Amidst the Wreckage: Israel's current estimate is that 1,400 Israelis were murdered, 4,600 wounded, and at least 203 taken captive on the October 7 Simchat Torah massacre; at least 100 remain unaccounted for.

Palestinian hospital destroyed by terrorist rocket, Israel blamed: Protests raged across the Middle East as media outlets like the New York Times and regional diplomatic services breathlessly amplified Hamas claims that Israel had killed 500 in an air strike on a Gaza City hospital. Conclusive evidence ultimately emerged that the hospital had been destroyed by a misfired Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) rocket.

Western estimates put the death toll for the hospital at fifty or less, a fraction of the widely-reported Hamas assertions.

Conflagration Spreads: A U.S. Navy warship in the Red Sea, the U.S.S. Carney, shot down missiles fired by Houthi rebels in Yemen at a target far to the north, apparently Israel. Iran has armed the Houthis for years.

Meanwhile, rockets and drones from an Iran-aligned militia struck the Ain al-Asad Air Base in Iraq, killing at least one U.S. military contractor.

The View from Washington: The U.S. State Department has recognized Israel's war goal of removing Hamas from power in Gaza as "appropriate."

As of October 19, eligible Israeli citizens and nationals can start the application process for visa-free travel to the United States for business and tourism, two weeks prior than expected.

Gaza After the War: Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said that after the war, Gaza's territory would be decreased, apparently referring to proposals to establish a buffer zone within current Gazan territory to prevent a repeat of the Simchat Torah Massacre.

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid suggested that the best postwar outcome would be to restore the Gaza Strip to the governing control of the Palestinian Authority (PA).