Israel strikes Gaza on October 7 anniversary, at least two dead: officials

Israeli occupiers injure four Palestinians in West Bank as election officials denied entry ahead of November vote

Israel carried out new strikes in Gaza on Wednesday as it marked the third anniversary of the October 7 attacks by Hamas, with Palestinian officials reporting two dead.

Loud bangs across the border in Gaza were audible from the site of the Nova music festival just as family members gathered at dawn to mourn the more than 300 revelers killed three years earlier.

In Gaza City, Al-Shifa hospital reported two people killed in an Israeli strike overnight. Gaza’s civil defense identified one of the dead as Mohamed Tamous and said he was a volunteer for the agency, which serves as an emergency rescue service under Hamas.

Israeli occupiers injure four Palestinians, besiege family home in West Bank

Meanwhile, Israeli occupiers injured four Palestinians in separate attacks across the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, including a couple whose home was besieged south of Hebron.

Dozens of Israeli occupiers surrounded the home of Yousef Shnaran in Wadi al-Rakhim in the Masafer Yatta area before assaulting him and his wife, leaving both injured, relative Ayman Shnaran told Anadolu. He said the occupiers had earlier erected a tent just metres from the house before gathering there in large numbers.

Israeli soldiers later arrived but did not lift the siege, while ambulances were unable to reach the injured couple, he said. Seven children remained inside the home.

Read: Vandalism to arson: Israeli occupier attacks on mosques in West Bank hit record levels

Elsewhere in the Hebron area, Israeli occupiers attacked Palestinian homes and opened fire in Beit Ummar, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa. Israeli forces also raided several homes in the town. No injuries or arrests were reported.

In the northern West Bank, two Palestinian farmers who are brothers were injured after Israeli occupiers attacked olive harvesters from Marda and nearby Jamma’in north of Salfit. Both were taken to a hospital in stable condition, Wafa said.

The occupiers also stole olives collected by the farmers.

Israeli occupiers have carried out more than 14,742 attacks across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since October 2023, killing 66 Palestinians, according to the Palestinian Colonisation and Wall Resistance Commission.

Israel denies Palestinian election officials entry to Gaza, East Jerusalem

Separately, a Palestinian source said Israel refused to allow representatives of the Palestinian Central Elections Commission to enter Gaza and occupied East Jerusalem ahead of legislative elections scheduled for late November.

Wafa quoted an unnamed official source as saying the Israeli government had denied the commission entry to oversee the electoral process. No further details were provided.

On July 9, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas issued a decree setting November 28 as the date for legislative elections in East Jerusalem, the occupied West Bank and Gaza. If held, they would be the first such elections since 2006.

The commission began accepting applications to register electoral lists on September 26, receiving eight applications during the first four days. Registration remains open until October 13.

Read More: Israeli media says attempt to assassinate senior Hamas figure likely failed in Gaza

Palestinian Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh told journalists on August 2 that an alternative arrangement would be pursued if elections could not take place because they were prevented or obstructed in Gaza or any other part of the Palestinian territories. “The alternative plan is to form the Palestinian National Council by consensus, as the Palestine Liberation Organisation is the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people,” he said.

About 2.97 million Palestinians are eligible to vote, including approximately 1.59 million in the West Bank, 1.24 million in Gaza and 140,000 holders of Jerusalem identity cards.

The last Palestinian legislative elections were held in 2006, when Hamas won a majority of seats. A political split followed between Hamas and Fatah. Hamas took control of Gaza about a year later, while the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority remained in the West Bank.

The Palestinian Legislative Council has been inactive since 2007. The Supreme Constitutional Court ordered its dissolution in 2018.

Over 20,000 students killed in Gaza, West Bank in 3 years of Israeli genocide: Palestinian ministry

A total of 20,748 Palestinian students and 1,058 educational and administrative staff have been killed in the Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank during three years of Israeli genocide, the Palestinian Education Ministry said on Wednesday.

In a statistical report on Israeli violations against the education sector, the ministry said the figures cover students and staff at schools and universities, alongside thousands of injuries and arrests and the destruction or targeting of dozens of educational institutions.

Gaza

In the Gaza Strip, 19,189 school students and 1,386 university students have been killed, according to the ministry.

Another 28,586 school students and 3,082 university students were injured.

The ministry said 805 educational and administrative staff at schools and 246 university personnel were killed.

Another 3,298 school staff members and 1,493 university staff were injured.

West Bank

In the occupied West Bank, 134 school students and 39 university students were killed, while 871 school students and 283 university students were injured, according to the report.

Israeli forces also detained 416 school students and 481 university students.

Seven educational and administrative staff at schools were killed and 26 others were injured, while Israeli forces detained more than 176 teachers and school employees and 21 university staff members.

Since October 2023, more than 74,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 175,000 injured in Gaza by Israel’s genocide, while around 90% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed.

Over the same period, Israeli forces and occupiers have intensified attacks across the occupied West Bank, killing 1,210 Palestinians, injuring around 13,350 others and detaining more than 24,600.

Israeli forces demolish memorials for Palestinian martyrs

Israeli forces raided the occupied West Bank city of Nablus early on Wednesday, demolishing memorials for Palestinian martyrs, sources said.

The Israeli army imposed a curfew in several areas of Nablus during the raid, detained Palestinians and turned a school into a field interrogation center, local sources told Anadolu.

They said Israeli forces entered the city from several directions accompanied by military vehicles and a bulldozer, before deploying across several neighborhoods.

An Israeli military bulldozer demolished memorials for Palestinians killed in the Al-Dawar and Ras al-Ain areas, according to the sources.

Several Palestinians were detained, including journalist Amir Istitiyeh, according to the sources.

Israeli forces also turned Karman School on Kashika Street into a field interrogation center, where they detained and questioned Palestinians. Some detainees were beaten, local sources added.

Also on Wednesday Israeli occupiers attacked Palestinian homes in the village of Deir Nizam, northwest of Ramallah, according to local sources.

They damaged property, set fire to a vehicle, and spray-painted racist slogans in Hebrew on the walls of several homes, local sources told Anadolu.

The attacks come amid an escalation in occupier violence against Palestinians and their property across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

Israeli occupiers have carried out more than 14,742 attacks across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since October 2023, killing 66 Palestinians, according to the Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission.