Gaza-Israel: Latest news and statistics (the first 25 days)

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Gaza-Israel: Latest news and statistics (the first 25 days)
Gaza after Israeli airstrikes, October 16, 2023. (See video below) (photo)

On October 7, The ruling party in Gaza, Hamas, launched an unprecedented, multi-pronged surprise attack on Israel. (Gazans had earlier tried mass, nonviolent demonstrations every week for over a year, only to be met by Israeli snipers and media silence.) Israel has been bombing Gaza for 25 days (see this). See day-by-day updates (and the initial report, which includes essential context) below

For information on previous attacks on Gaza, and its history see this

See live reports here and here and here.

DAY 25 (OCT 31)

MORE UPDATES HERE

Hover over each bar for exact numbers.
Source: IsraelPalestineTimeline.org
 

DAY 24 (OCT 30)

DAY 23 (OCT 29)

DAY 22 (OCT 28)

DAY 21 (OCT 27)

DAY 20 (OCT 26)

  • Palestinian death toll 6,662* (6,557 in Gaza* (including at least 2,913 children and 1,709 women, and at least 105 in the West Bank); 19,328 injured (17,439 in Gaza and over 1,889 in the West Bank). It remains unknown how many Americans are among the casualties. About 1.4 million people have been displaced, more than 1,600 missing (over half children) and presumed to be under rubble. *NOTE: The official OCHA death toll includes 471 Gazans killed in the Al Ahli hospital bombing. IAK has chosen to remove that number from our death toll statistics, since the source of the projectile is in dispute. Although much evidence points to Israel as the culprit, experts are still looking into the incident.
  • Israeli death toll remains near 1,400 (1 killed in West Bank, 1 in Gaza), including 32 Americans, and 5,431 injured. (It is unclear how many of the Israeli deaths and injuries may have been caused by Israeli soldiers.)
  • On the Lebanon front, Hezbollah has reported the deaths of 41 of its fighters since October 7 in southern Israel. In addition, 6 non-Hezbollah fighters and at least 4 civilians have been killed. One Israeli soldier was also killed.
  • Israel has fired over 12,000 tons of explosives into Gaza since October 7th – an average of 82 tons of explosives per square mile. The explosive force is approximately equivalent to the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.
  • One doctor in a Gaza hospital describes the experience as medical supplies run out: “The only thing worse than the screams of a patient undergoing surgery without enough anesthesia are the terror-stricken faces of those awaiting their turn.” Over one-third of hospitals in Gaza (12 of 35) and nearly two-thirds of primary health care clinics (46 of 72) have shut down due to damage from hostilities or lack of fuel.
  • The first measure to come to the floor of the US House of Representatives after Speaker Mike Johnson was elected Wednesday afternoon, following three weeks of a speakerless-House, was to pass a resolution in support of Israel in the war against Hamas. The tally was 412 to 10, with nine Democrats and one Republican voting against it. Six other lawmakers voted “present.” The Israel lobby is a powerful force in Congress.
  • According to a statement from the UN agency in Gaza on Wednesday, “The average number of[Internally Displaced Persons] per shelter has reached 2.7 times capacity, with some shelters reaching 12 times intended occupancy. The total population of Gaza is about 2.2 million, of which more than half are internally displaced.
  • After no aid entered Gaza for almost 2 weeks, Israel has in the past few days permitted 62 trucks filled with humanitarian aid supplies to enter the strip (15.5 per day, on average). The average number of trucks allowed into Gaza prior to the hostilities was about 500 per day. Fuel, which is desperately needed, remains banned by the Israeli authorities.

DAY 19 (OCT 25)

