Main events on October 15th
- Bodies of 14 slain Palestinians were brought to Gaza hospitals since dawn: three killed in Israeli attacks today, eight recovered from earlier strikes, and three who succumbed to previous injuries.
- Israel handed over the bodies of 45 more Palestinians through the Red Cross, with a forensics official saying some showed signs of “torture and execution”.
- Hamas’s Qassam Brigades said it has fulfilled its commitments under President Trump’s Gaza plan by handing over all living Israeli captives and the bodies of those it could “access”.
- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded Hamas return the bodies of the remaining captives, and Israel told the Trump administration the next phase of the ceasefire deal can’t proceed until then.
- Trump acknowledged the return of captives’ bodies will be difficult, noting Hamas is “looking for” the remains – “They’re digging, they’re actually digging”.
- The Palestinian Authority says it’s ready to run the crucial Rafah crossing on Gaza’s border with Egypt as Israel continues to apply restrictions on aid entering the famine-hit Strip.
Gaza City faces ‘catastrophic reality’ after Israel’s war
Gaza City authorities say Israel’s offensive to seize the urban centre destroyed more than 80 percent of its infrastructure since October 2023, calling for the immediate establishment of a land, sea and air bridge to deliver heavy equipment and humanitarian aid.
The municipality launched a campaign to remove vast mountains of rubble and to reopen main streets, spokesman Husni Mehanna told the Anadolu news agency. “The initiative requires urgent funding of $140m,” he said.
Mehanna said the municipality is working with Qatar’s Gaza Reconstruction Committee to facilitate the return of displaced residents, despite having only one bulldozer after most of its equipment was destroyed.
Entire Gaza City neighbourhoods are without access to water after Israeli strikes destroyed 56 water wells and damaged dozens more.
More than 250,000 tonnes of solid waste are piled up across residential areas, he added, warning of an impending environmental and health disaster if it isn’t urgently removed.
An aerial view of the vast destruction in Gaza City
