Israel-Hamas War Highlights: Amid spillover fears, Israeli military aircraft reportedly enter Lebanese airspace

European Parliament calls for Hamas to be ‘eliminated,’ urges release of hostages

Reports Times of Israel

US warship in Red Sea intercepts 3 missiles fired from Yemen, possibly at Israel

Reports Times of Israel

US intelligence agencies make lower estimate for Gaza hospital death toll

American intelligence agencies have assessed that a deadly blast at a Gaza City hospital on Tuesday killed 100 to 300 people, a more conservative estimate than that given by Palestinian officials, and that the hospital suffered light damage.
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Israel bombards Greek Orthodox Church in Gaza; 8 dead

The Church of Saint Porphyrius, which was hit in an Israeli air attack killing at least eight people, has been a shelter for Palestinians, both Christian and Muslim, since the start of the war.

Israel targets Hezbollah cell in southern Lebanon

The army said in a statement that "military helicopters targeted a cell that included three gunmen who were preparing to launch anti-tank missiles toward Israeli territories."

Reports Anadolu English

Human Rights watch accuse West of 'double standards' on silence over Israeli war crimes

Where is the clear condemnation of the cruel tightening of the 16-year closure of Gaza that amounts to collective punishment, a war crime? Where is the outrage at statements by Israeli political leaders that seek to blur the all-important distinction between civilians and combatants in Gaza even as they order ever more intense bombardment of this densely populated territory, reducing city blocks and neighborhoods to rubble? Where are the clear and unequivocal calls for Israel to respect international norms in its attack on Gaza, let alone for accountability?

For a year and a half, Western states, in their efforts to muster international support for Ukraine and to isolate Russia, have been rightly underlining to the rest of the world the importance of upholding rules governing armed conflict in the context of Ukraine. But now the rest of the world sees a muted reaction to the devastating harm done to civilians by Israel’s blockade and assault on Gaza.

The hypocrisy and double standards of Western states are flagrant and obvious.

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Dawn air raid by Israeli forces in southern Gaza city of Khan Younis has killed at least 21 people and left many others wounded

Al Jazeera Reports

A girl looks out of a tent in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, October 20, 2023.

Biden addresses US in rare Oval Office speech

“Hamas and Putin represent different threats but they share this in common; they both want to annihilate a neighbouring democracy,” he said.

“American leadership is what holds the world together,” the president said during the 10-minute speech. "American alliances are what keep us, America, safe. American values are what make us a partner that other nations want to work with."

Biden also pushed for urgent request to Congress for aid to Ukraine and Israel. He did not put a value to the security package, but reports have suggested it could be as much as $100bn.

“It’s a smart investment that will pay dividends for American security for generations,” the president stressed.

US President Joe Biden delivers a prime-time address to the nation about his approaches to the conflict between Israel and Hamas, humanitarian assistance in Gaza and continued support for Ukraine in their war with Russia, from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, US October 19, 2023.

Trucks full of aid stuck in Egypt as Rafah border remains shut

Humanitarian aid piles up in Egypt.

Warplanes carry out airstrikes targeting residential neighbourhood in central Gaza

Reports Palestinian media Quds News Network

Israel orders residents of town 2 km from Lebanon border to evacuate

Israel’s Defence ministry has announced the evacuation of residents in border town of Kiryat Shmona near southern Lebanon, amid armed escalating clashes between Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters at the Israel-Lebanon frontier.

An Israeli soldier pictured near Israel's border with Lebanon in northern Israel, October 19, 2023.

Israeli soldiers walk on a road near the Israel border with Lebanon amid heightened tensions between Israel and Lebanon

US cargo plane carrying armoured patrol vehicles for Israeli army lands at Tel Aviv's International Airport

Rishi Sunak heads to Egypt for regional talks; to also meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas

Sunak will meet with the Egyptian leadership “to discuss ways to stop the escalation”. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will also meet with him in Cairo this afternoon.

Yesterday, Sunak met Israeli PM Netanyahu in a 'show of solidarity with Israel.'

IDF withdraws from Nour Shams refugee camp in West Bank after 24-hour 'military operation'

Reports Anadolu

The destruction left behind by the Israeli aggression on Nour Shams refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, which lasted for 24 hours.

IDF says it struck several more Hezbollah holdings overnight in Lebanon

Reports Times of Israel

IDF says over 100 targets struck in overnight raids across Gaza

Terrorist involved in a naval attack during the October 7 massacre were reported killed.

