Israel kills over 20 in Gaza; U.S. shoots down alleged Iranian drone; At least 162 people killed in west Nigeria attack

Drop Site Daily: February 4, 2026

Israeli strikes kill over 20 Palestinians in Gaza, including five children. Children die from lack of medical care as medical evacuations through Rafah remain at a trickle. UN says Rafah reopening far from sufficient in daily briefing. Israel imposes strict limits on Gaza returnees at crossing, as one returnee describes abuse at Rafah crossing. Israeli forces shoot dead Palestinian man in Jericho. Israeli troops arrest over two dozen Palestinians in West Bank raids. European diplomats urge EU action against Israel. UAE denies plans to administer Gaza’s civil society. U.S. military shoots down an alleged Iranian drone, as the U.S. and Iran agree to hold talks in Oman. Judge blocks end of TPS for Haitians as crisis deepens in Haiti. Drop Site asks members of congress about Jeffrey Epstein’s ties to Israeli intelligence and the killing of Alex Pretti by federal agents. Federal judge bars DHS from using crowd-control weapons at Portland protests. Detained fourth-grader released from ICE custody after public outcry. President Trump meets with Colombia’s president for White House talks. Michigan sues big oil for blocking clean energy transition. Gunmen kill at least 162 people in west Nigeria. The UN warns displacement is accelerating across Sudan. RSF and SPLM-N seize town in Sudan’s Blue Nile. U.S. warship deploys off Haiti amid political deadline. Russia launches a massive winter strike on Ukraine’s power grid. Venezuela’s interim government meets U.S. envoy amid transition talks. “The Filton 24” direct actionists affiliated with Palestine Action are acquitted in a UK court on charges brought against them for sabotaging Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems. New from Drop Site: HRW director resigns after report on the Palestinian right of return shelved.

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

Injured Palestinians are brought to al-Aqsa Martyrs' Hospital for medical treatment following the Israeli attack on a makeshift tent despite the ceasefire agreement in Deir al-Balah, Gaza on February 4, 2026 (Photo by Stringer/Anadolu via Getty Images).

The Gaza Genocide, West Bank, and Israel

• Casualty counts: At least 22 Palestinians were killed and 38 were injured in Israeli attacks on Wednesday, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The total recorded death toll since October 7, 2023 is now 71,824 killed, with 171,608 injured. Since October 11, the first full day of the ceasefire, Israel has killed at least 556 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded 1,500, while 717 bodies have been recovered from under the rubble, according to the Ministry of Health.

• Israeli strikes kill civilians in Gaza: Among the Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on Wednesday were five children, seven women, and a paramedic, according to the Associated Press. A strike on a building in the Tuffah neighborhood in eastern Gaza City killed at least 11 people, mostly from the same family, including two parents, a 10-day-old girl, her 5-month-old cousin and their grandmother, the AP reported. Israeli strikes also hit the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City and Al-Mawasi and Khan Younis in the south, killing several people.

• Children die as Rafah crossing trickle blocks care: The limited reopening of the Rafah crossing has done little to save Gaza’s patients, as children continue to die waiting for medical evacuation, Palestine Online reports. 7-year-old Anwar Al-Ashi died of kidney failure yesterday, the same day the crossing was partially reopened after weeks of waiting for treatment unavailable in Gaza. His family had hoped he would be allowed to travel, but only a handful of patients were permitted to leave. Doctors said evacuation approvals have been cut from about 50 patients per day to as few as five, a pace health officials call a “slow death sentence,” while the Gaza Health Ministry said more than 20,000 patients remain on waiting lists. No more than 16 patients have exited the Rafah crossing in the past 48 hours, according to Shehab News citing the Gaza Ministry of Health.

• UN says Rafah reopening far from sufficient in daily briefing: United Nations humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said Rafah’s partial reopening is “not enough” and that Rafah must operate as a true humanitarian corridor, after just five patients and seven companions were evacuated when the crossing briefly opened. The UN warned that the current pace of evacuations would take roughly 12 years to address Gaza’s medical crisis.

• Israel imposes strict limits on Gaza returnees at crossing: Israeli forces issued new directives at the Rafah crossing, allowing each returnee to the Strip to enter with only one personal bag containing clothing and documents, and banning liquids, cigarettes, and all electronics except a single mobile phone. Individuals are also limited to bringing up to 2,000 shekels (about $600) in cash, contingent on submitting a declaration 24 hours in advance.

