A second humanitarian aid convoy arrives in the Gaza Strip. Seventeen trucks crossed the Egyptian Rafah terminal on Sunday, October 22, towards the Palestinian enclave bombed and besieged by Israel, noted an AFP correspondent. On Saturday, after the passage of the first convoy of 20 trucks, the UN estimated that its cargo was equivalent to only 4% of Gaza’s daily imports before the start of the war and that at least 100 trucks per day would be needed to the 2.4 million Gazans, half of whom are children. Follow our live stream.
Israeli official accuses Hezbollah of wanting “[entraîner] Lebanon in the war. “Hezbollah is attacking and dragging Lebanon into a war from which it will not benefit, but in which it risks losing a lot,” said an Israeli army spokesperson on Sunday during an intervention on the social network X (formerly Twitter). “Is the Lebanese state really ready to jeopardize what remains of Lebanese prosperity and sovereignty for the benefit of the terrorists in Gaza, the Islamic State of Gaza?”asked Jonathan Conricus after new exchanges of fire between Israel and the Shiite group, in the border area between the two countries. Both on the Israeli side and on the Lebanese side, the towns near the border are emptying of their inhabitants, who fear a conflagration in the region, two weeks after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas.
• Israel targets a mosque in the West Bank. Israel, at war with Hamas, claimed to have killed in an airstrike “terrorists” who were sheltering in an underground cell of the Al-Ansar mosque in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank. According to her, the mosque served as “command center for planning attacks”. According to the Jenin Red Crescent, one person died and three others were injured following the strike. Since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, following the terrorist attack perpetrated on October 7 by the Islamist group in power in Gaza, dozens of Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank, by the Israeli army or residents colonies.
• Israel intensifies its strikes on the Gaza Strip. The Israeli army announced on Saturday evening the intensification of its strikes on the Gaza Strip, in preparation for a ground offensive on the Palestinian enclave. “From today, we will increase strikes” on the Gaza Strip, General Daniel Hagari, spokesperson for the Israeli army, warned on Saturday, the aim being according to him to “reduce risks to our forces in the next steps” of the conflict. The Israeli army has massed tens of thousands of soldiers on the borders of this cramped territory where 2.4 million Palestinians live. According to the Hamas government, in power in the Gaza Strip, at least 55 people were killed in the territory overnight from Saturday to Sunday. No on-site source or image can support this assessment.
Two airports affected in Syria. Israeli strikes have knocked out Syria’s two main airports, in Damascus and Aleppo, according to Syrian state media, citing a military source. At the Sana agency, this source mentioned “an air attack targeting the international airports of Damascus and Aleppo, causing the death of an employee at Damascus airport and injuring another”. “Material damage to airport landing strips has put them out of service”, she added. The strikes “simultaneous” came “from the direction of the Mediterranean west of Latakia and the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan”added the military source.
The United States is strengthening its military presence in the region. Because of “recent escalations by Iran and its affiliated forces”US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced the deployment of several missile defense systems “across the region”without specifying where exactly, as well as the placement in a state of “pre-deployment” additional military resources, without specifying their number. “These measures will strengthen regional deterrence efforts, increase the protection of U.S. forces in the region and contribute to the defense of Israel,” did he declare. After the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack in Israel, the United States had already deployed two aircraft carriers and their escort ships to the Eastern Mediterranean.