Update Israel-Hamas - Russia-Ukraine from Jeff Davis

Russia-Ukraine

Ukrainian forces have liberated Dachi, located on the left bank of the Dnipro River, south of Kherson. The map is updated.

Ukrainian forces have expanded control of Krynyk on the left bank of the Konka River and have successfully brought armored vehicles across the river. The map is updated.

The no man's land north of Vodyane was expanded.

Russian sources have confirmed that a November 1 Storm Shadow missile strike on the headquarters of the Dnipro Group command center killed at least three colonels and other senior commanders.

Rumors that the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Valery Zaluzhny, has been asked to resign are false. 

Ukrainian officials have announced that they are opening a new POW camp because the existing facilities are full, and the Ministry of Justice, which agreed to take some Russian POWs at the end of the summer, is also full.

The White House announced they are going to request a cut-down aid package for Ukraine of $11.8 billion, mostly for USAID and to keep the Ukrainian government afloat. The U.S. government will shut down on November 17 without a continuation measure approved by the House and Senate.

Sharing a handwritten letter from his Russian prison cell, Igor Strelkov Girkin does not believe that Russia has enough resources to launch major offensive operations through the spring of 2024 and can only conduct "positional" (tactical) operations. He also expressed the belief that if Western aid is not cut, Ukraine will continue its war of attrition through the winter and be better prepared for offensive operations next year. 

The Ministry of Health of Ukraine reported 1468 medical facilities have been damaged since February 24, 2022, and of those, 193 have been destroyed. 

Ukraine has met four of the seven requirements to move forward with EU membership, with Hungary implying it will block Ukraine's accession.

Israel-Hamas

A Red Cross convoy carrying aid came under fire, damaging two trucks and wounding one driver. The ICRC has stated they do not know which combatant fired on the convoy.

There are growing reports, including from Palestinian civilians, that Hamas is blocking people trying to evacuate from north Gaza, and snipers are targeting civilians following the IDF instructions on how to evacuate. Videos released and geolocated appear to confirm the reports of Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, or other terror groups targeting Palestinian civilians.

Thousands of Palestinians are evacuating along established green corridors manned by the IDF south of Gaza City, with evacuees telling the AP and AFP that Israeli tanks and troops were firing, but not at people in the green corridor. Evacuees are told to carry white flags and keep their hands in the air. One group reported they were fired upon with warning shots because they did not have their hands in the air. We cannot confirm any of these reports but believe they are accurate due to AP and AFP confirmation.

The IDF has reported they have hit 11,000 targets in the Gaza Strip and destroyed 100 tunnels. We cannot verify the claims.

Daily rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip continue to target southern and central Israel.

The U.S. vehemently denies that officials are conducting backdoor diplomacy with Iran.

A planned visit to Tel Aviv by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy was canceled after details of the November 7 trip were leaked to the media. 

The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, announced that Israel would take over control of the Gaza Strip at the end of military operations "indefinitely," bringing swift pushback from the White House.

Documentation showing how IAF mission planners prepare airstrikes indicates a much higher tolerance for civilian casualties compared to the United States and NATO rules of engagement. 

The U.S. is providing the IAF with $320 million in high-precision bombs.

The humanitarian situation within the Gaza Strip continues to deteriorate due to shortages of drinking water, food, fuel, and medicine.

As expected, the U.S. Senate rejected the House-backed bill that would provide $14.3 billion in humanitarian aid to Gaza, the West Bank, Palestinians, and Israelis, and military aid to Israel. The bill has a "poison pill" attached that would require a dollar-for-dollar defunding of the IRS.

Israel became the first country to intercept an intermediate-range ballistic missile outside of the earth's atmosphere during wartime, marking the first "space combat" in human history.

Fighting remains limited on the Lebanon-Israel U.N. blue line border, with little indication that Lebanese Hezbollah is committed to expanding operations beyond harassment attacks.

Russian officials condemned an Israeli official for threatening to use nuclear weapons and called for the IAEA to inspect Israeli's nuclear sites.

Reported antisemitic attacks in the United States are skyrocketing, with arrests in Florida, Arizona, and Indiana, a criminal investigation opened into the death of a man waving an Israeli flag at a Pro-Palestine protest in California, and a criminal investigation into specific threats made in Pennsylvania. The U.S. Department of Education sent a letter to universities and colleges to take stronger measures against antisemitic and Islamophobic attacks on campuses. Schools that don't take action could lose federal funding. 

Some Pro-Palestinian activists are expressing frustration that small groups of Neo-Nazi and other extremist organizations are joining some of their protests in an attempt to co-opt their messaging.

Israeli officials have expanded their global travel warning from not wearing or showing outward icons of the Jewish faith to avoiding all travel abroad.