• Gaza returnee describes abuse at Rafah crossing: Returnee Sabah al-Raqab told Al-Resalah Net that the Israel-backed Abu Shebab militia seized her at the Rafah crossing, handed her to Israeli forces, and subjected her and other women to beatings, strip searches, handcuffing, humiliation, and hours of interrogation. She said the militia stole belongings, threatened women with arrest and death, and allowed only one of six return buses to enter Gaza after Israeli patrols escorted them to the checkpoint, calling the journey “a piece of hell.”

• Israeli troops kill Palestinian man in Jericho: A Palestinian man Saeed Nael Saeed al-Sheikh, 24, was shot dead by Israeli forces on Tuesday evening during a raid in Jericho in the occupied West Bank, according to Al Jazeera. On Monday, in Qalqilya, Omar Zahir al-Mane‘i, 20, died of wounds sustained after being shot by Israeli troops near the separation wall. Separately, three residents of Tira—Asil Qassem, Hadi Nasser, and Jubran Nasser, all in their twenties—were killed last night in a Palestinian city inside the 1948 territories, according to Haaretz. A total of 32 Palestinians have been killed inside the 1948 areas since the start of 2026.

• Israeli forces arrest 25 Palestinians in West Bank raids : Israeli forces arrested at least 25 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, according to Al Jazeera, and dozens more are being interrogated in Nablus. Among those arrested was Dr. Mustafa Al-Shennar, a sociology professor at An-Najah National University, after raiding his home in the Al-Ma’ajin neighborhood of the city of Nablus early this morning.

• Former European diplomats urge EU action against Israel: More than 400 former senior European diplomats and officials urged the European Union to increase pressure on Israel to halt violations of international law in Gaza and the West Bank, including civilian killings, aid restrictions, and settlement expansion, The Guardian reported. In a letter signed by 403 former ambassadors and officials—including ex–EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell—they called for a time-bound review and a potential suspension of the EU–Israel Association Agreement. They also urged compliance with rulings by the International Court of Justice, including suspending arms transfers and trade with illegal settlements. The signatories warned the EU against joining President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace,” arguing it risks sidelining the United Nations.

• UAE denies plans to govern Gaza: UAE Minister of State Reem Al Hashimy rejected reports from Israel’s Channel 12 claiming Abu Dhabi would assume civilian administration of Gaza, calling them “false and unfounded” in a foreign ministry statement. Gaza’s governance “is the responsibility of the Palestinian people,” Hashimy said, while confirming the UAE’s participation in the Gaza Executive Board and as a founding member of the Board of Peace, describing the role as focused on expanding humanitarian aid and pursuing what she termed “a durable peace.”

• The Nation observes a “Day for Gaza”: The Nation Magazine announced on Tuesday that it would dedicate its entire website to voices from Gaza for a special initiative called “A Day for Gaza,” publishing only pieces coming directly from people in the enclave as the war continues. “Today, as Gaza continues to be stuck in a bloody limbo, we are turning our website over to Gaza and its people.” Read some of the pieces here.

U.S. News

• U.S. military shoots down an alleged Iranian drone, as the U.S. and Iran agree to hold talks in Oman: The U.S. military on Tuesday says it shot down an alleged Iranian drone that, according to U.S. Central Command, “continued to fly toward the ship despite de-escalatory measures taken by US forces operating in international waters,” while there was no immediate comment from the Iranian authorities. Iran’s Tasnim news agency, citing an unnamed source with knowledge of the matter, reported that communication was lost with a drone in international waters and that an investigation was underway to determine why the disconnection took place, according to Al Jazeera. Meanwhile, nuclear negotiations between the United States and Iran are expected to take place in Oman on Friday after Tehran requested moving the venue from Turkey and limiting the scope to its nuclear program, a shift agreed to by the U.S. administration, Axios reported, citing an Arab source. Both sides continue discussing details including timing and participation of other regional countries amid increasing military tensions in the region and a US troop buildup.

• Judge blocks end of TPS for Haitians as crisis deepens in Haiti: A federal judge in Washington, DC, halted the Department of Homeland Security from terminating Temporary Protected Status for roughly 350,000 Haitian nationals, keeping work authorization and legal protections in place, as the Trump administration announced it will appeal the decision. Separately, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani urged Haitian New Yorkers with protected status to seek the city’s free legal immigration services and explore all available paths to keep their status.

• “It’s an absolute bloodbath,” massive layoffs at the Washington Post: Washington Post Editor-in-Chief Matt Murray on Wednesday morning announced a “broad strategic reset” that will result in “significant” layoffs across the company. Employees received an email on Wednesday morning asking them to attend a Zoom meeting at 8:30 a.m. after which they will learn their fate via email.

