Al-Sharaa visits Trump at White House; Over 6,000 amputation cases in Gaza; Car bombs in India and Pakistan
Drop Site Daily: November 11, 2025
Israel kills three Palestinians in Gaza in the past 24 hours. Over 6,000 amputation cases registered in Gaza, a quarter of them children. The Israeli militarized “yellow line” potentially becomes a de facto border within Gaza. The U.S. shares a revised draft of its peace plan with the UN. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights releases a report that details systematic sexual abuse in Israeli prisons. Ben-Gvir hands out candy after the Knesset advances a death penalty bill. Former Al-Qaeda affiliate and current Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa visits the White House. ICE agents pepper-spray a one-year-old in Cicero. New York City Councilman Chi Ossé prepares to run against Hakeem Jeffries. Departing NYC Mayor Eric Adams is set to make his third trip to Israel this week. Pakistan’s military takeover of the government passes its senate. Thailand suspends its ceasefire with Cambodia. Clashes in Nigeria’s northeast kill 200. Russia takes three more villages in Ukraine. At least 12 killed in car bomb outside judicial complex in Islamabad. At least 13 killed in car bomb near metro station in New Delhi.
This is Drop Site Daily, our new, free daily news recap. We send it Monday through Friday.
New from Murtaza Hussain: “Iranian Oil Workers Launch Historic Strike”: Fifteen thousand workers went on strike at a major gas field in Iran at the economically critical South Pars field. Read more here.
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The Genocide in Gaza
At least three Palestinians in Gaza have been killed by Israeli forces in the past 24 hours, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. At least one Palestinian was wounded. The total recorded death toll since October 7, 2023 is now 69,182 killed, with 170,694 injured.
Since October 11, the first full day of the ceasefire, Israel has killed at least 245 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded 623, while 529 bodies have been recovered from under the rubble, according to the Ministry of Health.
The bodies of 35 unidentified Palestinians were recovered from the rubble and moved to Al-Shifa Hospital, where efforts will be made to confirm their identities, according to a Telegram statement from the Gaza Civil Defence. The will then be transferred to a cemetery in Deir el-Balah for permanent burial. More than 69,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to official numbers that are widely seen to be undercounts, and it is estimated that thousands of bodies remain buried under the rubble.
Over 6,000 amputation cases have been registered with the ministry of health in Gaza, requiring urgent and long-term rehabilitation programs, the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. Children make up 25% of the total number of amputation cases. “The shortage of medical resources and other devices exacerbates the suffering of those who have undergone amputations,|” the health ministry said.
Hamas released a statement detailing 13 ways Israel is systematically violating the ceasefire, one month after its implementation. The group said 271 Palestinians have been killed and 622 injured since the truce began, with 91 percent of the victims civilians, including 107 children and 39 women. Hamas pointed out that Israel is demolishing homes inside the “yellow line,” expanding control 12 square miles beyond the agreed withdrawal zone, while deliberately obstructing food, shelter, and medical aid, including all UNRWA aid shipments as Israel allows less than a third of the required daily aid. Hamas also cited torture and mutilation of returned Palestinian bodies, mass arrests, and Israel’s continued closure of the Rafah Crossing 21 days past the agreed reopening date.
The so-called “yellow line” agreed to under Trump’s plan to end the war is set to become the de facto border indefinitely partitioning Gaza, according to at least 18 sources—including a former U.S. official familiar with the ongoing “ceasefire” talks and six European officials—who spoke to Reuters. The effective partition would split Gaza between Israeli and Hamas control.
The U.S. shared a revised draft of its Gaza peace plan with the UN, according to Al Jazeera, featuring both its “Board of Peace” and its “international stabilization force,” in which the UAE will not participate, according to the AFP. One significant change is the removal of language from a previous draft that was largely understood to be targeting UNRWA. The report has undergone 21 revisions in three weeks, sources told the New York Times, though the major sticking points remain for Palestinian factions: foreign control of the Strip, foreign oversight of the Palestinian administration, and a disarmament that precedes Israeli withdrawal.
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights released a report, based on the testimonies of recently released captives, of systematic sexual torture of Palestinian detainees. The report describes the use of rape and other means of sexual humiliation in Israeli prisons, and involves the testimony of both men and women victims. Some of the report’s testimony can be read in excerpts here.
In its latest update, the UN’s OCHA reported that aid coming into Gaza remains obstructed by Israeli red tape and interference, and that its personnel have faced shelling when attempting to deliver aid, forcing it to coordinate every move with Israeli authorities. Positive developments include the reopening of Khan Younis’ Al Kheir Hospital in Khan Younis has reopened; the addition of its malnutrition unit with 20 beds makes for 70 total beds in the entire Strip. OCHA’s efforts have provided psychosocial support to 1,500 children and 500 caregivers, distributed 40,000 winter clothing kits, 50,000 blankets, and 15,000 hygiene kits, and restored water lines in Gaza City, while water trucking continues across 2,000 sites throughout the Strip.
