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

Israeli strikeskillover 20 Palestinians in Gaza, including five children. Childrendiefrom lack of medical care as medical evacuations through Rafah remain at a trickle. UNsaysRafah reopening far from sufficient in daily briefing. Israelimposesstrict limits on Gaza returnees at crossing, as one returneedescribesabuse at Rafah crossing. Israeliforcesshoot dead Palestinian man in Jericho. Israeli troops arrest over two dozen Palestinians in West Bank raids. European diplomatsurgeEU action against Israel. UAEdeniesplans to administer Gaza’s civil society. U.S. militaryshootsdown an alleged Iranian drone, as the U.S. and Iran agree to hold talks in Oman. Judgeblocksend of TPS for Haitians as crisis deepens in Haiti. Drop Siteasksmembers of congress about Jeffrey Epstein’s ties to Israeli intelligence and the killing of Alex Pretti by federal agents. Federal judgebarsDHS from using crowd-control weapons at Portland protests. Detained fourth-graderreleasedfrom ICE custody after public outcry. President Trumpmeetswith Colombia’s president for White House talks. Michigansuesbig oil for blocking clean energy transition. Gunmen kill at least 162 people in west Nigeria. The UNwarnsdisplacement is accelerating across Sudan. RSF and SPLM-Nseizetown in Sudan’s Blue Nile. U.S. warshipdeploysoff Haiti amid political deadline. Russialaunchesa massive winter strike on Ukraine’s power grid. Venezuela’s interim governmentmeetsU.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 directorresignsafter 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. 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 Onlinereports. 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 FletchersaidRafah’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 forcesissuednew 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-RaqabtoldAl-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 toHaaretz. 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 thosearrestedwas 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 toincreasepressure 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 Hashimyrejectedreports 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 pieceshere. 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 dronethat, 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 toAl 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 MamdaniurgedHaitian 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 toldThe 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)toldDrop 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 exchangehere. Drop Site’s Julian Andreone also askedSenator Tommy Tubervilleabout 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 availablehere. Judge bars DHS from using crowd-control weapons at Portland protests:U.S. District Judge Michael Simonorderedfederal 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 werereleasedTuesday 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