Statistics for Friday 23 October to Thursday 29 October / Other developments Updated 2 November

Israel’s Election Leaves No Majority for Either Side

Israel’s election on 27 October produced no governing majority. Netanyahu’s bloc won 53 of the 120 seats, with Likud the largest party on 27, and the opposition bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar (21 seats) won 48. The two Arab-led parties, the Joint List and Ra’am, won a record 19 seats on turnout of about 78%, and about 80% in the Arab community. (Israel National News)

Netanyahu’s bloc is eight seats short of 61, and the opposition can reach a majority only with the Arab parties, who have said they will work to remove Netanyahu but not necessarily join a government. Eisenkot has said Netanyahu cannot serve as prime minister, minister or deputy minister, and he said during the campaign that he would not govern with Arab parties. Netanyahu has called for a “strong government of the right”. Likud has alleged that Arab-led parties “stole” the election, while police have said they found no evidence of widespread fraud. (Al Jazeera, 2 November)

Official results are due to be certified on 4 November and the new Knesset is due to be sworn in on 10 November. President Isaac Herzog will then consult the parties and choose a member to form a government, who will have 28 days, extendable by up to 14. Netanyahu’s government remains in office as a caretaker meanwhile, and no change to Israel’s policy on Gaza has been announced. (Israel Hayom)

Overview of this week’s developments

• Elections: Israel’s election on 27 October left neither side with a majority. Netanyahu’s bloc won 53 seats and the opposition led by Gadi Eisenkot 48, while the Arab-led parties won a record 19. Coalition talks begin after the official results are confirmed on 4 November, with Netanyahu’s government continuing as a caretaker meanwhile.
• West Bank: Israel’s 10-day operation in Hebron, launched after two soldiers were killed at a checkpoint on 23 October, ended on 2 November. The governorate says more than 3,300 people were displaced or otherwise affected and 15 homes and other structures demolished, while an Al Jazeera analysis put displacement at nearly 5,000 by 30 October. A UN commission of inquiry found that Israel has committed crimes against humanity in the West Bank, a finding Israel rejects, and settlers attacked three journalists near Umm al-Khair.
• Casualties: Gaza’s cumulative death toll rose by 72 this week, of which 36 were new deaths since the ceasefire (1,574 in total) and the other 36 adjustments to the total (derived). No new Israeli fatalities in Gaza were reported. In the West Bank, two Israeli soldiers and two Palestinian gunmen were killed at Hebron on 23 October.
• Aid: 746 trucks entered Gaza, down 10% on the previous week, but commercial trucks rose 80% to 400 as the halt ended while aid trucks fell 46% to 296 (Gaza Crossings Authority, via an NCF exclusive). Rafah was open for two days, and 387 people left Gaza, 214 of them on evacuations. Gaza’s Health Ministry says 21,468 patients need treatment abroad.
• Gaza: Killings continue under the ceasefire, with eight Palestinians reported killed on 1 November, including five police officers in al-Mawasi. The UN Human Rights Office warns that Israel’s forces are advancing westward past the Yellow Line and displacing more people, raising concerns of “ethnic cleansing”.

In This Update

• • Deaths as a Consequence of War
  • Humanitarian Aid and other civilian crossings
  • Key Gaza related Developments
  • West Bank Key Developments
  • Elections

Deaths as a consequence of war

A note on this week’s reporting window: This week covers Friday 23 October to Thursday 29 October 2026 inclusive.

Since 7th October 2023

Since the ceasefire on October 10 2025

This week (23–29 October): new deaths and injuries only

Adjustments to Gaza’s cumulative total this week (not new deaths): +36 (derived)

• Bodies recovered from the rubble and deaths added retroactively after identification details were verified. The Ministry’s report for 29 October does not give a separate recovered-bodies line, so the split is not available for this week (see notes).

