Israel to open Rafah crossing for exits only; RSF holding trapped El-Fasher residents for ransom; ICE plans for mega warehouse detention centers

Drop Site Daily: December 3, 2025

Israel announces it will open the Rafah border crossing but only for Palestinians leaving. Hamas to hand over the body of another Israeli captive. Over 200 prominent cultural figures sign a letter calling for the release of Palestinian political prisoner Marwan Barghouti. ICE begins targeting Somali Americans in Minnesota. President Donald Trump gives this new antagonism rhetorical support, calling Ilhan Omar and Somalis in general “garbage.” Trump Department of Justice official Harmeet Dillon slanders Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani as an “antisemitic demagogue,” and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton blames youth solidarity with Palestine on TikTok. Israel launders its talking points through actress Noa Tishby and her foundation, a new report alleges, and may have violated FARA in the process. Trump admin threatens to cut off SNAP funding in blue states. ICE moves toward a “mega-warehouse” detention facility. Ex-Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández is released from prison after a Trump pardon. Centrist candidate Salvador Nasralla takes a slim lead in Honduras’ elections. More violence in Pakistan’s northwest. The Ukrainian military disputes Russian claims of gains in the Donbas. Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to cut off Ukrainian access to the sea. Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces are systematically holding trapped residents for ransom in El-Fasher. Venezuela resumes repatriation flights. The Philippine military is using U.S. hardware in its counter-insurgency efforts, a new Drop Site report shows. As the feds closed in on Jeffrey Epstein, he estimated in a private email that there might be as many as 20 underage victims, Saagar Enjeti reports for Drop Site.

This is Drop Site Daily, our new, free daily news recap. We send it Monday through Friday.

Members of the armed wings of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad oversee the retrieval of the body of an Israeli captive in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza on December 3, 2025 (Screenshot of video by Abdel Qader Sabbah).

The Genocide in Gaza

• New Israeli attacks: At least two Palestinians were killed on Wednesday in Israeli attacks outside the yellow line in the Zeitoun neighbourhood in Gaza City, according to Al Jazeera.

• Casualty counts in last 24 hours: The bodies of five Palestinians arrived at hospitals in Gaza over the past 24 hours, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, including four killed in new Israeli attacks and one recovered from under the rubble. At least 13 Palestinians were wounded. The total recorded death toll since October 7, 2023 is now 70,117 killed, with 170,999 injured.

• Total casualty counts since ceasefire: Since October 11, the first full day of the ceasefire, Israel has killed at least 360 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded 922, while 617 bodies have been recovered from under the rubble, according to the Ministry of Health.

• Israel to open Rafah crossing for exits only: Israel announced on Wednesday that the Rafah border crossing with Egypt will open in the coming days but “exclusively for the exit of residents from the Gaza Strip to Egypt.” In a statement on X, Israel’s Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) posted that “The residents’ exit through the Rafah Crossing will be facilitated through coordination with Egypt, following security approval by Israel and under the supervision of the European Union mission, similar to the mechanism that operated in January 2025.” However, Egypt rejected the announcement, with the official State Information Service quoting an official source saying that “should an agreement be reached to open the crossing, movement would take place in both directions—into and out of the Strip—in accordance with what stated in the plan put forward by U.S. President Donald Trump.”

• Body of Israeli captive to be handed over: The armed wings of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad have announced that they will hand over the body of an Israeli captive at 5pm local time today. Drop Site contributor Abdel Qader Sabbah obtained exclusive footage of the retrieval of the body in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza earlier today. Watch here. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Wednesday forensic testing had revealed the partial remains returned by Hamas on Tuesday did not match any of the remaining bodies of captives in Gaza. Twenty living Israeli captives and the remains of 26 others have been returned to Israel since the ceasefire began on October 10. Israel has been releasing 15 Palestinian bodies for the remains of each hostage as part of the ceasefire agreement. The Gaza Health Ministry said the total number of remains received so far is 330, many of them bore signs of torture and field execution and only a fraction have been identified.