West Bank and Israel
Israeli settlers set fire to Palestinian-owned industrial facilities and farmland east of Tulkarem today in a series of arson attacks on Tuesday that also threatened a Bedouin encampment. Trucks and a factory building in the Al-Lada’in industrial zone near Beit Lid were set on fire, while agricultural fields in the area burned, according to reports from the Wafa News Agency.
The Israeli parliament passed a first reading of the bill that would introduce the death penalty for “terrorism.” According to the Times of Israel, the draft text stipulates the death penalty would apply to individuals who kill Israelis out of “racist” motives and “with the aim of harming the State of Israel and the revival of the Jewish people in its land.” Critics said this effectively would exclusively apply to Palestinians convicted of killing Israelis and not Israelis who kill Palestinians. . The Palestinian Center for Human Rights says thousands of prisoners now face “certain death,” noting that Israel has extracted “numerous coerced confessions” through “brutal torture and threats.” National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir celebrated the bill’s preliminary success by handing out candy in the Knesset.
U.S. News
Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa became the first Syrian head of state to visit the White House since the country became independent from France in 1946. Al-Sharaa was jailed by U.S. forces as an insurgent in Iraq from 2005-2011,fand was the leader of the militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which was formerly al-Qaeda’s official wing in Syria; and once had a $10 million bounty on his head. He is seeking a permanent end to sanctions on Syria. President Trump said in response to questions about his Al Qaeda links: “People say he’s had a rough past. We’ve all had rough pasts.”
Turkish FM Hakan Fidan confirmed he attended part of the White House meeting between Syrian President Ahmed al-Shaara and President Trump. He later met separately with Steve Witkoff and Tom Barrack to discuss implementation of the Gaza ceasefire, stressing that Turkey’s top priority is “to stop the genocide and start humanitarian aid.” Fidan also held talks with Marco Rubio and J.D. Vance focused on stabilizing Syria’s north and south, revising Caesar Act sanctions, and maintaining Syria’s unity. The visit concluded with a trilateral U.S.–Turkey–Syria FMs session on future coordination.
After Senate Democrats conceded their demands to facilitate a deal to end the shutdown, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson cast doubt that they might get the little they bargained for, telling CNN’s Manu Raju that he “can’t guarantee” a vote in the House if an ACA subsidy bill passes the Senate. Given this, The number of elected officials, organizations, and candidates calling for Chuck Schumer to step down has grown. A tally from Zeteo’s Prem Thakker has 6 House Democrats, 3 major organizations, and 4 candidates asking him to do so.
U.S. immigration agents pepper-sprayed a father and his one-year-old daughter outside a Sam’s Club in suburban Chicago, the family said Sunday, according to reporting by The Washington Post. Rafael Veraza said he and his family, all U.S. citizens, were leaving the store in Cicero, Illinois, on Saturday when an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) truck sprayed their car as it passed. Veraza told reporters he was hit in the face and that his daughter struggled to breathe before the family sought medical treatment. When asked for an explanation, DHS said there were “rioters” in the area throwing things at agents.
Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari of Arizona described the horrific conditions she saw in the Eloy ICE Detention Center, including a leukemia patient “vomiting blood” who was detained in February and forced to wait eight months before finally seeing an oncologist. She also detailed how private prison giants CoreCivic and The GEO Group are “making billions” as detainees are denied water, medical care, and dignity. “What happens inside these for-profit prisons is how the world sees [the U.S.] now,” she concluded.
British journalist Sami Hamdi is being released from U.S. detention after two weeks in custody, Zeteo reported. Hamdi was detained by ICE at San Francisco International Airport in late October after his visa was abruptly revoked. His arrest has drawn widespread outrage from press freedom groups and human rights advocates, who accuse Washington of targeting the journalist for being critical of U.S. and Israeli policies in the Middle East.
NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani announced major City Hall appointments. Former city budget director Dean Fuleihan, 74, will serve as First Deputy Mayor, returning to a role he held under Bill de Blasio. He’ll oversee daily operations, budget management, and implementation of Mamdani’s affordability and housing agenda. Elle Bisgaard-Church, 34, Mamdani’s former Assembly chief of staff and campaign adviser, will become Chief of Staff, directing internal coordination, staffing, and policy execution across city agencies.
NYC Councilmember Chi Ossé, 27, is preparing to challenge House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries in next June’s primary, the New York Times reported. A progressive aligned with mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, Ossé is best known for his social-media activism and for a 2024 law shifting broker fees to landlords. Mamdani privately discouraged Ossé from running, the Times reported, though a source for this report has not been identified. Jeffries has not faced a serious primary challenge since 2012.
Outgoing Mayor Eric Adams will spend November 14–18 in Israel on a taxpayer-funded trip “to meet with government officials, economic development leaders, and members of the tech community...[and to] discuss efforts to combat antisemitism here in New York City and across the world” his office reported, This will be his third trip to Israel, where he has said he wants to retire.
In an interview with Megyn Kelly, Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene suggested that the Epstein files might account for the House’s present inactivity. “The discharge petition is sitting there,” she said. “For years, all of us have been calling to release the Epstein files… It’s been blocked over and over, unfortunately.”