  • Palestinian death toll 6,649* (6,546 in Gaza (including at least 2,704 children and 1,292 women, and at least 103 in the West Bank); 19,177 injured (17,439 in Gaza and over 1,738 in the West Bank). It remains unknown how many Americans are among the casualties. About 1.4 million people have been displaced, more than 1,550 missing (over half children) and presumed to be under rubble. *NOTE: this number includes 471 Gazans killed in the Al Ahli hospital bombing. Israeli death toll remains near 1,400 (1 killed in West Bank, 1 in Gaza), including 32 Americans, and 5,431 injured. (It is unclear how many of the Israeli deaths and injuries may have been caused by Israeli soldiers.)
  • Israeli airstrikes continue, crushing families in the rubble of residential buildings. The health system in Gaza is completely out of service, a health ministry spokesperson says.
  • Oxfam says starvation is being used as a weapon of war against civilians in Gaza, adding just two percent of usual food has been delivered to the enclave since Israel’s “total siege”. International Humanitarian Law (IHL) strictly prohibits the use of starvation as a method of warfare.
  • On the Lebanon front, Hezbollah has reported the deaths of 41 of its fighters since October 7 in southern Israel. In addition, 6 non-Hezbollah fighters and at least 4 civilians have been killed. One Israeli soldier was also killed.
  • The Israeli UN Ambassador demanded that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres resign on Tuesday, after Guterres framed the Gaza situation in its historical context: “It is important to also recognize the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum…The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation. They have seen their land steadily devoured by settlements and plagued by violence; their economy stifled; their people displaced and their homes demolished. Their hopes for a political solution to their plight have been vanishing.”
  • In Cleveland, OH on Sunday, a Palestinian-American man was the victim of a reported hit-and-run. The driver allegedly yelled anti-Palestinian statements like, “Kill all Palestinians” and “Long live Israel.” As he hit the victim with his car, he allegedly shouted, “Die!” There are calls that it be investigated as a hate crime. A Palestinian-American child was stabbed to death in Evanston IL on October 14. There is reported to be an increase in incidents of anti-Muslim bigotry in the weeks following the escalation of violence in Gaza.  
  • On Tuesday, Israeli airstrikes killed 425 Gazans; more than 700 were killed on Monday.
  • Israeli academic reports: “Even before the current war, every family in Gaza had access to electricity for only about two hours a day. The water was primarily used for drinking; there’s no water for showers.”
  • Gazan writer: “No one is left to mourn in Gaza, as Israel’s bombs deliver daily death. Every day in Gaza, the two biggest hopes are to stay alive and not receive word of another devastating loss…”

DAY 18 (OCT 24)

  • Palestinian death toll 5,886* (5,791 in Gaza (including at least 2,055 children (800 more missing) and 1,119 women, and at least 95 in the West Bank); 17,636 injured (15,898 in Gaza –  70% of them women and children – and over 1,738 in the West Bank). It remains unknown how many Americans are among the casualties. About 1.4 million people have been displaced, more than 1,500 missing and presumed to be under rubble. *NOTE: this number includes 471 Gazans killed in the Al Ahli hospital bombing. Israeli death toll remains near 1,400 (1 killed in West Bank, 1 in Gaza), including 32 Americans, and 5,431 injured.
  • On the Lebanon front, Hezbollah has reported the deaths of 24 of its fighters since October 7 in southern Israel. In addition 4 non-Hezbollah fighters and at least 4 civilians were killed. One Israeli soldier was also killed.
  • Hamas released two elderly hostages Monday for “compelling humanitarian” reasons. One said said she was beaten by militants as she was taken into Gaza on Oct. 7, but was treated well during her two-week captivity. All of her needs had been taken care of, and she was visited by a doctor. The Israelis were released despite Israel’s ongoing bombardment of Gaza, and without a reciprocal release of any of the 10,000 Palestinian prisoners currently being held in Israel. 
  • Israeli forces invaded Gaza in the south – where Israel had instructed Gazans to go for safety – allegedly looking for hostages. Hamas says their fighters destroyed 2 Israeli bulldozers and a tank, forcing the Israelis to retreat on foot. Israel reports one of its soldiers was killed in the incident.
  • On 23 October, for the 3rd consecutive day, a convoy of trucks (20) carrying food, water and medical supplies was allowed into Gaza. This is 4% of the daily average volume entering Gaza prior to the hostilities. None of the shipments have included desperately needed fuel to power hospitals and water facilities. On 21-22 October, a total of 34 trucks entered Gaza. A statement from the UN declared that the lack of fuel “will further strangle the children, women and people of Gaza.”
  • On 23 October, five hospitals erected tents to cope with overcrowding. Shifa hospital, the largest in Gaza, with a capacity of 700 patients, is currently treating some 5,000, plus hosting about 45,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs). Since 7 October, 12 hospitals and 46 primary care clinics across Gaza have been forced to shut down due to damage they had sustained or lack of electricity and supplies.
  • The live press conference on Tuesday with released hostage Yocheved Lifshitz became a PR nightmare for Israel, according to Times of Israel. She described good treatment from her captors, medical care, and clean conditions. “They were very friendly to us. They took care of all of our needs,” she said. The Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation said that the press conference had been a “mistake,” and that international media were now reporting on Hamas’ kindness.
  • Two Palestinian prisoners have died in Israeli custody in the last two days. On Tuesday, a 25-year-old detainee felt ill and was transferred to the prison’s clinic for tests, “where the doctor declared his death.” Monday, a Palestinian prisoner, age 58, died “under unclear circumstances.” Israel claimed it was health-related, Palestinians believe he died of torture. Hamas called it an assassination. Daraghmeh is the 238th Palestinian to die in Israeli detention since 1967, Wafa reported.
  • On Tuesday, the World Health Organization’s regional emergencies director for the Eastern Mediterranean said that they “still have not been able to reach the hospitals in the north with the medical supplies or the desperately needed fuel.” He added, “We are on our knees asking for that sustained, scaled-up, protected humanitarian operation.”

