Gaza
After weeks of Egyptian-sponsored talks, representatives from Fatah and Hamas signed a reconciliation agreement with the help of Egyptian mediators. Under the deal, the text of which was leaked to news outlets, the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority will take over the administration of government services and checkpoints with Israel and Egypt. However, the two sides agreed only on guidelines to discuss the payment of Hamas-employed government civil servants and how to manage security in the enclave. Hamas made no promise to disarm the approximately 25,000 members that make up its armed Izz ad-Din Kassam militia, which ultimately provides a shadow security force and undermines the PA’s authority.
West Bank
The Israeli government plans to approve almost 4,000 new residential units inside various existing settlements in the West Bank, including 296 homes Beit El and 453 in Givat Ze’ev.
Israeli security forces arrested a 17-year-old Palestinian after they found what they believed to be a pipe bomb on him at the Shomron military court in the West Bank on October 15.
Syria
A Syrian news outlet reported on October 16 that an Israeli warplane struck an anti-aircraft battery at Baalbek, east of Damascus, the Syrian military launched a surface-to-air missile. According to the publication, the Israeli plane was on a reconnaissance mission over neighboring Lebanon at the time.
Gunfire emanating from Syria lightly injured an American doctor treating wounded Syrians at an Israeli field hospital in the Golan Heights on October 10.
Sinai
Terrorists in Sinai fired two rockets at Israel on October 15, prompting air raid sirens to sound in Eshkol Regional Council. The IDF said no casualties or damage were reported.
The Egyptian military announced that militants with suspected links to Islamic State launched near-simultaneous attacks on checkpoints in the city of Sheikh Zweid on October 15th, killing six soldiers and wounding 37 more. The army enlisted helicopter gunships to repel the assault, killing 24 of the attackers.
A group of Islamists killed seven people, including three civilians, as they rampaged through the North Sinai provincial capital of el-Arish on October 16. Government officials said the jihadists opened fire a church, using rocket-propelled grenades, before robbing a bank and fleeing the city.
The Egyptian government began an expansion of a buffer zone with Gaza, demolishing least 140 homes across more than 200 acres of land.
Egyptian security forces detained and later released an Israeli man after they found bullets in a bag he was carrying. According to Israeli media, Nir Itach had traveled to Sinai on vacation and forgot he was carrying the ammo following his military service.
