Dozens of unidentified bodies returned by Israel buried in a mass grave in Gaza; Trump seeks $230 million compensation for past federal investigations

Drop Site Daily: October 22, 2025

Oct 22, 2025

Gaza authorities bury 54 unidentified bodies handed over by Israel, some bearing signs of abuse and torture. The number of food trucks allowed into Gaza remains far below the required minimum as outlined in the ceasefire agreement. Three Palestinian fishermen are arrested off the coast of Gaza. Israeli forces detain at least 45 Palestinians in raids across the occupied West Bank. Vice President JD Vance tells reporters on his visit to Israel that disarming Hamas is “going to take a little bit of time,” and threatens to “obliterate” the group unless it is fully cooperative. Sixteen-year-old Palestinian-American Mohammad Zaher Taysir Ibrahim details the severe overcrowding, starvation, and unsanitary conditions inside Ofer prison, where he was detained. President Trump is seeking $230 million in compensation for past federal investigations into him. Trump also postpones a planned summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying he does not want a “wasted summit.” North Korea conducts its first ballistic missile tests in five months. Drone attacks in Khartoum, Sudan; casualties and damage are yet to be tallied. Saudi Arabia abolishes its seven-decade-old Kafala system for foreign laborers, replacing it with a contract-based system that may help prevent labor abuses. Japan’s parliament officially elects its first female Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, a social conservative and a hawk who has touted Japan’s military alliance with the U.S., presumably as a bulwark against China.

New Drop Site Petition: “DEMAND: Israel immediately lift its ban on foreign journalists.” For more than two years, Israel has maintained an absolute 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.

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Palestinians bury 54 unidentified bodies in a cemetery in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, on October 22, 2025, after they were returned by Israel under a US-brokered ceasefire deal. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images

The Genocide in Gaza

The bodies of five Palestinians arrived at hospitals in Gaza over the past 24 hours, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, including one killed in new Israeli attacks and four recovered from under the rubble. At least four Palestinians were wounded. The total recorded death toll since October 7, 2023 is now 68,234 killed, with 170,373 injured.
Since October 11, the first full day of the ceasefire, Israel has killed at least 88 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded 315, while 436 bodies have been recovered from under the rubble, according to the Ministry of Health.
The Ministry also confirmed it received an additional 30 bodies of dead Palestinians handed over by Israel on Wednesday, bringing the total number of bodies received since the ceasefire went into effect earlier this month to 195. Some of the bodies show signs of abuse, beatings, handcuffing, and blindfolding. Only 57 of the bodies have been identified so far, the health ministry said. On Wednesday 54 of the bodies that were not identified were buried in central Gaza, according to the health ministry.
The World Food Programme reported that only 520 trucks carrying 6,700 tonnes of food have entered Gaza in the 11 days since the ceasefire began on October 10—enough for about 500,000 people for two weeks, far short of needs. With only the Kerem Shalom and Kissufim crossings open and Rafah fully closed, aid deliveries average just 750 tonnes a day compared to the 2,000-tonne target. WFP says distribution remains concentrated in central and southern Gaza, where it operates 26 food points and nine bakeries, while the famine-hit north remains cut off.
This is a significantly smaller estimate than that of the Gaza Government Media Office, which reports that only 986 aid trucks have entered Gaza since the ceasefire—a fraction of the 6,600 trucks agreed upon. That averages 89 trucks per day instead of the promised 600, and only 14 carried cooking gas and 28 diesel for bakeries, hospitals, and generators, leaving Gaza’s two million residents at continued risk from Israel’s restricted humanitarian flow.
UNRWA said it has around 6,000 trucks worth of humanitarian aid waiting to enter Gaza. “The aid getting into Gaza is a drop in the ocean of what’s urgently needed. All crossings need to open. Aid needs to be unrestricted. UNRWA has around 6,000 trucks worth of vital humanitarian supplies in Jordan and Egypt waiting to go in. Lift the ban on UNRWA aid,” the UN agency posted on X.
The World Food Programme said looting of its aid convoys in Gaza has stopped since the ceasefire, crediting restored local security under Hamas authorities. Spokesperson Abeer Etefa told reporters that “armed groups on the ground” are no longer seizing food trucks and that distribution is now proceeding “in an organized and dignified manner.” Before the ceasefire, gangs reportedly backed by Israel had looted multiple convoys near the Kerem Shalom Crossing.
Relatedly, Hamas has begun a large-scale internal crackdown on armed groups accused of looting aid and collaborating with Israeli forces during the two-year war in Gaza, according to Mondoweiss. The campaign, expected to expand in the coming days, has drawn sharp criticism from Western governments and media, as well as from the Trump administration. U.S. Vice President JD Vance warned that if Hamas continues what he called attacks on “Palestinian civilians,” the movement risks being “obliterated.”
Three Palestinian fishermen—Abdullah al-Absi, Muhammad Maqdad, and Bakr Abu Abdah—were arrested by Israeli naval forces off Gaza City on Tuesday, October 21, after their boats were reportedly fired upon. The Fishermen’s Syndicate called the abductions a serious breach of the ceasefire, part of a long-standing pattern of Israeli naval restrictions that have devastated Gaza’s fishing industry since October 7, 2023.
Dr. Ahmed Muhanna, director of Al-Awda Hospital, described starvation, torture, and deliberate medical neglect during his detention in Israel, saying doctors were “singled out as targets” and prevented from aiding dying prisoners. According to Healthcare Workers Watch, at least 95 Palestinian medical staff—including 31 nurses and 17 doctors—remain imprisoned, most seized from Gaza hospitals or ambulances. The group, joined by Amnesty International UK, called for their immediate release, noting that five have died in custody and others remain missing.
An unidentified armed group raided the sole remaining clinical facility in Gaza operating through The Gaza Community Mental Health Programme (GCMHP)—an independent, non-profit Palestinian civil society organization—on Monday morning. According to Tuesday’s press statement published by the organization, the armed group “forcibly expelled the guards, seized the building, and housed their families there. They prevented staff, patients, and board members from entering at gunpoint, in an act that violates all national and humanitarian values.” The clinic employs approximately 150 doctors, psychologists, nurses, and social workers, and the organization is known for its leading role in providing treatment to traumatized children in Gaza. The GCHMPH has filed the incident with local authorities. Unverified reports circulated claiming links between the armed group and Hamas. One of the board directors of The Palestine-Global Mental Health Network, which works closely with the Gaza clinic, told Drop Site that “There is nothing that says it’s Hamas,” emphasizing that the armed members who took over the facility also had many women and children with them.

