U.S. bombs Iranian island; Israel blocks aid through Rafah; Turkey strikes Al-Shabaab in Somalia

A limited number of trucks carrying humanitarian aid cross from Egypt toward the Gaza Strip on February 8, 2026. Photo by Ahmed Sayed/Anadolu via Getty Images. Tuesday, November 3, 2026 – Iran: U.S. strikes Iran’s Qeshm Island. U.S. and Iran far from peace deal; Qatar intensifies mediation ahead of midterms. IRGC claims capture of two U.S. spy drones over Qeshm Island. Three oil tankers hit mines in Strait of Hormuz; Indian sailor killed in separate ship attack.

Talks with Saudi Arabia continue, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says, calling for regional security without foreign forces. Palestine: Four Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza. Israel orders complete closure of Gaza crossing with Egypt, blocking aid and commercial goods. In Gaza, 42% of essential medicines, 50% of medical supplies depleted. Israel orders seizure of 11 acres of Palestinian land in occupied West Bank.

Israeli forces demolish shops as settlers torch property across West Bank. Yemen: Saudi-led coalition says it intercepted drone over Mecca; Ansarallah denies launching attack. Saudi strikes kill 17 civilians; Ansarallah strike kills five civilians at health center. Saudi Aramco expands repeatedly attacked oil pipeline. Lebanon: Israel again violates ceasefire in southern Lebanon. France investigating Israeli attack on Beirut apartment building as possible war crime.

U.S.: Midterm elections nationwide. The Guardian: ICE re-arrests immigrants who won release from detention. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani demands ICE stop using city property to stage operations. Supreme Court rejects Trump administration attempt to force California to set aside 20,000 mail-in ballots. Judge dismisses DOJ’s case against Harvard. President Donald Trump says he would consider preemptive pardons for Elon Musk, other allies.

New York Times: Trump administration preparing to scale back pregnancy-related workplace protections. FEMA directs disaster aid to Republican districts in California and Minnesota ahead of midterms. U.S. to remove South Africa, Rwanda from African trade program. New York child is first to die of measles in the state in 30 years. International: Al-Shabaab attack in Somalia kills four civilians. Turkish airstrikes against Al-Shabaab in Somalia kill two civilians.

Russia attacks aid site, killing 31, and hospital, injuring 73. UK increases wait time for most foreign workers seeking permanent residency to 10 years. Ebola death toll in central and eastern Africa tops 5,300; most cases in the Congo. Attackers ambush police convoy in Nigeria, killing 8 personnel. Northern Ethiopia conflict pushing health system toward collapse, WHO says. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio talks reforms with Venezuelan officials.

This is Drop Site Daily, our free news recap We send it Monday – Friday Subscribe Iran U.S. strikes Iran’s Qeshm Island: The U.S. carried out strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island on Monday as part of a series of unannounced attacks conducted in recent weeks, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing U.S. officials. The officials described the operations as defensive, claiming that Iranian forces had fired a surface-to-air missile at a U.S. fighter jet and launched another missile toward commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

Washington has deliberately kept quiet about the strikes to avoid signaling a return to major combat operations, one official said. The revelations contradict President Donald Trump’s public portrayal of the conflict as largely dormant. “We haven’t been doing any fighting for months,” he told reporters on Monday. He also denied plans to attack Iran after Tuesday’s midterm elections. Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said on Tuesday that Tehran retains the right to self-defense until U.S. military attacks end “completely and permanently.”

The Israeli military denied involvement in the reported strikes. U.S. and Iran far from peace deal; Qatar intensifies mediation ahead of midterms: Iran and the United States remain far apart on an agreement to end their war, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Tuesday, as Qatar intensified mediation efforts to prevent renewed escalation after the U.S. midterm elections. Qatari mediators traveled to Tehran on Monday night to discuss a revised proposal, with both sides expected to respond within 36 hours.

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said that both countries were reviewing the proposal. “If there were no glimmer of hope, there would be no negotiations,” he said, adding that “as a mediator, we cannot lose hope.” Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said that Tehran had delivered a “strong, rational response” to Washington. “The ball is now in Washington’s court,” he said. Meanwhile, Trump claimed that Iran wanted a settlement “as soon as possible,” and suggested a deal “could happen,” even as he threatened to strike Iran’s suspected nuclear facility at Pickaxe Mountain “in one hour.”

Vice President JD Vance said that U.S. negotiators engaged Iran in “a number of good conversations,” adding that he felt “pretty good about the prospects” of reaching a negotiated settlement. IRGC claims capture of two U.S. spy drones over Qeshm Island: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Tuesday that its Aerospace Force brought down two U.S. MQM-170 reconnaissance drones over the southern island of Qeshm Island. To date, the IRGC claims to have captured four U.S. drones of this type.

Three oil tankers hit mines in Strait of Hormuz; Indian sailor killed in separate ship attack: Three oil tankers struck naval mines and caught fire while traveling through unauthorized routes in the Strait of Hormuz, the IRGC said on Tuesday. The IRGC claimed that the vessels had switched off their identification systems before entering “restricted” waters, triggering explosions that left them burning along the strait’s southern shores.

Separately, on Monday, an Indian sailor was killed when the Indian-flagged cargo vessel MSV Al Jusufi came under attack near Limah, off Oman’s coast. India’s Shipping Minister said that the remaining 13 crew members were rescued by the Omani Coast Guard. No actor has claimed responsibility for the attack. Talks with Saudi Arabia continue, Iran’s Araghchi says, calling for regional security without foreign forces: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Tuesday that Tehran harbors no hostility toward Gulf Cooperation Council countries, and that it seeks new regional security arrangements led by countries in the region, without foreign military involvement.