  It’s not yet known how many staffers will be laid off. “It’s an absolute bloodbath,” one employee told The Guardian. Murray told employees that the Post was ending the current iteration of its popular sports desk, though some employees will remain on a new team. The Post is also restructuring its local coverage, reducing its international reporting operation, and suspending its flagship daily news podcast Post Reports and eliminating its Book World literary coverage. The layoffs also include a reporter who covered Amazon, a company owned by tech billionaire Jeff Bezos who also owns the Washington Post. Over the past week, Post employees had been urging Bezos to stop the planned cuts, signing letters and sending personalized messages on social media that conveyed the importance of the Washington Post’s journalism. Bezos has remained silent, and did not respond to a series of letters sent by staffers representing the newspaper’s foreign, local, and White House reporting teams. On Monday, though, Bezos was there in person to warmly greet U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for a tour of another one of the companies he owns—Bezos’s Blue Origin spaceflight startup in Florida.

• Drop Site asks members of congress about Epstein and Israeli intelligence, as well as the shooting of Alex Pretti:

  • Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) told Drop Site’s Julian Andreone that he could not say for certain, but it “wouldn’t surprise” him if Jeffrey Epstein had ties to intelligence agencies, including Israel’s Mossad. “His network was vast,” he said, adding that this is why “total transparency” is needed. Watch the full exchange here.

  • Drop Site’s Julian Andreone also asked Senator Tommy Tuberville about his remarks condemning Alex Pretti for bringing a firearm to the protest against ICE, and whether he applies the same condemnation to Kyle Rittenhouse, who fatally shot protesters after arriving armed at a 2020 demonstration in Wisconsin. “He was defending himself,” Tuberville said about Rittenhouse. “He went there for a reason; Pretti was not being attacked, he went there to create some kind of problem.” The full interaction is available here.

• Judge bars DHS from using crowd-control weapons at Portland protests: U.S. District Judge Michael Simon ordered federal agents to stop firing tear gas and projectile munitions at peaceful protesters and journalists outside a Portland Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility, saying the force appeared aimed at suppressing legal opposition to deportation policies. The ruling, issued in a case brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon, temporarily restricts these DHS tactics unless a specific individual poses an imminent threat, marking the fourth judicial curb on federal crowd-control practices this year.

• Detained fourth-grader released from ICE custody after public outcry: A Columbia Heights fourth-grader, Elizabeth Zuna Caisaguano, and her mother were released Tuesday evening from a Texas detention center after school officials and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz publicly demanded their release, according to reporting from Sahan Journal. The mother and daughter spent nearly a month in custody at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility, and Elizabeth was sent to the facility, even though she made contact with her father upon her mother’s arrest, meaning a “trusted adult” could care for her, and making it unnecessary to detain her alongside her mother.

• Trump meets with Colombia’s president for White House talks: President Donald Trump said his February 3 Oval Office meeting with Colombian President Gustavo Petro was “very good” and “terrific,” marking a turn from earlier public insults he issued against Petro. The two leaders met privately in Washington for two hours. Trump said they reached an agreement on counternarcotics cooperation and are “working on some other things too, including sanctions,” adding that relations improved despite past tensions. He gave Petro a signed copy of his book, “The Art of the Deal,” with a handwritten message: “You are great.” He also signed a photo for Petro with the note: “Gustavo—A great honor—I love Colombia.” Petro traveled to Washington, DC, on a special visa after the Trump administration revoked his previous one in September after Petro joined a pro-Palestine rally outside the UN headquarters in New York.

• Khanna criticizes Schumer over unconditional Israel aid: Rep. Ro Khanna said on Breaking Points that he was stunned by Sen. Chuck Schumer publicly touting U.S. military aid to Israel: “I couldn’t believe it. Here is a nation that has committed genocide in Gaza, and Chuck Schumer, in the same years, is bragging about providing them unconditional military aid.” Khanna also condemned the latest appropriations bill for what he described as a more than $6 billion “blank check” for Israel and a tripling of Immigration and Customs Enforcement funding, labeling both provisions “deeply problematic.”

• Michigan sues Big Oil for blocking clean energy transition: Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel filed a federal antitrust lawsuit accusing ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, Shell, and the American Petroleum Institute of a decades-long conspiracy to suppress electric vehicles and renewable energy to protect fossil-fuel dominance. The complaint argues the companies coordinated through industry groups to buy and kill clean-energy patents, undermine competitors, and mislead the public, while a federal judge dismissed a Trump administration attempt to block the case before it was filed. Nessel said the lawsuit targets corporate conduct that drove up energy costs and stalled climate-friendly solutions, calling it one of the most sweeping antitrust challenges yet against the fossil-fuel industry. Read a full summary of the suit from The Lever here.