Ceasefire Updates

On Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025, U.S. Vice President JD Vance declined to set a firm deadline for disarming Hamas, saying the process “is going to take a little bit of time” while the international security and humanitarian apparatus is being arranged. Vance reiterated that the Trump administration’s plan calls for Hamas’s disarmament and warned that, if the movement refuses to cooperate, “Hamas is going to be obliterated,” echoing earlier threats by President Trump. U.S. Vice President JD Vance said the recovery of Israeli captives’ bodies will be slow, as some are buried under thousands of pounds of rubble and others’ locations remain unknown. He urged the public to exercise “a little bit of patience” during the process. In the same interview, Vance described Gaza as “Israeli soil.”
Jared Kushner said reconstruction in Gaza will start only in areas under Israeli control, with no funds directed to regions still administered by Hamas. He outlined plans for a “new Gaza” to be built and secured by an international force, offering Palestinians housing and employment opportunities. Kushner added that all projects will require approval from President Trump and the newly formed “Board of Peace.”
In an interview with Al Jazeera Mubasher, senior Hamas official Mohammed Nazzal said recent U.S. diplomatic visits to Israel aim to prevent a renewed “war of genocide” in Gaza and to restrain Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who he said miscalculated Hamas’s response to Trump’s peace plan. Nazzal confirmed Hamas’s support for advancing the ceasefire agreement and rejected public debate over disarmament, calling it a national issue for all Palestinian factions. He insisted that Hamas remains essential to any future political framework, saying “there is no future for Gaza without Hamas in the political scene,” while portraying the movement as seeking stability through negotiation rather than renewed conflict.

West Bank and Israel

Israeli forces carried a new wave of raids across the occupied West Bank, detaining at least 45 people, including a child and several former prisoners, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society. The majority of the arrests were made in the Hebron governorate, while the rest were in the governorates of Nablus, Ramallah, Qalqilya and Tulkarem. The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said during the raids, Israeli forces vandalized homes and repeatedly assaulted detainees and their relatives.
Sixteen-year-old Palestinian-American Mohammad Zaher Taysir Ibrahim, detained by Israel since February, described severe overcrowding, starvation-level rations, and unsanitary conditions inside Ofer prison, according to his lawyer with Defense for Children International–Palestine. He said dozens of boys share cramped cells with no heat or ventilation and are given only a few minutes outdoors each day. Israel, the only country that systematically prosecutes children in military courts, has charged Ibrahim with stone-throwing, an offense carrying up to 20 years in prison, despite appeals from his family to U.S. officials.