In a post on X referencing his interview with Al Jazeera, Araghchi praised the “positive role” played by Qatar and Oman, and said that Iran continues its dialogue with Saudi Arabia. “Our goal is to reach new regional security arrangements established by the countries of the region themselves, away from any foreign military presence,” he wrote. Palestine Four Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza: An Israeli drone strike on a police post near the College of Applied Sciences, west of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, killed three Palestinians and wounded several others on Tuesday, WAFA reported.

One police officer was among those killed in the attack, according to the Interior Ministry in Gaza. The ministry condemned the strike, saying that it was part of ongoing Israeli attacks on police and security forces in Gaza. Separately, a man died of wounds sustained in an earlier strike northwest of Khan Younis. Over the past 24 hours, Israeli attacks killed six Palestinians—five due to new attacks, and one due to wounds sustained in an earlier attack—and injured 27 others across Gaza, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

The total recorded death toll since October 7, 2023, has risen to 74,615 killed and 175,899 injured. Since October 11, 2025, the first full day of the so-called ceasefire, Israel has killed at least 1,599 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded 5,774, while 847 bodies have been recovered. Exclusive: Israel orders complete closure of Gaza crossing with Egypt, blocking aid and commercial goods: Israel informed the UN and Egyptian committee on Monday evening that it is imposing a “complete and comprehensive closure” of the Rafah crossing, blocking humanitarian aid, commercial shipments, food, fuel, and cooking gas entering Gaza through the Egyptian route, a senior Palestinian source involved in negotiations told Drop Site News.

Israel claimed that alleged smuggling and “interference by government bodies in the Gaza Strip” were the reasons for the closure, the source said. The Egyptian route handles approximately 50 to 60 trucks daily, the source said, adding that “fuel and gas come entirely through this route.” Under the October 2025 ceasefire agreement, 600 aid trucks are supposed to enter Gaza daily, but Israel has severely restricted deliveries, allowing an average of only around 200 trucks per day.

The closure comes as Palestinians across Gaza face the onset of winter in makeshift tents and heavily damaged homes, with worsening food insecurity compounded by cuts to UN food assistance and rising prices. Read Abdel Qader Sabbah’s report on the dire conditions in Gaza for Drop Site here . In Gaza, 42% of essential medicines, 50% of medical supplies depleted: Forty-two percent of essential medicines and 50% of medical supplies are completely out of stock, Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Tuesday, bringing critical healthcare services closer to total collapse.

The depletion of chemotherapy drugs, hormonal treatments, immunosuppressants, and clotting factors disrupted 55% of treatment protocols for thousands of patients, the ministry said, exposing them to life-threatening complications as Israeli restrictions obstruct treatment outside Gaza. Israel orders seizure of 11 acres of Palestinian land in occupied West Bank: Israeli authorities issued military orders to seize approximately 45 dunams (11 acres) of Palestinian land across the occupied West Bank.

In the northern Jordan Valley, Israeli forces ordered the seizure of seven dunams in Khirbet Al-Hadidiya to construct a military road, following earlier land seizures and the establishment of a settlement outpost in the area. In Jenin, two orders dated October 28 target 11.2 dunams in Deir Abu Daif and Qabatiya to construct roads and buffer zones around the Ganim and Kadim settlements, which Israel reestablished this year after evacuating them in 2005.

Near Ramallah, another order targets 26.5 dunams in Deir Nizam, Umm Safa, and Atara for a road linking settlements. The orders, which remain in effect until the end of 2028, would expand Israeli military control, restrict Palestinian access to agricultural land, and strengthen infrastructure connecting Israeli settlements, the Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission said. Israeli forces demolish shops as settlers torch property across West Bank: Hebron: Israeli forces demolished five shops belonging to a Palestinian resident, northwest of Hebron, on Tuesday, WAFA reported.

Forces also detained the Al Jazeera correspondent Muntaser Nassar and more than 20 Palestinians during raids in Dura, reportedly binding and mistreating them before releasing them. In Yatta, south of Hebron, Israeli settlers set fire to two vehicles, an agricultural storage room, and a house under construction, and spray-painted racist slogans. Bethlehem: Israeli forces assaulted Palestinians harvesting olives in Khalayel Al-Louz, southeast of Bethlehem, and prevented them from continuing their harvest.

Nablus: Israeli settlers severely beat a 60-year-old Palestinian man in Burqa, northwest of Nablus, leaving him hospitalized. In Majdal Bani Fadel, south of Nablus, settlers set fire to two vehicles parked outside Palestinian homes. Ramallah and Al-Bireh: Israeli forces arrested Luay Nawaf, head of the Ein Yabrud village council, after raiding his home east of Ramallah. Yemen Saudi coalition says it intercepted drone over Mecca; Ansarallah denies launching attack: The Saudi-led coalition claimed on Tuesday that it intercepted a drone over the Mecca region.

Ansarallah military spokesperson Yahya Saree denied that Yemeni forces had carried out any operations targeting Saudi territory that day, accusing Riyadh of fabricating the incident. Saree called the allegation that the Ansarallah had targeted the Islamic holy city of Mecca “an old lie revived,” claiming Saudi Arabia was attempting to distract from battlefield defeats. Saudi strikes kill 17 civilians; Ansarallah strike kills five civilians at health center: Saudi airstrikes killed 17 civilians over two days, most of them children, Sana’a Health Ministry said on Tuesday, accusing Saudi forces of targeting homes, residential neighborhoods, and markets.

Separately, an Ansarallah ballistic missile struck Al-Saqiyah Health Center in Lahj province on Monday, killing five people, including three medical workers, and wounding 15 others, according to Yemen’s Saudi-backed government. Saudi Aramco expands repeatedly attacked oil pipeline: Saudi Arabia oil giant Aramco began expanding its East-West crude pipeline and developing additional export routes to bypass the blockaded Strait of