On Oct. 7, Hamas terrorists launched a surprise attack against Israel, targeting civilians and Israeli Defense Forces, and killing more than 1,400 individuals. In response, Israel launched an offensive against Hamas, primarily in Gaza, with increased military activity in the West Bank and along the northern border with Lebanon. As of Nov. 1, more than 8,300 people have been killed in Gaza since the conflict began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
- Ten Israeli soldiers were killed on Tuesday in Gaza, bringing total Israeli deaths in Gaza to 12. Israeli warships were also deployed in the Red Sea following long-range missile and drone attacks claimed by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
- U.S. Senators from both parties voiced doubts on Tuesday about a House plan to provide $14.3 billion in aid to Israel, without providing aid to Ukraine, while Pres. Biden has threatened to veto the bill were it to pass. In the first major legislative action under new Speaker Mike Johnson, Republicans unveiled a standalone supplemental bill only for Israel. The President originally requested a $106 billion package that would include aid for Israel and Ukraine, as well as boost security along the U.S. border with Mexico.
- Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has asked the International Criminal Court in the Hague to investigate the killing of nine journalists – eight Palestinians and one Israeli – since the war began. “The scale, seriousness and recurring nature of international crimes targeting journalists, particularly in Gaza, calls for a priority investigation by the ICC prosecutor,” a spokesperson for RSF said.
- Israel said it targeted Hamas militants Tuesday in northern Gaza, and Hamas and hospital officials said the airstrikes killed and wounded many, leveling much of the Jabaliya neighborhood. The Gaza Health Ministry said the Israeli strikes killed and wounded “hundreds,” a statement that could not be immediately verified.
- A first group of injured evacuees from Gaza crossed into Egypt on Wednesday under a Qatari-mediated deal. Evacuees were driven in ambulances through the Rafah border crossing. Under the deal reached between Egypt, Israel and Hamas, a number of foreigners and critically wounded people will be allowed to leave the besieged territory.
- UNRWA says 63 UN staff members working for the Palestine refugee agency have lost their lives in Gaza since fighting began three weeks ago.
- A rise in antisemitism since is part of “preexisting increase… in the United States and around the world,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told a Senate committee on Tuesday. Mayorkas went on to say that law enforcement agencies have responded to an increase in threats against Jewish, Muslim and Arab-American communities and institutions across nationwide.
- Following four failed efforts to reach consensus on a Gaza resolution, the UN Security Council met in emergency session again on Monday afternoon to discuss the ongoing crisis, amid continuing Israeli bombardment and reported ground incursions.
- A breakdown of civil order has put four UN aid distribution centers and a storage facility out of action in Gaza as people search desperately for food and water, a UNRWA official said.
- An Israeli government ministry has drafted a wartime proposal to transfer the Gaza Strip’s 2.3 million people to Egypt’s Sinai peninsula, drawing condemnation from the Palestinians and worsening tensions with Cairo.
- On Monday, Oct. 30, International NGO Save the Children released data on the number of children reportedly killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, stating that total deaths have surpassed the annual number of children killed in armed conflict globally in each of the past four years. Hamas-controlled health authorities say that more than 3,000 children have been killed in the territory.
- The trauma of survivors and the “collective psychological burden” brought on by the hostage crisis, in which over 220 Israelis and foreign nationals are still being held captive in Gaza, has sent mental health needs soaring, UN health agency WHO’s Special Representative in Israel Dr. Michel Thieren said.
- On Tuesday, Oct. 25, Gilad Erdan, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, called for UN Secretary-General Guterres’ resignation following a remark that Hamas’ October 7 attacks on the country “did not happen in a vacuum.” Guterres responded on Wednesday, issuing a statement that said, “I am shocked by the misinterpretations by some of my statement yesterday in the Security Council – as if I was justifying acts of terror by Hamas. This is false. It was the opposite.” Israel has said it will deny UN officials visas to the country.
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