The following is a summary of news for October 20th, 2023 – the 14th day of the Israeli assault on Gaza and the West Bank (compiled by israelpalestinenews.org).
- 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. 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 hit the Orthodox Christian church where others had been sheltering.
- The bombarded church is only meters away from the Al-Ahli Anglican Hospital that was bombed by Israel Tuesday, killing 500 civilians, including patients, staff, family members, and other civilians who had taken shelter at the hospital. A United Nations School that had become a makeshift shelter this past week was also hit.
- 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.
- Israeli occupation forces abducted, on Friday, dozens of Palestinians, including children and former prisoners during a large-scale arrest campaign targeting the governorates of Jenin, Nablus, Ramallah/Al-Biereh, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Hebron.
