Gaza Strip
Palestinian terror groups launched a series of rocket attacks against Israel from October 31 to November 2. Iron Dome intercepted at least eight of the projectiles, one damaged a house in Sderot, and others landed in uninhabited areas. The rockets triggered air raid sirens in Eshkol and Sderot. The Israel Defense Forces employed artillery fire and fighter jets to launch retaliatory strikes on Hamas positions in Gaza.
An Israeli court sentenced an IDF soldier to a month in prison for killing a Palestinian teenager who had climbed the security barrier separating Gaza from Israel. As part of the plea agreement, the unnamed soldier agreed that he had not obtained proper authorization from his commanders to open fire and did not follow the rules of engagement.
Hamas claimed to have shot down an unmanned Israeli drone in northern Gaza on November 4.
A Qatari envoy delivered $330 million in cash payments to Gazans in late October to cover the cost of fuel for electricity, salaries, and assistance to struggling households. The Israeli government approved the funds’ transfer as part of a de facto cease-fire with the Hamas-run government in the enclave.
Local police arrested dozens of political activists opposed to the rule of Hamas, the Iranian-supported Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, in Gaza. Members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Fatah (factions of the Palestine Liberation Organization) were all arbitrarily detained amid calls for protest on social media similar to the current civil unrest in Beruit against Hezbollah-Iranian influence in Lebanon.
Palestinian Central Elections Commission (CEC) chairman Hanna Nasir visited Gaza in late October to hold talks with Hamas and other Palestinian political factions about proposed elections. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced plans to hold elections at a United Nations meeting in September; a promise repeated multiple times since the last presidential election in 2005.
Sinai Peninsula
The Egyptian government released a statement summarizing its operations against Islamic State’s Sinai affiliate last month. The military killed 83 suspected terrorists and destroyed 376 improvised explosives. One officer and two enlisted soldiers died during October, as well.
Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi extended the state of emergency in northern Sinai for another three months. As such, the dusk-till-dawn curfew established in 2017 will remain in effect.
Islamic State in Sinai released a video pledging alliance to the terror group’s new leader, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi Al-Qurayshi, following the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Syria.
Lebanon
The IDF denied reports that Hezbollah shot down a drone over Nabateh, Lebanon, on October 21. A Russian news outlet claimed that the terrorist group employed the 9K33 Osa, a Soviet-era anti-aircraft missile.
