Compilation of news reports – IAK staff 

Tuesday was the eighteenth consecutive day of the Israeli occupation forces’ aerial, ground, and naval bombardment of northern Gaza. The siege has included blocking supplies of food, water, medicine, and fuel, destroying homes, demolishing entire residential blocks, attacking hospitals, and assassinating individuals trying to escape.

Over 700 Palestinians have been killed since Israel began its siege of Jabaliya and northern Gaza.

Latest from Gaza

Official says northern Gaza hospitals run out of food, meds, even burial shrouds

The Al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza has completely run out of medical supplies and food due to the ongoing Israeli siege, with fuel supplies also nearing depletion, the hospital’s director said on Tuesday.

“We are living under a complete siege, as the Israeli occupation has tightened its grip on the hospital since Monday. Medical staff are unable to move or receive any external support,” Mohamed Saleha told Anadolu.

He said all stocks of medicines and food have been exhausted.

“Many wounded have died before our eyes, and we couldn’t do anything for them,” said Munir al-Bursh, the director of the Gaza Health Ministry, who is currently in northern Gaza.

“Hospitals also ran out of shrouds to prepare the dead, and we have asked people to donate any fabric they have at home,” al-Bursh said in a statement.

Israeli soldiers of the 432 battalion share on their private accounts scenes showing them burning Hamed School, Next to Indonesi Hospital in Jabaliya refugee camp.
Israeli soldiers of the 432 battalion share on their private accounts scenes showing them burning Hamed School, next to Indonesi Hospital in Jabaliya refugee camp.

UN: Gaza may need 350 years to rebuild if it remains under blockade

U.N. agencies have long warned that it could take decades to rebuild Gaza after Israel’s offensive against Hamas, one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns since World War II.

Now, more than a year into the war, a new report speaks in terms of centuries.

The U.N. Conference on Trade and Development said in a report released Monday that if the war ends tomorrow and Gaza returns to the status quo before Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, it could take 350 years for its battered economy to return to its precarious prewar level.

The current war has caused staggering destruction across the territory, with entire neighborhoods obliterated and roads and critical infrastructure in ruins. Mountains of rubble laced with decomposing bodies and unexploded ordnance would have to be cleared before rebuilding could begin.

“Once a ceasefire is reached, a return to the pre-October 2023 status quo would not put Gaza on the path needed for recovery and sustainable development,” the report said. “If the 2007–2022 growth trend returns, with an average growth rate of 0.4 percent, it will take Gaza 350 years just to restore the GDP levels of 2022.”

(Read the full report and its implications here.)

Palestinians inspect the damage after an Israeli airstrike the previous night in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip on October 20, 2024.
Palestinians inspect the damage after an Israeli airstrike the previous night in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip on October 20, 2024.

UN says ‘development emergency’ looming due to Gaza war, jeopardizing future of all Palestinians

The UN Development Program (UNDP) on Tuesday said according to the new assessments a less noticed “development emergency” is looming due to the war in Gaza.

This emergency is “jeopardizing the future for all Palestinians, not only in Gaza,” Chitose Noguchi, the UNDP deputy special representative, told a UN press briefing in Geneva.

“In Gaza, unemployment is reaching 80%,” Noguchi said, adding that poverty is also “exponentially” rising as three in four people live in poverty.

“In the State of Palestine [including the West Bank and East Jerusalem] poverty is projected to rise to 74.3% in 2024, up from 38.8% at the end of 2023, affecting 4.1 million people, including 2.61 million people who are newly impoverished,” she added.

Describing the situation as an “unprecedented setback in development,” she warned that it is indicating “a loss of almost 24 years of development gains.”

The official said humanitarian aid alone “cannot put” the Palestinian economy on a restorative track.

Thousands of aid trucks are waiting on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing waiting to enter Gaza.
Thousands of aid trucks are waiting on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing waiting to enter Gaza.

Israel blocked over 250,000 aid trucks from entering Gaza in one year of genocide: Officials


Lebanon news

Leaked report finds Israel targeting UN troops in Lebanon, including with white phosphorus

The Cradle reports:

Israel’s military has attacked UNIFIL troops deployed on the Lebanon-Israel border a dozen times, including possibly with white phosphorous, the Financial Times (FT) reported on 22 October.

According to a confidential report prepared by a country contributing troops to the UN mission, Israeli forces forcibly entered a clearly marked UN base and are suspected of using the incendiary chemical white phosphorus, injuring 15 UN soldiers.

UN troops, which come from 50 separate countries, have rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s demand that they evacuate their border posts to clear the way for current Israeli military operations in southern Lebanon.

The confidential report viewed by FT includes photographs documenting the extent of the damage done to bunkers that shelter UN troops, perimeter walls, and observation towers at several bases.

