$6B arms deal to Israel bypassed Congress; U.S. signals "readiness" for Iran talks; Last U.S.-Russia nuclear treaty set to expire
Drop Site Daily: February 2, 2026
At least five Palestinians are killed and four injured in Israeli attacks in the past 24 hours, with at least 32 killed on Saturday by Israeli attacks in Gaza. The UAE is in talks to run Gaza civilian administration and offers billions of dollars in immediate and long-term investment. Israel limits reopening of Rafah crossing. Audio reveals Jeffrey Epstein advised former Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Barak on working with Palantir, as the latest batch of Epstein files are released by the Department of Justice. The Trump administration bypasses Congress on Israel arms sales. Former Biden adviser admits of U.S. law violations to continue funding Israel’s genocide in Gaza, as Senator Chuck Schumer says his job is to “fight for aid to Israel.” UAE investor buys $500 million stake in Trump crypto firm. Google accused of violating AI ethics rules. Measles cases halt movement at Texas ICE facility. U.S. signals readiness for Iran talks. Iran rejects U.S. warnings over naval drills. Iran warns of deep strikes on Israel. Iran protest detainee released on bail. Israeli killings are reported in southern Lebanon. Reuters reports child abductions by RSF in Darfur. Sudanese army retakes Aldashol in South Kordofan. Egypt hosts a drone base linked to the Sudan civil war. Landslides kill 227 at coltan mines in DR Congo. Trump says the U.S. began talks with Cuba. Mexico rejects U.S. pressure over Cuba aid. Aid access blocked in Jonglei. Drone strikes reported in Ethiopia’s Tigray. Algerian army reports killing four militants. Pakistan kills 145 militants in Balochistan. Russian drone strike kills miners in Dnipro. Nigerian army kills Boko Haram commander. New from Drop Site: Pakistan blocks visas for former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s sons. Department of Justice documents reveal Jeffrey Epstein’s role as intermediary in outreach to India’s leadership. Former CIA director David Petraeus briefs officials in Israel overseeing the “New Gaza.” Drop Site reports from Minneapolis.
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The Gaza Genocide, West Bank, and Israel
Casualty counts: At least five Palestinians were killed and four injured in Israeli attacks over the past 24 hours The total recorded death toll since October 7, 2023 is now 71,800 killed, with 171,55 injured. Since October 11, the first full day of the ceasefire, Israel has killed at least 526 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded 1,447, while 717 bodies have been recovered from under the rubble, according to the Ministry of Health.
Israeli attacks on Gaza continue Monday after bloody weekend: At least three Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza today, according to Al Jazeera, including a three-year-old child in Al-Mawasi, who was killed by machine gun fire from an Israeli gunboat, as well as Israeli attacks in Khan Younis and Jabaliya.
Rafah crossing opens to extremely limited numbers: The Rafah border crossing with Egypt opened on Monday for limited traffic in what some have described as a largely symbolic development. The crossing will reportedly only operate for six hours a day and the numbers allowed to cross will be limited to 50 medical evacuees per day permitted to leave Gaza, accompanied by two people escorting them, while 50 Palestinians can return to Gaza per day, according to the AP citing Israeli and Egyptian officials. The Gaza Health Ministry has said around 20,000 sick and wounded Palestinians need treatment abroad. Health authorities have said at least 1,268 Palestinians have died in Gaza while waiting for medical transfer after Rafah was closed by Israel in 2024. Before the war, Rafah was Gaza’s only gateway to the outside world not controlled by Israel and it was the main crossing for Palestinians moving in and out of the enclave.
Deadly night of Israeli attacks across Gaza: At least 32 Palestinians were killed on Saturday as Israeli forces carried out sustained airstrikes and artillery fire across Gaza, and 30 more were wounded, according to Gaza’s Civil Defense. The attacks included a strike on a family tent west of Khan Younis and a bombing of an apartment near the Abbas intersection in Gaza City, while additional strikes hit eastern Al-Bureij and areas near Jabaliya. Women and children were included among the dead.
Israel strikes Gaza police station: Another Israeli airstrike on Saturday hit the Sheikh Radwan police station in western Gaza City, killing about 13 people, including six Palestinian police officers—four of them women—according to Palestinian media and Drop Site reporting. Gaza’s Interior Ministry said at least 15 police personnel were wounded and others are believed missing under the rubble, while detainees and civilians present at the station were also among the casualties. Drop Site correspondent Abdel Qader Sabbah provided footage of the attack and its aftermath, available here.
