Israel returns 15 bodies to Gaza as the Israeli military accepts Gaza death toll of 71,667; Rubio questioned on Venezuela and Iran

Drop Site Daily: January 29, 2026

15 Palestinians arrived at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza on Thursday after being released by Israeli authorities through the Red Cross. The Israeli military has reportedly accepted the Gaza Health Ministry’s casualty counts of over 71,667 Palestinians killed since October 7, 2023, with thousands still unaccounted for and buried under the rubble. Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair urges Palestinian members of Gaza’s transitional body to avoid politics. UN discusses Gaza “turning point” amid ongoing Israeli attacks. Hamas says Israel delayed the recovery of the remains of the final Israeli captive despite prior notice. Gaza City faces imminent collapse of water services. Five Palestinian detainees are released to Gaza after months of Israeli detention. Secretary of State Marco Rubio defends Venezuela operation kidnapping Nicolás Maduro as “law enforcement” and details plans to control Venezuela’s domestic expenditures. Rubio says the U.S. is reinforcing Middle East posture as Trump weighs action against Iran. Minnesota judge rebukes ICE for widespread defiance of court orders. Springfield officials brace for ICE surge as Haitian TPS nears expiration. House Democrats are advised not to travel to Minnesota. ICE shifts to “targeted” arrests in Minnesota after deadly clashes. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani backs dismantling the Strategic Response Group counterterrorism unit after it made anti-ICE arrests. Sudan army says it recaptured Al-Sillik amid cross-border fighting in Blue Nile. UN warns of crisis in Dilling as displacement surges across Sudan, as RSF drone strike kills civilians in Dilling and siege pressure resumes. Report traces RSF rifles to covert UAE-backed arms pipeline via Yemen and Somalia. Turkey arrests six on suspicion of spying for Iran amid regional tensions. Search launched for missing plane in northeast Colombia. Ecuador raids homes of leftist politicians in alleged Venezuela campaign funds probe. Gunfire and explosions reported near Niamey airport in Niger. Police fire tear gas at Makoko residents protesting demolitions in Lagos. Police officers killed in ambush amid surge in northwest Nigeria attacks. China executes 11 members of Myanmar-based telecom fraud gangs. France grounds suspected Russian “shadow fleet” oil tanker in Marseille. New from Drop Site: Afghan evacuees stranded at U.S. base in Qatar fear fallout from Iran war as resettlement stalls.

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A protester interrupts U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio as he testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on January 28, 2026. This is the first time Rubio has testified before Congress since the Trump administration attacked Venezuela and abducted President Nicolas Maduro (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images).

The Gaza Genocide, West Bank, and Israel

• Israel returns 15 bodies to Gaza: The bodies of 15 Palestinians arrived at Al-Shifa hospital on Thursday after being released by Israeli authorities through the Red Cross, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, bringing the number of bodies returned by Israel to 360.

• Israeli military accepts Gaza Health Ministry casualty count: The Israeli military has accepted the figures issued by Gaza’s Health Ministry on the number of Palestinians killed in Israel’s war on Gaza, according to Haaretz. Gaza’s health ministry puts the confirmed toll at 71,667 and acknowledges it as an undercount with many more missing under the rubble. Over the course of the war, Israeli authorities have publicly blasted Gaza’s health ministry as misleading and unreliable. In January 2024, Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham first reported that the Israeli military found the ministry’s numbers reliable and regularly used them internally in intelligence briefings. In October 2023, soon after the war began, President Biden cast doubt over the health ministry’s figures saying, “I have no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed.”

• Tony Blair urges Palestinian members of Gaza’s transitional body to avoid politics: Former United Kingdom Prime Minister Tony Blair met this week with the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), urging members to avoid the political aspects of the ceasefire, and instead focus narrowly on the provision of services. Made up of Palestinian technocrats, the NCAG is the only body in the Board of Peace that includes Palestinians and operates at the lowest level of the bureaucratic structure, beneath an Executive Committee, a Gaza Executive Committee, and a High Representative. According to Middle East Eye, committee members pressed Blair for clarity on funding, staffing, and the opening of crossings, but received few answers from Blair.