An explosion is seen following an Israeli air strike in the southern Gaza Strip.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas refused to answer US President Biden's phone call on Wednesday, per reports

via Spectator Index

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

On Day 14 of the conflict, these are the latest casualties

Israel: At least 1403 killed, 4629 injured

Palestine (Gaza): At least 3785 killed, 12,493 injured

Palestine (Occupied West Bank): At least 81 killed, 1300 injured

Reports Al Jazeera

Saudi Prince Bin Salman calls for end to military operations in Gaza

"We stress the need to stop military operations and create conditions to achieve a lasting peace that guarantees the establishment of a Palestinian state," Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said.

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman and Qatar's Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, pose for photo at the Member States of the Gulf Cooperation Council in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia October 20, 2023.

'Majority of hostages in Gaza are alive,' says Israel

The Israeli military reported that most of the roughly 200 people who were abducted by Hamas militants and taken to the Gaza Strip are still alive.

"The majority of the hostages are alive. There were also dead bodies that were taken... to the Gaza Strip," an IDF statement read.

Reports AFP

Yifat Zailer, dr. Adva Gutman-Tirosh and Lee Dan, whose family members were abducted by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, hold a press conference asking for a humanitarian corridor for the transfer of medicine and humanitarian aid for captives who require life-saving medical treatment, in Tel Aviv, Israel, October 14, 2023.

UN chief visits Rafah border crossing in Egypt ahead of Gaza aid delivery

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres inspects aid for Palestinians, as officials wait to deliver aid to Gaza through the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, at Al Arish airport, in Egypt, October 20, 2023.

A pro-Palestinian demonstrator displays a placard as United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visits the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Rafah, Egypt, October 20, 2023.

Israel does not plan to control 'life in Gaza' after destroying Hamas, Defence Minister says

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has outlined Israel's war plans and objectives in the Gaza Strip.

Speaking at a Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting in Tel Aviv, he stated that the objectives include eliminating the Hamas terror group by destroying its military and governmental capabilities, and completely removing any responsibility Israel has over Gaza by creating a new "security regime" in the Strip.

Reports Times of Israel

80% Israelis blame Netanyahu for failing to prevent Hamas attack; 65% back ground invasion, poll shows

As many as 80% of Israelis believe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must take responsibility for the security failures exposed by the devastating Oct. 7 assault on Israel by Hamas, a poll in the Ma'ariv newspaper showed on Friday.

The army chief of staff, the head of military intelligence and the head of the Shin Bet intelligence service have all admitted their services failed to prevent the attack, in which some 1,400 Israelis were killed on the deadliest day in Israel's 75-year-old history.

Netanyahu's coalition partner, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, has also said the government leadership and security leadership had failed to protect the country but the premier himself has yet to make a clear statement of responsibility.

Netanyahu said this week that there are many questions regarding the Oct. 7 attack and "we will investigate everything thoroughly".

Even among voters of Netanyahu's ruling Likud party, 69% said he should accept responsibility.

The survey showed Netanyahu lagging far behind former Defence Minister Benny Gantz, head of an opposition centrist party who joined a unity government last week. It said 48% of respondents thought Gantz would make a better prime minister, compared with only 28% for Netanyahu.

The poll indicated that 65% of Israelis were in support of the expected ground invasion of Gaza by Israeli troops.

The poll was conducted on Oct. 18 and 19 among 510 respondents and had a 4.3% margin of error, Ma'ariv said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Biden requests US Congress for $14 billion in Israel aid

The White House on Friday asked Congress for nearly $106 billion to fund ambitious plans for Ukraine, Israel and US border security, but offered no strategy for securing the money from a broken Congress.

President Joe Biden's request for the funding comes days after he visited Israel and pledged solidarity as the country bombards Gaza following an attack by Hamas militants that killed 1,400 people in southern Israel.

By grouping Israel funding with Ukraine, border security, refugee assistance, measures to counter China and other hotly debated priorities, Biden is hoping he has created a must-pass national security spending bill that can win support in a chaotic House of Representatives.

US President Joe Biden delivers a prime-time address to the nation about his approaches to the conflict between Israel and Hamas, humanitarian assistance in Gaza and continued support for Ukraine in their war with Russia, from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, US, October 19, 2023.

In Pictures| Worshippers attend funerals at Gaza's Greek Orthodox Saint Porphyrius Church

Mourners attend a funeral for Palestinians killed in an Israeli strike that damaged the Greek Orthodox Saint Porphyrius Church, where Palestinians who fled their homes were taking shelter, at the church in Gaza City, October 20, 2023.

Israeli military planes enter Lebanese airspace amid spillover fears, reports suggest

Hamas says it has released two American hostages

Hamas' armed wing the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades has released two U.S. hostages - a mother and her daughter - "for humanitarian reasons" in response to Qatari mediation efforts, its spokesman Abu Ubaida said in a statement on Friday.

Abu Ubaida said they released the citizens "for humanitarian reasons, and to prove to the American people and the world that the claims made by (President Joe) Biden and his fascist administration are false and baseless."