Sources: Gaza Ministry of Health figures of Thursday 29 October 2026 as carried by Palestine Information Center (topline and since-ceasefire rows from the same report); previous week’s baseline from NCF Gaza Information Index, 26 October 2026. Israel: no new fatalities or injuries found in reporting on Gaza for this period; figures carried over from last week (Times of Israel/Al Arabiya-sourced totals).

Deaths in the West Bank

Since 1 January 2025 (OCHA, to 30 September 2026)

This week (23–29 October)

Sources: Palestinians and Israelis since 1 January 2025: OCHA West Bank infographic “as of 30 September 2026”. Palestinians killed in 2026: Palestinian Health Ministry via WAFA, 8 September 2026. Hebron attack: Times of Israel and Al Jazeera, 23 October 2026.

Notes on this week’s figures

Gaza: the “since 7 October 2023” total rose by 72 (74,498 to 74,570), while the “since ceasefire” counter rose by 36 (1,538 to 1,574). New deaths are therefore 36, which includes people who died of injuries sustained in earlier attacks. The other 36 are adjustments to the total and are derived by subtraction (72 minus 36). The Ministry’s 29 October report does not itemise them. Injuries rose by 192 on the total (175,616 to 175,808) and by 189 since the ceasefire (5,498 to 5,687). The three-injury gap between the two is unexplained and is within the Ministry’s usual reporting noise.

Recovered bodies (derived bound): the Ministry’s recovered-bodies line stood at 841 on 22 October, and its report of 31 October gives 845. That means no more than four bodies were recovered in the window, and so at least 32 of the 36 adjustments were retroactive additions. This is an inference from two reports either side of the window, not a Ministry figure for the week.

Later figures, outside this window: the Ministry’s report of 31 October gives 74,594 killed and 175,834 injured in total, and 1,580 killed and 5,711 injured since the ceasefire. These will fall into next week’s table.

Israel: no new Israeli fatalities or injuries connected to Gaza were found for 23–29 October, so all four Israeli figures (since 7 October 2023: 1,806 fatalities, 3,004 injuries; since the ceasefire: 7 fatalities, 20 injuries) are carried over unchanged. The two Israeli soldiers killed at a checkpoint near Hebron on 23 October are in the West Bank rather than Gaza, so they are not included in these figures.

West Bank deaths, and how far to trust them: this is a new section, covering deaths of Palestinians killed by Israel’s forces or settlers and Israelis killed by Palestinians in the West Bank. It is separate from the Gaza table, and the two Hebron soldiers appear here only. The OCHA figures were checked against two other sources and are consistent but probably low. The OCHA infographic is a hard-to-read graphic, but its headline figures (331 and 21) are labelled clearly, and I have used only those. Checks:

• Palestinian Health Ministry (via WAFA): 100 Palestinians killed in 2026 by 8 September. OCHA’s figures imply about 91 for 2026 by 30 September (derived: 331 minus about 240 for 2025). The Ministry is higher despite the earlier date. Its count includes a man from Gaza found dead in a raided building in Tulkarm, so it is wider in scope.
• The Daily File: 244 Palestinians killed in 2025 and 70 in 2026 to 22 June, giving about 314, against OCHA’s 316 to 31 July. It also counts 18 Israelis killed in the West Bank since 1 January 2025 (to 22 June 2026), against OCHA’s 17 to 31 January 2026 and 20 to 31 July. These sources are close but not identical.
• Not like for like: the Times of Israel counts 67 civilians and security personnel killed in attacks in Israel and the West Bank since October 2023, plus 8 security personnel killed in raids. That is a different scope, so it is not used.
• Gaps: OCHA’s 13–19 October report shows no Palestinians killed that week (148 injured), and gives no West Bank cumulative figures. I could not find a Palestinian total after 8 September, or a reliable total for 23–29 October. The “at least 2” is the two gunmen only.
• Israelis in 2026: neither source gives a clean 2026 figure. OCHA’s totals imply about 4 Israelis killed in the West Bank from February to September 2026 (derived, 21 minus 17), plus the two soldiers on 23 October. Treat this as approximate.

