Senate Republicans block effort to limit further U.S. action in Venezuela; Witkoff announces "Phase Two" of U.S. plan for Gaza

Drop Site Daily: January 15, 2026

The UN says Israeli airstrikes, shelling, and other attacks in Gaza surged last week, with more than 300 incidents causing mass casualties. Amid ongoing Israeli attacks, U.S. Envoy Steve Witkoff announces advance to “phase two” in the framework for Gaza’s governance. The Palestinian Authority backs Gaza’s technocratic committee implemented by U.S. planners. Israeli raid on Shuafat camp destroys food and abducts residents. Iran’s foreign minister discusses diplomacy and tweets on Fox News. India–Iran rice trade stalls. President Donald Trump casts doubt on Iranian opposition figure Reza Pahlavi’s prospects. U.S. to suspend immigrant visa processing for 75 countries. Federal agent shoots a man in Minneapolis amid ongoing ICE protests. Trump and acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez tout positive diplomatic call, as U.S. sells first Venezuelan oil cargo. A newly released Justice Department memo cites calls from Venezuela’s opposition to oust Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Judge orders Ohio State University to reinstate student punished over pro-Palestinian speech. ICE expands sniper and tactical training with private contractors after budget spikes. Fighting in Sudan’s Blue Nile risks regional spillover, as the Sudanese Army says it repelled a Rapid Support Forces attack near Kadugli. Sudan peace talks resume in Cairo amid deepening war. First humanitarian aid reaches El Fasher after 18 months. Starlink cuts the internet in Uganda as polls open. Syrian army opens evacuation corridor east of Aleppo ahead of possible offensive. Separatist attack kills 14, including seven children, in Cameroon’s northwest. Clashes with MPRD rebels kill at least six in southern Chad. Cambodia warns Thai troop presence threatens fragile border truce. Azerbaijan releases four Armenian prisoners in sign of easing tensions. Three Palestine Action prisoners end hunger strike after the UK government declined to award a £2 billion military training contract to Elbit Systems. New from Drop Site: Epstein helped broker Israel–UAE ties behind Abraham Accords.

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Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) (R) and Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) hold a news conference after a Venezuela war powers resolution was blocked in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol on January 14, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The Gaza Genocide, West Bank, and Israel

• Casualty counts in the last 24 hours: Over the past 24 hours, the bodies of two Palestinians arrived at hospitals in Gaza, while five Palestinians were injured, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. The total recorded death toll since October 7, 2023 is now 71,441 killed, with 171,329 injured.

• Total casualty counts since ceasefire: Since October 11, the first full day of the ceasefire, Israel has killed at least 451 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded 1,251, while 710 bodies have been recovered from under the rubble, according to the Ministry of Health.

• Witkoff announces “Phase Two” of Gaza plan, amid ongoing Israeli attacks: In his announcement of the change Wednesday, U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said Phase Two of President Donald Trump’s 20-point Gaza plan shifts from a ceasefire to “demilitarization, technocratic governance, and reconstruction,” includes the creation of an interim body, the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, and entails the disarmament of all unauthorized forces, which Washington expects Hamas to accept. While Witkoff praised Phase One for aid deliveries and the return of captives, assistance remains stockpiled at the border, and Israel’s strikes have killed close to 500 Palestinians since the ceasefire, including more than 100 children, according to UNICEF.

• PA backs Gaza administration committee: The Palestinian Authority (PA) welcomed President Donald Trump’s efforts to advance his peace plan and UN Security Council Resolution 2803, including his proposed Board of Peace, and endorsed the creation of a Gaza administration committee whose composition was reported today ahead of its formal announcement. The PA Presidency said it is coordinating with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and mediators Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey during the ceasefire and the move toward reconstruction. The PA has insisted on a single unified Palestinian authority across Gaza and the West Bank, and has rejected parallel governance in the territories. Furthermore, it called for action similar to that taken in the ceasefire to be undertaken in the West Bank, to halt settlement expansion, settler violence, and annexation.

• UN says violence in Gaza is surging: The UN reported that airstrikes, shelling, and other attacks in Gaza surged last week, with more than 300 incidents causing mass casualties—the highest weekly figure since the ceasefire—with only around 40 percent of reopened, or newly set-up, health facilities functioning.