U.S. News

At least one federal immigration officer fired shots during a traffic stop in Los Angeles on Tuesday, injuring a motorist and a U.S. marshal, authorities said. The motorist, identified by Los Angeles City Council Member Curren D. Price Jr. as TikTok and YouTube creator Carlos Richard Parias allegedly threatened officers with his vehicle while trying to flee; the marshal sustained non-life-threatening injuries from a ricochet. The incident, which occurred near Santee Education Complex, prompted outrage from community members and advocacy groups, with bystanders criticizing the impact on public safety and schools. DHS said officers followed training during the operation targeting an individual who had previously escaped custody, while critics pointed to broader concerns over ICE’s intensified enforcement in Los Angeles and the use of traffic stops in immigration arrests.
President Trump is seeking roughly $230 million in compensation from the Justice Department for federal investigations into him, including the FBI and special counsel probes into Russian election interference and classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. Legal experts warn the claims present unprecedented ethical conflicts, as the president is negotiating potential settlements with Justice Department officials who previously served as his lawyers or represented his aides, raising questions about impartiality and conflicts of interest.
46 of 47 Democratic senators signed a letter opposing Israeli annexation of the West Bank, settlement expansion, and any measures that would block Palestinian statehood.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has withdrawn several Biden-era safety rules, including a mandate for table saws to include automatic anti-finger brakes, months after President Trump fired three Democratic commissioners. The move, strongly opposed by major tool manufacturers, could put thousands of Americans at risk of amputation each year, while benefiting industry profits, even as the administration pushes to further weaken or absorb the commission into the Department of Health and Human Services. Read the newest from The Lever.
A new Migration Policy Institute analysis finds that 80% of the 13.7 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. have lived in the country for at least five years, with nearly half residing for two decades or more. The report highlights that most have long-established families, careers, and communities, concentrated in states like California, Texas, Florida, and New York, with implications for legalization, enforcement, and workforce planning. From Pablo Manriquez at Migrant Insider.

International News

One person was killed in an Israeli airstrike on the town of Ain Qana in southern Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency. The Israeli military claimed responsibility for the attack, claiming it targeted a Hezbollah commander. Israel has bombed Lebanon on a regular basis for the past year despite signing a ceasefire in November.
President Donald Trump has postponed a planned summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying he doesn’t want a “wasted meeting,” after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov rejected Trump’s call for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine. The delay underscores deep gaps between Moscow and Washington over ending the war, with Russia demanding territorial concessions and security guarantees from Ukraine, while Trump has oscillated between urging a ceasefire and pressing Ukraine to surrender parts of Donbas for a peace deal.
North Korea conducted its first ballistic missile tests in five months on Wednesday, launching multiple short-range missiles about 350 kilometers (220 miles) northeast from south of Pyongyang. The tests come days before U.S. President Donald Trump’s trip to Asia for bilateral meetings and the APEC summit, highlighting North Korea’s ongoing push to bolster its nuclear arsenal and exercise deterrence amid rising tensions in east Asia.
A series of drone attacks struck Khartoum on Tuesday, including near the city’s international airport. The attacks came just a day before the airport was set to reopen after being closed in April 2023 due to fighting between the Sudanese army and the UAE-backed Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Witnesses reported multiple explosions, with some drones reportedly shot down by the military, though details about casualties and damage remain unclear. The strikes mark the third drone attack in a week on the capital and highlight ongoing security threats from the RSF, despite the army regaining control of Khartoum in March. Concerns are rising that attacks may target civilian flights once the airport resumes operations, while large parts of the city remain in ruins and humanitarian crises persist across Darfur and southern Sudan.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces returned detainees captured from Syrian government forces to Damascus on Monday as a “gesture of goodwill,” amid ongoing tensions in Aleppo’s predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsud and Ashrafiyeh. The move comes as the SDF and Damascus continue talks on integrating the Kurdish-led force into a new Syrian army, a deal agreed in principle in March but not yet implemented. The U.S. government, which backed the SDF during the international war against ISIS, has been supporting dialogue between the group and Damascus, partly in a bid to prevent a threatened Turkish invasion of northern Syria.
Yemen’s internationally recognized government said on Tuesday that its forces repelled a large-scale al-Qaeda attack on a government complex in Abyan province. The attack left nine dead—five attackers and four soldiers—and wounded 15. The assault involved two car bombs and an attempted infiltration of the compound, highlighting ongoing security challenges, despite a general decline in attacks by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula amid Yemen’s decade-plus war.
Japan’s parliament elected ultraconservative Sanae Takaichi as the country’s first female prime minister on Tuesday, following electoral setbacks for the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Takaichi, a security hawk and admirer of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, has emphasized strengthening Japan’s defense capabilities and alliance with the U.S. ahead of an upcoming visit by President Donald Trump.

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