Israel kills three Palestinians in Gaza as last Israeli captive is returned; U.S. protests escalate after Minnesota ICU nurse is executed by border patrol agent; Mass graves in Khartoum
Drop Site Daily: January 26, 2026
At least seven Palestinians are killed and at least seven wounded in Israeli attacks in Gaza over the weekend, with at least three Palestinians reportedly killed on Monday. Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt to reopen in the coming days, as Israeli police officer Ran Gvili’s remains are recovered by Israeli forces. Settler attack injures four Palestinians in Birzeit in the West Bank. A Minnesota nurse is executed by a border patrol agent. Senate Democrats threaten shutdown over DHS and ICE reforms. Leaked audio reveals Delcy Rodríguez faced U.S. threats after Maduro’s capture. The Trump administration weighs an oil blockade of Cuba. Families protest at Texas detention facility. Trump threatens Canada with a 100% tariff over a pending trade deal with China. U.S. pressures Bolivia to expel alleged Iranian operatives. The Rapid Support Forces and Sudan People’s Liberation Movement–North launch attacks in Blue Nile. Mass graves found in Khartoum, Sudan’s Al-Riyadh neighborhood. Drone strike kills two civilians in South Kordofan. Syrian ceasefire extends 15 days to facilitate Islamic State detainee transfers. Israeli airstrikes kill two civilians across southern Lebanon and in the Bekaa. U.S. revokes visas of Haitian council members. An attack by militants kills at least 25 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Ukraine talks in Abu Dhabi proceed without a deal. Clashes erupt in Albania as opposition demands Rama’s resignation.
This is Drop Site Daily, our new, free daily news recap. We send it Monday through Friday.
The Gaza Genocide, West Bank, and Israel
Casualty counts in the last 24 hours: In the past 24 hours, the Gaza Health Ministry reported two killed and 20 injured arriving at hospitals. Since the October 11, 2025 ceasefire, there have been 486 killed, 1,341 injured, and 714 bodies recovered, bringing the documented toll from the Israeli genocide in Gaza to 71,660 deaths and 171,419 injuries, with actual injuries likely three to five times higher.
Israeli attacks in Gaza over the weekend killed at least seven and wounded at least seven: At least four Palestinians were killed Saturday, as Israeli forces carried out artillery shelling, drone strikes, and gunfire across the Gaza Strip, including in Jabalia and Khan Younis.
Israeli forces kill man near Al-Mawasi in Khan Younis: Israeli forces shot and killed Manar Saeed Al-Madhoun, 41, near the Al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday, according to Al Aqsa Radio and other Palestinian media.
Israeli shelling hits UNRWA clinic in Jabalia: Israeli shelling of a UNRWA medical clinic in the Jabalia refugee camp on Sunday injured two people, including a pregnant woman and a young man, according to Shehab News Agency.
Israeli strikes kill civilians at Al-Shifa: A second person killed by Israeli artillery fire arrived at Al-Shifa Hospital on Sunday after shelling and gunfire hit the Al-Tuffah neighborhood east of Gaza City, according to Shehab News.
Israeli strike on Shawwa Tower injures four: Four Palestinians were injured Sunday after Israeli forces struck the radio transmitter atop the Shawwa Tower in Gaza City, according to Al Jazeera Mubasher. The attack followed the return to air last Sunday of Sawt al-Quds Radio, which had been off the air for two years.
Fisherman wounded in Israeli naval attack: A Palestinian fisherman was injured and a fishing boat was damaged on Saturday after an Israeli strike off the coast of Nuseirat, according to Ma’an News. The Gaza Fishermen’s Committee said Israeli naval boats fired machine guns and rockets at fishing skiffs west of Wadi Gaza, damaging a boat owned by Youssef Ahmad Salah and wounding him with shrapnel when a shell exploded nearby.
Remains of Ran Gvili recovered by Israeli forces, after Al-Qassam says it provided location details: Israel confirmed the remains of Ron Gvili, a member of an Israeli special police unit who was taken captive on October 7, have been identified and retrieved, according to a statement from The Israeli Defense Forces account posted on X. The Al-Qassam Brigades said on Sunday that it had briefed ceasefire mediators on the location of the remains of Gvili. Thousands of Palestinian bodies remain under the rubble.