DAY 17 (OCT 23)

DAY 16 (OCT 22)

  • Palestinian death toll 4,741* (4,651 in Gaza (including at least 1,756 children and 1,000 women, and at least 90 in the West Bank); 17,332 injured (15,898 in Gaza –  70% of them women and children – and over 1,434 in the West Bank). It remains unknown how many Americans are among the casualties. About 1.4 million people have been displaced, more than 1,000 missing and presumed to be under rubble. *NOTE: this number includes 471 Gazans killed in the Al Ahli hospital bombing. Israeli death toll remains 1,400 (1 killed in West Bank), including 32 Americans, and 4,562 injured.
  • In the worst violence between Israel and Lebanon since their 2006 war, Israel and Hezbollah fighters have traded fire almost daily since October 7. Since October 7, exchanges of fire across the border have killed at least four in Israel — three soldiers and one civilian. In southern Lebanon, at least 27 people have been killed – mostly combatants, but at least four civilians, including a Reuters journalist, have also been killed. 
  • Israel launched an air strike on a mosque in Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, with Palestinian officials reporting that at least 2 killed and 3 injured
  • Doctors in Gaza have warned that 130 premature babies are in “imminent danger due to a lack of fuel”. “The world cannot simply look on as these babies are killed by the siege in Gaza,” said Melanie Ward, the chief executive of Medical Aid for Palestinians.
  • The Committee to Protect Journalists reports that 18 Palestinian Journalists, 3 Israeli, and 1 Lebanese have been confirmed dead. 2 Palestinian and 1 Israeli journalist have been reported missing/ detained, 8 are injured.
  • Reuters reports that Israel missiles have hit the Damascus and Aleppo international airports in Syria, killing 2 and putting both airports out of service.
  • Over the past week 8 entire communities in various remote locations inside the Occupied West Bank have been forced from their homes and land by heavily armed Israeli settlers, and relocated to other villages and hamlets. Israeli law enforcement seems content to look the other way. In 6 additional West Bank communities, only a few families remain. In all, 98 families, numbering 552 people, have left since Oct 7th. In the past two years, six other Palestinian communities, numbering more than 450 people, have left their homes due to frequent Israeli settler violence.

DAY 15 (OCT 21)