Sudan

• Quad agrees on draft Sudan peace framework: The Quad—the United States, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates—has reached agreement on a draft “peace document” for Sudan acceptable to both sides of the war, said U.S. presidential advisor on African affairs Massad Boulos, according to the Sudan Tribune. The plan seeks a humanitarian truce, open aid corridors, and oversight of limited military withdrawals under a UN mechanism before being submitted to the UN Security Council.

• U.S. pledge covers small share of Sudan aid needs: The 2026 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan from the United Nations calls for about $2.9 billion to reach roughly 20 million people across Sudan. The United States announced a $200 million pledge—just under 7% of the funding the UN says is required.

• UN warns displacement is accelerating across Sudan: The United Nations said displacement is intensifying on multiple fronts, with more than 10,000 people in South Kordofan now living in camps facing severe shortages of food, healthcare, water, shelter, and education after fleeing Kadugli and Dilling. In North Darfur, more than 1,000 newly displaced people have arrived in Tawila in recent days, while insecurity continues to drive further displacement across East Darfur and in the Blue Nile state.

• RSF and SPLM-N seize town in Sudan’s Blue Nile: Rapid Support Forces and al-Hilu units of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement–North attacked Sudanese army positions across Blue Nile State on Tuesday, capturing the strategic town of Deim Mansour and nearby areas in Kurmuk County, according to the Sudan Tribune. Government officials and military intelligence sources alleged Ethiopia facilitated the assault, citing tracked cross-border movements from the Benishangul-Gumuz region and drone strikes they allege were launched from UAE-linked bases.

• Attacks in Kadugli kill children after siege broken: The Sudan Doctors Network said the death toll from Rapid Support Forces and SPLM-N attacks in Kadugli has risen to more than 15 people, including seven children, with strikes hitting multiple neighborhoods and with seven civilians killed in the Kashmir neighborhood of the city alone. The assaults followed the Sudanese army’s announcement that it broke a long-running siege of Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan, where the UN has warned that famine conditions are taking hold, as the RSF continues drone attacks on civilian areas.

Other International News

• Gunmen killed at least 162 people in west Nigeria attack, says Red Cross: Gunmen have killed at least 162 people in a village in Kwara state in western Nigeria, a Red Cross official has said, making it one of the deadliest attacks in recent months in the country, according to The Guardian. “Reports said that the death toll now stands at 162, as the search for more bodies continues,” said Babaomo Ayodeji, the Kwara state secretary of the Red Cross, updating the earlier toll of 67. The attack was confirmed by police and the Nigerian government, which blamed “terrorist cells” for the casualties. “Many others escaped into the bush with gunshots,” said Sa’idu Baba Ahmed, a local lawmaker in the Kaiama region, adding that more bodies could be found. The gunmen invaded Woro at about 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday and set “shops and the king’s palace ablaze,” said Ahmed. He added that the traditional king’s whereabouts were unknown.

• 24 Palestine Action activists who sabotaged Elbit Systems in the UK acquitted of charges or not convicted: After 8 full days of deliberation, a UK jury has acquitted or not convicted the “Filton 24,” direct actionists affiliated with Palestine Action, five of whom admitted in court to destroying Israeli weapons and equipment belonging to Israel’s largest weapons firm Elbit Systems. The defendants were acquitted—or not convicted—of all offenses leveled against them, including violent offenses. Campaigners say this result is a “monumental victory” that has “vindicated” the defendants, who were smeared by government ministers as “violent criminals.” Campaigners added that the refusal to convict the defendants of criminal damage, despite evidence of damage to Israeli weapons, shows that “the jury understood that it is not those who destroy Israeli weapons who are guilty; rather, the guilty party is the one that deploys such weapons to commit genocide in Gaza.”

• Saif Gaddafi killed in western Libya: Saif Gaddafi, the most prominent son of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, was killed in the western Libyan city of Zintan, figures close to him confirmed. His political team said he was assassinated by four masked men who broke into his home. Long seen as his father’s heir-apparent before the 2011 uprising, he had been living in Zintan since his capture that year and had been plotting a return to politics after his release from detention in 2017.

• U.S. warship deploys off Haiti amid political deadline: The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Stockdale arrived off Port-au-Prince alongside two U.S. Coast Guard cutters as tensions rise ahead of a February 7 deadline, when Haiti’s nine-member Transitional Presidential Council is set to lose its mandate. The deployment, which was authorized as part of President Trump’s Operation Southern Spear, comes as council members clash over stepping down and as the country faces deepening instability, with armed gangs continuing attacks around the capital.

