Record Israeli attacks on Palestinian olive groves; Teen shooter kills children at Oregon school; Poland scrambles jets following Russian strikes

A Palestinian man stands next to a smouldering olive tree set alight by Israeli settlers, near the village of Turmus Ayya, north of Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on October 16, 2026. Photo by Ahmad Gharabli / AFP via Getty Images. Friday, October 16, 2026 – Yemen : Ansarallah attack on presidential palace in Aden kills five, wounds 16. Saudi-led attacks kill at least 107, wound 278 across Yemen since September 3, 2026. UN Security Council condemns Ansarallah attacks on Saudi Arabia, demands cessation of Yemen hostilities. Palestine : Israeli attacks kill one Palestinian, wound five in Gaza. Israeli settlers tear through Palestinian olive groves, assault Washington Post journalist amid widespread attacks near Ramallah. Israeli settlers attack Palestinian olive harvesters across other areas of the occupied West Bank, injuring three. Record-breaking 200+ Israeli settler attacks on Palestinian olive harvest in West Bank, UN says. Israeli advertising firm helped place “zero-click” spyware on Al Jazeera devices. Iran : Iranian president accuses U.S. and Israel of “ecocide.” Iranian navy reports oil tanker on fire after entering “restricted” waters near Hormuz. Bloomberg: Pentagon to delay report on Iran school bombing until after midterms. Lebanon: Israeli forces strike residential building, school, and religious seminary across southern Lebanon amid “ceasefire.” U.S. : Teen gunman kills four, including three children, at Oregon elementary school. President Donald Trump cancels livestream of firing-squad execution, reversing War Secretary Pete Hegseth. AOC gives $1 million to El-Sayed’s Senate campaign. Democratic senators move to block U.S.-Saudi nuclear cooperation deal. Trump officials reviewed Rep. Ilhan Omar’s immigration file in 2019 and found no citizenship issues. DOJ sues California and LA County officials to stop counting ballots of 20,000+ alleged noncitizens. Rep. Andy Harris threatens reporter with prosecution for recording him after Maryland debate. International: Reuters: White House gave the order to limit Ukraine’s SpaceX satellite access. Philippines rebukes Chinese ambassador over “thinly veiled threat.” Poland scrambles jets as Russian strikes hit western Ukraine; Bulgaria asks NATO for military support. Ebola spreads to Congolese province bordering Central African Republic. Ethiopian forces deepen control over Tigray. Ethiopian PM announces temporary government for Tigray, promises election. Somalia announces 2027 elections. Two Syrian pipelines damaged; one attributed to sabotage. U.S. discussing “denuclearization” with Russia and China, Trump says. French police accused of excessive violence against youth protesters in multiple cases. El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele announces plan to release detainees. This is Drop Site Daily, our free news recap We send it Monday – Friday Subscribe Yemen Ansarallah attack on presidential palace in Aden kills five, wounds 16: Five people were killed and 16 wounded Thursday in a missile and drone attack on the Al-Maashiq presidential palace complex of Yemen’s Saudi-backed government in Aden, according to Yemeni officials. The casualties included guards and civilian employees, while Prime Minister Shaya Al-Zindani and cabinet members were unharmed. Ansarallah, which claimed responsibility for the attack, said it had targeted a Saudi military headquarters in Aden as part of its campaign against Saudi military reinforcements. Saudi-led attacks kill at least 107, wound 278 across Yemen since September 3: At least 107 people have been killed and 278 wounded in Saudi-led attacks across Yemen since September 3, according to the health ministry in Sana’a. Women and children account for more than 60% of casualties. Between October 3 and October 12, the death toll rose from 72 to 107, with Taiz, Saada and Al-Jawf the hardest-hit of 13 affected governorates. UN Security Council condemns Ansarallah attacks on Saudi Arabia, demands cessation of Yemen hostilities: The UN Security Council condemned Ansarallah’s escalating attacks on Saudi Arabia in a presidential statement Thursday, pointing to strikes on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and attacks on other airports and Saudi Aramco facilities. The Council also affirmed Saudi Arabia’s “right to self-defense.” Ansarallah must “immediately cease their military escalation and their attacks impacting civilians and civilian objects,” the Council said, reiterating its support for