Drop Site Daily: October 29, 2025
Israel kills over 100 Palestinians, including more than 45 children, in heavy overnight bombardment of Gaza. President Trump defends Israel’s attacks, while saying “Nothing is going to jeopardize” the ceasefire. Israeli forces arrest dozens in raids in the occupied West Bank. Newly freed Palestinian journalist Imad al-Franji describes the horrific physical and sexual abuse he and other detainees suffered under Israeli captivity. In the eastern Caribbean, the U.S. military strikes another boat killing 14 and leaving one survivor. The U.S. Senate votes to end the legal justification for tariffs on Brazil in a bipartisan rebuke of the president’s trade policy. The Trump administration prepares to replace roughly half of ICE’s regional directors with Border Patrol officials as part of its plan to accelerate mass deportations. A federal judge in Chicago rebukes Trump’s deportation agenda, ordering Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino to appear weekly in court and wear a body camera after agents deployed tear gas near a Halloween parade. The United Nations warns humanity has failed to avoid surpassing the 1.5°C heating limit set by the Paris Agreement and calls for immediate action. Colombian President Gustavo Petro accuses the CIA, DEA, and Israel’s Mossad of plotting to imprison him, after new U.S. sanctions are placed against him and his family over alleged drug ties. The Associated Press reveals a U.S. plot to recruit Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s pilot in an attempt to kidnap him. Ethnic massacres kill at least 2,000 people in the newly seized Darfur city of El-Fasher. Amnesty International is urging an investigation into a U.S. airstrike on a Yemeni prison that killed more than 60 unarmed African migrants.
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Demand Israel immediately lift its ban on foreign journalists. For more than two years, Israel has maintained a complete blockade on foreign press access to Gaza—the longest and most complete media ban of any modern conflict.
We call on the Israeli government to:
- Grant immediate, independent access to Gaza for all foreign journalists without military escorts, pre-broadcast censorship, or restrictions on movement and reporting.
- End the deliberate targeting and killing of journalists covering this conflict and allow humanitarian organizations to protect and support press workers.
The Genocide in Gaza
- At least 104 Palestinians in Gaza were killed, including 46 children and 20 women, in Israeli attacks on Gaza overnight, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. At least 253 Palestinians were wounded, including 78 children and 84 women. The total recorded death toll since October 7, 2023 is now 68,643 killed, with 170,655 injured.
- Since October 11, the first full day of the ceasefire, Israel has killed at least 211 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded 597, while 482 bodies have been recovered, according to the Ministry of Health.
- Among those killed was Mohammed al-Munirawi, a journalist with Palestine Newspaper, along with his wife, as they were sheltering in a tent in Nuseirat, central Gaza. According to Gaza’s Government Media Office, al-Munirawi’s death brings the total number of journalists killed since the start of the war to 256.
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday he had ordered the military to conduct “powerful strikes” on Gaza following an exchange of gunfire in Rafah. The Israeli military later said an Israeli soldier, who held U.S. citizenship, was killed in the attack. The heavy Israeli attacks also came amid accusations that Hamas turned over the body parts of an Israeli captive whose remains had been recovered by Israel nearly two years ago. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement, “Anyone who raises a hand against [Israeli] soldiers, his hand will be severed” and also pointed to “the blatant violation of the agreement to return the fallen hostages.” Israel had notified the U.S. before launching the strikes on Tuesday, according to the Associated Press.
- The Israeli military on Wednesday claimed that it struck dozens of targets after the ceasefire was violated by Hamas. The military claimed it “will continue to enforce the implementation of the agreement and will respond forcefully to every violation of it.”
- Hamas denied involvement in the Israeli soldier’s death. According Walla, a Hebrew news outlet, the Israeli military believed that the fighters who clashed with Israeli troops in Rafah were likely an isolated and disconnected cell that had been besieged for a long time, and that the Israeli military was unable to say whether the attack was approved by the Hamas leadership.
- In response to the Israeli attacks, Hamas said it would delay handing over the remains of another Israeli captive which had been scheduled for Tuesday night. “The world must understand that the blood of our children and women is not cheap, and that the resistance—with all its factions that committed to the agreement with responsible will and remains committed to it—will not allow the enemy to impose new realities under fire,” Hamas said in a statement. Hamas also calls on the mediators and guarantors to assume their full responsibilities regarding this aggressive breakdown, and to exert immediate pressure on the occupation government to stop its massacres and commit fully to the terms of the agreement.”