• Over 6,000 urgent amputee cases: To mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities today, the health ministry in Gaza said amputees are facing “shocking conditions“ in the enclave. There are currently over 6,000 cases requiring urgent, long-term rehabilitation programs, the ministry said, a quarter of them children. Read Drop Site’s report about child amputees in Gaza here.

West Bank and Israel

• Reporting on the Trump-Netanyahu call: During their call on Monday, President Donald Trump pressed Benjamin Netanyahu on Israel’s continued attacks in Gaza, according to Axios. Trump is asking why Israeli forces were killing Hamas fighters trapped in tunnels inside Israeli-controlled areas rather than allowing them to surrender—a direct breach of the ceasefire. It has been reported that U.S. officials have been pushing an amnesty deal for these fighters that might test the viability of disarming Hamas; Netanyahu, however, defended his administration’s choice to be aggressive, claiming that the fighters are “armed and dangerous.”

• Celebrity petition for Marwan Barghouti’s release: Over 200 prominent actors, writers, musicians, and other cultural figures have signed an open letter urging Israel to release Palestinian political prisoner Marwan Barghouti. A prominent member of Fatah, Barghouti has spent 23 years in Israeli detention on multiple life sentences. The list of signatories includes actors Tilda Swinton, Sir Ian McKellen, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Mark Ruffalo; writers Zadie Smith, Margaret Atwood, and Annie Ernaux; and musicians Sting, Brian Eno, and Paul Simon. “We express our grave concern at the continuing imprisonment of Marwan Barghouti, his violent mistreatment and denial of legal rights whilst imprisoned. We call upon the United Nations and the governments of the world to actively seek the release of Marwan Barghouti from Israeli prison,” the statement reads. A global campaign for the release of Barghouti, spearheaded by his family, was launched several days ago.

• Some Democratic legislators secretly tried to help free Palestinian American Mohammed Zaher Ibrahim: Journalist Jasper Nathaniel told the Majority Report that a few AIPAC-funded lawmakers quietly tried to help free Mohammed Zaher Ibrahim, the American teen who spent nine months in Israeli prisons, but told him they had to do so “secretly.” He noted that these lawmakers are too afraid of AIPAC to take any credit, and added that the lawmakers in question were not Chuck Schumer, Kirsten Gillibrand, or Dan Goldman.

U.S. News

• Immigration operation targets Somalis in MN: The Trump administration has launched a major immigration enforcement operation in the Minneapolis–St. Paul area, according to the New York Times, targeting hundreds of undocumented Somalis, and deploying roughly 100 federal agents. Local officials and advocates warn the crackdown risks civil rights violations and racial profiling in a state where most Somali residents are U.S. citizens, with reports already circulating of racially-motivated arrests and federal agents pulling Somali people from their vehicles.

• Trump disparages Ilhan Omar in a racist attack, Summer Lee responds: President Donald Trump called Somali immigrants “garbage” and labeled Rep. Ilhan Omar “garbage” during a White House press event, which Omar’s colleague Summer Lee immediately condemned. Rep. Lee said his words “put a target” on Omar, her family, and her community, and warned about the potential effects of this type of speech.

• Trump official calls Mamdani an “antisemitic demagogue,” details admin’s campaign against universities: Trump DOJ official Harmeet Dhillon labeled Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani “an antisemitic demagogue” during a pro-Israel summit in New York City. Her remarks diverge from those of President Donald Trump, who recently defended Mamdani against Republicans like Elise Stefanik, calling him a “jihadist.” Dillon, in charge of the DOJ’s civil rights enforcement arm, also described the administration’s crackdown on schools as a response to their alleged antisemitism.

• Clinton, echoing Sarah Hurwitz, blames TikTok for youth opposition to Israel: Hillary Clinton told an audience yesterday that young people have become pro-Palestinian because they are consuming “totally made up” videos and “pure propaganda” on social media. She made the remarks at the Israel Hayom conference in New York City, an event hosted by Trump donor Miriam Adelson.