a negotiated, inclusive, Yemeni-led political settlement. Saudi Arabia welcomed the statement, while calling for international cooperation to prevent Ansarallah from obtaining weapons and other forms of support. Palestine Israeli attacks kill one Palestinian, wound five in Gaza: One Palestinian died Friday after sustaining injuries in an Israeli attack on the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City Thursday night, according to WAFA. Five others were injured in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip. Israeli forces continued shelling and gunfire across the Strip. In Shujaiya and eastern Gaza City, forces detonated explosive-laden robots to destroy remaining homes. Israeli settlers tear through Palestinian olive groves, assault Washington Post journalist amid widespread attacks near Ramallah: Israeli settlers severely beat Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine, 63, during widespread attacks on Palestinian olive harvesters across villages east and north of Ramallah on Friday. The attacks left numerous Palestinians injured, including one shot with live ammunition, while settlers burned vehicles and olive trees, stole crops, and forced farmers off their land. Israeli soldiers also fired live ammunition and tear gas, causing dozens of cases of suffocation, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. Levine suffered fractures and wounds after settlers repeatedly clubbed and kicked her, dragged her across the ground, and stole her equipment, according to journalist Jasper Nathaniel. Footage of the attack captured by journalist Andrey X can be seen here . Levine was hospitalized in Ramallah following the assault. “I don’t understand how parents can raise such monsters,” she said. “Yes, they are Jewish terrorists, and they’re giving everyone in this country [Israel] a horrible reputation… And they won’t be prosecuted. I’m sure of it.” The Washington Post condemned the attack on its photographer. “She was wearing visible markings clearly identifying her as a journalist,” the Post said in a statement . “We are outraged by this unwarranted attack on a journalist doing her job,” it added, calling for “a thorough investigation and follow-through from authorities.” Elsewhere, settlers attacked olive harvesters in Turmus Ayya, northeast of Ramallah, burning vehicles and olive trees, and injuring a Civil Defense volunteer, while Israeli forces fired tear gas. Four Palestinians were injured in Burqa and three in Deir Jarir, where Israeli forces also restricted access to farmland. Near Birzeit and Burham, a 70-year-old man suffered fractures and after being beaten by settlers. Israeli settlers attack Palestinian olive harvesters across other areas of the occupied West Bank, injuring three: Nablus: Three Palestinians were injured after settlers assaulted them while harvesting olives in Asira Al-Qibliya on Friday, WAFA reported. Settlers also stole olives from farmland in Aqraba and Al-Lubban Al-Sharqiya, where Israeli soldiers separately expelled farmers and confiscated their harvest. Salfit: Settlers attacked olive harvesters west of Deir Ballut and seized a farmer’s vehicle key. Israeli forces subsequently ordered farmers to leave their land, threatening to shoot them if they returned. Jenin: Israeli forces and settlers forced farmers off their land in Jalbun, east of Jenin. Settlers also fired live ammunition and threw stun grenades toward homes. Record-breaking 200+ Israeli settler attacks on Palestinian olive harvest in West Bank, UN says: Israeli settlers carried out more than 200 attacks against Palestinians during the current olive harvest season in the occupied West Bank, surpassing the 185 recorded in the 2025 season, the UN said Thursday. Approximately 80% of incidents have occurred over the past two weeks. The attacks have killed at least four Palestinians since the harvest began, the Associated Press reported . More than 120 others have been wounded in the attacks, which have damaged over 2,500 olive trees and saplings. Israeli advertising firm helped place “zero-click” spyware on Al Jazeera devices: Israeli advertising technology company Discover-Tech helped place sophisticated spyware on dozens of devices used by Al Jazeera and other companies, according to an investigation by The Citizen Lab, a research unit at the University of Toronto. Spyware from Israeli firm Candiru was planted on journalists’ devices using the first-known instance of “zero-click” targeted advertising, according to the Citizen Lab investigation, which was prompted by an internal Al Jazeera probe. The spyware collects a wide range of data: