Postedby: John Phoenix

Netanyahu claims Israeli “values” may include kidnapping but maybe not violence – Daily Update

Israeli commandos in full battle gear board a sailboat with unarmed peace activists, part of the Gaza humanitarian flotilla. (screenshot)

News roundup for Wednesday, May 20, 2026, Day 957 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.

Gaza Enters ‘Most Dangerous’ Famine Phase as Aid Shortfalls Deepen Economic Collapse: Warnings of mass hunger issued by Gaza’s Government Media Office coincided with new economic assessments suggesting that ongoing restrictions and territorial measures are reshaping both Gaza’s geography and its economic future. The developments add to growing concerns that conditions once considered temporary wartime disruptions are becoming structural realities with long-term consequences.

‘The door to the future of Gaza is still closed’: Trump’s reconstruction promises stall: Gaza is in a grim limbo more than seven months after Donald Trump brokered a ceasefire deal: no reconstruction is under way, the so-called Board of Peace is struggling with funding and Palestinian technocrats chosen to run the strip are sidelined in Egypt. “Nobody with money and resources wants to work with the Board of Peace,” said a person familiar with the group’s efforts.

Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ Has Only Brought More Death and Suffering to Gaza, Says Rights Group: “The plan was supposed to bring relief. Instead, Palestinians in Gaza are still hungry, still cannot reach medical care, and civilians are still being killed.”

Israel’s High Court gives aid groups 30 days to submit employee lists or cease operations: Israel’s High Court has rejected a petition filed by international aid organizations operating in Palestine, and gave them one month to comply with an invasive new regulation or cease operations. The new requirements include submitting names of local staff members, identifying aid beneficiaries, and refraining from criticizing Israel as conditions for continuing operations in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.

Amid Collapse, Gaza Surgeons Resume Cornea Transplants

DEATH TOLL – GAZA GENOCIDE (tentative):

At least 880 since ceasefire began Oct. 11, 2025
72,772 killed (~22,000 children, 33,000 women and girls) since October 2023
More statistics below

Displaced Palestinians, including many children, wait in long queues to receive hot meals distributed by a charitable organization at Bureijj Refugee Camp in Gaza City, Gaza, Palestine on May 18, 2026. (Moiz Salhi – Anadolu Agency)

FLOTILLA NEWS & HEADLINES:

Go here to read about the most recent flotilla; go here to read about the history of flotillas to Gaza.

Israel says Gaza aid flotilla attempt over; all 430 activists kidnapped: “Another PR flotilla has come to an end.”

Israeli security minister stirs diplomatic outrage with flotilla activist abuse video: After being brutalized by Israeli forces and mocked by Itamar Ben Gvir, many flotilla members complained of “extreme violence,” and several were hospitalized. The human rights group Adalah reported “systemic violations of due process, and widespread physical and psychological abuse by Israeli authorities.” The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, described Ben-Gvir’s behavior as “despicable” and said the minister had “betrayed the dignity of his nation”. Other nations were also reportedly outraged.

Prisons chief reportedly approved Ben Gvir’s behavior in clip of flotilla activists

Israeli foreign minister slams Ben-Gvir over mistreatment of flotilla activists: “You have deliberately damaged the state with this shameful display, and this is not the first time.”

Netanyahu claims Ben-Gvir’s actions are “not in line with Israel’s values and norms*”

*NOTE: The irony here is rich: the Israeli Prime Minister supports the kidnapping of hundreds of unarmed peace activists in international waters (just one among many violations of international laws perpetrated by Israel every day), but only criticizes the way he did it. The United Nations listed a few of Israel’s “most egregious violations:

Crimes against humanity including murder, torture, sexual violence, and repeated forced displacement amounting to forcible transfer, war crimes encompassing indiscriminate attacks on civilians and civilian objects, including objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population and educational institutions and cultural heritage, the use of starvation as a weapon of war, the targeting of healthcare workers and health facilities, attacks on humanitarian workers, arbitrary restrictions on access to humanitarian aid, and attacks on journalists, collective punishment and perfidy.