  • Palestinian death toll 4,466* (4,385 in Gaza (including at least 1,756 children and 1,000 women, and 84 in West Bank); 13,934 injured (12,500 in Gaza –  2,450 children and 1,536 women – and over 1,434 in the West Bank). It remains unknown how many Americans are among the casualties. About 1.4 million people have been displaced, more than 1,000 missing and presumed to be under rubble. *NOTE: this number includes 471 Gazans killed in the Al Ahli hospital bombing. Israeli death toll remains 1,400 (1 killed in West Bank), including 32 Americans, and 4,562 injured.
  • Associated Press confirmed that 20 trucks carrying humanitarian aid supplies have been allowed to enter Gaza. 200+ more trucks carrying 3,000 tons of aid wait for permission from Israel to enter. An Israeli spokesperson said aid would only go to southern Gaza as the north should be evacuated, and no fuel would be allowed to enter. Before the war, 400 trucks entered Gaza daily.
  • Israel has doubled the number of Palestinian prisoners from 5,000 to 10,000 in two weeks. About 80% are laborers from Gaza; the rest are from the West Bank.
  • The World Health Organization (WHO) documented 57 Israeli attacks on health care, resulting in 16 fatalities of health care workers and 28 injuries, damage to 26 hospitals and other healthcare facilities, including 17 hospitals and 23 ambulances.
  • As of 16 October,  167 educational facilities have been hit by Israeli airstrikes, two of which were used as emergency shelters for internally displaced persons, one of which was destroyed. One university building and 7 churches were damaged, and at least 11 mosques were destroyed.
  • Poll finds that 66 percent of US voters think that the U.S. should call for a ceasefire – 56 percent of Republicans, 80 percent of Democrats, and 57 percent of independents.
  • Hamas offered to release two more hostages, but Israel turned them down. Israel denied the report. Hamas says it informed mediators of it’s intention to release the additional people on Friday, the same day it freed Americans. In both cases Hamas did not require any Palestinian prisoners be returned in exchange, even though Israel holds over 5,000 Palestinian prisoners, 1,000 of whom have never been charged with a crime.

DAY 14 (OCT 20)

  • Palestinian death toll 4,212* (4,137 in Gaza (including at least 1,524 children and 1,000 women, and 75 in West Bank in the West Bank); 13,934 injured (12,500 in Gaza –  2,450 children and 1,536 women – and over 1,434 in the West Bank). It remains unknown how many Americans are among the casualties. About 1 million people have been displaced. *NOTE: this number includes 471 Gazans killed in the Al Ahli hospital bombing. Israeli death toll remains 1,400, including 30 Americans, and 4,562 injured.
  • Israel confirmed one of its airstrikes caused a blast at the site of 1,600-year-old Saint Porphyrios Greek Orthodox Church in Gaza City on Thursday night, killing at least 17 Christians and Muslims. Hundreds were sheltering inside the church at the time. The church is thought to be the third-oldest Christian church in the world. Israeli military is “looking into” the incident.
  • U.S. forces in multiple locations across Iraq and Syria came under attack by aerial drones targeting their positions on Tuesday and Wednesday. Taken together, the episodes add a dangerous new element to the situation, increasing the possibility that other countries may be brought into the conflict.
  • After receiving bomb threats, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) canceled plans to hold its 29th annual banquet on Saturday in Arlington, VA, . The group will move the banquet to an undisclosed location with heightened security. Muslim members of Congress have been receiving death threats.
  • In Zahra, a northern Gaza town, an entire district of some 25 multi-story apartment buildings was razed to the ground. Residents were given half an hour to evacuate before F-16 warplanes wiped out the neighborhood, and and hit the Orthodox Christian church where others had been sheltering.
  • The Israeli government approved regulations that will allow it to shut down foreign news channels if it believes the outlet is “damaging national security.” Times of Israel states that the regulation is specifically aimed at the Al Jazeera news channel.
  • Israeli newspaper reports that Hamas says it released two American hostages, a mother and daughter, for humanitarian reasons—  “to prove to the American people and the world that the claims made by Biden and his fascist administration are false and baseless.” Israel confirmed the release of the two hostages.

DAY 13 (OCT 19)

