Former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney dies. Israeli attacks in northern Gaza kill at least two Palestinians on Tuesday. Israeli forces release five more Palestinian prisoners to Gaza, and al-Qassam says it found the body of another Israeli soldier. The U.S. drafts a plan for an International Security Force in Gaza to govern and secure the strip through 2027. Soldiers accused of gang-raping a detainee at Sde Teiman claim they were “abandoned” by the government, following the arrest of the military lawyer who allegedly leaked incriminating surveillance video. A new leaked order shows that Israeli authorities found the victim was not a militant but a civilian who was never charged. It is election day in the U.S., with key contests in New York City, New Jersey, Virginia, and California: Zohran Mamdani and Andrew Cuomo face off for mayor, gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey could foreshadow the 2026 midterms, and California voters weigh Prop 50—a direct vote on redistricting. Elon Musk and President Donald Trump both endorse Cuomo in the final hours of the election. The Trump administration to pay out only partial SNAP benefits during the shutdown, leaving millions of Americans facing hunger. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun says he has “no choice but to negotiate with Israel” amid ongoing airstrikes. Drop Site publishes a dispatch from El Fasher, Vietnam expands its island-building in the South China Sea, Peru cuts diplomatic ties with Mexico, and Russia claims advances in the Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk.
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Former US Vice President Dick Cheney and former US President George W. Bush check their watches in the Oval Office of the White House on January 26, 2001—a week after Bush’s inauguration. Cheney died on November 4, 2025, at 84. (Photo by Eric Draper - White House via CNP/Getty Images).
The Genocide in Gaza
The bodies of four Palestinians arrived at hospitals in Gaza over the past 24 hours, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, including three killed in new Israeli attacks and one recovered from the rubble. Seven Palestinians were injured. The total recorded death toll since October 7, 2023 is now 68,872 killed, with 170,677 injured.
Since October 11, the first full day of the ceasefire, Israel has killed at least 240 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded 607, while 511 bodies have been recovered, according to the Ministry of Health.
The Israeli military killed at least one Palestinian on Tuesday in Jabaliya. The Israeli army admitted to the killing, claiming without evidence that he “was identified crossing the yellow line and approaching IDF soldiers in northern Gaza.” Another Palestinian was killed and one wounded when an Israeli quadcopter opened fire on the Tuffah neighborhood in Gaza City, while there is constant Israeli shelling in southern Gaza, according to Al Jazeera.
Israeli forces released five more Palestinian prisoners on Monday evening, who arrived via a Red Cross vehicle at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza. Meanwhile, Hamas’s armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, said it found the body of an Israeli soldier in the Shujaiya neighborhood of Gaza City and that arrangements are underway to hand over the body to Israel.
Israeli forces arrested five Palestinian fishermen working off the coast of Gaza City on Monday, according to the Gaza fishermen’s union.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Saturday that Gaza’s water and sanitation systems remain near collapse. Repairs at the Sheikh Radwan pumping station are nearly finished, with testing underway to restore flow and reduce flooding in Gaza City. UAE-funded water trucking has begun in Gaza City and the north. However, severe fuel shortages are halting maintenance work, with 10,000 liters urgently needed to keep generators running, and 4,500 missing manhole covers pose open hazards across neighborhoods. The Public Health Lab at Al-Shifa Hospital is set to resume water-quality testing this week. UN agencies warned that without steady fuel and spare parts, Gaza’s fragile network could fail entirely, endangering sanitation and public health.
One of several warehouses in Jordan packed with aid could fill 150 trucks a day, five days a week, and for three months, according to a Channel 4 News report, enough to sustain large-scale humanitarian relief for Palestinians that Israeli authorities have refused to allow into Gaza.
The Trump administration is urging Israel to permit about 200 Palestinian fighters trapped in Rafah’s tunnels to exit safely across the yellow line, warning that any military activity there could spark a broader Israeli offensive, according to Channel 12. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu briefly approved the deal Sunday but reversed course following backlash from his coalition partners. According to Ynet, Hamas offered to disclose burial sites west of Rafah in exchange for the fighters’ evacuation, though the group has not confirmed this publicly. Other Israeli outlets said the military prefers to kill the fighters in the tunnels or trade their release for captives’ bodies, while Maariv reported that IDF engineers are sealing and wiring tunnels in Rafah’s Al-Jneina area, where an estimated 150 fighters remain east of the yellow line.