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 occupiers (i.e. settlers*) establish new illegal settlement outpost in West Bank’s Hebron: The new outpost, which sprung up overnight, cuts Umm al-Khair into two sections and blocks roads used by students and residents. (For more on Umm al-Khair, read the section “West Bank: ‘All our life is settlers’” in Dispatches From Catastrophe.)

*NOTE: More than 700,000 settlers live illegally on Palestinian land in over 500 settlements and settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. Some settler groups have a history of violence against Palestinians, often with the assistance of Israeli military forces. Learn more about Israeli settler violence here and here.

In a landmark advisory opinion on July 19, 2024, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian land “illegal” and demanded the evacuation of all settlements.

West Bank Invasions, Mass Abductions by Israeli Forces

Colonizers Launch New Wave of Attacks Across West Bank

Abduction, Beating, and Detention Orders in Jerusalem

Israel Issues Eleven Demolition Orders in Hizma

ISRAELI MEDIA: Rare charges filed for Jewish terror attack targeting Palestinians in West Bank: Defendant accused of participating in brutal beating of Palestinian poultry farmer, who remains in coma as result of violent ambush south of Nablus.

WATCH: Palestinian ministry condemns illumination of Ibrahimi Mosque in Israeli flag colors

https://youtube.com/watch?v=XkCPhh0VGUc%3Fstart%3D34%26feature%3Doembed

DEATH TOLL – WEST BANK/EAST JERUSALEM (tentative):

At least 1,166 killed (~244 children) since Oct. 7, 2023
More statistics below

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.

‘Rotten and exposed’: Rats swarm Israeli naval training base in Haifa: Staff at the Israeli navy’s Haifa training base said rats had been running through kitchens, refrigeration rooms and food storage areas for months. The rats reportedly entered through holes in walls, air conditioning ducts and decaying plumbing systems; at least one was discovered inside a cooking pot.

ISRAELI MEDIA: Empathy Toward a Dog but Not Palestinian Kids: Israelis’ Selective Compassion: The Lucy incident not only demonstrated the existence of empathy in Israeli society, but also the way it operates within very clear limits. The same society that knows how to quickly rally around a dog or an injured animal has existed for decades in a reality where Palestinians under its control are humiliated, beaten, deported and killed, without causing any moral turmoil.

ISRAELI MEDIA: Inside Israel’s secret operation to turn Hezbollah’s beepers into bombs: Insider ‘Adam Feyn’ reveals stunning details of Mossad’s “beepers” operation against Hezbollah in his new book, explaining the strategy and high-stakes decisions behind the mission.

US President Donald Trump (R) meets with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) at the White House on February 11, in Washington DC (Avi Ohayon – GPO – Anadolu Agency)

ISRAEL-US WAR/CEASEFIRE ON IRAN – 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.

Trump says US ‘may have to hit Iran harder – or maybe not’

Trump, Netanyahu hold ‘lengthy, dramatic’ call as decision on Iran nears: Israeli media

Trump says Netanyahu will ‘do whatever I want’ on Iran after pair said to hold tense call

Trump postponed US attack on Iran after ‘Hajj warning’: Sources tell Middle East Eye the US president was told of severe ‘reputational damage’ if he resumes war during the Muslim pilgrimage, as well as global air travel disruptions.

Ahmadinejad Is Still Bad for Iranians — and Still Great for Israel: The bombshell New York Times report reveals that the U.S. and Israel hoped to install former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the leader of Iran, showing Israel and the U.S. never really cared about freeing the Iranian people.

Iran threatens permit system for internet cables crossing Strait of Hormuz: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have threatened to place internet fiber-optic cables passing through the Strait of Hormuz under a “permit system”, in a move seen as part of Tehran’s efforts to tighten control over one of the world’s most important routes for energy, trade and communications.

