Israel-Palestine live: Week three ends with over 7,000 Palestinians killed

At least 16 Palestinians have been killed, and several others injured, in several Israeli air strikes in Gaza, Palestinian media outlets reported citing the interior ministry.

The air strikes hit the Jabalia refugee camp, where 30 Palestinians were killed two days ago, as well as the Nuseirat refugee camp and Khan Younis.

More than 100 Middle East experts have signed an open letter urging an immediate ceasefire between Israel and the armed Palestinian groups in Gaza, led by Hamas.

The letter, which currently has 133 signatories, was addressed to the governments of the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and the European Union, and said the West's backing of Israel rather than pushing for de-escalation will lead to increased conflict in the long term.

"The lack of strategic focus and failure to pressure collective adherence to international law, denigrates the West’s global moral standing," the letter says.

"It isolates it from swathes of the world, deepening divisions at a time of great power competition and shared challenges to our climate, collective security, and the world economy."

Israeli security forces arrested 11 Palestinians in Hebron in the early hours of Wednesday morning, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.

Over the past several days, Israeli forces have arrested dozens of Palestinians across the West Bank and launched raids on multiple cities.

Multiple Palestinians were killed on early Wednesday morning, as Israeli forces stormed the city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank.

Two were killed in an Israeli air strike, and one Palestinian was killed by Israeli forces entering the city, according to several Palestinian media outlets.

Israel's military confirmed that it conducted a drone strike in Jenin, saying it was in response to armed Palestinians in the city. Aerial attacks are not commonly used in the West Bank.

Israel’s military said it struck Syrian army infrastructure and mortar launchers early on Wednesday, describing it as a response to rocket launches from Syria toward Israel.

The military said it identified two rocket launches from Syria that had landed in open areas late on Tuesday, and that it had responded with artillery fire at the sources of the launches.

The Israeli military did not provide further details and there was no immediate response from Syria.

A mosque in south Wales has issued a statement apologising for UK Labour leader Keir Starmer's visit to the Islamic Centre, which Starmer later said he used to reiterate his party's call for Hamas to release hostages held in Gaza.

"Our intention was to raise the concerns of the Muslim community around the suffering of Palestinians, and so we hosted an event initially with local representatives on the issue, and the knowledge of Keir Starmer's attendance was given at short notice," the South Wales Islamic Centre's statement said.

"We wish to stress Keir Starmer's social media post and images gravely misrepresented our congregants and the nature of the visit."

To read the full story of Starmer's visit to the South Wales Islamic Centre, and the subsequent backlash, you can click here.

Two dozen American military personnel were injured last week in a series of drone attacks at American bases in Iraq and Syria, US Central Command told NBC News.

The injury toll was not known, but NBC News said the injuries were minor. The Wall Street Journal reported last week that one American contractor suffered a heart attack during one of the drone attacks and later died.

Good evening MEE readers, 

As we come to the end of the 18th day since the war started, Israel's heavy bombardment of the Gaza Strip continues. 

Earlier this evening, Israel killed around 50 people in the space of just one hour, as it struck targets across several areas of the enclave, according to the Palestinian health ministry. 

A small number of aid trucks entered Gaza late in the evening, but UN agencies have warned that supplies delivered via the Rafah crossing so far were a small fraction of what was needed to support civilians. 

Officials from around the world met in New York for a UN Security Council meeting, with the situation in Israel and Palestine top of the agenda. 

Here's a summary of what you may have missed from the last few hours: 

• Israeli air strikes killed 704 Palestinians in the space of 24 hours - the highest death toll in a single day, according to the Palestinian health ministry. 
   
• At the UN Security Council summit in New York, UN chief Antonio Guterres said Hamas' attacks on Israel "did not happen in a vacuum", and cited "56 years of suffocating occupation". Israel reacted angrily to the address, with its UN ambassador calling for Guterres to resign and Foreign Minister Eli Cohen refusing to meet the top UN official.
   
• Elsewhere at the UN summit, Jordan's foreign minister said Israel "appeared" to be above international law, while Saudi Arabia called for an immediate ceasefire.  
   
• Unrwa said that it could halt its operations by Wednesday night due to a lack of fuel
   
• The US and Canada have called for a "humanitarian pause" on hostilities to allow for the safe delivery of aid into Gaza, but fell short of calling for a ceasefire
   
• Eight trucks carrying water, food and medicine entered Gaza late on Tuesday night via Egypt
   
• A second Palestinian has died in Israeli prison in two days. Israeli authorities said Arafat Hamdan, 25, died after taking ill, but the Palestinian Detainees Affairs Commission said it was a "systematic assasination". 

We at Middle East Eye are doing our best to continue providing you with up-to-date information around the clock. Internet connectivity in Gaza has dropped by nearly half as of 13 October, and we've lost contact with our correspondents there.

You can also find our coverage across Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube.

A group of Muslim, Jewish and Christian faith leaders and activists gathered in House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries' office on Tuesday in Washington DC, to conduct a prayer session and advocate for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

Activists held up mirrors inscribed with the words "The world is watching" on the reverse side, with the intention of prompting Congress to confront their potential involvement in Israeli war crimes.

"Every Democrat in Congress who is allowing Israel to carry out mass atrocities in Gaza should know that the world is watching. The only moral choice is ceasefire," Sandra Tamari, the executive director of the Adalah Justice Project, said.

Read more: US faith leaders urge immediate ceasefire in congressional 'pray-in'

The UN, US and Canada have all called for a humanitarian pause in the Israel-Palestine war, to allow for the safe delivery of aid into Gaza. 

"While we remain opposed to a ceasefire, we think humanitarian pauses linked to the delivery of aid that still allow Israel to conduct military operations to defend itself are worth consideration," a senior U.S. official said.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said: "There are a lot of conversations going on now about the need for humanitarian pauses and I think that's something Canada supports."

Several UN agencies also called for aid to enter the beseiged enclave unimpeded, stressing that over 20 times current deliveries were needed to support the people of Gaza. 

Eights trucks with water, food and medicine have entered Gaza late on Tuesday night, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. 

Five of the trucks contained water, while two contained food and one was carrying medicine, it said in a statement. 

The trucks were the fourth convoy to enter Gaza via Egypt since the war began. 

Jordan's foreign minister said that Israel "appeared" to be above international law, during remarks made at the UN Security Council meeting on Tuesday. 

Ayman Safadi called for an end to "double standards" and urged the international community to bring about an end to Israel's "war on the Palestinians". 

"Only a just peace will assure Israel or Palestine's security... The crisis has become deeper because there's no prospects for ending occupation," Safadi said.

He added that Jordan would "confront" attempts to forcibly displace Palestinians outside of Gaza. 

Palestinians have previously told MEE that attempts to evacuate people in Gaza to the Sinai province of Egypt would be akin to a "second Nakba".

US President Joe Biden and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman held a call on Tuesday to discuss preventing the Israel-Palestine war from widening.

The two agreed to pursue diplomatic efforts "to maintain stability across the region and prevent the conflict from expanding", the White House said. 

Both also agreed that "much more is needed" to ensure sustained access to water, food and medical assistance for civilians in Gaza.

The White House added that Biden and the crown prince stressed the importance of "sustainable peace" between Israel and Palestine.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister warned at the UN Security Council meeting that a policy of "double standards" would have dire consequences that "exceeds" the current crisis. 

Israel has expanded the areas it is targeting in Gaza, "killing about 50" people in the last hour, according to a spokesperson for the Palestinian health ministry. 

Ashraf al-Qudra posted the statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Wednesday evening. 

An Israeli military spokesperson responded: "We don't have information regarding casualties in the Gaza Strip."