• Pro-Israel group may have pushed for FARA violations: Leaked emails show that Act for Israel—a U.S.-based pro-Israel advocacy group founded by Israeli-American actor Noa Tishby—secretly coordinated with the Israeli government to shape U.S. media coverage, likely violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act, Connor Echols reported in Responsible Statecraft. The documents detail how the group arranged interviews for IDF delegations, placed pro-Israel content in major outlets, organized junkets that required favorable coverage, and relied on advisers like Joshua Trevino for undeclared PR work. Read his full report here.

• ICE’s plan for a “mega” warehouse detention facility: ICE has taken a major step toward creating “mega” warehouse-style detention centers, signing a nearly $30 million contract for “concept designs” with KPB Services LLC. The agency appears to be pursuing plans to convert vacant Amazon-style facilities into mass holding sites, as reported by NBC. With a budget that has nearly tripled under President Donald Trump, the agency has announced plans to double detention capacity to 100,000 people by year’s end, which has inspired frenzied activity on the part of contractors seeking to profit from the expansion. Read The Lever’s full reporting on this here.

• Trump admin wants to block SNAP benefits in blue states: The Trump administration is threatening to cut off Democratic-led states from billions in federal funds needed to run SNAP unless governors hand over detailed beneficiary data—a demand already blocked by a federal judge and widely criticized as potentially unlawful. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said states that refuse to comply will lose administrative funding, a move governors and experts warn could destabilize food assistance for millions and weaponize hunger in the name of fighting largely nonexistent fraud.

• Six-year-old is missing after ICA separated him from his father: ICE agents arrested a Chinese father and his 6-year-old son during a check-in at 26 Federal Plaza. The officers separated them and sent the father to Orange County Jail, where he is presently detained, while the child’s whereabouts remain unknown, advocates told reporters at The City. The case is part of a rising pattern of children being detained during ICE check-ins, with newly released data showing more than 150 minors arrested this year alone. More about this case can be read here.

• New York has the highest proportion of ICE arrests involving immigrants without criminal records: Of all 50 states, New York has the highest proportion of ICE arrests targeting immigrants with no criminal record, according to a new report from Drop Site contributor Meghnad Bose, with over 60% of these arrests involve someone who has not engaged in any additional unlawful activity. Read his full reporting at Documented NY here.

International News

• The RSF’s systematic hostage tactics: The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan that took over El-Fasher in late October are systematically holding trapped residents for ransom and killing or beating those whose families cannot pay, according to an investigation by Reuters based on interviews with 33 former captives and 10 aid workers and researchers. “Accounts suggest that large groups are being held in a cluster of villages within 80 km (50 miles) of El-Fasher, while others have been brought back into the city as the RSF demands payments worth thousands of dollars from their relatives,” Reuters reported. Survivors described paying ransoms of between 5 million ($1,400) and 60 million ($17,000) Sudanese pounds. “Many of those who could not pay were shot at close range or mowed down in groups, 11 survivors said, while other captives were badly beaten,” the report said.

• Ex-Honduran president released from prison: Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández was released from a U.S. prison on Monday night, hours after President Donald Trump issued a pardon wiping out his drug-trafficking conviction. Hernández, once a key U.S. ally, had been serving a 45-year sentence for running a cocaine pipeline through Honduras. His wife Ana García confirmed his release on social media.

• Ukraine claims it still holds Pokrovsk: Ukraine said Tuesday its forces were still fighting inside Pokrovsk, an important logistics hub in Donetsk, after Russia claimed to have captured the city and released footage of troops raising a flag in the central square. Kyiv claimed that combat in the city is ongoing and said the Russian unit that planted the flag had been pushed back, according to reporting from AFP. By contrast, Russian President Vladimir Putin has signaled confidence in his military’s control of the city, inviting journalists to tour it and portraying the advance as key to achieving Russia’s wartime objectives.

• Putin threatens to cut off Ukraine’s access to the sea: Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to cut off Ukraine’s access to the sea on Tuesday, Reuters reported, in response to recent Ukrainian drone strikes on Russia’s “shadow fleet.” Putin warned that Moscow would step up attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure and take measures against tankers aiding Kyiv. The threat comes as fighting has heated up in the Black Sea in recent weeks. Ukraine denied involvement in a recent attack on a Russian-flagged tanker off Turkey’s coast.