  • Palestinian death toll 3,860* (3,785 in Gaza (including at least 1,524 children and 1,000 women, and 75 in West Bank in the West Bank); 13,934 injured (12,500 in Gaza –  2,450 children and 1,536 women – and over 1,434 in the West Bank). It remains unknown how many Americans are among the casualties. About 1 million people have been displaced. *NOTE: this number includes 471 Gazans killed in the Al Ahli hospital bombing. Israeli death toll remains 1,400, including 30 Americans, and 4,562 injured.
  • Hamas is holding 203 prisoners. (Objective is to exchange them for some of the 5,000 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel; says the non-Israelis are “guests” who will be released “when circumstances allow”. In 2011, Israel swapped hundreds of Palestinian prisoners to win the release of one Israeli soldier.
  • Huffington Post reports: President Joe Biden’s approach to the ongoing violence in Israel and Palestine is fueling mounting tensions at the U.S. government agency most involved in foreign policy: the State Department.
  • Israeli airstrikes hit the 1,600-year-old Saint Porphyrios Greek Orthodox Church in Gaza City. At least 2 Gazans are dead and dozens more believed to be trapped under the rubble. The 1,600-year-old Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrios in the Gaza Strip has collapsed as a result of Israeli airstrikes. The Greek Reporter adds that the church has collapsed.
  • ​​Delegates from around the world invited to attend the US ambassador’s speech to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, turned their backs as the diplomat addressed the room in a silent protest against America’s human rights record. It comes as Washington vetoed a UN resolution calling for a humanitarian pause in Israel’s violent assault on the besieged Gaza Strip.
  • The Committee to Protect Journalists reports that 19 journalists have been confirmed dead: 15 Palestinian, 3 Israeli, and 1 Lebanese. 3 journalists have been reported missing or detained.
  • Gaza Health Ministry estimates that about 1,200 people, among them around 500 minors, believed to be trapped under the rubble in Gaza
  • Israel has said it “will not thwart” humanitarian aid deliveries from Egypt, as long as they do not reach Hamas. Over 200 trucks and 3,000 tons of aid wait in Egypt. A test convoy of 20 trucks will leave after Egypt repairs roads that Israel bombed. 
  • Israeli strikes on Gaza continue, including on cities in the south that Israel had described as “safe zones” for civilians.
  • it is estimated that hundreds of people are still trapped beneath the rubble in Gaza awaiting rescue, or recovery. The decomposition of bodies under collapsed buildings is an increasing humanitarian and environmental concern.
  • The World Health Organization (WHO) has documented 59 attacks on health care (including Al Ahli Hospital), resulting in 491 fatalities and 370 injuries, including 16 fatalities among health care workers and 28 injuries of health workers on duty.
  • Gaza remains under a full electricity blackout, following Israel’s halt of its electricity and fuel supply to Gaza
  • Water production from municipal groundwater sources is at less than five per cent of the pre-hostilities level.
  • average water consumption from all sources and for all needs (including cooking and hygiene) dipped to just three litres per day per person, according to estimates by partners of the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Cluster. People have resorted to consuming brackish water extracted from agricultural wells, increasing exposure to pesticides and other chemicals, placing the population at risk of death or infectious disease outbreak.
  • Hospitals are on the brink of collapse. Most of them have been operating at a bare minimum capacity. Measures adopted to keep emergency rooms operational include the suspension of certain surgeries, working in darkness and limiting elevator usage. Vital procedures such as sterilization and dialysis may soon be halted. Four the hospitals are no longer operational.
  • There is growing evidence suggesting that the murder of the six-year-old boy in Illinois was not the result of anti-Muslim bigotry but of of media misinformation. 
  • Josh Paul of the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, resigned after 11 years, citing the Biden administration’s “blind support for [Israel]” is “shortsighted, destructive, unjust and contradictory to the very values we publicly espouse.” Some Biden Administration Staffers describe a culture of hostility toward pro-Palestine voices: “people who want to talk about Israeli restraint or humanitarian protection for Palestinians feel stifled.” 

DAY 12 (OCT 18)

  • Palestinian and Israeli casualty statistics being reported have not changed since yesterday. Palestinian death toll is approximately 3,464 (3,000 in Gaza  plus 300-500 in recent strike on hospital, (with an unknown number still buried under the rubble  – including at least 1,000 children and 458 women, and 64 in West Bank in the West Bank); 13,730 injured (12,500 in Gaza –  2,450 children and 1,536 women – and over 1,230 in the West Bank). It remains unknown how many Americans are among the casualties. About 1 million people have been displaced .Israeli death toll remains 1,400, including 30 Americans, and 4,229 injured.
  • There is growing evidence suggesting that the murder of the six-year-old boy in Illinois was not the result of anti-Muslim bigotry but of of media misinformation.
  • The United States vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution on Wednesday that would have called for humanitarian pauses in the Israel-Hamas conflict to allow humanitarian aid access to the Gaza Strip.
  • Several hundred pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside The Hague headquarters of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Wednesday to urge it and the international community to take action against what they call genocide against Palestinians.
  • Israel said that it will allow Egypt to deliver limited quantities of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, the first crack in a 10-day siege on the territory. It is not clear yet when the humanitarian aid would come, and whether it would include fuel for the hospitals that are flooded with injured.

