Portal:Current events/2023 October 15

October 15, 2023 (Sunday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Israeli–Palestinian conflict
- Israel–Hamas war
  - Israel–Hezbollah conflict (2023–present)
    - One civilian is killed and three others are injured in a cross-border attack by Hezbollah in Shtula, Northern Israel. Israel retaliates with airstrikes on Hezbollah positions in Lebanon. (Reuters)
    - United Nations peacekeeping force UNIFIL says its headquarters in Naqoura, Lebanon, has been hit by a rocket. (Reuters)
  - 2023 Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip
    - An estimated one million Gazans have been displaced, according to the United Nations Palestinian agency, as aid groups describe the situation in the besieged enclave as "catastrophic". (AFP via The Economic Times)
    - The Palestinian Ministry of Health says that about 70 percent of people in Gaza do not have access to health services, although the World Health Organization has been able to deliver medical supplies for 2,000 patients. The ministry also says that at least 50 families in the Gaza Strip have had all of their family members killed by Israeli shelling and air strikes. (Reuters)
  - Human Rights Watch confirms that Israel has used white phosphorus in Gaza and Lebanon. (France 24)
  - Israel conducts military operations in Ramallah in the West Bank, arresting more than 50 people. (Al Jazeera)
  - The Israel Defense Forces kill senior Hamas commander Billal Al Kedra in an airstrike in Khan Yunis. (NDTV)
Killing of Wadea al-Fayoume
- A man kills a 6-year-old Palestinian Muslim boy and seriously injures his mother during a stabbing attack in Plainfield Township, Illinois, United States. The perpetrator, who was the victims' landlord, states he was motivated by the ongoing Israel–Gaza war. (Reuters)
Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Attacks on civilians in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
  - Russian attacks across Ukraine over a 24-hour period kill at least six people, including two civilians in Kherson, which was bombarded with over 100 shells by Russian forces. In a separate incident, a 14-year-old boy is killed by a land mine in Mykolaiv Oblast. (AP)

Disasters and accidents

2023 Herat earthquakes
- Another magnitude 6.3 earthquake strikes Herat Province, Afghanistan, killing four people and injuring more than 150 others, several days after a series of powerful earthquakes killed over 1,000 people in the province. (ITV)
At least 47 people are killed and dozens more are missing after a boat capsizes in Province of Équateur, Democratic Republic of the Congo. (Africa News)

International relations

Afghanistan–China relations
- The Taliban government confirms that it will attend the Belt and Road Initiative forum in Beijing, China, next week, as the countries form closer economic ties, including the potential construction of a large copper mine in Logar Province, Afghanistan. (Reuters)
Israeli–Palestinian conflict
- Israel–Hamas war
  - International reactions to the Israel–Hamas war
    - The heads of the Arab League and the African Union release a joint statement stating that Israel's planned ground invasion of Gaza "could lead to a genocide of unprecedented proportions". (AFP via Arab News)
    - Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi says that Israel's reaction to Hamas's attack "went beyond self-defence and amounted to collective punishment". (Reuters)
  - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announces the provision of 30 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Gaza. (Reuters)

Law and crime

Israel–Hamas war
- Israel–Hamas war protests
  - Thousands of people attend rallies in support of Palestine in several Australian cities. (ABC News Australia)
  - In the United Kingdom, rallies take place in Manchester in Northern England, Edinburgh and Glasgow in Scotland, and London, amid police warnings that support for Hamas could result in arrest. (Al Jazeera)
  - Protesters in Amsterdam call on the EU to take a stand against Israel's bombardment of Gaza, condemning European leaders for their silence on the violence Israel is committing in Gaza. (Al Jazeera)
  - Thousands of people attend rallies in support of Palestine in Istanbul, Turkey. (France 24)
- Lawyers and human rights organisations in Israel receive dozens of complaints from Palestinian workers and students who have been suspended from schools, universities and workplaces over social media posts or conversations with colleagues. (Al Jazeera)
A man is killed and other is wounded in stabbing attacks in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The attacks are being investigated by Counter Terrorism Policing. Police arrest a Moroccan asylum seeker nearby. (BBC News) (The Independent)

Politics and elections

2023 Ecuadorian general election
- Ecuadorians vote in the second round of the presidential election between Luisa González and Daniel Noboa. (The Guardian)
- The National Electoral Council declares Noboa as president-elect with González conceding defeat. Noboa is Ecuador's youngest president-elect. (AFP via France 24)
2023 Polish parliamentary election, 2023 Polish referendum
- Poles elect members of the Senate and the Sejm. Votes are also cast in a referendum on migration, the removal of the border wall between Belarus and Poland, and the retirement age. (AFP via Barron's) (The Guardian)
- Exit polls suggest that Poland's opposition parties, led by the Civic Coalition under former prime minister Donald Tusk, are poised to secure a parliamentary majority, potentially ending the eight-year governance of the Law and Justice (PiS) party. The exit poll voter turnout reaches a record of 73%. (AFP via Manila Bulletin) (CNN)