• Israeli raid on Shuafat camp destroys food, abducts residents: During a Wednesday raid on Shuafat refugee camp in occupied East Jerusalem, Israeli forces stormed homes, abducting residents, and destroyed an estimated 13,000 eggs, according to TRT World. Residents of Shuafat pay municipal taxes to Israel yet are systematically denied basic services, including the neglect of its infrastructure, and have been subject to repeated raids.

• Ms. Rachel urges end to Gaza child suffering: Children’s educator Ms. Rachel called on the United States and Israel to end what she described as the deliberate suffering of one million Palestinian children, urging the immediate entry of lifesaving shelter and medical aid into Gaza.

Iran

• Iran’s foreign minister discusses diplomacy on Fox News: Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi appeared on Fox News Wednesday, where he stressed to the interviewers that Tehran is open to diplomacy with the United States, but cautioned Washington against repeating what he called a “failed experience” from June, when U.S. strikes hit Iranian nuclear facilities. Aragchi said that “terrorist forces” had infiltrated protests to trigger a conflict and said that diplomacy is “much better than war,” urging constructive negotiations with the Trump administration. The hosts also pressed Araghchi over recent social media posts by Iran’s Supreme Leader that the network said were “taunting the President of the United States.” Araghchi pushed back, arguing that President Donald Trump and other Western leaders routinely threaten Iran on social media, and questioned why indignation runs in only one direction: “Well, we were in the middle of a war started against us, and the rhetorics are quite normal in any war. We have many kinds of threats by President Trump, by other American officials, by Europeans who are talking about Iranian, you know, things in Iran.”

• Trump sends mixed signals on strike threats on Iran: President Donald Trump said he had received information that “people were shooting at them with guns and they were shooting back” during Iran’s recent unrest. Similar claims were echoed by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who told Fox News that “terrorist forces” infiltrated the protests and opened fire on security personnel. Araghchi alleged that in some cases police officers were “gutted” and “beheaded,” saying the aim of these groups was to provoke killings inside Iran, in a response to Trump’s warning that he would intervene “if there are killings.” Trump did not rule out an attack on Iran in his public comments, issuing complaints about lack of respect for Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and the U.S. ordered a carrier strike group to transfer to the Middle East from the South China Sea.

• Ryan Grim says White House largely aligned behind Iran strikes: Drop Site’s Ryan Grim said Wednesday that there is effectively no internal opposition from inside the White House to strikes on Iran, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying that President Donald Trump must act or risk losing credibility. Grim said the only resistance is coming from outside figures such as Steve Bannon and Tucker Carlson, along with regional partners, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

• India–Iran rice trade stalls amid sanctions pressure, payment fears: India’s basmati rice exports to Iran have slowed to a near standstill as traders pause new deals over non-payment risks, domestic unrest, and renewed United States pressure, Reuters reported. India, Iran’s largest rice supplier, exported about $800 million in rice in 2025, but exporters have grown reluctant after President Donald Trump announced a 25 percent tariff on countries doing business with Iran, while a collapsing rial has left roughly ₹2,000 crore ($240 million) in consignments stranded at Indian ports, according to The Economic Times. The disruption is expected to deepen Iran’s food crisis, with state data showing rice prices up 155 percent year-on-year, as labor activist Nader Moradi told ILNA News Agency that soaring prices are “breaking the backs of poor and defenseless people.”

• Trump casts doubt on Pahlavi’s prospects as Iran unrest continues: President Donald Trump said Iranian opposition figure Reza Pahlavi “seems very nice” but questioned whether he could command support inside Iran, stopping short of endorsing him as an alternative to Tehran’s clerical leadership, Reuters reported. While Trump said Iran’s government could collapse amid protests, he stressed the opposition remains fragmented and added, “I don’t know whether or not his country would accept his leadership.”

U.S. News

• Senate Republicans block war powers resolution on Venezuela: The Senate on Thursday voted against a war powers resolution aimed at limiting President Trump’s ability to conduct further attacks on Venezuela after two Republican senators withdrew their support for the legislation. Republican Senators Josh Hawley of Missouri and Todd Young of Indiana flipped under pressure from the Trump administration. They had joined Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Rand Paul of Kentucky to advance the legislation last week. Vice President J.D. Vance had to break the 50-50 deadlock in the Senate to dismiss the measure.