DAY 11 (OCT 17)

 

DAY 10 (OCT 16)

DAY 9 (OCT 15)

DAY 8 (OCT 14)

  • Palestinian death toll is now 2,266 (2,215 in Gaza – including 724 children and 458 women, and 55 in the West Bank); 9,814 injuries (8,714 in Gaza –  2,450 children and 1,536 women, and over 1,100 in the West Bank). It remains unknown how many Americans are among the casualties (as has sometimes previously been the case, e.g. this) Nearly 1 million people have been displaced .
  • 1,300 Israelis are dead, including 27 Americans, and 3,300 are wounded.
  • Israel has begun a ground invasion (see info on weapons here)
  • A lawsuit has been filed stating that while the State Department has a duty to ensure that U.S. citizens are protected abroad, “credible reports have shown that the State Department has thus far not engaged in evacuation efforts to safely evacuate US citizens that are currently in the besieged Gaza Strip.”
  • Video shows ‘families killed amid their belongings’  along the “safe passages” specified by the IDF. Israel has demanded that half of Gaza’s population, 1.1 million people, immediately move to southern Gaza.
  • The Pentagon has ordered a second aircraft carrier strike group to the area.
  • More than 2 million people are at risk in Gaza as water runs out due to Israeli closure; “It has become a matter of life and death.”
  • The United States and the Israeli government are cooperating to get Americans still in Israel out of harm’s way.
  • Regarding the 500-600 American citizens in Gaza: Israel’s blockade is preventing the US from transporting its citizens out of the strip. Talks with Israel and Egypt so far have not achieved a solution.

DAY 7 (OCT 13)

  • Over 1,944 Palestinians have been killed (1,900 in Gaza – 614 of them children and 370 women – and 51 in West Bank). 7,696 injured in Gaza – including 1,531 children and 932 women, and over 700 injured in West Bank. 423,378 displaced.
  • 1,300 Israelis are dead, including 27 Americans, and 3,300 are wounded.
  • Israel demands that the 1.1 million people in northern Gaza move to the south as Israeli troops mass on the border. The U.N. warns that the forced relocation would have “devastating humanitarian consequences.”
  • The Wall Street Journal’s claim, widely repeated, that Iran had played a direct role in orchestrating the attack on Israel appears to be untrue. (Also see this)
  • The US State Department is discouraging diplomats from publicly suggesting that the U.S. wants to see a reduction in violence in Israel/Palestine. Three phrases they were told to avoid: “de-escalation/ceasefire,” “end to violence/bloodshed” and “restoring calm.” 
  • The White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre remarked about Congress members who were calling for a ceasefire, rather than supporting Israel, asserting that they were “wrong,” “repugnant,” and “disgraceful.”
  • After ordering the Palestinians in northern Gaza to flee south, Israel shelled a convoy of “evacuees.” 70 Palestinians – mostly women and children – were killed, 200 were wounded.

DAY 6 (OCT 12)

  • 1,566 Palestinians have been killed (1,537 in Gaza – at least 500 of them children and 276 women – and 29 in West Bank), 6,476 have been injured (6,268 in Gaza – of which 1,531 children and 932 women, and 427 in West Bank). Displaced:  338,934. It is unknown how many Americans are among the casualties (as has sometimes previously been the case, e.g. this).
  • 1,300 Israelis are dead, including at least 25 Americans, and 3,300 are wounded.Israel says it has dropped 6,000 bombs in six days of bombardment.
  • Some claims coming out of Israel about “beheaded babies” and other alleged atrocities that have been reported widely and have gone viral on social media appear inaccurate and are being retracted – see this, this, this, this, this. (Israel has made false claims before.) 
  • Israeli airstrikes have reduced entire neighborhoods in Gaza, including hospitals, to soot. The remaining clinics and emergency units have been operating without power and supplies.
  • The Israeli military said it was preparing for a potential ground assault on Gaza after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formed a wartime unity Cabinet and promised to “crush and destroy” Hamas.
  • The morgue at Gaza’s biggest hospital has overflowed as bodies came in faster than relatives can claim them on the sixth day of Israel’s heavy aerial bombardment on the territory of 2.3 million people. 
  • UK Parliament member Jeremy Corbyn writes: “We may be witnessing the beginning of the total annihilation of Gaza and its people….. What is unfolding is not a conflict of equals, but the systematic starvation, subjugation and destruction of an unarmed civilian population.”
  • Secretary of State Antony Blinken, while in Tel Aviv alongside Netanyahu, announced: “The message that I bring to Israel is this: you may be strong enough on your own to defend yourself, but as long as America exists, you will never, ever have to. We will always be there by your side.” Blinken said that he understood how Israelis feel “on a personal level,” emphasizing his Jewish identity. (In 2014 Blinken helped give Israel a quarter of a billion taxpayer dollars during its attack on Gaza.)
  • Human Rights Watch has determined that Israeli forces used white phosphorus in military operations in Lebanon and Gaza on October 10 and 11. This violates international law.