• UN discusses Gaza “turning point,” ongoing Israeli attacks: Briefing the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday, UN officials said Gaza may be at a “potential turning point” with the start of Phase Two of the ceasefire and Israel’s announcement that Rafah will reopen for pedestrian traffic, but cautioned that conditions on the ground remain dire and highly uncertain. The UN also said in its daily report that 1.5 million displaced Palestinians in Gaza are confronting worsening conditions, with rain and cold battering tent camps and destroying neighborhoods. It also warned of continued “unravelling” in the occupied West Bank amid intensified Israeli military operations, settlement expansion, settler violence, demolitions, and mass detentions, citing recent raids in Jenin, Nablus, Hebron, and Ramallah.

• Hamas says Israel delayed recovery of captive’s remains despite prior notice: Senior Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzouk told Al Jazeera on Wednesday that the Israeli government knew the location of the last Israeli captive’s remains for more than a month but delayed acting, confirming earlier reporting by Israel Hayom and statements by Saraya Al-Quds that the coordinates had already been provided through mediators. In an interview with Al Jazeera Mubasher, Abu Marzouk accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of deliberately prolonging the first phase of the ceasefire for electoral reasons, saying Israel avoided searching behind the “yellow line” to delay moving to a second phase that would include reconstruction and opening crossings.

• Gaza City faces imminent collapse of water services: Gaza City is facing an imminent and severe water shortage after Israeli operations damaged the Mekorot line east of the city, cutting about 70% of supply, while roughly 85% of municipal wells have been destroyed, leaving available water down nearly 90% from prewar levels, according to the Gaza Municipality. The municipality said the destruction of 150,000 meters of pipelines and a key desalination plant has left large areas without water and warned that urgent repairs, fuel, pumps, pipes, and heavy equipment are needed to avert a total collapse of water services.

• Five Palestinian detainees released to Gaza after months of Israeli detention: Israeli forces released five Palestinian captives to Gaza on Wednesday via the International Committee of the Red Cross, months after their seizure during ground assaults, with Felesteen Online reporting they arrived at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah in poor health following severe physical torture and prolonged malnutrition. The release follows an October deal that freed around 1,700 Gaza detainees, many of whom described torture and starvation by their Israeli captors, as rights groups say more than 9,000 Palestinians remain imprisoned in Israeli torture camps.

U.S. News

• Rubio defends Venezuela operation as “law enforcement”: At a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio clashed with Sen. Rand Paul over whether the U.S. military operation that seized Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro constituted an act of war, with Paul arguing that bombing air defenses, capturing a foreign head of state, and imposing a blockade would clearly qualify as one if done to the United States. Rubio rejected that framing, insisting the operation did not meet the constitutional definition of war and that the administration is pursuing “stabilization, recovery, and transition,” not regime change, while declining to offer a timeline for democratic transition and affirming that President Donald Trump “reserves the right” to act militarily in the event of an imminent threat.

• Rubio says Venezuela must submit a monthly budget to the United States to access some of the revenue from its oil sales: Secretary of State Marco Rubio was questioned extensively yesterday about the legality of controlling Venezuela’s oil revenue during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing. Democratic senators pressed Rubio on the statutory authority and transparency of the Trump administration’s plan to control the revenue. Senator Shaheen specifically asked about the fate of oil sale funds U.S. is not releasing to Qatar, including approximately $200 million from the initial sale, while other lawmakers raised concerns about the lack of congressional consultation, the legality, and whether the funds might be misused or benefit U.S. officials and their financial backers. Rubio detailed a written agreement between the U.S. treasury and Venezuela’s government where the interim government must submit a monthly budget for U.S. approval, with oil proceeds held initially in a Qatari account to avoid seizure by creditors before being partially released to fund essential services and to purchase U.S. goods. Rubio defended the arrangement as a necessary, short-term fix to a “fiscal crunch” in Venezuela, stating that an audit process, paid for by Venezuela, would be implemented soon to oversee all Venezuelan expenditures.