• Russia launches massive winter strike on Ukraine power grid: Russian forces carried out a major overnight bombardment of Ukraine on Monday night, deploying hundreds of drones and dozens of ballistic missiles and wounding at least 10 people, according to The Associated Press. The attack also heavily targeted energy infrastructure, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Moscow broke a pledge to halt strikes during extreme winter cold. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte called the attack a “really bad signal,” while visiting Kyiv ahead of renewed peace talks in Abu Dhabi. Ukrainian officials said the assault left more than 1,100 apartment buildings in Kyiv without heating and damaged power plants—part of what Ukraine describes as Russia’s ongoing campaign to freeze civilians into submission.

• Venezuela’s interim government meets U.S. envoy amid transition talks: Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodríguez solidified her new government’s control of the country on Monday by appointing key cabinet members and meeting with U.S. Laura Dogu, the U.S. charge d’affaires in Caracas, according to AFP. The two met to discuss Washington’s three-phase plan for stabilization, economic recovery, and transition following the ouster of former President Nicolás Maduro. Veteran diplomat Félix Plasencia was appointed on Monday, parallel to the talks, to lead Venezuela’s diplomatic mission in Washington.

• European officials claim Russian satellite interference: European security officials believe two Russian space vehicles, known as Luch-1 and Luch-2, have intercepted communications from at least a dozen key European satellites, raising concerns that Moscow could compromise sensitive data, manipulate satellite trajectories, or even force crashes. Western military and civilian space authorities say the Russian satellites have intensified close-proximity manoeuvres over the past three years, amid heightened tensions following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

• UN warns of worsening crisis in South Sudan: The United Nations said in its daily briefing that renewed fighting, airstrikes, and insecurity are driving rapid displacement and blocking aid access, particularly in Jonglei State, where about 280,000 people have fled since late December. UNICEF warned that more than 450,000 children nationwide are at risk of acute malnutrition, as cholera spreads in overcrowded displacement sites, while looting and intimidation have crippled relief efforts.

More from Drop Site

• HRW director resigns after report on right of return shelved: Human Rights Watch’s Israel-Palestine Director Omar Shakir resigned Monday after leadership halted publication of a vetted report characterizing Israel’s decades-long denial of Palestinian refugees’ right of return as a crime against humanity. The decision was made by incoming Executive Director Philippe Bolopion two weeks before release, and the intervention bypassed the organization’s established legal review process, Shakir said, and reflected what critics called an “Israel exception.” Senior figures, including former HRW Chief Ken Roth, defended blocking the report, while dozens of staff protested internally. “Israel/Palestine has been the litmus test for every major institution,” Shakir wrote in his resignation email, warning that “Palestine exceptionalism often opens the door to other unprincipled compromises.” Read our full reporting on Shakir’s resignation and on the state of affairs at HRW here.

• Livestream highlights

  • Diplomacy masks U.S. escalation with Iran, Scahill says: Jeremy Scahill said Iranian officials are now openly signaling willingness to meet U.S. envoys, with talks potentially taking place in Ankara, Turkey, later this week, even as Washington continues a major military buildup. Scahill cautioned that diplomacy has previously served as tactical cover, citing Drop Site News reporting that U.S. Central Command told at least one top ally in the region to prepare for possible strikes on Iran.

  • Hussain says U.S. demands undermine Iran diplomacy: Murtaza Hussain argued that current U.S.–Iran talks are structured to block a genuine diplomatic breakthrough. Hussain said that the U.S.’s present demands are “extremely onerous,” noting that even under more favorable conditions a decade ago, the United States struggled to reach an agreement with Iran about its nuclear program.

  • Grim and Scahill link Trump domestic crisis to U.S.–Iran escalation: Ryan Grim and Jeremy Scahill discussed how President Donald Trump’s mounting domestic challenges—including the backlash over the fatal federal immigration agent shootings in Minneapolis that left U.S. citizens dead and sparked protests and investigations—intersect with the U.S. escalation toward Iran and the diplomatic standoff now unfolding. They noted that people close to Trump view foreign confrontation as a political “release valve.”

  • Kouddous says Rafah “reopening” is a political mirage: Sharif Abdel Kouddous said claims that the Rafah crossing has meaningfully reopened—echoed by the European Union—mask a tightly controlled trickle of movement rather than real access for civilians. On the first day, only five Palestinians in critical condition were allowed to leave Gaza with two companions each, despite more than 20,000 people, including 4,500 children, urgently needing medical evacuation, while just 12 Palestinians—mostly women and children—were permitted to return. Those who returned to Gaza described being transferred by the Israel-backed Abu Shabab militia to Israeli checkpoints where they faced hours of interrogation, handcuffing, blindfolding, confiscation of belongings, humiliation, and threats.

  • Watch today’s livestream in full here.

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