Portal:Current events/2024 October 20

October 20, 2024 (Sunday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Israel–Hamas war
- Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip
  - October 2024 Beit Lahia attacks
    - Hamas reports that the number of dead and missing following an Israeli bombardment of residential areas in northern Gaza yesterday increases to 87, becoming among the highest single-incident death tolls in the past few months and also prompting condemnation from the United Nations. (Reuters)
  - Siege of Jabalia
    - The Israel Defense Forces announce that Colonel Ehsan Daxa, the commander of the 401st Armored Brigade, was killed by an IED in Jabalia in northern Gaza, becoming one of the most senior officers to have been killed in the fighting in Gaza. (The Times of Israel)
2024 Iran–Israel conflict
- Israeli retaliation leak
  - Two confidential U.S. intelligence documents are leaked to a pro-Iranian Telegram channel. The documents contain military assessments describing the detailed preparation of Israel's retaliatory attacks against Iran for striking Israel. (NPR)
Israel–Hezbollah conflict
- 2024 Israeli invasion of Lebanon
  - Israeli troops open fire on a truck belonging to the Lebanese Armed Forces near Hanine, killing three soldiers. Israel later issues a formal apology for the attack, stating that its forces mistakenly believed they were targeting a vehicle used by Hezbollah to transport rockets. (The Times of Israel)
Sudanese civil war
- Battle of Khartoum, 2024 Sudan famine
  - The Sudan Tribune reports disease outbreaks and starvation in Khartoum North, Sudan, as a military offensive and fighting continues in the city. (Sudan Tribune)

Disasters and accidents

2024 Atlantic hurricane season
- Hurricane Oscar makes landfall in Cuba amid a national electrical blackout. (USA Today)
At least two people are killed and 309 others are rescued in flash flooding in Roswell, New Mexico, United States. (The New York Times) (NBC News)
Four people are killed when a helicopter crashes into a radio tower in Houston, Texas, United States. (ABC News)

Politics and elections

2024 Moldovan presidential election, 2024 Moldovan European Union membership referendum
- Moldovans vote for a president and also vote in a referendum that would amend the constitution to include a commitment for Moldova to join the European Union. (Le Monde)
- The presidential election goes to a second-round between current president Maia Sandu and politician Alexandr Stoianoglo of the pro-Russian Party of Socialists. (BBC)
- The European Union referendum is narrowly approved by voters, with president Maia Sandu alleging foreign electoral intervention from Russia. (Reuters)
Inauguration of Prabowo Subianto
- Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka are inaugurated as the 8th president and 14th vice president of Indonesia, respectively. (AP) (Reuters)

Sports

2024 WNBA Finals
- In basketball, the New York Liberty defeat the Minnesota Lynx in 5 games to win their first WNBA championship. (CTV News)