WORLD BRIEFING: October 16, 2023
Gaza residents evacuating to the south of the strip as Israel warns of a fierce effort to flush out Hamas militants
Israel-Gaza War
Here are the latest casualty figures as of October 15, 9:30am local time (06:30 GMT):
Gaza - Killed: At least 2,750 ; Injured: More than 9,714
West Bank - Killed: At least 53; Injured: At least 1,100
Israel - Killed: At least 1,300; Injured: At least 3,400
The figures have been reported by the Palestinian health ministry, Palestine Red Crescent Society and Israeli Medical Services
At least 199 people kidnapped by Hamas; 299 Israeli soldiers killed, according to IDF.
Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu has denied reports of a ceasefire to allow "foreigners out" of south Gaza and "humanitarian aid in.” US media had reported that Egypt could reopen the Rafah crossing for several hours from 09:00 local time (06:00 GMT) - but it is currently closed. Thousands of people are gathering in the hope of leaving Gaza ahead of an expected Israeli ground offensive. US nationals in Gaza had previously been told to move closer to the crossing, while US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said it "will be open" for aid without giving timings - BBC
Israel's military has updated the number of people it believes are being held hostage in Gaza - up from 155 to 199. They were kidnapped when Hamas gunmen infiltrated Israel just over a week ago, killing more than 1,400 people - BBC
Gaza is being "strangled" by Israel's week-long siege and aerial bombardment, UN experts warned, as concerns grow that further escalation and a lack of safety for fleeing civilians risks drawing regional foes into the long-running conflict - CNN
Health officials in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip have resorted to storing the bodies of Palestinians killed by Israeli air strikes in ice cream freezer trucks because moving them to hospitals is too risky and cemeteries are short of space. “The hospital morgue can only take 10 bodies, so we have brought in ice cream freezers from the ice cream factories in order to store the huge numbers of martyrs,” said Dr. Yasser Ali of the Shuhada Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir Al-Balah The freezer trucks, whose sides still show advertising images of smiling children enjoying ice cream cones, are normally used to make deliveries to supermarkets. Now they are makeshift morgues for victims of the devastating war between Hamas and the Israeli army - Reuters
US President Joe Biden says he has spoken with Palestinian Authority President Abbas. “I assured him that we're working with partners in the region to ensure humanitarian supplies reach civilians in Gaza and to prevent the conflict from widening," he said on X (formerly Twitter) as reported by BBC. Various news services report that Biden is considering a trip to Israel as a show of U.S. support
German air force evacuates 160 citizens out of Israel over the weekend, the defence ministry said on Sunday, as the world awaits the ground attack on Gaza to start. The ministry said the Bundeswehr was ready for a military evacuation operation if necessary - Telegraph
The Knesset is expected to resume its work Monday, and is expected to discuss advancing two laws – the law to postpone municipal elections that are planned for the end of the month and the law allowing permitting the overcrowding of the cells for Palestinian security prisoners - Haaretz
In the most recent, “If the election were to be held today, who would you vote for poll,” Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Likud party received only 19 seats, down from 33 two weeks ago. That number represents about 800,000 voters total, a far cry from Netanyahu’s heyday - an Israeli friend’s blog post
Global finance leaders' paralysis in addressing the fallout from the Hamas attack and Israel's response last week exposed deep geopolitical divisions hampering the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, even as they advanced new funding plans aimed at easing more-frequent economic shocks. In private conversations at the meetings, the Israel-Gaza conflict's implications were front and center, from a new refugee crisis to trade impacts and the threat of fighting in Lebanon and the West Bank, participants from finance groups to non-profits told Reuters. "In the face of a major global shock like this that’s human created, that's not a climate shock, these institutions are impotent to do anything about it, which is why they’re not even talking about it," said Rachel Nadelman, a senior research fellow at American University’s Accountability Research Center, who attended civil society and official events at the meetings. The inability to respond extended to chair's statements issued by the Group of 20 major economies and the IMF and World Bank steering committees, which failed to mention the conflict.
Elsewhere
NATO AWACS surveillance jets in Lithuania: The AWACS surveillance jets fly missions to monitor Russian military activity near Allied borders and can detect aircraft and missiles hundreds of kilometres away, making them a key early warning capability for NATO (credit: NATO)
The governing Law and Justice Party (PiS)wins in exit polls in Poland but could lose power if it’s unable to find a coalition partner in parliament. Sunday's election were seen as the most pivotal in Poland in decades. If the opposition parties seize power from PiS, which came to power in 2015, it would represent a huge political shift - potentially helping to mend ties with the European Union over such contentious issues as the rule of law, media freedom, migration and LGBT rights. Reuters reported a record turnout of nearly 73%, the highest since the fall of communism in 1989.
The divided U.S. House of Representatives is now in its 13th day operating without a speaker. The latest candidate, Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, will apparently try to force a floor vote on Tuesday, despite lacking the support needed to win the gavel. One GOP source said Jordan may decide to go to multiple ballots on the floor if necessary - CNN
Relations between China and the US have begun to stabilize, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry. Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that Beijing and Washington have recently held a series of high-level contacts, bilateral relations have stopped deteriorating and stabilized.
Georgia's ruling party did not vote in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe for a resolution recognizing Russia as a dictatorship and calling on Putin not to be recognized as the legitimate president after his current term ends. Only the representative of the opposition party "Citizens" Ketevan Turazashvili voted for this resolution in PACE. Members of "Georgian Dream" did not participate in the voting - Echo of the Caucuses
Overnight Ukrainian drone attacks on an energy facility in Russia’s Belgorod region caused blackouts in the area, Ukrainska Pravda media outlet reported on Oct. 15, citing a Security Service (SBU) source. Meanwhile, Russian forces struck critical infrastructure in Kherson with two guided bombs, causing a partial blackout and running water supply interruptions, Roman Mrochko, the head of the Kherson city military administration, said - Kyiv Independent
Four Ukrainian children held in Russia have been united with their families thanks to behind-the-scenes negotiations by Qatar. Tens of thousands of Ukrainian children had been kidnapped and spirited into Russia since the start of the full-scale invasion
Net immigration into Britain is set to stick at around 300,000 a year - the same as before Brexit - until the end of the decade but experts say numbers WILL fall from the current record high - Daily Mail
With thanks to Preeti Bali for her research support