Rafah crossing to open in the coming days: Israel said Monday that it will reopen the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt in the coming days. “Israel has agreed to a limited reopening of the Rafah Crossing for pedestrian passage only, subject to a full Israeli inspection mechanism,” the Israeli prime minister’s office said in a statement on X. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu had said the crossing would reopen after the completion of finding the remains of Gvili, which were recovered Monday morning. Aid officials said they hoped the reopened border crossing would allow them to evacuate those in Gaza who need medical care abroad, according to the New York Times. Israel still refuses to let foreign journalists in Gaza, arguing in a Supreme Court hearing Monday morning that Israeli soldiers would be put at risk, even though the ceasefire is more than three months old, and even as Israel has allowed international aid workers to enter the enclave.
Hamas held ceasefire talks with Turkey in Istanbul: Hamas said its leadership met in Istanbul on Saturday with İbrahim Kalın, Turkey’s intelligence chief, to discuss the second phase of the ceasefire “to end the war” and the fulfillment of first-phase commitments, according to a statement issued by the movement. The delegation, led by Khalil al-Hayya, said both sides agreed to continue coordination regarding “concrete steps,” including the opening of the Rafah crossing, the launch of a National Committee to administer Gaza, and expanded aid and shelter access.
Israeli-backed militias given humanitarian aid during famine, WSJ Reports: An Israeli reservist told The Wall Street Journal that during last summer’s famine in Gaza, Israeli military-escorted “humanitarian” convoys delivered food, water, cigarettes, and sealed boxes with unknown contents to Israeli-backed militias. The report says Israel continues to support these militias with intelligence, drones, weapons, and aid. This arrangement reportedly allows Israel to undermine Hamas in areas Israeli forces are barred from directly entering under the ceasefire. Former Gaza division officer Yaron Buskila has acknowledged direct Israeli involvement.
Settler attack injures four Palestinians in Birzeit: Four Palestinians were injured when Israeli settlers attacked a home in the Christian town of Birzeit near Ramallah, with settlers stoning a woman and her son inside their house, according to Wafa. The agency said she suffered a serious head injury and was hospitalized in Ramallah, while Israeli forces later fired tear gas on civilians in the town, arrested three Palestinian youths, and allowed the settlers to leave. The Israeli army told The Times of Israel it responded to reports of Palestinians throwing stones, said one settler was lightly injured, and claimed it detained one Palestinian suspect. Footage circulating on settler Telegram channels corroborates the account of the town’s Palestinians, as the video shows a resident of Palestinian Birzeit surrounded by Israeli settlers and throwing a stone that injured one attacker as he defended his home.
U.S. News
Minnesota nurse murdered by Border Patrol while acting as legal observer: Border Patrol agents shot and killed a 37-year-old Minnesota man, Alex Pretti, in the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis on Saturday morning—the second killing by federal agents during the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement escalation in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Area. Despite the administration’s claims that Pretti and his cohort of protesters were “violent,” all available video of the incident shows him and his group either blowing whistles or recording ICE activity in the neighborhood, which he was doing before he was fatally shot. Family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues describe Pretti, who was employed as a nurse in the intensive care unit at a Minnesota Veterans Affairs Hospital, as a “good man” with a “great heart” opposed to the immigration crackdown. Pretti’s killing sparked new mass protests across the country and demands by local leaders for the Trump administration to end its operation in the city. Ryan Grim, Meghnad Bose, and Rana Roudi reviewed exclusive footage provided to Drop Site and gave frame-by-frame analysis of the killing. That video is available here.
Senate Democrats threaten shutdown over DHS, ICE reforms: Senate Democrats said Sunday they will block a Department of Homeland Security funding bill unless it includes reforms to restrict immigration enforcement activities, with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer telling the caucus the priority is to “restrain, reform and restrict ICE,” NBC News reported. With government funding set to expire Friday, Democrats said the existing funding bills are acceptable, but warned that the bill that funds DHS must be rewritten.