• Rubio says U.S. reinforcing Middle East posture as Trump weighs action against Iran: Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday that the United States is reinforcing its military posture in the Middle East as President Donald Trump weighs potential military action against Iran, citing threats to the 30,000–40,000 U.S. troops it estimates it has in the region within range of Iranian drones and missiles. Rubio described Iran’s economy as “in collapse” after a deadly crackdown on nationwide protests, and stated that the death toll from the unrest is “in the thousands for certain.” Rubio also indicated uncertainty over who would replace Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in the event of regime change in the country.

• Two federal agents involved in the killing of Alex Pretti are placed on administrative leave: A Customs and Border Patrol spokesperson told the Minnesota Star Tribune that “The two officers involved are on administrative leave. This is standard protocol,” though the statement did not specify that the two agents were the ones who shot Pretti. The announcement comes after a preliminary report from federal investigators was provided to members of Congress that said two officers—a Border Patrol agent and a CBP officer—had fired their guns in the incident that killed Pretti on January 24. After reports showed that federal officers had been collecting personal information about protesters in Minneapolis, including documented details about Pretti, videos emerged on Wednesday depicting a confrontation between Pretti and federal agents from 11 days before the ICU nurse was fatally shot by federal officers in Minneapolis.

• Minnesota judge rebukes ICE for widespread defiance of court orders: Chief U.S. District Judge Patrick J. Schiltz criticized the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency on Wednesday, saying it has violated at least 96 court orders in Minnesota since January 1 amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. The judge said the violations amount to more breaches in a single month than “some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence.” After a detainee was released, the judge temporarily rescinded an order summoning ICE’s Acting Director Todd Lyons to be held in contempt for violating the orders. Schiltz warned he may revive the summons if violations continue, stressing that “ICE is not a law unto itself.”

• Springfield officials brace for ICE surge as Haitian TPS nears expiration: Local officials in Springfield are preparing for a potential 30-day surge in immigration enforcement after Temporary Protected Status for Haitian immigrants expires on Feb. 3, according to reporting from The New Republic, which uncovered warnings about possible ICE incursions shared internally by Springfield City Schools Superintendent Bob Hill. The city’s large Haitian population faced racist smears during the 2024 election. Advocates in Springfield say that they were instructed by government officials to help Haitian immigrants “self-deport” to a “third country” in preparation for the incursion.

• House Democrats advised not to travel to Minnesota: House Democratic leadership privately urged members not to travel to Minnesota this week to show support for anti-ICE protesters, according to Axios, with a senior aide for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries telling lawmakers that staying in their districts and backing local “Days of Action” would better support colleagues and ease pressure on local resources and law enforcement. The guidance comes even as some Democrats such as Raphael Warnock and New York candidates Brad Lander and Micah Lasher have visited the state.

• ICE shifts to “targeted” arrests in Minnesota after deadly clashes: Internal guidance reviewed by Reuters shows U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in Minnesota were directed on Wednesday to avoid engaging with “agitators” and to limit arrests to immigrants with criminal charges or convictions, marking a pullback from broad sweeps that sparked backlash after two fatal shootings in Minneapolis. The shift follows President Donald Trump’s call to “de-escalate” the immigration crackdown operations in the city.