This photo is taken from Lebanon showing the Israeli border as the United Nations Interim Peacekeeping Forces (UNIFIL) patrol the border-line between Lebanon and Israel, at the Lebanese town of Dhayra on October 11, 2023
This photo is taken from Lebanon showing the Israeli border as the United Nations Interim Peacekeeping Forces (UNIFIL) patrol the border-line between Lebanon and Israel, at the Lebanese town of Dhayra on October 11, 2023

Over 400,000 forcibly displaced children in Lebanon at growing risk of scabies, cholera and waterborne diseases: Save the Children

Over 400,000 children forced from their homes by the escalating conflict in Lebanon are at risk of skin diseases, cholera, and other waterborne diseases due to overcrowded, basic conditions in collective* shelters and a lack of water and sanitation facilities, said Save the Children.

The first case of cholera and cases of scabies have already been reported among some of the 1.2 million people forcibly displaced from their homes. The World Health Organisation expressed concerns that many of those who had fled the violence in the south had no protection from cholera, which thrives in poor water and sanitary conditions.

Lebanese Red Cross teams conducted search and rescue operations in the rubble of collapsed buildings following an Israeli army attack in Nabatieh province of southern Lebanon, on September 27, 2024. [Ramiz Dallah – Anadolu Agency]
Lebanese Red Cross teams conducted search and rescue operations in the rubble of collapsed buildings following an Israeli army attack in Nabatieh province of southern Lebanon, on September 27, 2024.

Israel news

Anti-War Israelis Fear Speaking Up For Gaza. Over 100 Medical Workers Are Doing It Anyway.

More than 100 Israeli medical workers are voicing their opposition to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ongoing military offensive in Gaza, rebelling against what they describe is a widespread culture of silence and fear of punishment among Israelis who want the government to stop killing Palestinians in their name.

In a letter addressed to the White House and first obtained Tuesday by HuffPost, 117 medical workers in Israel expressed support for their colleagues in the United States who earlier this month demanded the Biden administration stop funding and arming the ongoing military offensive in Gaza. The American workers had all provided medical aid to Palestinians in Gaza at some point over the past year.

The letter by Israeli medical workers supports the one sent on Oct. 2 to the White House by almost 100 American health care workers, which included data to back up their testimonies from Gaza. That data is partly why Feldon decided to create the Tuesday letter, because those statistics were not “numbers we [Israelis] know.”

The letter aims to make it known that there are Israelis who see the violence their military is inflicting on their behalf, and that despite fears of retaliation, they can no longer stay silent in their opposition to it.

(Read the full article here.)

Damage caused to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's home in Caesarea by a Hezbollah attack.
Damage caused to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home in Caesarea by a Hezbollah attack.

Last week’s Hezbollah drone hit, damaged Netanyahu’s bedroom window: Report

A Hezbollah drone that targeted the home of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in northern Israel directly struck the window of his bedroom, according to Israeli media on Tuesday.

Hezbollah confirmed responsibility on Tuesday for the Oct. 19 attack on Netanyahu’s private home in Caesarea.

The Israeli public broadcaster KAN said the Hezbollah drone “directly and accurately hit the window of Netanyahu’s bedroom.”


Israel plans to let Jewish settlers change status quo at Al-Aqsa Mosque, warns Islamic Council

Three major religious organizations issued a joint statement on Tuesday, warning that the Israeli government is enabling dangerous escalations by allowing Jewish settlers to violate protocol at the Al-Aqsa Mosque , one of Islam’s holiest sites.

They warned that the Israeli occupation regime has permitted large numbers of settlers to storm the mosque, perform Jewish rituals, and take provocative actions there.

A total of 4,000 Jewish settlers, with Israeli police protection, raided Al-Aqsa Mosque on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, said the local Islamic authorities. The settlers share videos of themselves on social media performing prayers and other rituals in the mosque, while Muslim worshippers face restrictions.

Fanatic Jews continue to openly perform religious rituals during their raids on Al-Aqsa Mosque, Jerusalem on June 24, 2024
Fanatic Jews continue to openly perform religious rituals during their raids on Al-Aqsa Mosque, Jerusalem on June 24, 2024
Abdullah Jamal Hawash
Abdullah Jamal Hawash

Israeli Forces Kill a Palestinian Child in Nablus

Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian child, on Tuesday afternoon, and abducted a young man, after special forces infiltrated the Old City of Nablus, in the northern West Bank.

The Palestinian Health Ministry announced that 11-year-old Abdullah Jamal Hawash, succumbed to a critical gunshot to the chest, inflicted on him by occupation soldiers during the military incursion.

Media sources said that Israeli special forces infiltrated the Old City of Nablus, followed by military reinforcements, while soldiers fired smoke bombs in the “Al-Qaryoun” neighborhood, sparking protests from local Palestinians.


US news

Dept of Justice Lawyers Press Merrick Garland to Investigate Israel’s Killing of American Citizens

Prem Thakker reports for Zeteo:

Attorneys at the Department of Justice have sent a letter to Merrick Garland, pressing the US attorney general to‬‭ “investigate‬‭ potential‬‭ violations‬‭ of‬‭ U.S.‬‭ law‬‭ by‬‭ Israel’s‭ government,‬‭ military,‬‭ and‬‭ citizenry,‬‭ and‬‭ hold‬‭ the‬‭ perpetrators‬‭ to‬‭ account.”