Trump administration weighs oil blockade of Cuba: The Trump administration is debating a plan to use U.S. naval power to cut Cuba off from foreign oil in an effort to force regime change, Politico reported, citing three people familiar with the proposal. The effort is backed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio but remains under internal review. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Wednesday that Mexico will continue sending oil to Cuba despite U.S. pressure, calling the shipments “an act of solidarity” and saying fuel deliveries have already been made amid what she described as an extreme blockade.
Immigrant families protest child detention at Texas facility: Dozens of immigrant families protested Saturday at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, where a 5-year-old Ecuadorian boy, Liam Conejo Ramos, and his father were transferred after being detained in Minnesota, chanting “Libertad” and calling for the release of children, the Texas Tribune reports. Attorneys said federal authorities abruptly cleared visitors from the facility as detainees inside also began protesting. “The message we want to send is for them to treat us with dignity and according to the law. We’re immigrants, with children, not criminals,” a demonstrator said.
Trump threatens Canada with 100% tariff over pending trade deal with China: President Donald Trump said Saturday he would impose a 100% tariff on all Canadian goods, if Canada follows through on a trade deal with China, warning Prime Minister Mark Carney that such a move would endanger the country, according to Reuters. Carney, who recently traveled to China to resolve tariff disputes rather than pursue a full free trade agreement, urged Canadians to buy domestic products and rejected Trump’s rhetoric, as tensions between Washington and Ottawa escalate ahead of trade renegotiations later this year.
U.S. pressures Bolivia to expel alleged Iranian operatives: The United States is pressing Bolivia to expel suspected Iranian intelligence operatives and to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Hezbollah, and Hamas as terrorist organizations, Reuters reported, citing sources familiar with the discussions. The move is part of a broader effort to curb Tehran’s influence in Latin America, and U.S. officials reportedly see a particular opening in Bolivia after the election of President Rodrigo Paz. The administration has discussed pursuing similar efforts in Chile, Peru, and Panama, aligning with Ecuador’s September designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Hamas, and Hezbollah as terrorist organizations. That move was followed last week by an announcement that U.S. ally Argentina would designate Iran’s Quds Force a terrorist group.
Sudan
RSF and SPLM-N launch Blue Nile attacks as a pressure tactic: Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces and an SPLM-N faction led by Joseph Tuka attacked Malakal and El Silak in southern Blue Nile on Saturday, but the Sudanese army said it repelled the assault, with analysts cited by Radio Dabanga saying the move appeared aimed at opening a pressure front rather than seizing territory. The RSF and SPLM-N control parts of southern Blue Nile near the Ethiopian and South Sudanese borders, and while some analysts cite satellite imagery suggesting RSF activity near Ethiopia, others say direct Ethiopian involvement is unlikely given sensitivities around the border and the country’s plans for the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
Mass graves found in Khartoum’s Al-Riyadh neighborhood: Two mass graves containing the remains of thousands of people were discovered in Khartoum’s Al-Riyadh neighborhood, with victims believed to have died under torture at nearby sites previously used by the Rapid Support Forces, according to local sources cited by Anadolu. Sudan’s Attorney General Intisar Ahmed Abdel Aal said efforts are underway to exhume and relocate the bodies of victims, adding that the scale of the killings delayed discovery after the army retook the area in May. Forensic operations in the Khartoum State have already exhumed more than 15,000 bodies.
Minister says RSF carrying out systematic rape across conflict zones: Sudan’s social affairs minister Sulaima Ishaq al-Khalifa told France 24 that rape is being carried out systematically by the Rapid Support Forces, often in front of victims’ families, with survivors ranging in age from 1 to 85. She said assaults documented in Khartoum, Darfur, and El-Fasher were committed by RSF fighters of multiple foreign nationalities, and include fighters from Mali, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Chad, Colombia, and Libya.
Burhan meets Egypt’s intelligence chief over the weekend: Sudanese Armed Forces commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan met Saturday in Port Sudan with Egypt’s intelligence chief Hassan Mahmoud Rashad, with talks covering counterterrorism, Red Sea security, and humanitarian access. Rashad conveyed his country’s support, and the meeting comes as Egypt and Saudi Arabia press eastern Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar to curb the flow of weapons and fuel from Libya to Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces.