• Mamdani backs dismantling NYPD protest unit after anti-ICE arrests: New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Wednesday he supports disbanding the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group, the counterterrorism unit that carried out his administration’s first mass arrests during anti-ICE protests at a Manhattan hotel Tuesday evening. Mamdani said he is in discussions with Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch about operational pathways to dismantle the unit, without specifying any details, and he praised protesters for spotlighting what he called widespread abuses by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

• Lummis deflects question from Drop Site reporter: Drop Site Washington correspondent Julian Andreone asked Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis what level of brutality by the Department of Homeland Security would prompt her to question the agency’s effectiveness, a question which Lummis did not answer directly, instead talking about “what illegal, criminal, aliens have done to people like Laken Riley” and saying “you never talk about the victims of crime.” Their full exchange is available here.

• Private prison firms reap massive windfall from immigration crackdown: New research finds that for every $1 donated to GOP campaigns in 2024 by GEO Group, CoreCivic, and CSI Aviation, the firms stand to gain more than $11,000 in increased annual revenue in 2026, fueled by expanded border enforcement and detention spending under President Donald Trump. The windfall comes as the Government Accountability Office reports widespread failures by U.S. Customs and Border Protection contractors to provide required medical care—including to pregnant detainees—while lawsuits, congressional investigations, and recent deaths in privately run facilities intensify scrutiny of the conditions inside the U.S. immigration detention system. A full report is available from the Lever here.

• U.S. deputy secretary of state Landau heads to Ethiopia: U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau met Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and senior officials in Addis Ababa on Tuesday as part of a four-country tour to advance President Donald Trump’s regional priorities. Accompanied by AFRICOM Commander Dagvin Anderson, Landau signaled U.S. interest in deeper military cooperation with the country, and also held talks with Ahmed on macroeconomic reforms, U.S. investment, Sudan’s war, and Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam negotiations. He also met with African Union Commission Chair Mahmoud Ali Youssouf to launch a new U.S.–African Union infrastructure and investment working group.

Sudan

• Sudanese army says it recaptured Al-Sillik amid cross-border fighting in Blue Nile: Sudan’s army said it has retaken the Al-Sillik area in Blue Nile state near the Ethiopian border after heavy weekend fighting with the Rapid Support Forces. The Sudanese Armed Forces’ 4th Infantry Division claimed it routed RSF fighters and allied SPLM-N forces led by Abdel Aziz al-Hilu. Sudanese officials described the assault as “foreign aggression,” accusing South Sudan of enabling a cross-border attack from the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement–North that displaced civilians. A Sudanese intelligence source told Middle East Eye that RSF and allied forces advanced into Blue Nile from both South Sudan and Ethiopia, raising fears of a new front opening in the conflict as fighting continues elsewhere in Kordofan.

• UN warns of crisis in Dilling as displacement surges across Sudan: The United Nations said in a briefing on Tuesday that conditions in Dilling, South Kordofan’s second-largest city, have reached crisis levels after months of isolation, with access routes cut, aid operations extremely limited, and partners estimating that roughly half the civilian population fled last year. The International Organization for Migration estimates more than 88,000 people were newly displaced between late October and mid-January across Kordofan.

• RSF drone strike kills civilians in Dilling as siege pressure resumes: Dozens of civilians were reportedly killed on Wednesday after Rapid Support Forces suicide drones struck multiple locations in Dilling, including the main market and a Sudanese army brigade headquarters. The attack comes mere days after the army said it had broken a 2.5-year siege, local sources and medical groups told Sudan Tribune. The United Nations said aid delivery remains severely hindered as fighting continues near Habila, while the Sudan Doctors Network warned of acute medicine shortages and more than 1,300 severe malnutrition cases—mostly among children—calling for immediate provision of humanitarian aid and protection for the area’s medical facilities.

• MSF fears most civilians in El Fasher were killed or displaced after RSF takeover: After a four-hour, security-supervised visit, Médecins Sans Frontières said it fears many civilians still alive when the Rapid Support Forces seized El Fasher have been “killed or displaced,” describing the city as a “ghost town” following a prolonged siege. In its first visit since halting operations there in August 2024, MSF said it saw only “a glimpse of the sheer scale of the destruction,” echoing survivor accounts from Tawila of mass killings, torture, kidnappings, and violence along escape routes, and said it continues efforts to locate survivors across Darfur and eastern Chad.