Humanitarian Aid for the week of 23 – 29 October

NCF Exclusive: Gaza Crossings Authority Weekly Report

This section is built entirely from the Gaza Crossings and Borders Authority’s own official weekly bulletin, obtained directly by NCF’s Head for Gaza, Adel Al Zanoon, through his personal contact with the Director of the Authority. NCF is grateful to both for this access.

Crossing operational status, 23–29 October (7-day period):

Passenger movement, 23–29 October: 387 people left Gaza, nearly double last week’s 195. Of these, 173 went to Egypt (80 patients and 93 companions), none to Jordan, and 214 were recorded as evacuations, a category for which the bulletin gives no destination (the Arabic text marks it with an EU flag). 170 people returned, all via Egypt. The bulletin again records 3 detainees, without saying whether they were released or taken into custody, so we have not interpreted the figure.

Truck movement, 23–29 October (all via Kerem Shalom):

Fuel breakdown (50 tankers): Diesel 32, Cooking gas 15, Petrol 3.

Truck contents by category: Food/provisions 459, Consumer goods/household items 147, Shelter/relief supplies 72, Medical/health supplies 10, Fuel 50, Fodder/seeds 4, Zinc sheets 4 (total 746).

Source: Crossings and Borders Authority – Gaza, weekly bulletin for 23–29 October 2026, via Adel Al Zanoon and the Director of the Authority.

Week-on-week context: total truck volume fell 10%, from last week’s 832 to 746, but the mix reversed. Commercial trucks rose 80% (222 to 400) as the gradual resumption announced on 19 October took hold, while aid trucks fell 46% (544 to 296) and fuel tankers fell from 66 to 50. Food and provisions rose from 346 to 459 (up 33%), while consumer and household goods halved (293 to 147), shelter and relief supplies fell from 95 to 72 and medical supplies from 26 to 10. Zinc sheets appear as a new category for the first time (4 trucks). Kerem Shalom was open for goods six days rather than seven, and Zikim and Kissufim stayed closed. Rafah was open for two days again, and departures rose sharply, driven by the 214 evacuations.

Commercial trucks against September (derived): 400 commercial trucks over the six days Kerem Shalom was open is about 67 a day, which is roughly half the September average of 134.8 a day quoted in Adel Al Zanoon’s earlier report (about 51% below). This is our own division, not a figure in the bulletin. Commercial volume is therefore recovering but is still well below its pre-halt level.

Caveats

• Single-source (Gaza-side authority), not independently cross-verified by an international body.
• Prepared from the Arabic text of the bulletin, with the English version matching it line by line. All totals check internally (400 + 296 + 50 = 746; fuel 32 + 15 + 3 = 50; the category breakdown sums to 746; departures 173 + 0 + 214 = 387 and 80 + 93 + 0 + 214 = 387).
• A note appears in the Arabic text only: “the number of trucks does not include the day of the bombardment.” The English version omits it. The bulletin does not say which day this was or how many trucks it affected, so this week’s truck totals should be read as a minimum. Please check with Adel which day is meant.
• Groups 1/2/3 (Chamber of Commerce, UN2720, bilateral) remain deprioritized per the standing methodology.
• COGAT (gaza-aid-data.gov.il) remains unusable as a current source.

Key Gaza Related Developments: 26 October to 2 November

26 October: Israel’s forces kill at least five people in Gaza, including seven-year-old Jouri al-Soufi, who dies with at least three others in an air attack on a camp for displaced people in al-Mawasi, west of Khan Younis. A man is also killed by a drone strike on a tent in the Remal neighbourhood of Gaza City. The night before, a fire started by Israeli quadcopter drones burned through a displacement camp at the Shujayea junction for several hours, forcing out more than 200 families, over 800 people. Gaza’s Civil Defence says 11 people were killed and 50 wounded in Gaza over the previous 24 hours. The Health Ministry’s toll since the ceasefire reaches 1,559 killed.