DEATH TOLL – WAR ON IRAN (tentative):

United States: 13 (or more)
Iran: at least 3,636 (1,701 civilians, 254 children)
Israel: about 40 (19 Israeli soldiers, and 1 friendly fire – including both Iran and Lebanon-related deaths; another count shows 20 Israeli civilian deaths)
Arab states (including Palestine, excluding Lebanon), at least 154

Destruction in Iran from Israeli and US strikes (screenshot)

ISRAEL’S WAR/CEASEFIRE ON LEBANON – NEWS & HEADLINES:

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 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. (Read about UNIFIL, the UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, here.)

Israeli strikes continued against southern Lebanon on Wednesday, adding at least another 12 people killed and several others wounded. The attacks continue to escalate in spite of the extension of the ceasefire another 45 days over the last weekend.

Looting and destruction are Israeli army’s ‘primary mission’ in Lebanon, soldiers say: Reservists describe widespread theft and demolition in southern Lebanon, with commanders accused of turning a blind eye.

DEATH TOLL – WAR ON LEBANON (tentative):

At least 380 killed since “ceasefire” began on April 17, 2026 (22 children, 39 women)
At least 3,042 people have been killed since war began on March 2, 2026

Smoke rises from the area following an Israeli strike on the towns of Yahmar al-Shakif and Arnun in Nabatieh province in southern Lebanon on May 11, 2026. Israeli forces continued air and artillery strikes on towns in southern Lebanon despite the ceasefire. (Ramiz Dallah – Anadolu Agency)

MORE NEWS & HEADLINES:

Jewish groups launch new diaspora movement rejecting Israel’s ethno-nationalism: A new coalition of Jewish organizations, the Jewish Diaspora Movement (JDM), brings together dozens of synagogues, prayer communities, cultural organizations and activist group, and advances an ethical future for Jews, Jewishness, and Judaism.” The group aims to connect Jewish organizations that reject “the assumption that Jews need an insular culture or a militarized ethnostate.”

US quietly lifts sanctions on Francesca Albanese, UN expert on Palestinians following court order

US puts pressure on Palestinian leaders to withdraw bid for UN vice-presidency role: The Trump administration, which has resisted all moves towards Palestinian statehood, is seeking to pressure the Palestinian observer mission at the UN to withdraw its bid for one of 16 vice-presidential positions on the general assembly, which are due to be elected on 2 June. The US mission has “repeatedly appealed” to the Palestinians to stand down, according to the cable.

Hundreds of Jewish leaders call on Israeli ambassador to apologize for attack on J Street

Kite carrying Palestinian children’s messages reaches Mount Everest summit:

ICYMI, A SELECTION OF YESTERDAY’S HEADLINES:

How Israel is using militias and concrete blocks to seize what remains of Gaza

US imposes sanctions on Gaza flotilla organizers, says flotilla undermines Trump’s “successful progress* toward lasting peace”

The Numbers Behind the ‘Sacred Work’ of Cleansing West Bank Palestinians for Future Jewish Villas

In first, Israel convicts Palestinian citizens of Israel for chanting slogans

US lawmakers press CENTCOM chief on deadly Iran school strike (he refuses to comment)

(Read yesterday’s daily update here.)

After kidnapping over 300 peace activists at sea, Israeli forces use unnecessary force against them. (screenshots)

**STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – MAY 20, 2026*:**

At least 73,938 Palestinians killed, 184,407 injured – including:
Gaza: at least 72,772 killed (~22,000 children, 33,000 women and girls), 172,707 injured
West Bank/East Jerusalem: at least 1,166 killed (~244 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 – May 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 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.https://israelpalestinetimeline.org/death-chart-650px/Hover over each bar for exact numbers. Source: IsraelPalestineTimeline.org

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Naziyahu claims Zionist “values” may include kidnapping but maybe not violence