files, documents, and browser data like cookies, bookmarks, and saved credentials. It also captures keystrokes, takes screenshots, records microphone and webcam input, and extracts emails and messages from popular communication platforms. Some of the Israeli spyware-ads were also discovered in critical networks used by the Pentagon, the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency, and the International Criminal Court, Al Jazeera said, citing a report by security firm Confiant. Iran Iranian president accuses U.S. and Israel of “ecocide”: U.S. and Israeli military campaigns in Iran and Gaza have caused widespread environmental destruction that amounts to “ecocide or environmental genocide,” President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Friday, during an address at the COP17 biodiversity summit in Armenia.. Widespread U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iranian fuel storage facilities and related infrastructure have contaminated soil and water, Pezeshkian said,warning that the deterioration of Iran’s ecosystems could persist for decades. As for Israel’s obliteration of Gaza, he added, it “stands as a stark testament to ecocide, with devastation whose horrific impacts will endure for generations.” He called for international mechanisms to assess environmental damage, fund ecosystem restoration, and ensure that countries subjected to war and sanctions do not bear the recovery costs alone. Iranian navy reports oil tanker on fire after entering “restricted” waters near Hormuz: An oil tanker caught fire in a “restricted” area of the Sea of Oman after reportedly switching off its tracking systems and attempting to cross a prohibited route, Iran’s navy said Friday. The cause of the fire and the condition of the crew were not immediately clear. Bloomberg: Pentagon to delay report on Iran school bombing until after midterms: Senior Pentagon officials intend to delay the release of an internal report into the bombing of a school in southern Iran on the first day of the war until after the U.S. midterm elections, according to Bloomberg. The U.S. bombing of the Shajareh Tayyebeh school in Minab on February 28 killed at least 156 people, including 120 children and 26 teachers, in one of the single worst massacres committed by the U.S. government since the Vietnam War. Several of War Secretary Pete Hegseth’s advisers conveyed to Pentagon personnel the plan to delay publication of the report, according to Bloomberg. New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said in a statement : “Withholding this report until after the election is not only disgraceful, it is cowardly. We have waited months—release the report. Congress and the American people deserve full transparency and accountability around this attack.” Read Drop Site’s in-depth investigation into the Minab school bombing here . U.S. sanctions Iraqi bank and 26 individuals, entities over Iran ties: On Thursday, the U.S. imposed sanctions on the Iraq Development Bank, nine other entities, and 16 individuals over alleged financial ties to Iran, as part of the Trump administration’s “Economic Outcast” campaign that aims to sever Tehran’s remaining economic lifelines. The Treasury Department accused the bank, which Iraq barred from U.S. dollar transactions in 2024, of exploiting Iraq’s former dollar auction system and maintaining ties to Iranian government entities and Iran-aligned militias. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the department “will not relent until the Iranian regime’s coffers are empty.” He added, “the noose is tightening around Iran’s economy, and not even Iran’s so-called allies can save it.” Reuters: Iran conducted precision strikes on critical infrastructure in Gulf Arab countries: Iran’s precision strikes on critical infrastructure in the Persian Gulf during the war included at least 135 drone and missile attacks on at least 84 infrastructure sites across seven countries—Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iraq, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, and Bahrain—according to a Reuters investigation . Despite Gulf governments’ repeated statements that the damage was the result of falling debris from intercepted Iranian missiles or drones, Reuters found that the Iranian strikes were in fact pinpoint attacks on critical equipment. Some of the targets were hidden beneath rooftops and sunshades, and invisible to space satellites. Two Gulf officials and one Iranian official told Reuters that Iran relied on networks of informants to conduct the attacks. After reviewing Reuters’ findings, Ryan Stevens, a former U.S. Marine