In the West Bank, Israeli forces shoot and kill a Palestinian man before stealing his body during a raid in Jenin refugee camp. Israeli forces also shoot and injure a Palestinian child during a raid in Salfit. Elsewhere, Israeli forces shoot and injure a Palestinian man during a raid in Baqa ash-Sharqiyya. In Gaza, Israeli forces bomb Gaza City, Rafah, and Jabalia refugee camp, killing at least 65 people. In Lebanon, Israeli forces bomb Beirut, Tayr Debba, Nabatieh, Kafr Jouz, Bint Jbeil, Ayta ash Shab, Majdal Selm, Kafr Kila, and Marjayoun, killing at least 27 people, including Nabatieh mayor Ahmad Kahi and 15 other people in a municipal building in Nabatieh. Israeli forces also open fire at a UNIFIL watchtower in Kafr Kila, causing damage, and injure 2 ambulance workers in Jwaya. Meanwhile, Israeli forces film themselves blowing up the entire village of Mhaibib, destroying the 2,100-year-old shine of Benjamin and several homes. Hezbollah forces fire rockets at Kiryat Shmona, Majdal al-Krum, and Safed. In Yemen, U.S. forces bomb Sanaa and Saada. (AJ, AP, AP, HA, NYT, REU, REU, REU, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 10/16; AJ, AJ, AP, AX, HA, NAT, NYT, REU, REU, REU 10/17; NYT 10/18)
More than 42,409 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, including at least 17,000 children and 11,487 women, and around 99,153 have been injured since 10/7/2023. At least 10,000 people are missing in rubble. 743 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 10/7/2023, including 155 children. More than 6,315 people have been injured. Israel reports that 1,139 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed and 5,400 have been injured in Israel since 10/7/2023, including Israeli soldiers. In addition, 353 Israeli soldiers have been killed and 2,345 injured in Gaza since the ground invasion began on 10/27/2023. Over 1.93 million Palestinians, nearly 85% of the population of Gaza, have been displaced since 10/7/2023. There has been a complete electricity blackout in Gaza since 10/12/2023 due to the Israeli blockade. At least 79,000 housing units have been destroyed and 370,000 have been damaged in Israeli airstrikes since 10/7/2023. UNRWA says it administered the second dose of the polio vaccine along with the WHO and UNICEF to 64,000 children in Gaza on the second day of the vaccination campaign. UNICEF spokesperson James Elder says the Israeli restrictions on aid to Gaza are the worst since October last year. Kamal Adwan Hospital director Hussam Abu Safiya calls on the international community, the Red Cross, and the WHO to help create a corridor to the hospital in Beit Lahiya so it can receive much needed fuel, medical supplies, medical delegations, and food. (AJ, AJ, REU, UNOCHA, WAFA 10/16)
Defense for Children International-Palestine says that as of 9/30 the number of Palestinian children held in administrative detention was 85, the highest number since it began monitoring child detainees in 2008. (AJ 10/16)
UNRWA commissioner-general Philippe Lazzarini tells reporters “I will not hide the fact that we might reach a point that we will not be able any more to operate” in Gaza, saying “[w]e are very near to a possible breaking point.” (AJ, REU, WAFA 10/16)
At the UN Security Council, Palestinian ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour says Israel’s “General’s Plan” is already in motion in northern Gaza, saying “[w]hat is happening in northern Gaza now is another level of monstrosity.” The General’s Plan has been described as a policy in which Palestinians in certain areas are given 2 weeks to evacuate and after that are considered combatants and the area will be closed off and starved. Chinese ambassador to the UN Fu Cong says Palestinians “are all human beings like us. Why, when born in Gaza, do they have to suffer like this?” U.S. ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield says more aid needs to enter Gaza, adding that a “policy of starvation in northern Gaza would be horrific and unacceptable and would have implications under international law and U.S. law. The government of Israel has said this is not their policy . . . we will be watching to see that Israel’s actions on the ground match this statement.” The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, Al-Haq, and Al Mezan Center for Human Rights issue a joint statement urging the international community to stop Israel from carrying out the General’s Plan in Jabalia, Beit Lahiya, and Beit Hanun. (AJ, AJ, AP, HA, NYT, REU 10/16; AJ, AP 10/17)
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party extends invitations to an event near Gaza scheduled for next week titled “Preparing to Settle Gaza.” Social Equality Minister May Golan and MKs Tally Gotliv, Osher Shkalim, and Hanoch Milwidsky say they will attend the event. (HA 10/16)
Qatari prime minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani tells reporters that there has been no engagement on reaching a ceasefire in Gaza in the past 3-4 weeks. Egypt replaces General Intelligence Directorate director Abbas Karmel with his former deputy Hassan Mahmoud Rashad. Karmel, who has been a big part of Egypt’s diplomacy with and about Palestine and ceasefire negotiations, is named special envoy and adviser to the president. (AJ, AJ, HA, REU 10/16; NYT 10/17)
Politico reports that on 8/29 the Biden administration told aid groups that the U.S. would not consider using military aid as a leverage to force Israel to allow aid to enter Gaza. (AJ 10/16)
16 EU countries that contribute troops to UNIFIL call for a change to the UNIFIL rules of engagement, without stipulating what the changes would be. (AJ, AP 10/16)
France bars Israel from having a “stand or exhibition of equipment” at the Euronaval defense show in Paris on 11/4. (AJ, REU 10/16)
UK prime minister Kier Starmer says his government is considering economic restrictions on Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir over their comments about civilians in Gaza and settlement activities in the West Bank. (AJ, AJ, AP, HA, HA, REU 10/16)
Germany has approved sales of weapons and military equipment to Israel worth $33.7 million in the past 8 weeks, more than twice the amount in the first 8 months of 2024, according to the German economy ministry. (HA 10/16)
Delta Airlines suspends flights from New York to Tel Aviv until March 2025. (AJ, HA 10/16)