Mladenov adopts Israeli narrative on killings in Gaza: Nickolay Mladenov, the Director-General of Trump’s “Board of Peace,” said he is deeply concerned by reports that Hamas fighters emerged from a tunnel in Rafah, which he implied were responsible for the subsequent Israeli strikes which killed civilians, warning both events could undermine the ceasefire’s progress. Senior Hamas official Basem Naim rejected Mladenov’s framing, saying Israel has rejected a negotiated exit for the trapped fighters, and used their sightings as pretext to launch strikes on company targets across rest of Gaza.
Egypt, Qatar, and league of Muslim and Arab states condemn Israeli ceasefire violations: Egypt condemned repeated Israeli ceasefire violations after strikes killed at least 32 people across Gaza, warning the attacks risk inflaming the situation and undermining efforts to restore stability, according to a Foreign Ministry statement. Qatar also condemned Israel’s repeated ceasefire violations on January 31, saying the attacks constitute a “dangerous escalation” that undermines mediation efforts. And later, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Pakistan, Türkiye, and Saudi Arabia issued a joint statement to the same effect, which also noted the need to respect Palestinian self-determination and statehood. All statements urged adherence to the ceasefire agreement.
Hamas warns ceasefire cannot hold: Hamas said it held intensive discussions with mediators and international parties to condemn Israel’s continued ceasefire violations and attacks across Gaza, warning the agreement cannot hold unless Israel is compelled to comply, with Khalil al-Hayya, head of Hamas in Gaza, stressing that “the resistance’s commitment to and respect for the agreement requires obligating the occupation to abide by it and preventing it from continuing its crimes.”
UAE in talks to run Gaza civilian administration: The United Arab Emirates is holding advanced talks with Israel and the United States on a proposal for Phase 2 of the so-called ceasefire, with Abu Dhabi offering billions in investment in exchange for control over the Strip’s civilian infrastructure, according to Israel’s Channel 12. The proposal would place markets, trade, aid distribution, and logistics under Emirati management using Israeli suppliers and contractors, backed by Emirati armed forces and U.S. private security firms.Israeli officials say the government supports the move, describing the UAE as Gaza’s future “civilian patron” and that the plan would impose a foreign-run civilian system that sidelines Palestinian authority, with daily life, trade, and security, all managed by outside states and private forces.
Epstein advised Barak on Palantir, audio reveals: Drop Site’s Ryan Grim shared newly released U.S. Justice Department audio, which shows that as Ehud Barak was leaving Israeli government service, he sought guidance from Jeffrey Epstein, who pointed him toward Palantir, a data company founded byPeter Thiel. Listen to the audio here.
U.S. News
New batch of Epstein files released: The U.S. Department of Justice released additional documents Friday from the Jeffrey Epstein files, uploading tens of thousands of pages to its public repository as part of a rolling disclosure mandated by the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The materials include photos, videos, court records, and emails that mention public figures such as President Donald Trump, former President Bill Clinton, and Elon Musk.
Trump administration bypasses Congress on Israel arms sales: The Trump administration has moved to push through more than $6 billion in new arms sales to Israel, bypassing long-standing congressional oversight and notifying Congress only an hour in advance of the transfer. In a statement, House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Gregory Meeks said the administration has repeatedly isolated Congress from its Gaza policy, and criticized Secretary of State Marco Rubio for providing no documentation to justify bypassing the review process.
Former Biden adviser admits U.S. law violations: Former Biden White House assistant to the president and national security adviser to Vice President Kamala Harris Phil Gordon acknowledged that the United States violated U.S. law to continue funding Israel’s war effort. Gordon, a principal-level official with direct access to the president, was part of a small inner circle shaping major foreign policy decisions at the highest levels of the Biden administration.
Chuck Schumer says job is to “fight for aid to Israel”: New York Senator Chuck Schumer, not up for re-election till Jan 2029, said at a gathering this weekend “We delivered more security assistance to Israel, our ally, under my leadership than ever, ever before. We will keep doing that… I have many jobs as leader and one is to fight for aid to Israel.” The video, obtained by The Forward, is available here.