• U.S. to suspend immigrant visa processing for 75 countries: The U.S. State Department said it will suspend immigrant visa processing starting January 21 for citizens of 75 countries, including Egypt, Afghanistan, Iran, Russia, and Somalia, after claiming without evidence that applicants are likely to require public assistance in the United States. The move, ordered under guidance issued in November and overseen by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, expands President Donald Trump’s earlier immigration and travel restrictions. The change only affects people who want to move to the US permanently and does not apply to applicants seeking non-immigrant visas, or temporary tourist or business visas.

• Dr. Adam Hamawy is running for Congress in New Jersey: Dr. Hamaway, a veteran and surgeon who volunteered for multiple medical missions to Gaza, is running for Congress in New Jersey’s 12th congressional district for the seat left open by Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman’s retirement. An Army doctor who treated survivors of 9/11 and saved U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth’s life in Iraq, Dr. Hamawy refused to be evacuated during his medical service in Gaza amid siege and assault. Here he is alongside Representative Watson-Coleman, interviewed by Ryan Grim about his experiences in Gaza.

• Federal agent shoots man in Minneapolis amid ongoing protests: A federal agent shot and injured a Venezuelan man during a targeted immigration arrest in Minneapolis on Wednesday evening, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, triggering hours of clashes between protesters and law enforcement just one week after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent killed legal observer Renee Nicole Good. City officials, including Mayor Jacob Frey and Police Chief Brian O’Hara, said key facts remain unclear, warned the situation is “not sustainable,” and again called for ICE to leave the city as protests swelled and chemical agents were used against demonstrators.

• Articles of impeachment against Noem backed by 70 House Democrats: Representative Robin Kelly (D-Ill.) formally introduced articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Wednesday over her handling of the administration’s immigration crackdown. The three articles of impeachment accuse Noel of obstruction of Congress, “violation of public trust” and “self-dealing.” At a press conference on Wednesday, Kelly said Noel “brought her reign of terror to the Chicagoland area, LA, New Orleans, Charlotte, Durham and communities east, north, to south to east to west” and that she “needs to be held accountable for her actions.” The articles are backed by some 70 House Democrats.

• Trump and Delcy Rodríguez tout positive Venezuela phone call: President Donald Trump said he held a “long” and “great conversation” on January 14 with Venezuela’s interim leader Delcy Rodríguez, describing her as a “terrific person” and saying the call covered oil, minerals, trade, security, and broader bilateral coordination. Rodríguez confirmed the call in a public statement, saying: “I held a long and courteous telephone conversation with the President of the United States, Donald Trump, conducted in a framework of mutual respect, in which we addressed a bilateral work agenda for the benefit of our peoples, as well as pending matters between our governments.” Meanwhile, Trump is set to meet with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado at the White House later today.

• U.S. sells first Venezuelan oil cargo, parks proceeds in Qatar: The Trump administration’s first sale of Venezuelan oil is valued at about $500 million, an administration official told Semafor. President Donald Trump has said the U.S. will effectively run Venezuela for an indeterminate period, controlling and marketing up to 50 million barrels of oil, with proceeds held in accounts overseen by the U.S. government—including a primary account located in Qatar—while blocking creditors from accessing the revenue. The interim Venezuelan leadership led by Delcy Rodríguez has “fully cooperated” with the arrangement, officials said, as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed his department will oversee the accounts and disburse funds at the direction of Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The move has drawn sharp criticism from Democrats, including Senator Elizabeth Warren, who questioned the legality of offshore accounts controlled by the president. The White House has said further oil deals are expected, and Chevron has suggested it can expand Venezuelan production by 50 percent within two years.

• Justice Department memo cited opposition calls to oust Maduro in legal rationale for U.S. raid: A newly revealed U.S. Department of Justice memo shows that support from Venezuela’s U.S.-backed opposition, led by María Corina Machado, was used to help legally justify President Donald Trump’s January 3 military operation that captured Nicolás Maduro and brought him to New York to face federal drug charges. The Office of Legal Counsel argued that the opposition’s calls for Maduro’s removal “could be construed” as a request by Venezuela’s legitimate government to depose a “usurper,” a line of reasoning that was redacted in the publicly released memo but strengthened the administration’s internal case for action, action it took without congressional or U.N. approval.