- Before the latest overnight strikes, Gaza’s media office accused Israel of violating the ceasefire over 80 times, killing 97 Palestinians and injuring 230.
- In Rafah, Israeli naval and armored units opened fire along the coast and city outskirts, while in Gaza City an airstrike hit a home in Al-Shati camp belonging to the Salem family. Medical sources reported injuries after an attack on a school sheltering displaced families in Beit Lahia, while strikes on a Khan Younis apartment, belonging to the Al-Qudra family, killed Hatem Maher Al-Qudra and a child, Karim Hazem Al-Qudra.
- Three Palestinians were killed in new Israeli airstrikes on a tent in Al-Mawasi, west of Khan Younis—an area Israel had previously designated a “safe zone” for displaced families.
- Journalist Musab Al-Shareef documented the aftermath of an Israeli strike on Gaza City that killed 10 people, including four children and two women. The victims were brought to Al-Shifa Hospital, where footage showed families mourning as medical teams struggled to identify the dead.
- Palestinian baby Osama Abu Snineh and his siblings were killed in Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, according to local reports. Their deaths add to the growing toll of children killed in renewed Israeli bombardments despite the declared ceasefire.
Ceasefire Updates
- Aboard Air Force One, President Donald Trump defended the Israeli assault, saying, “As I understand it, they took out an Israeli soldier. So the Israelis hit back and they should hit back. When that happens, they should hit back.” He added, “Nothing is going to jeopardize” the ceasefire and that “If they (Hamas) are good, they are going to be happy and if they are not good, they are going to be terminated—their lives will be terminated.” Vice President JD Vance said the ceasefire “is holding,” characterizing the Israeli attacks that killed dozens of children as “little skirmishes here and there.”
- The International Committee of the Red Cross said Tuesday it was misled by Hamas during a purported recovery of Israeli captive remains in Gaza, calling it “unacceptable that a fake recovery was staged.” The group said it had agreed “in good faith” to witness the operation but was unaware a body had been placed before its arrival, as shown in Israeli drone footage that has not been authenticated. Israeli officials said the remains were those of Ofir Tzarfati, already recovered in 2023.
West Bank and Israel
- Israeli forces raided the Dheisheh refugee camp in Bethlehem, arresting about 50 Palestinians, many of whom were recently released from Israeli custody, according to Al Jazeera. Nine Palestinians were also arrested in raids in other parts of the occupied West Bank.
- Israeli settlers cut down some 50 olive saplings and stole construction equipment in the town of Beit Ummar, north of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa. Israeli settlers and soldiers have carried out more than 250 attacks on Palestinian olive farmers since the harvest began earlier this month, according to the Ramallah-based Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission.
- Imad al-Franji, a veteran Palestinian journalist and university professor, described the torture and systematic abuse he endured during months in Israeli custody before his release under the Oct. 13 ceasefire deal. Seized during an Israeli raid on Al-Shifa Hospital in March 2024, al-Franji said he and others were stripped, beaten, and bound before being taken to the Sde Teyman detention camp, where he heard detainees “screaming under torture”—some of whom were sexually assaulted with electric batons, some of whom were hung by their genitals. He recounted being blindfolded and shackled for 100 days, deprived of sleep and prayer, and later transferred to Ofer Prison, where prisoners were attacked with dogs, stun grenades, and electric batons. Arrested at 110 kilograms and freed at 66, he said starvation was part of the punishment, adding that journalists were “more guilty in their eyes, because you expose their crimes.” His account was published by Al Jazeera and Asra Media, and confirmed by the Committee to Protect Journalists.
U.S. News
- U.S. forces carried out airstrikes that destroyed four small boats in the eastern Pacific, killing 14 people and leaving one survivor, according to the Associated Press. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said the targets were “drug-trafficking vessels,” though Mexico’s navy reported the operation took place near its own coast. Footage released by Hegseth showed burning boats that appeared empty, and Washington has provided no evidence linking the vessels to cartels. Mexico and Colombia condemned the attacks and questioned their legality.
