against an occupying power, the UN extending that right to the point of armed resistance.
On October 7th, Hamas was exercising – albeit imperfectly – its internationally recognized right to resist the oppressor and occupier of its people. Hamas fighters attacked Israel after years of oppression and many nonviolent attempts to call attention to the issue. The UN has passed hundreds of resolutions demanding justice – to no avail.
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Israel commits massacre in strike on Beirut’s southern suburb, killing 5*
Israeli warplanes bombed a building in Beirut’s southern suburb on 23 November, killing at least five people in a massive escalation that follows weeks of threats and increasing attacks.
Another 25 people have been injured, according to an initial toll (continue reading here).
The dead included Hezbollah senior commander, Ali Tabatabai and four other members.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered the strike on the recommendation of Defense Minister Israel Katz and Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, accusing Tabatabai of leading “the buildup and armament” of Hezbollah.
*NOTE: Since the “ceasefire” went into effect in November 2024, Israel has struck Lebanon on a near-daily basis, killing at least 331 people.
RELATED:
IDF on alert as Hezbollah weighs response to military chief’s killing
Netanyahu renews call for Beirut to disarm Hezbollah

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Israeli forces raid Quneitra countryside, violating Syria’s sovereignty
Israeli forces crossed into Syrian territory on Sunday, setting up a checkpoint and inspecting passing vehicles near the Ain al-Bayda junction in northern Quneitra, in the latest violation of the country’s sovereignty, official media reported.
The Israeli army has carried out over 1,000 airstrikes on Syria and more than 400 cross-border raids into the southern provinces since December 2024, according to government data (continue reading here).

NEWS & HEADLINES FROM ISRAELI MEDIA:
(Get a glimpse inside this country that is rife with turmoil and contradictions that receives $63 million a day from American taxpayers. Israeli media sometimes tells the truth about itself, but often publishes myths and lies as facts.)
Israel rushes to shape ground reality in Gaza before international troop deployment: Report
OTHER NEWS & HEADLINES:
Germany is offering asylum to donkeys from Gaza. Gaza’s children? Not allowed.
Just when it seems impossible for German policy on Palestine to become more absurd, the country manages to prove otherwise. Last week, reports emerged that at least eight donkeys from Gaza had been “rescued” and flown to Germany.
While the operation can be seen as part of an Israeli campaign to deprive people in Gaza of an essential means of transportation, the real outrage lies elsewhere: Germany has already evacuated at least four times as many donkeys as human beings from Gaza.
“They have left behind hunger and misery, beatings and exploitation.” This is how a German newspaper opens its story about the donkeys’ “rescue” – without a single word explaining who is responsible for their suffering. Worse still, German media have not used such empathetic language for Palestinians in more than two years (continue reading here).