UAE investor buys stake in Trump crypto firm: Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan—the UAE president’s brother sometimes called “The Spy Sheikh”—secretly bought a 49 percent stake in the Trump family’s crypto venture World Liberty Financial for $500 million in January 2025, according to the Wall Street Journal. The deal, signed just months before Washington approved major U.S. AI-chip access for the UAE, made Tahnoon’s vehicle the firm’s largest shareholder and placed G42 executives on its board alongside President Trump and U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff family members. Roughly $187 million from the first tranche flowed to Trump family entities, with additional payouts to Witkoff-linked entities and co-founders. Read the full report here.
Google accused of violating AI ethics rules: A former Google employee filed a confidential whistleblower complaint with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission alleging the company violated its own AI ethics policies by assisting an Israeli military contractor in analyzing drone surveillance footage in 2024, according to the Washington Post. The complaint cites internal documents linking support requests to an Israel Defense Forces contractor CloudEx, saying that Google misled investors by contradicting its ban on AI use for weapons or surveillance.
Measles cases halt movement at Texas ICE facility: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement halted all movement at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in south Texas after two detainees were confirmed to have active measles infections—with affected individuals quarantined—the Department of Homeland Security said Sunday. Immigration advocates warned the outbreak has heightened risks to detainees’ health, as measles cases surged nationwide in 2025 as ICE’s detention population has expanded under the Trump administration.
Over 100,000 people faced power outages in northern Louisiana, as nine people died in recent winter conditions: During the recent cold snap in north Louisiana tens of thousands lost electricity, particularly in communities along the I-20 corridor including Ouachita Parish, according to local reporting. Statewide outage data from FindEnergy.com reported over 111,000 outages Sunday afternoon as transformers blew, power lines snapped, and utility poles fell. Parts of Ouachita Parish might be without power until this Saturday, according to the latest restoration estimates from Entergy Louisiana. The Louisiana Department of Health reported nine storm-related deaths, including a 74-year-old man in DeSoto Parish who died at his home of hypothermia. Louisiana Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell represents the section of the state that saw the worst effects from the snow and said, “We’re just in a hell of a mess up here in North Louisiana.”
Iran
U.S. signals readiness for Iran talks: The Trump administration has told Iran through multiple channels that it is ready to negotiate, according to Axios, even as the United States builds up forces in the Gulf, raising the risk of escalation. Turkey, Egypt, and Qatar are seeking to broker talks in Ankara between U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and senior Iranian officials. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei warned that any U.S. attack would trigger a regional war. Ali Larijani, the head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said Saturday that “contrary to the hype of the contrived media war, structural arrangements for negotiations are progressing.”
Iran rejects U.S. warnings over naval drills: Iran’s foreign minister condemned U.S. Central Command after it urged Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to avoid escalation during naval exercises, calling it “absurd” for the United States to dictate military activity near Iran’s own shores.
Iran warns of deep strikes on Israel: Senior adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Ali Shamkhani, warned Saturday that any attack on Iran would trigger a proportional response reaching deep inside Israel, claiming Iran has “full intelligence dominance” over Israeli plans. Separately, Iran’s army chief Amir Hatami said forces are on high alert.
Iran protest detainee released on bail: Erfan Soltani, a 26-year-old detained during protests in Iran last month, has been released on bail, his lawyer told Agence France-Presse. Unverified claims that Soltani faced execution spread widely online after his arrest, despite Iranian authorities saying no execution was planned and that his charge does not carry the death penalty.
Other International News
Trump says U.S. beginning talks with Cuba: President Donald Trump said Saturday that the United States is beginning talks with Cuba as his administration escalates pressure by cutting off oil supplies and threatening tariffs on countries that provide oil to the island, according to the Associated Press. Trump claimed the measures would force Havana to negotiate and predicted the Cuban government could fall.
Israeli killings reported in southern Lebanon: Israeli forces killed a man on Saturday while he was carrying out maintenance work on his roof in the town of Reb Thalathin in southern Lebanon, following a wave of Israeli airstrikes a day earlier that destroyed civilian construction equipment. The Israeli military described the man as a Hezbollah “terrorist” and labeled the machinery “terrorist infrastructure,” without providing evidence to substantiate the claims. Another attack on a bulldozer in Qanarit killed one person Sunday, according to the New Arab.
Last U.S.–Russia nuclear arms treaty expires: The New START treaty, the final remaining nuclear arms control agreement between the United States and Russia, is set to expire this week, removing all legally binding limits on the world’s two largest nuclear arsenals. The treaty capped nuclear warheads at 1,550 per state and also placed limits on delivery mechanisms aimed at preventing escalation. The expiration of New START means that there will be no arms reductions treaties between the U.S. and Russia since the 1970s.