• Sudan’s military denies that the RSF took control of Babanusa: The Sudanese Armed Forces denied on Tuesday that the Rapid Support Forces had seized Babanusa, saying they had repelled a new RSF assault, despite the paramilitary group releasing videos asserting it had taken key army positions after a weeks-long siege. Fighting continues in and around the strategic West Kordofan city, which serves as a gateway to Darfur, Al Jazeera reported, with analysts warning that a change in control of the city would further shift the war’s momentum towards the RSF.

• Venezuela resumes repatriation flights: Venezuela said Tuesday it would resume U.S. deportation flights just days after suspending them in response to President Donald Trump’s demand that Venezuelan airspace be treated as “closed.” Officials relayed to the AFP that the authorization came directly from President Nicolás Maduro.

• EU updates Syrians’ asylum applications: The European Union on Wednesday issued updated guidance for asylum applications by Syrian nationals, one year after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad, saying that opponents of Assad and those who evaded military conscription “are no longer at risk of persecution.” The changes could affect the result of asylum requests of over 110,000 Syrians who were still awaiting an asylum decision at the end of September.

• Election results in Honduras tilt towards Nasralla: Centrist Salvador Nasralla edged ahead of Nasry Asfura—a conservative backed by President Donald Trump—as Honduras resumed counting votes from Sunday’s presidential election. With more than two days of tallying, Nasralla held 39.93% to Asfura’s 39.86%, according to the country’s electoral council. Read more in a post-election report from Drop Site correspondent José Luis Granados Ceja.

• Violence in Pakistan’s northwest: Suspected militants ambushed a vehicle carrying a government administrator in northwest Pakistan’s Bannu district on Tuesday, killing him, two guards, and a passerby, according to reporting from the AP. This comes a day after a suicide bombing in nearby Lakki Marwat killed a senior police officer. No group has claimed responsibility for that attack, though Pakistani authorities blame the Pakistani Taliban.

• Naval tensions in Asia: Two Chinese Coast Guard ships entered waters around Japan’s disputed Senkaku Islands and surrounded a Japanese fishing boat on Tuesday, prompting Japan’s Coast Guard to deploy ships to intervene and expel them. The incident came amid weeks of rising tensions between the two countries amid a war of words over Taiwan. Beijing and Tokyo issued conflicting claims about the naval incident, which signaled rising “grey-zone” activities and the growing risk of further escalation in the East China Sea.

More From Drop Site

• New Drop Site reporting on Epstein: Jeffrey Epstein wrote in an April 2007 email to himself that federal agents “know of…girls between the ages of 16–18,” estimating “we should assume that there are 20 girls in that age range,” a disclosure that aligns with later-unsealed FBI emails identifying at least 34 potential minor victims. Read more from Saagar Enjeti here.

• The Philippines’s military uses U.S. weaponry in counterinsurgency missions: Philippine forces have repeatedly deployed U.S.-supplied attack helicopters and jets in rural counterinsurgency missions since 2023 to bomb farming communities, coerce civilians, and allegedly use white phosphorus in its campaign against the dwindling New People’s Army, a new report from Drop Site contributor Nick Aspinwall unveils. Washington frames these arms transfers as part of regional defense against China, but residents describe an unaccountable military turning those weapons on domestic targets, with one farmer saying, “Now, when children hear helicopters, they go and hide.” Read the full report here.

• Highlights from Drop Site’s Tuesday livestream:

  • Jeremy Scahill discusses his most recent report with Jawa Ahmad on the relationship between the Trump Gaza plan and the Palestinian Authority’s attempts to crowd out its rivals. Here, he talks about his interviews with leaders of all Palestinian factions and, in particular, his conclusions about Abbas’s electoral maneuvers against popular alternatives.

  • Scahill recalls when Yahya Sinwar attempted to broker a deal for the Palestinian Authority to return and assume power in Gaza in 2017. Still, Mahmoud Abbas backed away under U.S. and Israeli pressure. He adds that Abbas’s political insecurity isn’t about Hamas alone: the most popular national figure remains Marwan Barghouti, whose broad legitimacy threatens both Israel and Abbas.

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