• Report traces RSF rifles to covert UAE-backed arms pipeline via Yemen and Somalia: An investigation by Ayin Network says modified G3 rifles used by Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces can be traced to a covert arms pipeline running from Yemen through Somalia, with logistical backing from the United Arab Emirates, including weapon modification in Yemen and maritime smuggling via Bosaso. The report says visual evidence shows the rifles being used across RSF units.

International News

• EU sanctions senior Iranian officials: The European Union sanctioned 15 Iranian officials, including top commanders of its Revolutionary Guard, on Thursday over the country’s violent crackdown on protests earlier this month. European Union foreign ministers are also expected to list Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) as a terrorist organization. Members of the IRGC are subject to EU sanctions already, but listing the entire state paramilitary group would subject all individuals connected to the organization to travel bans, asset freezes and completely sever their connections to the European financial system. The sanctions could put additional pressure on Iran’s struggling economy. On Thursday, Iran’s rial currency fell to a record low of 1.6 million to $1.

• Turkey arrests six on suspicion of spying for Iran amid regional tensions: Turkish authorities have arrested six people—including an Iranian national—on charges of political and military espionage for Iran, following coordinated raids in five provinces, officials said on Wednesday. Prosecutors allege the suspects gathered sensitive information on military installations and strategic sites in Turkey and abroad, including conducting reconnaissance near Incirlik Air Base, a NATO facility also hosting U.S. forces, and passing intelligence to operatives linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including the movement of drones through Turkish territory.

• Search launched for missing plane in northeast Colombia: Colombian aviation and military authorities launched a search on Wednesday after a small commercial aircraft operated by Colombian airline Satena lost contact while flying the Cúcuta–Ocaña route in northeast Colombia with 15 people aboard, including 13 passengers and two crew members, according to Reuters. Local outlets report that lawmaker Diogenes Quintero and congressional candidate Carlos Salcedo were on the plane, which disappeared over a mountainous coca-growing area with armed groups, including the National Liberation Army and FARC splinter groups.

• Ecuador raids homes of leftist politicians in alleged Venezuela campaign funds probe: Ecuador’s prosecutor’s office carried out raids on Wednesday targeting the homes of politicians from former President Rafael Correa’s left-wing Citizens’ Revolution party, including the party’s presidential candidate Luisa Gonzalez, as part of an investigation into whether illicit cash from Venezuela was used to finance the 2023 presidential campaign, according to reporting from Reuters. Prosecutors have yet to provide detailed evidence of the accusations, and Gonzalez has strongly denied their allegations—saying Citizens’ Revolution “has not received a single cent from Venezuela, from any cartel, or from anyone” and characterizing the operation as “political persecution.”

• Gunfire and explosions reported near Niamey airport in Niger: Sustained gunfire and loud blasts were heard early Thursday near Niamey International Airport, Reuters reported, with heavy shooting continuing for nearly an hour and social media videos showing flashes lighting up the city skyline. Niger’s military government, which seized power in a July 2023 coup, did not immediately comment, as Niger—like neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso—continues to face persistent attacks by militant groups linked to al Qaeda and the Islamic State

• Police fire tear gas at Makoko residents protesting demolitions in Lagos: Nigerian police fired tear gas on Wednesday to disperse more than 1,000 residents protesting the demolition of homes in Makoko, one of Africa’s largest floating slums, as demonstrators marched to the Lagos State House of Assembly demanding to be addressed by the governor, according to Reuters. Lagos state officials say the stilt houses were illegally built near high-voltage power lines, while protesters said the demolitions have displaced thousands in a city already facing a severe housing shortage, with at least one demonstrator injured during the police response.

