Hezbollah commander killed in Israeli airstrike; U.S. reportedly readies for covert action in Venezuela; Musk's DOGE quietly dissolves
Drop Site Daily: November 24, 2025
Israeli forces kill four Palestinians across Gaza on Monday, after Israeli strikes killed at least 22 Palestinians and wounded over 80 on Saturday. Hamas sends a delegation to Cairo and another to Pakistan. Gaza’s children are eating rotten chicken from dumpsters, while Israel blocks aid. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shares a Jacobin article, which includes Drop Site’s reporting on Epstein working with Israeli intelligence, with former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak dismissing the article as “nonsense” and the magazine as “extremely antisemitic.” Palestinian Authority Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh meets with Tony Blair. Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem says at least 1,004 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since October 7, 2023. Ben-Gvir sends in his intelligence paramilitaries to shut down a Palestinian children’s performance in Jerusalem. Marjorie Taylor Greene announces she will leave Congress in early 2026. President Donald Trump and New York City’s Mayor-elect Mamdani meet in a surprisingly warm summit at the White House. Abortion is once again illegal in North Dakota. The U.S. is actively preparing for covert action against Venezuela, Reuters reports. President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency quietly dissolves. Israel bombs a residential building in southern Lebanon, killing a top Hezbollah commander on the eve of Pope Leo’s visit to the country. U.S. signals optimism about Ukraine talks. Suicide bombing kills three in Pakistan. Russia and Ukraine trade drone strikes, as Russian strikes in Kharkiv kill 4 people. 11,000 people displaced by floods in Malaysia. China accuses Japan of escalating after it sends missile defenses to an island near Taiwan. Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is arrested. Fifty of the 300 children abducted at a Catholic Church in northern Nigeria escape, while the army reports rescuing 38 others from another abduction in the country’s northeast.
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The Genocide in Gaza
At least four Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza today, according to Al Jazeera.
On Sunday, the Gaza health ministry reported the bodies of 23 Palestinians arrived at hospitals in Gaza over the previous 24 hours. The casualties included 21 killed in new Israeli attacks and two recovered from under the rubble. At least 83 Palestinians were wounded. The total recorded death toll since October 7, 2023 is now 69,756 killed, with 170,946 injured.
The Israeli military attacked vehicles and homes in Gaza City, Deir el-Balah, and Nuseirat on Saturday, and was reported to have used suicide drones. Drop Site’s Abdel Qader Sabbah provided exclusive footage of the aftermath of these strikes, which can be viewed here and here.
Since October 11, the first full day of the ceasefire, Israel has killed at least 339 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded 871, while 574 bodies have been recovered from under the rubble, the Ministry of Health reported on Sunday.
Hamas said a senior delegation met Egypt’s intelligence chief in Cairo on Sunday to review the ceasefire and warned that continuing Israeli violations threaten to collapse the agreement. Hamas urged mediators to enforce a clear mechanism for reporting and halting breaches, while raising alarm over the trapped “Rafah fighters,” saying contact has been severed and urging mediators to intervene. On Saturday the Israeli military said it had killed 11 fighters “who attempted to flee” the tunnel and arrested six others.
Hamas also joined a major Islamic group gathering in Lahore after an official invitation, where Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya praised Pakistan’s historic support for Palestine, reiterated that Hamas will never recognize Israel, and urged Muslim governments and institutions to bolster Gaza’s survival and reconstruction.
Gaza’s continued blockade has pushed children to dig through dumpsters for spoiled chicken as food prices skyrocket and starvation deepens, as seen in this video shared by Translating Falasteen. “We’re looking for the spoiled chicken because we have no food and we want to eat,” said one child.
West Bank and Israel
Israeli forces arrested at least 16 Palestinians in a series of raids across the occupied West Bank on Monday, according to the Wafa news agency.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland called attention to the case of Palestinian-American teenager Mohammed Zaher Ibrahim in a video posted to X: “He has been denied contact with family & his health is deteriorating. He says he falsely confessed to throwing a rock after being beaten. America needs to secure his release NOW,” Hollen said.
After Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shared a Jacobin article featuring Drop Site’s reporting on Ehud Barak and Jeffrey Epstein, former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett (who is Netanyahu’s political rival) slammed Netanyahu’s seeming endorsement of the reporting that Epstein brokered Israeli intelligence deals. “Netanyahu is directly harming Israel’s security and the security of Jews around the world,” Bennett wrote on X, while making the claim that Israeli intelligence had not operated on U.S. soil for the past decade. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, who had not previously commented on Drop Site’s articles, called Jacobin an “antisemitic” outlet and said its article was “nonsense.”
Palestinian Authority Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh met with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and a U.S. representative in Ramallah on Sunday to discuss post-war arrangements for Gaza and the West Bank, addressing what al-Sheikh called the “fundamental requirements” for Palestinian self-determination and statehood. Al-Sheikh praised President Donald Trump and regional mediators for “consolidating the ceasefire” and aiding reconstruction, even as Israel continues to choke off food, medical supplies, and shelter for nearly 2 million displaced people.
At least 1,004 Palestinians have been killed, including 217 children, in the West Bank since October 7, 2023, the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem reported Sunday. “In the 21 cases where settlers have killed Palestinians,” it said in a press release, “not a single perpetrator has been convicted.”
Israel’s National Security Minister Ben-Gvir ordered that a performance by children in the Palestinian National Theatre be raided and closed down just before the children were due to perform. Israeli intelligence forces stormed into the El-Hakawati Theater in Jerusalem, with an officer yelling, “I don’t want to see anyone here in 5 minutes.”
A new Israel Democracy Institute poll of Jewish Israelis shows broad public backing for extreme wartime measures, with 62% saying a militant should be killed even if they pose no threat and 55% supporting heavy fire on Palestinian population centers after rocket attacks. Majorities also rate the Israeli forces’ conduct in Gaza as “excellent” or “very good,” endorse using Palestinian civilians as human shields to clear suspected explosives, and oppose investigations into soldiers accused of abusing detainees.
At a Brussels meeting of the Palestine Donor Group, the Palestinian Authority said it has been implementing a four-pillar reform plan—covering governance, the judiciary, the business climate, and basic services—with 53 actionable items—23 of which it says are already completed. Donors led by the EU are tying future funding and any expanded PA role in Gaza and the West Bank to these reforms, even as questions persist about the PA’s legitimacy, Israel’s opposition to expanding its authority, and broader efforts to block Palestinian self-governance.
The Israeli army announced it was sanctioning 13 senior army officials over their failure to prevent the October 7, 2023, attacks. Three generals were fired—including the then-heads of military intelligence, the army’s operation branch, and the Southern Command—while ten other senior officers were censured. All three generals had already resigned from their posts.
U.S. News
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene announced she will resign from Congress in January 2026, citing her public fallout with President Donald Trump, who labeled her a “traitor” and vowed to back a primary challenger after she criticized him on several issues, including the Epstein files. Once a vocal MAGA ally, Greene said she no longer fit in Washington and refused to endure a bruising reelection campaign, warning that Republicans are poised to lose the midterms and criticizing what she called a “sidelined,” unserious legislative agenda in a Congress under unified GOP control.
Trump and New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani struck an unexpectedly warm tone during their Friday White House meeting, setting aside past attacks as they emphasized shared priorities on affordability and crime, with Trump saying he was “confident that he can do a very good job” and Mamdani stressing their “shared admiration and love” for New York. The cordial display—which included Trump joking, “That’s ok, you can just say yes,” when Mamdani was asked if he viewed him as a fascist—may complicate Republican plans to cast the mayor-elect as a radical in the run-up to the 2026 midterms.
The North Dakota Supreme Court reinstated the state’s near-total abortion ban on Friday, making abortion a felony for doctors—unless the procedure is done “to protect a pregnant woman’s life” or health, or unless it involves rape or incest and is done in the first six weeks of pregnancy. With the state’s only clinic now across the border in Minnesota, doctors say patients are already delaying treatment and avoiding routine follow-up care, underscoring what one physician called North Dakota’s status as an “abortion desert.”