• Trump DOJ cites illegal mining to justify Maduro removal: The U.S. Department of Justice under President Donald Trump is arguing in court that the United States had to remove Nicolás Maduro because illegal mining operations were displacing Indigenous communities in Venezuela, according to the government’s legal filings. The claim is being advanced as part of the administration’s post hoc legal defense of the January 3 military operation, reframing the intervention as a humanitarian necessity tied to environmental destruction and Indigenous displacement.

• Cameron Kasky exits NY-12 primary to focus on West Bank activism: Cameron Kasky, a Parkland shooting survivor and co-founder of March for Our Lives, has dropped out of the Democratic primary in New York’s 12th District to return to human rights advocacy in the occupied West Bank, saying a recent visit compelled him back into activism. Kasky said he is working with Representative Ro Khanna on comprehensive legislation addressing human rights conditions in the occupied West Bank, where Israel maintains what he described as an apartheid system of racial and ethnic discrimination.

• Judge orders OSU to reinstate student punished over pro-Palestinian speech: A federal judge in Ohio issued a preliminary injunction finding that Ohio State University likely violated the constitutional rights of student Guy Christensen by disenrolling him over pro-Palestinian political speech. The court ruled Christensen’s social media videos about Israel–Palestine were protected by the First Amendment and did not incite violence, and said OSU’s September 2025 disenrollment without a hearing likely violated Christensen’s rights to free speech and due process. It ordered the university to expunge records of his involuntary removal while the case proceeds.

• ICE expands sniper and tactical training with private contractors: Federal procurement records reviewed by The Lever show Immigration and Customs Enforcement has awarded new firearms and combat-training contracts to obscure private security firms to train snipers and special response teams, as the agency’s workforce has grown 120 percent since President Donald Trump’s inauguration. The agency has also markedly militarized: in 2025 alone, it spent nearly $140 million on weapons and ammunition, according to Bloomberg. Among the contractors is Target Down Group, owned by the brother of Representative Nick LaLota. Read the full report here.

Other International News

• Sudan Updates

  • Blue Nile fighting risks regional spillover, analysts warn: Fighting is rapidly escalating in Sudan’s Blue Nile State, Ayin Network reports. Analysts warn that the RSF’s use of Benishangul-Gumuz a rear base in a regional state in western Ethiopia, could widen the war beyond Sudan. RSF and Sudan People’s Liberation Movement–North forces are mobilizing along the Ethiopia and South Sudan borders, as Sudanese army airstrikes hit SPLM-N positions in Yabus. Officials have estimated that thousands of RSF fighters, including foreign mercenaries, are amassing near Kurmuk and Qaysan.

  • Sudanese Army says it repelled RSF attack near Kadugli: The Sudanese Army said it repelled an attack by the Rapid Support Forces near Kadugli, claiming heavy RSF losses in fighters and vehicles, according to Sudan Tribune. The fighting near Dilling has escalated after the RSF and the allied Sudan People’s Liberation Movement–North seized positions along the national highway, effectively isolating the cities. Civilians in Kadugli face mounting danger as the town remains under siege, escape routes have been limited, and arbitrary civilian detentions by RSF forces are reported.

  • Sudan peace talks resume in Cairo amid deepening war: Talks to end the war in Sudan resumed Wednesday in Cairo, where Egypt hosted an international consultative meeting with the United Nations, Arab League, African Union, the European Union, and more than a dozen states, attended by U.S. senior advisor Massad Boulos. Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty laid out Cairo’s “red lines,” rejecting partition, secession, or parallel authorities and insisting that Sudan’s unity and state institutions be preserved.

  • First humanitarian aid reaches El Fasher after 18 months: The first life-saving humanitarian assistance in 18 months has reached the besieged city of El Fasher, after intensive U.S.-led negotiations, according to Massad Boulos. Boulos said 1.3 metric tons of food, water purification supplies, and medical kits were delivered on Wednesday, marking a rare breakthrough amid the siege in Sudan.

• UK yields concessions to Palestine Action hunger strikers, as three end their strike and one continues: Three Palestine Action–affiliated prisoners ended their hunger strike after the UK government declined to award a £2 billion military training contract to Elbit Systems UK, a central demand of the protest, according to Prisoners For Palestine. Organizers say the strike, which saw participants go up to 73 days without food, also forced disclosure of Elbit export licenses from the past five years, opened talks with senior prison healthcare officials, restored withheld mail and books, and secured the transfer of prisoner Heba Muraisi back to HMP Bronzefield, while drawing more than 500 new sign-ups for direct action. One prisoner remains on hunger strike.

