Want to catch up with the news quickly? Here are the top stories from Tuesday, October 31, 2023.

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1. US troops in Iraq and Syria attacked two dozen times in two weeks

Drone attacks on U.S. bases in Syria and Iraq have increased dramatically in the past couple of weeks, according to Defense Department officials. There have been 23 attacks since Oct. 17, 14 in Iraq and at least nine in Syria. There have been no deaths of U.S. troops reported, but 21 have been injured.

While such attacks have always been a common occurrence, they have increased since the U.S. pledged support to Israel after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks. On Thursday, the U.S. struck two sites in eastern Syria linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps in response to the drone attacks. The U.S. has also heightened force protection in the region in anticipation of more attacks.

2. Palestinians in Jerusalem fear wrongful arrests by Israeli police

Palestinians living in East Jerusalem say they are afraid to leave their homes out of fear of being arrested by Israeli police. Over 10,000 Palestinians are currently detained, half of whom were arrested after the Oct. 7 attacks. 4,000 of those detained after the attacks were laborers from Gaza who worked in Israel.

The additional 1,070 were arrested in one night during raids by the Israeli military in the occupied West Bank, which is not under Hamas control. Israel has detained thousands of Palestinians under the “Unlawful Combatants Law,” which allows authorities to detain Palestinians indefinitely, without judicial review, under "secret evidence."

Palestinian leaders in the West Bank have sounded the alarm on conditions facing prisoners in Israeli jails, which have been reported to deny detainees, food, water, and life-saving medicine or medical care.