- The Senate voted 52–48 on Tuesday to end the national emergency that underpins President Donald Trump’s 50 percent tariffs on Brazilian goods, marking a bipartisan rebuke of his trade policy. Five Republicans—Thom Tillis, Rand Paul, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and Mitch McConnell—joined Democrats in support, but the resolution cannot take effect because the House earlier voted to block any tariff-related challenges until March 2026. Lawmakers including Senator Tim Kaine said the emergency declaration—tied to Brazil’s prosecution of Trump ally Jair Bolsonaro—was politically motivated and an abuse of executive power. Trump’s tariffs have strained relations with Brazil, which has threatened retaliatory duties, and drew criticism from within his party. Senator Tillis said the move lacked a “rational basis,” arguing it appeared to be retaliation against a judicial proceeding rather than a trade dispute. Despite the vote, Vice President JD Vance urged Republicans to remain united behind Trump’s broader tariff agenda, while the Senate prepares to consider similar resolutions targeting tariffs on Canada and other countries later this week.
- The Trump administration is preparing to replace roughly half of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) regional directors with Border Patrol officials in a bid to accelerate deportations, according to multiple Homeland Security officials. The shake-up—overseen by adviser Corey Lewandowski and Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino—comes amid White House frustration that ICE arrests average just 1,178 per day, far below the 3,000 daily target demanded by deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller. Border Patrol agents, whose tactics have included rappelling from helicopters and using tear gas in cities like Chicago, have increasingly taken the lead in urban immigration raids. The move signals a consolidation of power within the Department of Homeland Security.
- A federal judge in Chicago ordered that same Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino to personally deliver daily updates on agents’ compliance with restrictions on force—after allegations of abuse during “Operation Midway Blitz.” U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis said Bovino must appear each evening and wear a body camera in public interactions until a hearing next week on whether to extend her temporary restraining order. The order limits agents’ use of tear gas and pepper balls against journalists and peaceful protesters and requires visible identification. Ellis criticized reports of officers deploying tear gas near families during a Halloween parade, telling Bovino that “Kids dressed in Halloween costumes… do not pose an immediate threat.”
- More than two dozen states and the District of Columbia sued the Trump administration Tuesday for refusing to fund food stamps during the ongoing government shutdown, warning that 42 million Americans could face hunger within days. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Massachusetts, argues that the administration has a legal duty to maintain the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and can tap its $5–6 billion contingency fund to prevent a lapse in benefits. Agriculture Department officials, however, said the reserve is “not legally available” during the shutdown. Democratic attorneys general accused Washington of deliberately triggering a “major hunger crisis,” while the White House blamed Senate Democrats for failing to approve a spending bill to reopen the government.
- House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday he does not see a constitutional path for President Donald Trump to seek a third term, noting the 22nd Amendment limits presidents to two elections. Johnson told reporters he had discussed the issue directly with Trump, adding that amending the Constitution “takes about 10 years.” Trump, who has alternately joked and insisted he might run again, has sold “Trump 2028” hats and refused to rule out the idea. Johnson suggested the merchandise was meant to “troll” Democrats rather than signal a serious plan.
- Car loan defaults have surged to record highs, surpassing rates seen during the past three recessions as Americans struggle with soaring vehicle and insurance costs. New data from the Consumer Federation of America show auto loan delinquencies among subprime borrowers have doubled since 2021 to 6.43 percent, while the average new car now costs over $50,000. At the same time, auto insurers raised rates by an average of 26 percent in 2024 and recorded $169 billion in profit — a 90 percent increase — as top executives took home $134 million in pay. Consumer advocates say companies misled regulators about financial strain to justify rate hikes while ordinary drivers faced repossessions and unaffordable coverage. Read more here from our friends at The Lever.
- A former U.S. Homeland Security agent tried to recruit Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s chief pilot to help deliver the leader into U.S. custody, according to officials and text records reviewed by the Associated Press. The covert effort, led by agent Edwin Lopez from the U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic, began in 2024 after investigators traced two of Maduro’s private jets to Santo Domingo. Lopez met the pilot, Gen. Bitner Villegas, and offered him wealth and protection in exchange for secretly diverting Maduro’s plane to a U.S.-controlled location. The plan, which unfolded over 16 months, failed despite repeated encrypted messages from Lopez—even after his retirement—urging Villegas to be “Venezuela’s hero.” When the pilot refused, anti-Maduro operatives tried to sow paranoia within the regime by publicly hinting at his betrayal, prompting speculation he had been detained. The revelations underscore the Trump administration’s increasingly aggressive strategy toward Venezuela, including covert CIA operations, naval deployments, and a $50 million bounty for Maduro’s capture.