The United States is preparing a new phase of operations targeting Venezuela within days, Reuters reported, with two officials saying covert action is likely to come first. The Trump administration has been escalating pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, whom Washington accuses—without evidence—of running a major drug-trafficking network. U.S. officials told Reuters that options include trying to remove Maduro, though the timing and the scope of such an intervention remain unclear, and Maduro has vowed to resist any further incursions. (Maduro was taped dancing at a rally this weekend to a remix of his speech that called for “peace, not war,” which can be viewed here.)
Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has quietly dissolved eight months before its mandate expired, according to a report from Reuters. The Office of Personnel Management has now absorbed many of its functions now that the hiring freeze for federal government jobs is now over. Once touted by Trump and Elon Musk as a radical effort to slash federal jobs and regulations, DOGE has faded as its staff shift into new roles across the administration, including White House efforts to cut regulations of artificial intelligence and a “National Design Studio” for federal government websites.
Mamdani told NBC’s Kristen Welker that he wants Congressman Hakeem Jeffries to remain Democratic leader and become Speaker if Democrats retake the House, even as Jeffries joined 86 Democrats in backing a GOP resolution “condemning socialism.” In the same interview, Mamdani reiterated that he still believes what he previously said about Trump being a fascist, saying that serving New Yorkers “demands that you work with everyone and anyone.”
NYC-DSA’s Electoral Working Group narrowly voted Saturday against recommending an endorsement for City Council Member Chi Ossé’s expected primary challenge to Jeffries, with about 52% of members opposing the move, NY City & State reported. The decision follows pressure from Mamdani, who urged DSA to prioritize his affordability agenda over an uphill congressional primary. Ossé responded to the vote by saying “NYC DSA FOREVER ❤️ I’M NOT GOING ANYWHERE” on X. The report notes that an endorsement of Ossé now appears unlikely.
The Department of Homeland Security has proposed a sweeping overhaul of the “public charge” rule that would rescind Biden-era protections and give immigration officers broad discretion to deny green cards based on virtually any use of public benefits—a shift the agency admits could push more than 400,000 people to forgo or drop vital health programs. By eliminating the definition of public charge from the Federal Register and relying on the opaque framework of “interpretive guidance,” the rule is expected to produce chilling effects across immigrant communities, worsen public health outcomes, and trigger major court battles once the mandatory public comment period closes on December 19. Read more on this from Migrant Insider here.
International News
Yale’s Humanitarian Research Lab reported that Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces are still disposing of bodies in the Sudanese city of El-Fasher, providing new satellite imagery showing empty markets and no visible civilian life. The reports have corroborated fears that most residents have been killed, detained, or driven into hiding since the city fell in late October. On Friday, Darfur governor Minni Arkou Minnawi told Middle East Eye Friday that upwards of 27,000 people were killed in just three days when the RSF seized El-Fasher late last month—far higher than an earlier estimate of roughly 2,500 deaths. Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s bid to advance his “Stand Up for Sudan” Act—which would halt U.S. weapons transfers to the UAE over its support for the RSF—was blocked by Republicans on Thursday and has yet to be put to a vote in the Senate. On the U.S. role in Sudan, the director of Yale’s Humanitarian Research Lab argued in an interview with Zeteo that both the Biden and Trump administrations have failed Sudan, saying the recent slaughter in El-Fasher was “entirely preventable.” Trump’s personal ties to the UAE are documented in a thread by Drop Site here.
Israel bombed a residential building in Beirut’s Haret Hreik district on Sunday, killing at least five people and injuring 28, according to Lebanon’s health ministry. Netanyahu’s office said the strike targeted Hezbollah chief of staff Haytham Ali Tabatabai, whose death the organization later confirmed. Hezbollah warned that the attack “opens the door to an escalation of assaults all over Lebanon.” Lebanese government officials urged international intervention on their behalf as Israeli attacks escalated across the country, despite a ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel one year ago. Hezbollah is holding a funeral on Monday for Tabatabai.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Sunday’s Geneva talks on Trump’s Ukraine peace plan were “probably the best meeting and day we’ve had so far,” describing the progress as “very meaningful” while cautioning that “work remains.” He said negotiators “substantially narrowed” disputes in the draft U.S. proposal and that Ukraine reiterated any deal must safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity, marking the first time both sides seemed “serious about landing this,” according to Rubio.