• Police officers killed in ambush amid surge in northwest Nigeria attacks: Three police officers were killed and two wounded on Tuesday when suspected armed gang members ambushed a routine patrol along the Guga–Bakori road in Katsina, police said Wednesday. The attack comes amid a surge in mass kidnappings and raids by armed gangs operating from forest hideouts across the region, as authorities say both Muslims and Christians are being targeted despite ongoing military operations by the government.

• China executes 11 members of Myanmar-based telecom fraud gangs: China executed 11 alleged criminals linked to gang networks operating out of northern Myanmar, including key figures in telecom fraud operations, after they were sentenced to death in September, state media reported Thursday. The executions, carried out by a court in Wenzhou, come as China intensifies cooperation with Southeast Asian governments to dismantle regional “scam centre” networks, a campaign that has already led to the repatriation of tens of thousands of suspects.

• U.S. worries after China removes top general: China’s defense ministry said on Saturday that Zhang Youxia, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), is under investigation. The removal of Zhang from his post is the latest purge of the country’s top military leadership amid Xi’s crackdown on corruption in the armed forces. Zhang had been allowed by Xi Jinping to engage U.S. counterparts during the Biden administration and was a trusted senior contact for Washington, former U.S. officials and analysts told Reuters.

• France grounds suspected Russian “shadow fleet” oil tanker in Marseille: French authorities grounded the oil tanker GRINCH at the Marseille-Fos port after it was intercepted by the French navy on suspicion of operating under a false flag and belonging to the “shadow fleet” used to export Russian oil despite sanctions, a Marseille prosecutor told Reuters Wednesday. The vessel, which departed the Russian port of Murmansk earlier this month while sailing under a Comoros flag, had its Indian captain briefly detained before being released and allowed to return on board.

• Chinese ambassador to Russia accuses US of destabilizing Arctic region: In comments to Izvestia, Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui accused the US of militarizing the Arctic with its move to assert control over Greenland; stating that Washington was seeking to close emerging trade routes in the region and “undermining stability and peace in the world.” Hanhui called on other countries to cooperate to retaliate against the move stating that Russia and China in particular “need to work together to ensure the safety and free movement of our goods.”

• World Food Program to shut down operations in northern Yemen: The World Food Program is shutting down its operation in northern Yemen due to a lack of sufficient funding and restrictions and harassment by Houthi authorities, according to the Associated Press. UN officials told the AP that 365 staff members of the UN food agency would lose their jobs by the end of March. The move is likely to worsen the already dire humanitarian conditions in northern Yemen. Over the last few years, the Houthis have detained dozens of UN staffers and NGO workers, accusing them of espionage.

More from Drop Site

• “As Airstrikes Loom, Hundreds of Afghan Refugees Still Stranded at U.S. Base in Qatar”: More than four years after the August 2021 Kabul evacuation, around 800 Afghan evacuees remain stranded in the U.S.-run Camp As Sayliyah in Doha, Qatar, trapped in legal and humanitarian limbo as the suspension of refugee pathways under President Donald Trump has halted resettlement efforts. As tensions escalate between the U.S. and Iran, evacuees housed on the military base say they fear being caught in a future attack, with one refugee saying, “The Iranian attack last summer was close to the camp…When the anti-missile system intercepted the missiles, debris fell inside the camp. Parts of the missiles fell near the living areas.” Read the latest from Sayed Jallal Shajan and Emran Feroz for Drop Site here.

• Drop Site’s Sharif Abdel Kouddous warns Israel’s “planned community” for Rafah would enable total control: Drop Site correspondent Sharif Abdel Kouddous appeared on Sky News to discuss his reporting on U.S. plans for a 25,000-person “planned community” in Rafah. In the segment, Kouddous described the project as “a lab for surveillance… a reincarnation of a refugee camp,” warning it would give Israel and outside actors “complete economic, social and security control over a new generation of dispossessed Palestinians.” A video of that appearance is available here.

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