DAY 5 (OCT 11)

DAY 4 (OCT 10)

  • Palestinian deaths have risen to 900 in Gaza (over 18 in West Bank), injuries 4,500 in Gaza (100 in West Bank),  260 children and 230 women; displaced: 200,000.
  • The number is “expected to rise with the ongoing intense Israeli bombardment of Gaza.”  A BBC reporter in Gaza said it was “the worst bombing he had seen in 20 years, with neighbourhoods flattened.” Israeli forces are reportedly “killing Palestinian children at an unprecedented rate.” More information here.
  • Israeli deaths reman 900, injuries 2741. (See this)
  • It is so far unreported how many of the Israeli deaths are children; none of those so far listed here are designated as minors. This will be updated when the information is available.
  • Biden announced: “The Department of Defense has moved the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group to the Eastern Mediterranean and bolstered our fighter aircraft presence. And we stand ready to move in additional assets as needed.”
  • “A large part of Gaza City’s Rimal neighborhood was reduced to rubble after hours of airstrikes the night before. Residents found buildings torn in half or demolished to mounds of concrete and rebar. Cars were flattened and trees burned out on residential streets transformed into moonscapes.”

DAY 3 (Oct 9)

DAY 2 (Oct 8):

  • The number of Palestinians killed  has risen to 413. About 2,300 others were wounded. The death toll in the Gaza Strip included 78 children, according to the Ministry of Health. At least 120 minors were wounded.
  • Israel’s military says at least 26 soldiers were killed in the initial Hamas attack on the country’s south. In all, at least 700 Israelis have been killed, 2,000 wounded.
  • At least 100 Israelis have been abducted and brought to Gaza – Palestinians plan to exchange them for Palestinian prisoners.
  • Israeli Knesset member said his party had warned of events like the Hamas attack if Israel continued its illegal occupation of Palestinian lands. “The Israeli government… supports, encourages, and leads pogroms against the Palestinians. There is an ethnic cleansing going on.”
  • The US could announce additional aid to Israel as soon as today, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” Israel already gets over $13 million/day. (Blinken has a history of helping Israel. Politicians from both parties support Israel thanks to the influence of the Israel lobby,)
  • Tens of thousands of people have been displaced in Gaza; Israeli airstrike kills 13 family members in Gaza, including four toddlers
  • US moving Navy ships to the area
  • The Biden administration is reportedly working to fulfill Israel’s request to transfer even more weapons to Tel Aviv (whose weaponry is already vastly superior to Palestinians’)

THIS IS A DEVELOPING STORY. CHECK BACK FOR UPDATES 

Palestinian resistance launches surprise attack on Israel – Updates to come

by Kathryn Shihadah

After decades of Israeli occupation and human rights abuses, and after a 20-month-long mass nonviolent effort, Palestinians in Gaza launched a surprise operation against Israel on early Saturday morning. Its scale is unprecedented, involving aerial, sea and ground operations. Israel immediately began bombing Gaza and has turned off electricity to the enclave, leaving most of its two million inhabitants in the dark and hospitals dangerously impacted. There are now 200 Israelis dead, 9000 injured, and an unknown number captured; and 232 Palestinians dead and 1,600 injured.

Israeli forces, partly funded by the $13 million dollars per day that U.S. politicians have voted for them, are one of the world’s most powerful militaries, their weaponry vastly dwarfing Palestinians’. Today’s Palestinian land incursions largely consisted of individuals riding motorcycles and pickup trucks.