Russian drone strike kills miners in Dnipro: A Russian drone strike hit a bus carrying mineworkers in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Sunday, killing at least a dozen people, hours after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that the next round of Russia-Ukraine peace talks will take place later this week. The attack was described by Ukraine’s largest private energy company DTEK as a targeted strike on energy workers. President Donald Trump had claimed that Moscow agreed to temporarily halt strikes on Ukrainian cities.
Reuters reports child abductions by RSF in Darfur: Witnesses told Reuters that fighters from Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces abducted children during attacks across Darfur, including during the October takeover of El Fashir, in some cases killing parents first. Reuters said 26 witnesses described at least 23 incidents since 2023 involving the seizure of at least 56 children, with legal experts warning the accounts could amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity, and enslavement, though the claims could not be independently verified.
Sudanese army retakes Aldashol in South Kordofan: The Sudanese Armed Forces said on Sunday that they retook Aldashol in South Kordofan, which had been seized in late 2025 by the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement–North (al-Hilu) after more than two years under siege. The advance brings the army closer to breaking the RSF siege on nearby Kadugli and follows a January 28 announcement that the military had lifted a nearly two-year RSF siege on Al-Dalanj.
Egypt hosts a drone base linked to Sudan civil war: Egypt is secretly operating a major military drone base in its Western Desert that has become central to Sudan’s civil war, with Turkish Akinci drones striking Rapid Support Forces targets deep inside Sudan, the New York Times reported. Analysts say the operation signals Cairo’s shift from diplomacy to direct military backing of Sudan’s army.
Landslides kill 227 at coltan mines in DR Congo: At least 227 people were killed Wednesday when landslides collapsed several coltan mines in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo after heavy rains triggered cave-ins at the Rubaya site in North Kivu, authorities said. The provincial government has suspended artisanal mining and ordered nearby residents relocated, as the mines—producing about 15 percent of global coltan supply—sit in territory seized by M23 rebels, a Rwanda-backed group repeatedly accused by the United Nations of plundering mineral resources linked to Rwanda.
Mexico rejects U.S. pressure over Cuba aid: Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Mexico will send a new shipment of humanitarian aid to Cuba this week and stressed that oil exports are a matter of national sovereignty. Sheinbaum said she did not discuss Cuba in a Thursday call with President Donald Trump. On January 31, President Trump had said that the United States was “starting to talk to Cuba,” claiming he had asked Mexico to suspend oil shipments. This weekend, demonstrators protested U.S. belligerence towards Cuba outside the former U.S. embassy in Mexico City, as protesters chanted “Mexican oil for the Cuban people.”
Aid access blocked in Jonglei: The government of South Sudan is blocking humanitarian access to opposition-held areas of Jonglei, leaving nearly 400,000 people without healthcare after authorities had suspended all aid flights since December 2025, Médecins Sans Frontières warned. MSF said it has evacuated staff and reduced services to emergency care only, while at least 23 critically ill patients need urgent help, with the Associated Press reporting the restrictions come amid military operations to retake towns from opposition forces.
Drone strikes reported in Ethiopia’s Tigray: At least one person was killed and another injured after drone strikes hit two trucks near Enticho and Gendebta in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray, according to a senior Tigrayan official and a humanitarian worker cited by Reuters, with the official blaming the Ethiopian National Defence Force. Observers worry a wider conflict between Ethiopian troops and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front could reignite despite a 2022 peace agreement.
Algerian army reports killing four militants: Algeria’s defence ministry said the army killed four alleged “terrorists” on Sunday during an ongoing operation in the Djebel Amrouna area, about 130 kilometers (80 miles) west of Algiers, seizing Kalashnikov rifles and ammunition. The military said that so far this year it has killed 21 militants, captured eight others, and arrested hundreds accused of supporting armed Islamist groups that have continued sporadic attacks since the country’s 1992–2002 civil war.
Pakistan kills 145 militants in Balochistan: Pakistan’s security forces killed 145 militants over 40 hours following coordinated attacks across Balochistan, the province’s Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti said Sunday, as 17 security personnel and 31 civilians were also killed, according to Reuters. The banned Baloch Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the assaults, while Pakistan accused India of backing the militants, a charge New Delhi rejected.