Attorney General Merrick Garland
Attorney General Merrick Garland

The letter, exclusively obtained by Zeteo, represents increasing internal discontent over the DOJ’s silence as the Israeli government, supported by US citizens and organizations, allegedly violates US and international laws – in contrast to the department’s willingness to announce charges against Hamas leaders over the Oct. 7 attack.

In Monday’s letter, the DOJ attorneys write that the department “‬‭has‬‭ appropriately‬‭ demonstrated‬‭ its‬‭ commitment‬‭ to‬‭ upholding‬‭ the‬‭ rule‬‭ of‬‭ law‬‭ in‬‭ the‬‭ midst‬‭ of‬‭ ongoing‬ geopolitical‬‭ conflicts” when it came to Russia, Hamas, and others, but that, “against‬‭ the‬‭ backdrop‬‭ of‬‭ numerous‬‭ potential‬‭ violations‬‭ of‬‭ U.S.‬‭ law‬‭ by‬‭ individuals‬‭ and‬‭ entities‬‭ affiliated‬‭ with‬‭ Israel,‬‭ the‬‭ Department’s‬‭ silence‬‭ and‬‭ apparent‬‭ inaction‬‭ is‬‭ a‬‭ stark‬‭ omission.‬”

The letter, dated Oct. 21, is simply signed by “your colleagues.” The Attorney General’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Read the full article here.)

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STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – OCTOBER 22, 2024:

Palestinian death toll from October 7, 2023 – October 22, 2024: at least 43,552* ( 42,792 in Gaza* – 69% are women and children, according to Gaza’s Media Office). [The Ministry’s figures have been contested by the Israeli authorities, although they have been accepted as accurate by Israeli intelligence services, the UN, and WHO. These data are supported by independent analyses, comparing changes in the number of deaths of UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) staff with those reported by the Ministry, which found claims of data fabrication implausible.]

This is expected to be a significant undercount since thousands of those killed have yet to be identified – and at least 760 in the West Bank (~166 children). This does not include an estimated 10,000 more in Gaza still buried under rubble (4,900 women and children). Euro-Med Monitor reports 49,032 Palestinian deaths.

Lancet: “Applying a conservative estimate of four indirect deaths per one direct death to the 37,396 deaths reported, it is not implausible to estimate that up to 186,000 or even more deaths could be attributable to the current conflict in Gaza.

Ralph Nader earlier estimated 300,000 Palestinians may have been killed in Gaza.

  • At least 45 Palestinians have died in Israeli prisons (27 from Gaza, 25 from West Bank).
  • At least 41 Palestinians have died due to malnutrition (at least 37 of them children)**.
  • About 1.9 million of Gaza’s 2.3 million population are currently displaced.
  • Almost 500,000 Gazans are currently experiencing catastrophic levels of food insecurity.

Palestinian injuries from October 7 – October 22, 2024: at least 106,662 (including at least 100,412 in Gaza and 6,250 in the West Bank, including 830 children). [It remains unknown how many Americans are among the casualties in Gaza.]

Reported Israeli death toll from October 7, 2023 – October 22, 2024: ~1,561 (~1,139 on October 7, 2023, of which ~32 were Americans, and ~36 were children); 386*** military forces since the ground invasion began in Gaza; 39 military and civilians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Israel) and~10,000 injured.

The death toll in Lebanon since October 8, 2023 is at least 2,546 and 11,862 injuries. An estimated 1.34 million have been displaced.

NOTE: It is unknown at this time how many of the deaths and injuries of Israelis on October 7 were caused by Israeli soldiers.

*Previously, IAK did not include 471 Gazans killed in the Al Ahli hospital blast since the source of the projectile was being disputed. However, given that much evidence points to Israel as the culprit, Israel had previously bombed the hospital and has attacked many others, Israel is prohibiting outside experts from investigating the scene, and since the UN and other agencies are including the deaths from the attack in their cumulative totals, if Americans knew is now also doing so.

**Euro-Med Monitor reports that Gaza’s elderly are dying at an alarmingly high rate. The majority die at home and are buried either close to their residences or in makeshift graves dispersed across the Strip. There are currently more than 140 such cemeteries. Additionally, according to Euromed, thousands have died from starvation, malnourishment, and inadequate medical care; these are considered indirect victims as they were not registered in hospitals. 

***The figure does not include the reportedly 56 Israeli soldiers – nearly 16% of the total Israeli military deaths – killed due to friendly fire in Gaza and other military-related accidents. 

† For most of the conflict, women and children accounted for about 70% of deaths in Gaza, with children making up a little over 40% of those killed, according to official statistics.

Find previous daily casualty figures and daily news updates here.

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