Update Day 23 (Oct 29th) on Israel’s war against Hamas:
In Israel, Hamas killed at least 1,300 Israelis and wounded more than 3,300 in their merciless assault.
In the Gaza Strip, the Hamas-controlled health ministry reports that at least 8,005 Palestinians have been killed. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad are holding hostage more than 229 soldiers and civilians, including foreign nationals.
Over the last 24 hours, significant Israeli ground forces have operated inside Gaza. Hamas rocket fire at Israel, including long-range missiles, and Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, including targeted assassinations, continue.
Tensions on Israel’s northern border simmer, with Hezbollah rocket and anti-tank fire and drones.
As more international voices call for a humanitarian truce in Gaza, Israel has opened a second pipe for drinking water to the Strip.
Details on Day 23 (Oct 29th):
Over the last 24 hours, large Israeli ground forces have operated inside the Gaza Strip. The IDF spokesperson said the ground operation would expand, and that Israel’s air force has attacked over 450 Hamas targets across Gaza.
IDF aircraft attacked Hezbollah targets in Lebanon in response to launches carried out in the early evening towards Israeli territory.
The IDF spokesperson said that among the targets attacked were terrorist and military infrastructures.
War cabinet minister Benny Gantz said that, alongside returning hostages, the war aims are “To change the reality in the south [Hamas] and also vis-à-vis our enemies in the north [Hezbollah].”
Rocket barrages targeted northern and southern Israel throughout the day. Israel said security forces killed a unit of terrorists who emerged from a tunnel near Israel’s border crossing with Gaza. Israeli forces exchanged fire with Hezbollah fighters near the Lebanon border.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad said that one its senior political officials was killed in a strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that negotiations are ongoing to free the hostages and to permit foreign nationals to leave Gaza via the Rafah crossing. He emphasized that “Netanyahu has a responsibility to rein in the settlers,” a reference to soaring settler violence against West Bank Palestinians since October 7. U.S. President Joe Biden is set to speak with Netanyahu later on Sunday.
International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan visited the Rafah crossing on the Egypt-Gaza border amid accusations that both Israel and Hamas are violating international law.
Khan said the ICC is conducting “active investigations” into the events of October 7 “and also in relation to Gaza and the West Bank. Our jurisdiction goes back to 2014.”
Israel opened a second water pipeline to the Gaza Strip, closed since the outbreak of the war. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron expressed their concern about getting enough aid into Gaza in a phone call on Sunday, according to a Downing Street readout.
House Republicans will consider a bill this week aimed at providing more than $14 billion in immediate emergency military assistance to Israel as a standalone bill, splitting it from aid to Ukraine.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian on Sunday described claims that Iran was directly connected to Hamas’ October 7 attack as “baseless.”
In New York City, thousands marched from Brooklyn through Manhattan on Saturday demanding an end to “Zionist genocide” and calling for an “intifada revolution.” Leading the march was a group holding a banner that read “By Any Means Necessary.” There were major pro-Palestinian protests across Europe and in Turkey over the weekend
*If you would like to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications when new posts are made please email Dr. Clark Anderson at clark@andersontours.com
