Live: Five Palestinian journalists killed, Gaza media office says

Israel is considering a plan to deploy private US logistics and security companies to create a "gated community" in Gaza where Palestinians would be subjected to biometric screenings to receive aid, according to media reports. 

Drop Site News reported on Monday, citing Israeli media, that Israel's war cabinet discussed the proposals on Sunday, and was set to approve a "pilot" programme within the next two months. 

According to Israeli news outlet Ynet, Global Delivery Company (GDC), which is run by Israeli-American businessman Mordechai Kahana, is in talks with the Israeli government to run the programme. 

Israel has long discussed the idea of so-called "humanitarian bubbles" in northern Gaza, in which it would allow aid into an area if it deemed there was no presence of fighters. 

Large parts of northern Gaza, in particular the Jabalia refugee camp, have been under a total siege over the past 17 days, with Israeli forces not allowing any food, clean water and medical supplies to enter. 

Read more: Israel considering US firm for biometric screening of Palestinians in Gaza

Independent MP Shockat Adam has presented a bill to the UK parliament backed by MPs across multiple parties for the recognition of the State of Palestine.

If the bill is passed, Britain will join 146 other UN member states in diplomatically recognising the State of Palestine. 

The bill’s sponsors include independent MPs Jeremy Corbyn, Adnan Hussain, Iqbal Mohamed and Ayoub Khan - all elected on a pro-Gaza platform in July alongside Shockat Adam, who has presented the bill. 

Also sponsoring the bill is Sian Berry from the Green Party, Brendan O’Hara and Stephen Gethins from the Scottish National Party (SNP), and Liz Saville-Roberts from Welsh party Plaid Cymru.

Backbencher Kim Johnson is the only Labour MP to sponsor the bill. Ian Byrne, another sponsor, was recently a Labour MP but lost the whip after opposing the government’s two-child benefit cap and now sits in parliament as an independent. 

Read more: Shockat Adam presents bill recognising Palestinian state to UK parliament

Israel's war on Gaza has left nearly all of Gaza's population in poverty, with quality of life indicators such as health and education knocked back 70 years, the United Nations' development agency (UNDP) has said. 

The UNDP's Chitose Noguchi said the economy of the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank was now 35 percent smaller than before the war.

By some measures, the poverty level in Gaza was now close to 100 percent, with unemployment now at 80 percent, Noguchi said.

"The state of Palestine is experiencing unprecedented levels of setbacks," she said. "For Gaza, reversing development by an estimated 70 years to 1955."

Around 3.3 million Palestinians, 2.3 million of whom are in Gaza and 1.5 million of whom are children, need urgent humanitarian assistance, the report stated.

Repairing damaged infrastructure would cost an estimated $18.5bn - nearly the entire annual economic output of the occupied Palestinian territories in 2022.

Meanwhile, 625,000 students in Gaza have no access to education, with 93 percent of school buildings severely damaged.

Regarding healthcare, Israeli forces have killed at least 986 health workers, and less than half of primary healthcare centres were even partially functional.

A new survey has revealed that 60 percent of Germans oppose arms exports to Israel, with a majority of voters from the country's three ruling coalition partners supporting restrictions.

According to a poll by Forsa, 50 percent of Green Party voters opposed weapons sales, while 60 percent of Social Democratic Party supporters and 52 percent of Free Democratic Party voters also rejected continued arms exports.

Opposition was particularly high in the former East Germany, where 75 percent of respondents rejected arms sales to Israel.

Last week, German media reported that several German leaders blocked the sale of weapons to Israel, despite Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s insistence that arms sales would continue.

According to a report by German tabloid Bild, Green politicians, Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who are in the governing coalition with the Social Democrats, withheld approval for weapons exports, demanding assurance that they would not be used on civilians.

Read more: Poll reveals most Germans oppose continued Israel arms sales

The poverty rate in the occupied Palestinian territory is expected to nearly double to 74.3 per cent this year following months the Israeli war on Gaza which has reduced much of the besiged Strip to rubble, according to a UN Development Programme (Undp) report.