Nigerian army kills Boko Haram commander: Nigeria’s army said it killed a senior Boko Haram commander known as Abu Khalid and 10 other militants during a night operation in Borno, identifying him as the group’s second-in-command in the Sambisa Forest. The military said it suffered no casualties and is continuing clearance operations against Boko Haram and its splinter group Islamic State West Africa Province, as the long-running insurgency has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions across the Lake Chad region.
More from Drop Site
“Pakistani Government Denies Visas to Imran Khan’s Sons as Khan’s Health Deteriorates in Prison”: Pakistan is refusing to grant visas to the sons of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan as concerns grow over his health, including a recent diagnosis of central retinal vein occlusion that risks rendering Khan permanently blind. Officials from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf say Khan has been held largely incommunicado at Adiala Jail and denied family and lawyer access for months, while an Interior Ministry source told Drop Site the visa delays are intentional despite earlier assurances from government officials. Read the full article from Waqas Ahmed, Murtaza Hussain, and Ryan Grim here.
“Indian Billionaire Tapped Jeffrey Epstein Before Modi’s Visits to U.S. and Israel”: Newly released U.S. Department of Justice files show Indian billionaire Anil Ambani asked convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in March 2017 to help connect India’s “Leadership” with figures close to President Donald Trump ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit, texting, “Leadership wld like ur help for me to meet jared and bannon asap.” The documents indicate Epstein played an intermediary role in U.S.–India–Israel dealmaking before Modi’s first meetings with Trump and Israel, a claim India’s foreign ministry had dismissed as “trashy ruminations by a convicted criminal.” Read the full report on Ambani’s connections to Epstein from Meghnad Bose here.
“Ex-CIA Chief David Petraeus Briefs Officials in Israel Overseeing ‘New Gaza’”: Former CIA Director David Petraeus visited the U.S.-run Civil-Military Coordination Center in southern Israel last week, praising Israel’s shift toward counterinsurgency tactics, according to diplomatic sources cited by Drop Site News. His visit came as U.S. planners advanced a UAE-funded “Gaza First Planned Community” in Rafah—a pilot project featuring biometric controls and full Israeli military oversight—amid President Donald Trump’s rollout of the so-called Board of Peace and a broader push to remake Gaza’s governance and reconstruction without Palestinian participation. Read more from Jonathan Whittall here.
Drop Site reporting from Minneapolis: Thousands of students, workers, and protesters in Minneapolis took part in a general strike last week against Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the federal “Operation Metro Surge,” filling downtown blocks to demand ICE agents leave Minnesota and calling for murder charges against the agent who shot Renée Good on January 7 and to end nationwide immigration raids. A video report on the strike from Drop Site contributor Phoebe Huss and video by photojournalist Jake Crandall is available here.
Skirmish outside Fort Snelling federal building: Hundreds of Minnesotans protested outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Fort Snelling against ongoing deportations and the arrest of 16 demonstrators, clashing with a skirmish line of Department of Homeland Security agents and Hennepin County sheriffs in freezing conditions. After protesters chanted against Immigration and Customs Enforcement, law enforcement issued a dispersal order and used non-lethal munitions to back them away from the entrance, detaining at least one person. Huss and Crandall have a dispatch from this incident here.
Undocumented residents describe fear in Minneapolis: An undocumented immigrant living in downtown Minneapolis told Drop Site’s Jude Finkelberg he now avoids leaving home except for church, as his family keeps children out of school amid fear of detention and deportation. Listen to his harrowing description of immigrant life in the city here.
Vigil in Minneapolis highlights concern over ICE killing: At a vigil for Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, a local DSA member describes the mood in the community before the fatal shooting by federal agents and how residents responded in the immediate aftermath. U.S. Representative Ro Khanna also spoke to Drop Site about federal tactics and the reaction to Pretti’s death, underscoring broader criticisms about Homeland Security enforcement and community safety in the Twin Cities. A video report from the vigil is available here
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Are we even pretending to follow laws now? Every time I think it can’t get worse, it does. Hamas thinks the ceasefire can’t hold!? It never began. Congress doesn’t even rubber stamp the guns for genocide? I don’t have words…
Brought to you LIVE on TV daily !!!
Time Warp - Imagine, really, try to imagine watching today on TV:
Hitler's Nazis persecuting Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto or sending them to the "showers" at Auschwitz.
Would we watch these atrocities on TV for over 2 years AND DO NOTHING TO STOP IT ??? Would we just watch ? Send more weapons ? No money for paid family leave, but Billions for Genocide weapons almost instantly. That is exactly what our elected "representatives" (who represent Israel) are doing and have been doing for decades.