International News
- UN Secretary General António Guterres warned that humanity has “failed to avoid” surpassing the 1.5°C global heating limit set in the Paris Agreement, calling it “inevitable” that the target will be breached with “devastating consequences.” In an interview ahead of the Cop30 climate summit in Brazil, Guterres said governments’ current commitments would cut emissions by only 10 percent—far short of the 60 percent needed to stay within the threshold. He urged world leaders to make the overshoot “as short and low in intensity as possible” to avoid catastrophic tipping points in the Amazon, Arctic, and the five oceans, and pressed for greater Indigenous participation in climate talks.
- Colombian President Gustavo Petro accused the CIA, DEA, and Israel’s Mossad of plotting to have him imprisoned following new U.S. sanctions targeting him and his family over alleged drug links. Petro said Washington sought to “extract the president of Colombia… to throw him into a prison where his voice cannot be heard,” linking the measures to his United Nations speech last month condemning the U.S. war on drugs and Israel’s actions in Gaza. He dismissed the sanctions as retaliation for his criticism, declaring that “the voice of reason will end up tearing down the walls and bars of any effort to silence free thought.”
- On Sunday, fighters from Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces captured El-Fasher, the last major city in Darfur outside their control, and began massacring civilians in what witnesses and satellite imagery show as a large-scale atrocity. Videos posted by RSF members depict executions, torture, and the presence of commander Al-Fateh Abdullah Idris, who boasted of killing more than 2,000 people. Satellite analysis by Yale’s Humanitarian Research Lab revealed mass burning and bloodstains, confirming widespread killings. Read more reporting on the massacres here.
- Category 5 Hurricane Melissa struck Jamaica with winds near 185 mph (295 km/h), the strongest in the island’s recorded history, leaving catastrophic flooding, landslides, and storm surges that affected more than 1.5 million people.
- Gunmen opened fire on a passenger coach traveling between Damascus and the Druze-majority city of Suweida on Tuesday, killing at least two people and wounding several others, according to Syrian state media. The victims were a woman and a young man, both reportedly Druze, identified by local outlet Sweida 24. The attack occurred in an area patrolled by government security checkpoints and comes months after sectarian clashes in Suweida that killed hundreds and drew the involvement of both Syrian government and Israeli forces. Despite a U.S.- and Jordan-backed plan to restore calm, tensions remain high as Druze factions continue to control Suweida city, and leaders renew calls for the province’s independence.
- At least 64 people, including four police officers, were killed in Rio de Janeiro’s deadliest police raid on record, targeting the Red Command cartel. The 2,500-officer operation, described by Governor Cláudio Castro as a fight against “narco-terrorists,” unfolded across working-class neighborhoods where residents were trapped or injured amid crossfire and fires set by gang members.
- Amnesty International urged an investigation into an April U.S. airstrike on a Ansarallah-run prison in Yemen’s Saada province that killed over 60 detained African migrants, calling it a possible war crime. The strike, part of President Donald Trump’s Operation Rough Rider campaign against Ansarallah forces disrupting Red Sea shipping, reportedly hit a facility known to hold Ethiopian migrants with no apparent military presence inside. Amnesty said debris from U.S. GBU-39 precision bombs was found at the site and deemed the attack “indiscriminate.” The group noted the strike mirrored a 2022 Saudi-led bombing of the same compound that also caused mass civilian deaths. U.S. Central Command has yet to release its own civilian harm assessment of the attack.
- Ukraine has reinforced defenses in the eastern city of Pokrovsk as Russian assault units pushed into parts of the city amid heavy urban fighting, Kyiv’s military said Monday. The renewed offensive comes as President Donald Trump’s ceasefire initiative has stalled and Moscow seeks to seize the key logistical hub to cut Ukrainian supply routes. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia has concentrated its “main strike force” on Pokrovsk, calling the situation “fierce” and logistics difficult. Russia’s Defense Ministry said its troops were advancing near the city’s train station, while Ukrainian sources estimate roughly one-fifth of Pokrovsk is now contested.
- The U.S. Embassy in Mali urged all American citizens on Tuesday to leave the country immediately as militants linked to Al-Qaeda tightened a fuel blockade that has crippled transport and forced the closure of schools nationwide. The insurgent group, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, has attacked fuel convoys since announcing the blockade in early September, cutting off supplies to Bamako and other regions. The embassy cited worsening fuel shortages, infrastructure failures, and armed clashes near the capital as reasons for the escalating danger. It advised against overland travel due to the risk of terrorist attacks and said the U.S. government could not assist citizens outside Bamako.
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