28 October: The Hind Rajab Foundation files a criminal complaint in the UK against Lidor Dafna, a reservist in Israel’s army believed to be visiting the country. He is accused of taking part in the demolition of a flour-producing facility in Gaza in May 2025, when the blockade was causing widespread starvation. UK Counter Terrorism Policing says it has received 250 referrals about the conflict since 7 October 2023 but that there is “no UK-based investigation into any matters relating to this particular conflict”. The foundation points to similar complaints that led to two Israeli soldiers being detained and questioned in Belgium, and a former soldier being held for six hours at Toronto airport. These are allegations, and no finding has been made against Dafna.

29 October: Gaza’s Health Ministry reports six people killed and 38 wounded in 24 hours and renews its call to open the Rafah crossing for the sick and wounded. It says 21,468 patients and wounded need treatment abroad, including 6,430 priority cases, and that dozens have died waiting for permission to leave. Since February, 3,056 have been evacuated: 2,614 through Rafah and 442 through Kerem Shalom. An Israeli drone strike on a car in Maghazi refugee camp kills two people, and four employees of Gaza’s Ministry of Economy who monitor aid trucks are killed in a drone strike in al-Mawasi, with more than 30 others wounded.

30 October: The UN Human Rights Office warns that Israel’s forces are displacing more Palestinians in Gaza, raising concerns of “ethnic cleansing”. Its head in the occupied Palestinian territory, Ajith Sunghay, describes the “nightmare of displacement” as “acute and chronic”. The office says Israel’s forces have advanced westward past the Yellow Line and “appear to treat the yellow line as a kill zone”, displacing people in Shujayea, eastern Bureij, eastern Deir al-Balah and eastern Maghazi over the past two weeks. It also cites Israel’s stated aim of expanding its military deployment area to 70 percent of Gaza.

31 October: Children in Gaza face Israeli bombs and gunfire on the way to school and in class, six weeks after the school year resumed on 19 September. According to the Ministry of Education, ten children aged six to 16 and one teacher were killed between 18 and 24 October. Two girls were wounded during morning assembly at Muradiya School in Jabalia on 21 October, and five students were injured in an attack on the Islamic University campus in Gaza City.

31 October: Israeli shelling in Nuseirat refugee camp kills teacher Diaa Abu al-Rous, according to al-Awda Hospital. Two girls die of injuries from a tent fire in al-Mawasi, whose cause is unclear, and a man dies in Tel al-Hawa from injuries sustained in an earlier strike on a vehicle. The Health Ministry reports at least six killed and 26 injured over 48 hours, and 1,580 killed since the ceasefire.

1 November: At least eight Palestinians are killed, including a four-year-old boy. An Israeli drone attack in al-Mawasi kills five police officers, and a drone attack in the Rimal neighbourhood of Gaza City kills at least three people. Israel’s military says it was targeting “a terrorist”. Gaza’s Interior Ministry says the officers were doing “routine duties” and that at least 75 police and security personnel have been killed since the ceasefire. Hamas calls the attacks a “deliberate war crime”. The Health Ministry’s overall toll is 74,594.

2 November: Five people are killed across Gaza, according to the Civil Defence: three in Khan Younis (including a strike on a tent sheltering displaced people), one in Gaza City in a strike on a civilian vehicle, and one in central Gaza. Israel’s military says it “struck several terrorists”. According to the report, Israel’s army has lost seven soldiers since the ceasefire, plus one civilian contractor.