Starbucks workers plan a nationwide strike on Red Cup Day, the company’s biggest sales day of the year, unless management finalizes a labor contract beforehand, according to CBS. The Starbucks Workers United union, representing more than 9,500 baristas across 550 unionized stores, says employees in at least 25 cities will walk out on November 13. Contract talks that began in 2024 remain stalled as the union accuses Starbucks of firings, store closures, and bargaining delays. The company denies wrongdoing. The average barista earns about $15.75 an hour, though Starbucks claims average pay with benefits reaches $30, according to Reuters.
International News
In Pakistan, at least 12 people were killed and more than 30 injured after a car bomb exploded outside a busy judicial complex in Islamabad in an apparent suicide attack. Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said Pakistan is “in a state of war” and called the bombing a “wake-up call.”
Pakistan’s Senate on Monday passed constitutional amendments expanding Army Chief Asim Munir’s authority and curbing the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction, according to Reuters. The measures would make Munir the new chief of defense forces with lifetime immunity, transfer constitutional cases to a government-appointed Federal Constitutional Court, and grant President Asif Zardari permanent legal protection.
In India, at least 13 people were killed and 20 injured when a car exploded near the Red Fort metro station in New Delhi on Monday evening. In response, Delhi police have invoked the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, India’s main anti-terrorism law.
Thailand has suspended implementation of a United States-brokered ceasefire with Cambodia after a landmine blast near their shared border injured two Thai soldiers on Monday, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul announced. Charnvirakul said after Monday’s incident that all components of the truce will be halted until Thailand’s demands are met.
The Pakistani military killed 20 Pakistani Taliban insurgents in raids on hideouts in its northwest, the Associated Press reports. Another attack involving an attempted suicide bombing of a cadet college in South Waziristan was also reported, which led to the death of two attackers in a gun battle. These hostilities loom over already-failing peace negotiations between Pakistan and Afghanistan in Istanbul, which collapsed for a third time in Istanbul over the weekend.
Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro responded to the Trump administration after Washington announced sanctions against him—along with his wife, son, and interior minister—over unsubstantiated allegations of financial ties to drug trafficking. In reference to Trump’s ties with Epstein, Petro said that “A clan of pedophiles wants to destroy our democracy.”
Clashes between rival factions in northeast Nigeria have killed about 200 fighters in the Lake Chad region, intelligence and militia sources told AFP on Monday. Fighting erupted Sunday between Boko Haram and militants from the rival Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) near Dogon Chiku on the shores of Lake Chad. A militia member assisting the army claimed roughly 200 ISWAP combatants were killed, while Boko Haram lost four men. A Nigerian intelligence source reported heavy losses on both sides and said “more than 150” ISWAP fighters were killed. The groups have long been divided by ideological disputes and have battled for control of the lake’s islands since splitting in 2016.
Russia said Monday it was “delusional” to think Ukraine could win the war, as its army claimed to have captured three more villages along the front, AFP reported. The defence ministry said troops seized parts of Ukraine, including Slodkie and Nove in Zaporizhzhia and Gnativka in Donetsk, as part of Moscow’s slow and costly push to consolidate gains nearly four years into the invasion. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a call with reporters that Europe was “indulging in the deepest delusion” by believing Kyiv could prevail militarily, adding the war would end only when Russia meets its original objectives. Moscow continues to reject ceasefire proposals from U.S. President Donald Trump and insists Ukraine must withdraw from the Donbas and renounce Western support, terms Kyiv calls unacceptable and tantamount to surrender.
More From Drop Site
New article from Ryan Grim and Murtaza Hussain: “Israeli Spy Stayed for Weeks at a Time With Jeffrey Epstein in Manhattan”—leaked emails show Epstein working on a wire transfer to Ehud Barak’s top aide, Yoni Koren, who regularly stayed at his apartment. An Israeli military intelligence officer, Koren lived at Jeffrey Epstein’s apartment in Manhattan on multiple occasions, including while he was an aide to then-Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak. Koren was a senior AMAN officer with decades of experience in the Israeli security establishment and stayed at Epstein’s home. Emails show Epstein wired Koren money while Koren acted as an intermediary between Israeli and U.S. intelligence. Read more here.
Drop Site livestream: Diana Buttu, a Palestinian human rights attorney and former adviser to the negotiating team of the Palestine Liberation Organization, joins Drop Site’s Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Murtaza Hussain to talk about the accelerating surge of Israeli violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, the torture and abuse of Palestinians captives in Israeli prisons and detention centers, and the lack of accountability for the genocide in Gaza. Murtaza also discusses “The Epstein Files”— his exclusive investigative series with Ryan Grim on Jeffrey Epstein’s role in Israeli intelligence operations through his relationship with former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak. Watch here.
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The headlines read like a litany of failures—wars, human rights abuses, and political cynicism at every level. From Gaza to Pakistan to the U.S., the powerful are playing politics while innocent people suffer. The world cannot keep treating these tragedies as just another news cycle
Gustavo Petro's quote, “A clan of pedophiles wants to destroy our democracy” has made me a dedicated Petrophile.