In the West Bank, Israeli settlers vandalize olive trees and pave a settler road near Qusra. Israeli settlers also raid an archeological site in Sabastia. Israeli forces shoot and injure 2 Palestinians and arrest more than 18 others during a raid in Deir Abu Mash’al. Israeli forces also shoot and injure a Palestinian child during a raid in Kafr Qalil. Elsewhere, Israeli forces shoot and injure a Palestinian child during a raid in Madama. Israeli forces also shoot and injure a Palestinian man during a raid in Hebron. Meanwhile, Israeli forces fire tear gas at Palestinians and international activists harvesting olives in Beit Lid. In Gaza, Israeli forces bomb Gaza City, Jabalia refugee camp, Khan Yunis, Nuseirat refugee camp, Shati’ refugee camp, and Rafah, killing at least 41 people. Israeli forces also raid the Indonesian Hospital, abducting people and starting a fire that damages the generator. In Lebanon, Israeli forces bomb Beirut, Nabatieh, Tyre, Baalbek, Hazin, and other towns and villages, killing at least 63 people, including 18 people in a strike on the Rafik Hariri University Hospital in Beirut. The Israeli military claims that Hezbollah is storing cash and gold underneath the Sahel General Hospital in Beirut, leading to its evacuation due to fear of an Israel attack. Hezbollah forces fire rockets at Kiryat Shmona, Beit Hillel, and a military base near Tel Aviv. In Syria, Israeli forces bomb Damascus, killing 2 people. (AJ, AP, HA, REU, REU, REU, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 10/21; AJ, HA, NYT, REU, REU, UNOCHA 10/22)
More than 42,644 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, including at least 17,000 children and 11,487 women, and around 99,795 have been injured since 10/7/2023. At least 10,000 people are missing in rubble. 759 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 10/7/2023, including 165 children. More than 6,500 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, 356 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. (UNOCHA 10/22)
UNRWA commissioner-general Phillippe Lazzarini says Israel continues to deny all humanitarian missions to northern Gaza. (AJ, WAFA 10/21)
Hundreds of Israelis participate in the 2-day conference “Preparing to Resettle Gaza,” near the Gaza fence. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir calls for the “voluntary transfer of all Gazan citizens. We will offer them the opportunity to move to other countries because that land belongs to us.” Ben-Gvir also boasts about worsening conditions in Israeli prisons, saying “[y]ou should see them whining and crying in their cells.” Naqab and Galilee Development Minister Yatzhak Wasserlauf, Social Equality Minister May Golan, and Likud Party MK Tali Gotliv also speak in favor of resettling Gaza at the conference. (AJ, AP, HA, HA 10/21)
PA prime minister Mohammad Mustafa meets with Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani in Ramallah. Mustafa also speaks with U.S. deputy treasury secretary Wally Adeyemo, discussing economic stability in the West Bank. PLO secretary-general Hussein al-Sheikh meets with U.S. assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs Barbara Leaf in Ramallah, condemning Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in northern Gaza. (HA, REU, WAFA, WAFA 10/21)
Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant announces that he has declared the Lebanese loan association Al-Qard Al-Hassan a terrorist organization. (AP, HA, NYT 10/21)
Axios reports that Israel gave the U.S. its conditions for a ceasefire in Lebanon on 10/17. Among the demands are that Israel is allowed to continue “active enforcement” in southern Lebanon and that Israel’s air force has freedom of operation in Lebanese air space. Haaretz reports that Israel is also seeking to have a new Lebanese president installed who would curb Hezbollah’s influence. U.S. deputy assistant to the president Amos Hochstein meets with Lebanese officials to discuss a ceasefire. Hochstein says at a press conference that the implementation of UN Resolution 1701 is not enough to secure a ceasefire. (AJ, AJ, AX, HA, HA, NYT, REU, REU, REU 10/21)
Axios also reports that the U.S. government is investigating potential Israeli human rights violations at the Sde Teiman detention camp in relation to the Leahy Law, which prohibiting U.S. military assistance to military units that violate human rights. (AX, REU 10/21)
More than 60 Democratic members of the House of Representatives write a letter to President Joe Biden urging him to push Israel to allow journalists access to Gaza. (HA 10/21)
11 pro-Palestine protesters are arrested at the University of Minnesota while protesting inside of one of the school’s administrative buildings. (HA 10/21; AP, HA 10/22)
British Airways cancels all flights to Israel until the end of March 2025. (HA 10/21)
The EU donates $17.25 million to UNRWA. (AJ 10/21)