West Bank Key Developments: from 26 October to 2 November

26 October: The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, a three-member panel set up by the Human Rights Council that does not speak for the UN as a whole, finds that Israel has committed the crimes against humanity of extermination, torture, rape and other sexual violence, and persecution in the West Bank. It says military operations and settler violence amount to a “widespread and systematic attack” on civilians, and that air strikes killed 254 Palestinians between 7 October 2023 and 30 September 2026, against 6 from 2008 to October 2023. It also finds that Israel continues to commit genocidal acts in Gaza despite the ceasefire. Israel’s mission in Geneva calls the report part of a “misinformation campaign” and urges the UN to dissolve the commission. UN human rights chief Volker Türk separately cites “serious concerns of ethnic cleansing” over the Hebron operation.

26 October: The Hebron municipality says 3,189 people have been displaced by Israel’s operation, including more than 200 infants. Residents of the Ein Deir Baha neighbourhood were ordered to leave on the first day of the operation.

27 October: Israel, as it seals the West Bank on the day of its general election, keeps Hebron under movement restrictions for a fifth day. Troops have searched more than 500 homes and fired tear gas canisters toward Al-Ahli Hospital, which the Palestinian Authority says seeped into patient wards and caused panic. Forces also close the Halhul Bridge, a major junction. The Authority says Hebron governorate is effectively divided by 128 Israeli gates and 120 military checkpoints.

28 October: The Hebron lockdown enters its sixth day. Troops raid the Fawwar refugee camp south of Hebron around midnight, and raid homes in Burin, where several are turned into military barracks. UNRWA says it is gravely concerned about incursions that have displaced nearly 5,000 people and warns that collective punishment violates international law. Its West Bank director, Roland Friedrich, describes a “near-total lockdown” across large parts of Hebron.

28 October: Settlers attack three journalists near Umm al-Khair, in Masafer Yatta: US journalist Jasper Nathaniel, who is pepper-sprayed, Andrey Khrzhanovskiy, who is struck on the head and needs medical attention, and Adele Shoko. Israeli police detain Nathaniel and Khrzhanovskiy after arriving at the scene, without disclosing the grounds. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the detentions and calls for those responsible for the violence to be held accountable.

29 October: Israel extends its exclusion order against Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, head of the Higher Islamic Council in Jerusalem, barring him from Al-Aqsa until April 2027. The order was issued on 20 October and is the fifth against him since August 2024. The Wadi Hilweh Information Center says Israel has issued more than 1,000 exclusion orders against Palestinians since the start of 2026, and the Palestinian Authority’s Jerusalem Governorate records almost 28,000 settler visits to the site between July and September. A governorate adviser says fewer than 15 Waqf guards now work the morning shift, against about 50 previously. These figures come from the Palestinian side and Al Jazeera says it had no response from Israeli authorities.

30 October: An Al Jazeera analysis finds that about 4,969 people, from 780 families, had been forced out of their homes in Hebron by 30 October, about 2 percent of the city’s 250,000 residents. They include 441 elderly people, 336 infants under two and more than 200 pregnant or nursing women. Israel’s forces have closed 10 entrances to the city, between 2.4 and 7.6 kilometres from the centre.

2 November: Hebron’s governor, Khaled Dudin, announces that Israel’s forces have withdrawn after a 10-day siege and that Palestinian security forces have taken full control of the area. Displaced families begin returning within minutes. The governorate says more than 3,300 people were displaced or otherwise affected, and the municipality says 15 homes and other structures were demolished and 327 shops closed. About 80,000 students in the city missed school.

Elections

Israel’s Result and What Comes Next

The result: Israel’s election on 27 October produced no governing majority. Of the 120 seats, Likud won 27, Yashar (Gadi Eisenkot) 21, B’Yachad (Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid) 12, the Joint List 11, the Democrats 8, Ra’am 8, Otzma Yehudit 7, Yisrael Beytenu 7, United Torah Judaism 7, Shas 6 and Religious Zionism 6. Netanyahu’s bloc of Likud, Otzma Yehudit, United Torah Judaism, Shas and Religious Zionism has 53 seats. The opposition bloc of Yashar, B’Yachad, the Democrats and Yisrael Beytenu has 48, and the two Arab-led parties, the Joint List and Ra’am, hold a record 19. The Reservists and Economic Party (2.67%) and Amcha Yisrael (1.63%) fell below the 3.25% threshold. Likud finished as the largest party, although all three final polls on 23 October had Yashar ahead. Shas’s six seats are its fewest since 1988.