A suicide bomber killed three federal constabulary personnel and wounded four others at a security headquarters in Peshawar, Pakistan on Monday, according to AFP. Pakistani police later reported killing two suspected attackers in response and launched a clearance operation. No group has claimed responsibility, but Pakistan blamed Afghan nationals for the assault.
A Russian drone strike on Kharkiv killed four people and wounded 17 on Sunday, with Ukrainian officials describing the attack as “massive” as fires tore through residential buildings and infrastructure. Meanwhile, Ukrainian drones hit the Shatura Power Station east of Moscow with drones, igniting fires in three large transformers. The attacks forced officials to activate backup power and deploy mobile heating units since temperatures have dropped to around freezing in the area. This attack had no reported casualties, according to Reuters.
More than 11,000 people across seven Malaysian states have been affected by monsoon-season flooding, Reuters reported, with the state of Kelantan sustaining the worst damage. Authorities have opened at least 60 temporary shelters as of Monday morning. In a separate rain-triggered incident, a landslide stranded about 400 people in the state of Perlis, though officials said that all were safe and sheltering in a nearby mosque on higher ground.
Fifty of the more than 300 students abducted from a Catholic school in Nigeria’s Niger state have escaped, according to a local Catholic Church official cited by Reuters, but roughly 253 children and a dozen staff remain captive, prompting a national rescue effort and appeals from figures including Pope Leo XIV. As kidnappings surge across northern Nigeria, President Bola Tinubu has ordered the hiring of 30,000 additional police officers, and he reassigned personnel from VIP protection. Security officials said that they rescued 38 people abducted during yet another church abduction in the northwestern Kwara state.
China accused Japan on Monday of deliberately provoking military confrontation after Tokyo moved forward with plans to deploy a medium-range missile unit on Yonaguni, an island just 110 kilometers off the coast of Taiwan, according to Reuters. This comes amid the countries’ worst diplomatic rift in years, and follows Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comments that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could trigger a Japanese military response. Japan’s defence minister said the deployment is meant to protect its territory, while Taiwan’s deputy foreign minister called the move stabilizing for the Taiwan Strait, as Beijing warns of a “crushing” defeat if Japan intervenes militarily on Taiwan’s behalf.
Brazil’s federal police arrested former president Jair Bolsonaro on Saturday after Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered a preemptive detention, accusing him of trying to break his ankle monitor with a soldering iron and trying to flee and avoid his 27-year coup-related prison sentence. The move deepened national divides, with celebrations outside the jail and supporters organizing vigils. The move will now be reviewed by a Supreme Court panel.
Rio de Janeiro’s Civil Police said Saturday that a fifth officer has died from wounds sustained during Brazil’s deadliest anti-drug raid, bringing the total death toll from the October 28 operation in the Penha and Alemão favela complexes to 122 people. Governor Claudio Castro praised the crackdown on the Comando Vermelho—a long-standing community self-protection network and criminal organization with ties to drug cartels—while human rights groups have condemned the operation’s scale and alleged brutality.
More From Drop Site
“Weapons of Willpower—Hamas and Islamic Jihad on Trump’s Gaza Plan”:
In the latest in Drop Site’s series on the Palestinian resistance since October 7, senior officials from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad reflect on the state of the “ceasefire,” Trump’s Board of Peace plan, and the UN resolution sanctioning it. Read the latest from Jeremy Scahill and Jawa Ahmad here.
Drop Site co-founder Ryan Grim joined Australia’s ABC’s “Planet America” to discuss our recent reporting on Epstein’s emails and his connections with Israeli intelligence. His full appearance can be watched here.
Comedian Tim Dillon quoted extensively from our reporting about Ehud Barak and Jeffrey Epstein. A relevant clip from his podcast can be viewed here.
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Civilians, especially children, continue to pay the price for political conflicts worldwide. Reports like these remind us that real lives are at stake behind the headlines
Thank you for your excellent reporting. The summary at the beginning is especially helpful. Free Palestine...