Drone strike kills two civilians in South Kordofan: A man and a woman were killed Saturday when a suicide drone struck the Fath al-Rahman neighborhood of Dilling in South Kordofan. The Sudan Doctors Network blamed the Rapid Support Forces and the SPLM-N for the attack, condemning what it described as the deliberate targeting of residential areas and civilian infrastructure.
Other International News
Ceasefire extended 15 days to facilitate IS detainee transfers: Syria’s defense ministry announced Saturday that a four-day truce with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces has been extended by 15 days to support a U.S.-led operation that intends to transfer alleged Islamic State detainees from northeastern Syria to Iraq, a move the SDF said it would honor. The extension comes after weeks of clashes in which the SDF lost territory amid continued Syrian government deployments to the country’s northeast. Washington confirmed hundreds of IS detainees have already been moved to Iraq and has laid out plans to relocate thousands more.
Humanitarian corridor opened to Kobane amid the extended ceasefire: Syria’s military said Sunday that it opened humanitarian corridors to the Kurdish-majority town of Kobane and to parts of the Hasaka province, as a UN convoy carrying food, relief supplies, and fuel headed to the besieged area. The aid comes after weeks of clashes in which the SDF relinquished large areas to government forces, leaving Kobane isolated near the Turkish border.
Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon kill two civilians across the south and in the Bekaa: Israeli forces carried out more than 13 airstrikes Sunday across southern Lebanon and the Bekaa, killing two civilians and wounding several others, according to reporting by L’Orient Today and a Drop Site reporter on the ground. In the Bint Jbeil district, strikes between Kfar Dounin and Bir al-Salassel killed Jawad Basma, while a separate attack between Barish and Derdghaya killed Mohammad al-Husseini in the Sour district, with residents disputing Israeli claims that targeted sites contained weapons.
Nuestra América emergency conference in Colombia: Lawmakers, activists, and organizers from more than 20 Latin American and Caribbean governments, parliaments, and social movements gathered this weekend in Bogotá at the Nuestra América conference, an emergency regional meeting following the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on January 3, in order to develop a regional response to escalating U.S. political, economic, and military pressures across the hemisphere. Delegates adopted the San Carlos Declaration, a collective statement promoting a peaceful, sovereign future for the region that also proposed a wide gamut of actions in the face of the threat of a more aggressive manifestation of U.S. imperialism. Delegates pledged to deepen regional cooperation and solidarity to defend sovereignty, democracy, and peace, calling for coordinated responses to sanctions, militarist tactics, and coercive measures that undermine self-determination of the peoples of the region.
Delcy Rodríguez faced U.S. threats after Maduro capture, according to leaked audio: A leaked audio recording attributed to Delcy Rodríguez reportedly reveals that U.S. forces gave her and other senior Venezuelan officials just 15 minutes after the capture of Nicolás Maduro to comply with Washington’s demands or face death, according to excerpts published by multiple outlets citing the recording first obtained by La Hora de Venezuela. During the footage from the nearly 2-hour meeting, Rodríguez is heard saying the threats began “from the very first minute they kidnapped the president,” with U.S. forces allegedly telling members of the regime they had to decide whether to “meet Washington’s demands” or be killed. The interim president also calls for “unity” on the tape, likely a response to rumors of treasonous activity by members of her administration.
TPS for 350,000 Haitians to expire as UN warns crisis deepens: The Trump administration announced that Temporary Protected Status for roughly 350,000 Haitians in the United States will begin expiring in February 2026, as the head of the UN Integrated Office in Haiti, Carlos Ruiz Massieu, warned Friday that 80–90% of Port-au-Prince remains under gang control and that security conditions have not meaningfully improved. Ruiz Massieu said an international force backing Haiti’s Gang Suppression Force is expected to begin deploying battalions by April 1, with full strength projected by summer or fall. Gang violence on the island has displaced about 1.4 million people and left 5.7 million food-insecure, and the humanitarian response has been severely underfunded. Recent announcements cast doubt on plans for elections in late August and December, which seem unlikely to proceed without major changes in the security situation in the country.