Turnout: The Central Elections Committee put turnout at about 77.7% on election day, rising to 77.97% in the final count, the highest since 1999 and well above the 70.63% of 2022. Channel 12 reported turnout of about 80% in the Arab community, which is five points above the previous record, while turnout among soldiers was 79.9%. Polling stations closed at 10pm. The committee rejected a Likud request to extend voting hours, and the rights group ACRI filed a complaint over delays reported in at least 18 communities.

The arithmetic and the positions: Netanyahu’s bloc is eight seats short of 61. The opposition bloc and the Arab parties together hold 67, but Eisenkot said during the campaign that he would not govern with Arab parties, saying “I do not see an Arab party that accepts my principles”. He has also said Netanyahu cannot serve as prime minister, minister or deputy minister. On 28 October Netanyahu vowed to form a “strong government of the right” and said the “Jewish and Zionist majority must unite”, and suggested that a government relying on Arab votes would lack legitimacy. The Joint List and Ra’am say they will work with the opposition to remove Netanyahu without necessarily joining a government. Ra’am’s leader Mansour Abbas says Ra’am would join an Eisenkot government if it received the internal security portfolio, while the Joint List’s leader Yousef Jabareen says his party would vote with an Eisenkot government but not join it, citing the continuing occupation of the West Bank. According to Al Jazeera, the opposition has set conditions for Arab parties, including accepting Israel as a Jewish state, backing army conscription and denouncing Hamas.

Fraud claims: On 28 October, Likud alleged that Arab-led parties had “stolen” the election, citing envelopes of cash alongside ballots for Ra’am, threats against polling-station staff, prohibited voter-mobilisation software and people voting under multiple identities. Likud said it was submitting hundreds of testimonies to police, the Shin Bet and the Central Elections Committee. Israel’s police said on 29 October that they had found no investigative or intelligence evidence supporting the claims of widespread fraud, and that the election saw relatively few irregularities compared with previous ones. Police confirmed three arrests over suspected vote-buying linked to Ra’am, which rejected the accusations and called the arrests politically motivated. The Central Elections Committee said it would review Likud’s complaint as part of its routine post-election process. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called for the arrest of Arab party leaders over unsubstantiated allegations of foreign funding.

What happens next: Official results are expected to be certified on Wednesday 4 November after a further integrity review, and the new Knesset is due to be sworn in on 10 November. President Isaac Herzog then consults the parties and chooses the Knesset member he judges most likely to form a government, not necessarily the leader of the largest party. That person has 28 days, extendable by up to 14, and if the attempt fails Herzog can ask another member. Until a new government is sworn in, Netanyahu’s government remains in office as a caretaker government. Herzog has said publicly that he will work to prevent a repeat election, and his office has denied a report that he raised a unity government between Netanyahu and Eisenkot.

The Gaza connection: Hamas sources told Asharq Al-Awsat before the vote that the group hoped the Trump plan and the Cairo roadmap, presented by the Board of Peace’s high representative Nickolay Mladenov, would “move forward after the election”, including reconstruction, the entry of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, and a full Israeli withdrawal and reopening of crossings. These were Hamas’s statements, not Israel’s, and no change to Israel’s Gaza policy has been announced. During the campaign, Ben-Gvir said some Gazans “shouldn’t live”, and after the vote Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Jewish settlements would be established in Gaza, according to Al Jazeera. The Palestinian legislative and presidential elections remain postponed to 11 September 2027.

Image featured above is from Gaza by badwanart0 from Pixabay