Here is the situation on Monday, October 23, 2023:
Latest developments
- At least 30 bodies have been recovered from the rubble of two collapsed houses after Israeli air raids hit Jabalia refugee camp, one of the most crowded areas in Gaza. More people are believed to be trapped under the rubble.
- Israeli air raids near Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza have caused “serious damage and injuries”, the hospital’s director told Al Jazeera.
- Israeli missiles have also struck the vicinity of two major hospitals – al-Shifa and al-Quds.
- A second aid convoy of 17 trucks entered Gaza through the Rafah crossing late on Sunday.
Fighting and human impact
- Sunday marked “the bloodiest night in Gaza” since October 7, with the Palestinian news agency Wafa saying 400 people were killed in Israeli raids in the past 24 hours. At least 25 Israeli air attacks were recorded on residential areas.
- Sixty-five percent of the overnight casualties were children, according to al-Aqsa hospital in Gaza.
- Israel’s army claimed it attacked more than 320 military targets in the Gaza Strip overnight. At least 29 people have been killed in attacks on Rafah and Khan Younis, Palestinian medical sources told Al Jazeera.
- Israel’s military claimed that early on Monday, it struck two Hezbollah targets in Lebanon that were planning to launch antitank missiles towards Israel.
- Hezbollah reported that one of its fighters was killed on Sunday, taking the death toll to 21.
Escalation in the occupied West Bank
- Armoured Israeli vehicles stormed the streets of Nablus and surrounding villages in the occupied West Bank on Monday.
- Nearly 100 people have been arrested or detained in the past 24 hours from Jericho, Ramallah, Bethlehem and Hebron in the occupied West Bank in expanding Israeli crackdown on Palestinians.
Diplomacy
- Following a phone call convened by United States President Joe Biden, the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the UK and the US issued a joint statement on their commitment to use diplomatic efforts for “durable peace” and preventing the conflict from spilling over in the region. The statement also affirms their support to Israel while calling on its forces to follow international humanitarian law.
- China has announced that it will do “whatever is conducive” to achieve a ceasefire and that it will continue to provide humanitarian aid to “Palestinians”.
- French President Emmanuel Macron and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte will visit Israel this week, said Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
- The US warned it is prepared to retaliate if its troops are targeted amid the fighting between Israel and Hamas.