U.S. revokes visas of Haitian council members: The United States said it is revoking visas and imposing new restrictions on two members of Haiti’s Transitional Presidential Council and their immediate family members over alleged involvement with gang operations, according to an announcement made by Trump administration deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott. The move comes after five of the council’s seven voting members reportedly signed a January 22 resolution to remove the U.S.-backed prime minister, though only Edgard Leblanc Fils and Leslie Voltaire publicly announced his dismissal, leaving it unclear whether they are the officials targeted by the visa actions.
UAE-run secret prisons exposed in BBC report: BBC News was granted access by Yemen’s Saudi-backed government to secret detention facilities previously operated by the United Arab Emirates and its allies at former Emirati military bases in southern Yemen, marking the first time journalists have entered the sites. The visit followed the UAE’s withdrawal from Yemen and came amid a widening rift between Abu Dhabi and Riyadh over recent events in the region. A Yemeni official said authorities were unable to access areas under UAE control until recently, adding that the prisons were discovered after those locations were retaken.
Islamic state-linked ADF attack kills at least 25 in Ituri: An attack by the Islamic State-linked Allied Democratic Force killed at least 25 people early Sunday in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ituri province, with victims burned alive or shot in villages across Irumu territory and Walese Vonkutu, according to a local human rights group. Eastern Congo continues to face escalating violence from armed groups, including the ADF and the Rwanda-backed M23.
Ukraine talks in Abu Dhabi proceed without a deal: Ukraine and Russia ended a second day of U.S.-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi without an agreement, but both parties signaled openness to further dialogue, according to statements from Volodymyr Zelenskyy and reporting from Al Jazeera. Zelenskyy said discussions focused on parameters for ending the war and security conditions, though he accused Vladimir Putin of acting “cynically” by launching attacks on the country’s energy infrastructure during negotiations. U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were present at the talks.
Clashes erupt in Tirana as opposition demands Rama’s resignation: Clashes broke out Saturday in Tiranë, Albania, as thousands of opposition supporters rallied against alleged corruption in the government of Prime Minister Edi Rama, demanding his resignation, according to Al Jazeera. The protests were led by opposition leader Sali Berisha. Police said at least 10 officers were injured and 25 protesters were arrested after demonstrators tried to breach security cordons. The unrest comes amid a series of high-profile corruption cases involving senior officials that continue to complicate Albania’s bid to join the European Union.
More from Drop Site
Video Analysis of a CBP Agent Guns Down Minneapolis Nurse: On Saturday, U.S. federal agents killed Alex Jeffrey Pretti in Minneapolis, Minnesota, shooting him multiple times at point blank range while pinned down prone on the ground and surrounded by officers along Nicollet Avenue. Meghnad Bose, Rana Roudi, and Ryan Grim break down a video obtained by Drop Site showing CBP’s killing of Alex Jeffrey Pretti on Saturday.
“Israel Is Turning the Yellow Line Splitting Gaza into a Physical Barrier”: Last month, the Israeli military began constructing earth berms in areas along the yellow line, physically cutting off Palestinians from the Israeli-controlled zone and the rest of Gaza. “This marks a shift from a cartographic line of control to a durable, engineered barrier,” and “[it] physically entrenches the fragmentation of Gaza and further severs Palestinians from large parts of their own territory,” according to a collaborative report by Drop Site and Forensic Architecture, which can be read here.
Programming note: You can sign up here to get updates from us on our WhatsApp channel.
If you want to continue getting this newsletter, you don’t have to do anything. But if this is too much—we do try to be mindful of your inbox—you can unsubscribe from this newsletter while continuing to get the rest of our reporting. Just go into your account here at this link, scroll down, and toggle the button next to “Drop Site Daily” to the off setting. It looks like this:
What’s most striking is how normalized all of this is made to feel when it’s listed together: Palestinians killed under a so-called ceasefire, a U.S. nurse executed by a federal agent while observing ICE, mass graves uncovered after torture sites are retaken. Different geographies, same logic—state violence first, accountability never. Drop Site’s daily format makes the through-line impossible to ignore: militarized power is being used to police, punish, and disappear people, and the institutions meant to check it are either complicit or silent. This isn’t a series of isolated crises; it’s one system operating globally.