“Projections in this new assessment confirm that amidst the immediate suffering and horrific loss of life, a serious development crisis is also unfolding—one that jeopardizes the future of Palestinians for generations to come,” said Undp administrator Achim Steiner.

The report highlights that despite ongoing humanitarian aid, the Palestinian economy may not recover to pre-crisis levels for at least a decade.

Steiner emphasized the need for an early recovery strategy embedded in the humanitarian phase to ensure long-term sustainability.

At the end of 2023, the poverty rate stood at 38.8 per cent, but an additional 2.61 million Palestinians have fallen into poverty this year, bringing the total to 4.1 million. Unemployment is also projected to rise to 49.9 per cent, and GDP is estimated to be 35.1 per cent lower than it would have been without the Gaza conflict.

Steiner reiterated that even with consistent humanitarian support, economic recovery will likely take more than a decade.

Israeli radio reported that 20 homes and facilities in Kibbutz Ma'fan Michael, located south of Haifa, were heavily damaged by missile strikes launched from Lebanon.

Medical sources told Al Jazeera Arabic that 39 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli raids on the Gaza Strip since dawn today, with 34 of the casualties occurring in northern Gaza.

Air France has extended the suspension of its flights to and from Israel until 29 October, citing the ongoing security situation in the region.

Earlier this week, British Airways announced on Monday that it will suspend flights to Tel Aviv until the end of March next year due to escalating fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

“This will give greater certainty to our customers who we’re contacting to advise them of their options, including a full refund,” a British Airways spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestine refugees (Unrwa), has urgently called for a pause in the fighting in northern Gaza to enable humanitarian aid to reach civilians trapped there. 

In a post on X, Lazzarini stated that Unrwa staff are struggling to find food, water, or medicine in the war-torn region. 

He remarked, “The smell of death is everywhere as bodies are left lying on the roads or under the rubble. Missions to clear the bodies or provide humanitarian assistance are denied.” 

Lazzarini emphasised the need for an “immediate truce, even if only for a few hours,” to facilitate safe passage for families seeking refuge. 

“This is the bare minimum to save the lives of civilians who have nothing to do with this conflict,” he added.

Israeli occupation forces arrested 28 Palestinians overnight, including a child and former prisoners, according to a statement from the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society and the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs.

Fifteen of those detained were in Hebron, while the others were taken from the governorates of Ramallah, Salfit, Bethlehem, Nablus, and Qalqilya.

Since 7 October, 2023, more than 11,400 Palestinians have been arrested in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The health ministry of Gaza reports that at least 42,718 people have been killed and 100,282 wounded in Israeli military attacks since October 7, 2023.

In the latest 24-hour reporting period, the ministry noted that 115 Palestinians were killed and 487 were injured.

The health ministry reported that at least 13 people were killed and 57 wounded in an Israeli strike on Monday near Hariri Hospital, Beirut's main government hospital.

Hamas' military wing, the Al Qassam Brigades, announced that they detonated an explosive device targeting a group of 12 Israeli officers, resulting in casualties in Al Faluja, west of the Jabalia camp.

Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the Yisrael Beiteinu party in Israel, has called for the prohibition of the UN refugee agency, asserting without evidence that it aids Hamas. 

“Unrwa employees are collaborators of the monsters Hamas, who assisted the murder, kidnapping, and rape of Jews on the seventh of October, and continue to assist Hamas to this day,” the former defence minister stated in a post on X.

“Therefore, their activities must be outlawed.”

Lieberman's claims lack any factual basis. Despite several UN investigations, Unrwa has not been found guilty of any wrongdoing. Israeli politicians persist in making allegations against the refugee agency without evidence.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian stated that Iran would respond proportionately to any Israeli attack. 

"The war in the region will not end with killings, but with justice being achieved and peoples getting their rights," he said.

Pezeshkian also stated that the ongoing conflict "cannot end by killing one or two people, but by establishing justice," referencing Israel’s recent killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

He condemned European countries and the United States for "supplying Israel with weapons and shamelessly defending every crime against humanity".

“The governments and forces that talk about human rights and international law are violators of all laws and rights,” he added