Hamas spokesperson Khaled Qadomi told Al Jazeera that the group’s military operation is in “response to all the atrocities the Palestinians have faced over the decades,” and the Hamas deputy chief said the group is engaged “in a battle for freedom.” Hamas military chief Muhammad Deif explained: “We have decided to put an end to all of the occupation’s crimes”; senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh indicated that recent provocations at the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem were a major reason for the surprise attack.

Other Israeli provocations include increased violence against Palestinians by illegal Israeli settlers, Israel’s treatment of Palestinian prisoners,  and a spike in killings of Palestinians by the Israeli military. 2023 was the deadliest year on record for Palestinians in the West Bank, including for children.

In October alone, Israeli soldiers killed 4 Palestinians (including youth), attacked a Palestinian funeral procession, abducted at least 75 (10 of them children), and shot or otherwise injured at least 100.

Hamas actions have so far included: launching thousands of rockets toward Israel (for background on rockets see this), infiltrating Israel by land, sea, and air, and taking prisoners of war which it hopes to exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Groups broke down the barrier wall that imprisons Gaza and entered several Israeli communities near the border. Fighters have also captured a number of Israeli military vehicles, in addition to the hostages.

Palestinians celebrate as an Israeli military vehicle burns after it was hit by Palestinian gunmen who infiltrated areas of southern Israel, at the Israeli side of Israel-Gaza border, on October 7, 2023

Palestinians celebrate as an Israeli military vehicle burns after it was hit by Palestinian gunmen who infiltrated areas of southern Israel, at the Israeli side of Israel-Gaza border, on October 7, 2023After being surprised by the scope of the Palestinian offensive, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced, “Citizens of Israel, we are at war [and will] fight back on a scale and intensity that the enemy has so far not experienced. The enemy will pay an unprecedented price.”

Israeli jet fighters destroyed a Palestine high-rise in western Gaza City with several missiles. The building has approximately 100 residential apartments.

Israeli jet fighters destroyed a Palestine high-rise in western Gaza City with several missiles. The building has approximately 100 residential apartments.

A building destroyed by Israeli strikes in Gaza City on Saturday.

A building destroyed by Israeli strikes in Gaza City on Saturday.According to Israeli Police Commissioner Yaakov Shabtai, the Israeli military is engaged in “a complex attack in the area around Gaza,” that at the time included 21 active fronts.

In Gaza, Israeli warplanes reportedly destroyed a 5-story residential building, hit a hospital, and targeted an ambulance.

Some media outlets refer to the Palestinian resistance fighters as “terrorists” – but under international law, armed resistance is the right of occupied people.

Critical context

Israel has held the 2 million Palestinians of Gaza under siege since 2007, blocking access to medical supplies, medicine, food, and many other staples. The people of Gaza staged a 20-month nonviolent protest against Israel from March 2018 till the beginning of the Covid pandemic in December 2020 – and were met with Israeli snipers and airstrikes that killed hundreds (NOTE: read about this protest, called the Great March of Return, here).

Mainstream media that describe Israel and Hamas as having fought “multiple wars” since the siege began, fail to contextualize the statement. Over 700,000 Palestinians were ethnically cleansed from their homes and villages in 1948; many of them and their descendants live in refugee camps in Palestine and scattered throughout the Arab world, awaiting their internationally guaranteed right of return. Millions have been under occupation since 1967; human rights organizations like Amnesty International consider Palestinians in the entire region to be living under apartheid rule.

US President Joe Biden has expressed solidarity with Israel and “fully supports Israel’s right to defend itself.

Separately, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who has as history of helping Israel, declared that the US “unequivocally condemns the appalling attacks by Hamas terrorists against Israel, including civilians and civilian communities.”

THIS IS A DEVELOPING STORY. CHECK BACK FOR UPDATES.

For a complete list of Palestinians and Israelis killed since 2000, please visit Israel-Palestine Timeline (This is not yet updated with today’s deaths)

BACKGROUND ON THE CONFLICT:

Human rights reports on Israel-Palestine (regularly updated)

Facts & latest news on Gaza Great March of Return (2018-2020)

A synopsis of the current situation in Israel/Palestine

VIDEOS:

Palestinian Rockets: The Hidden Facts

Congress gives 29 standing ovations for president of foreign nation that harms the US

How to buy a politician – and get away with bending (breaking?) the law

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