• Starlink cuts internet in Uganda as polls open: Elon Musk’s satellite internet provider Starlink shut off service across Uganda as the country went to the polls, mirroring a tactic long used by authoritarian governments to limit scrutiny during tightly controlled elections. A citizen activist told Al Jazeera the blackout exposes the myth of “digital freedom,” warning that “if communications can be switched off, elections become nothing more than a tool to legitimize illegitimate leaders.” The vote is taking place under President Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled the country of nearly 50 million people for almost four decades.

• Syrian army opens evacuation corridor east of Aleppo ahead of possible offensive: Syria’s military said it would open a temporary “humanitarian corridor” on Thursday for civilians to leave areas of eastern Aleppo province, signaling preparations for a potential offensive around Deir Hafer and Maskana, after clashes with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. Damascus called on the SDF to withdraw east of the Euphrates River. This comes after days of deadly clashes in Aleppo city that have killed at least 23 people, displaced tens of thousands.

• Separatist attack kills 14, including seven children, in Cameroon’s northwest: A separatist armed group killed 14 civilians—seven of them children aged two to eleven—in the village of Guidado in Cameroon’s English-speaking northwest, AFP reports. The attack comes amid a resurgence of violence in the long-running anglophone separatist conflict that erupted in 2016 after protests in the region were violently suppressed under President Paul Biya. Both anglophone separatist groups and state forces have been accused of abuses in the conflict, in which at least 6,000 civilians have been killed, according to estimates by Human Rights Watch.

• Clashes with MPRD rebels kill at least six in southern Chad: Fighting between the Chadian army and the Movement for Peace, Reconciliation and Development killed at least six people in Korbol on Wednesday, with the army reporting three soldiers dead and rebels saying they lost three fighters. Analysts said the clashes erupted after an army column approached rebel positions in southern Chad, where President Mahamat Deby’s government has reinforced troops amid a long-running insurgency seeking to overthrow his regime.

• Cambodia warns Thai troop presence threatens fragile border truce: Cambodia’s foreign minister Prak Sokhonn said Thailand’s military continues to occupy civilian areas inside Cambodia, blocking the return of up to 4,000 Cambodian families despite the December ceasefire between the countries, Reuters reported. Thai officials rejected the accusation, saying their forces are maintaining existing positions in line with de-escalation agreements, while Cambodia has pressed for talks through the Joint Boundary Commission to resolve the long-running frontier dispute. The standoff follows two rounds of fighting last year that killed more than 100 people and displaced over half a million people.

• Azerbaijan releases four Armenian prisoners in sign of easing tensions: Azerbaijan has released four Armenian prisoners detained during the 2020 and 2023 wars, Armenia said Wednesday, in what officials described as another step toward the normalization of relations between the longtime adversaries, according to Reuters. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said the men, who had been serving sentences of 15 to 20 years, were released at the Khakari Bridge and were en route to Yerevan. Negotiations between the two states continue following the U.S.-brokered peace deal reached last August over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. The talks are centered on unresolved disputes, including Azerbaijan’s demands that Armenia amend its constitution and its prosecutions of Armenian leaders from Karabakh.

More from Drop Site

• Epstein helped broker Israel–UAE ties behind Abraham Accords: Newly surfaced emails show financier Jeffrey Epstein acted for years as an informal bridge between Emirati and Israeli elites, cultivating a close relationship with the chairman of the logistics and shipping company DP World, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem. The correspondence between the two shows Epstein arranging meetings, advising on strategy in Washington, and facilitating Israeli–Emirati cooperation well before public normalization. The personal relationship between the two was especially (perhaps even abnormally) close: one email has Sulayem ordering ancestry tests to Epstein’s house.

• Sudan coverage on Breaking Points: Breaking Points discussed our recent developments in Sudan, where the Rapid Support Forces, backed by the United Arab Emirates, are advancing through Sudan’s central Kordofan region toward the city of El-Obeid. As Drop Site’s Ryan Grim notes, up to one million people could face an El Fasher–scale massacre in the coming weeks without urgent international intervention. There are, Grim says, “people who are alive who could be saved if the international community can somehow just put a stop to this.” Watch the report here.

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