Hamas Political Bureau member Mohammad Nazzal said he could not confirm Israeli reports that the army is sealing a Rafah tunnel with about 150 Hamas fighters inside but warned that, if true, it would constitute a “clear breach” of the ceasefire. He said only Al-Qassam Brigades could verify events on the ground but cautioned that the resistance would “have a clear position” and respond if Israel violated the truce, adding that Palestinian factions “will not remain silent” if such an act occurs.
The Trump administration has again asked Israel to allow foreign journalists into Gaza, according to the Times of Israel, citing two U.S. officials. One said the request was renewed this week, while another acknowledged it is “not at the top of the administration’s priorities,” suggesting limited U.S. pressure. President Donald Trump said in August he would “like to see” reporters granted access. Israel has barred all independent press from Gaza since the war began two years ago, during which more than 250 Palestinian journalists in Gaza have been killed. On October 23, Israel’s High Court gave the government 30 days to justify the ban following a petition from the Foreign Press Association. Separately, Ynet reported that Israel is preparing controlled “demonstration sites” for embedded media tours east of the yellow line to shape coverage of the devastation, with officials compiling “incriminating material” to support the government’s narrative.
Ceasefire Updates
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed “deep concern” over ongoing violations of the Gaza ceasefire, urging that “they must stop” and that all sides comply with the first phase of the peace agreement. Speaking at the Second World Summit for Social Development in Doha, he called for a “credible political path” toward ending the occupation and achieving Palestinian self-determination through a two-state solution. Israel has killed at least 240 Palestinians in Gaza since the ceasefire went into effect last month.
The U.S. has drafted a UN Security Council resolution to create an International Security Force in Gaza for at least two years, with deployment targeted for January 2026. The U.S.-led mission, described as “an enforcement force, not a peacekeeping force,” would govern and secure Gaza through 2027 with troops from Egypt, Türkiye, and Indonesia, tasked with securing borders, protecting civilians, training a new Palestinian police force, and overseeing Hamas’s disarmament. The force would operate under a unified command approved by the Trump-chaired Board of Peace, which Palestinians have denounced as “Balfour 2,” rejecting what they call a return to foreign colonial control.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Hamas remains “highly committed” to the Gaza ceasefire, while “Israel’s record in this regard is very poor.” Speaking at an Organization of Islamic Cooperation economic summit in Istanbul, he urged Muslim nations to take the lead in Gaza’s reconstruction, saying, “We must provide more humanitarian aid and begin rebuilding, but Israel is doing everything to prevent it.” Erdoğan also warned against Israeli efforts to annex the West Bank or alter Jerusalem’s status, calling for a sovereign Palestinian state and self-determination for its people.
West Bank and Israel
Israeli soldiers accused of gang-raping Palestinian detainees at the Sde Teiman detention site held a live press conference on Channel 14 on Monday, claiming they had been “abandoned” by the government and public. “Instead of a hug we got accusations. Instead of thanks, we got silence,” one soldier said, insisting, “We remind the world… we are real fighters.” The press conference was held hours after Israeli police arrested the former military advocate general over her role in the leak of surveillance video of the incident.
A newly leaked Israeli Defense Forces order confirmed that the Palestinian man filmed being gang-raped by Israeli soldiers at the Sde Teiman detention site was a civilian, not a Hamas “Nukhba” fighter as pro-Israel commentators had claimed at the time. The document shows he was never charged with any crime and was among the 1,700 Gazans freed without charge under the ceasefire deal. That agreement covered only detainees held without charges in Israeli facilities. Israel continues to detain more than 9,000 Palestinians, over half without charge, including hundreds in secret military camps such as Sde Teiman.
Israeli forces arrested eight Palestinians in raids across Nablus governorate in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, according to state news agency Wafa.
Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian family heading to harvest olives near the town of al-Khader, south of Bethlehem, according to the Wafa news agency. The man said settlers beat him with rifle butts, detained his wife and daughter, and forced the family at gunpoint to leave their land, threatening arrest if they returned. Israeli settlers also attacked Palestinian olive pickers south of Bethlehem. The assaults are part of a growing wave of settler violence targeting Palestinian olive harvesters across the occupied West Bank.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said his country’s goal is to build a “long-term strategic partnership” with India, speaking at a meeting with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. The statement follows a September investment agreement between the two countries and deepening defense cooperation, including joint production of Hermes 900 drones in Hyderabad through a partnership between Adani Defence & Aerospace and Israel’s Elbit Systems. Human Rights Watch and other groups have previously documented Israel’s use of Hermes drones in Gaza operations.
U.S. News
Former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney died on Monday at the age of 84 as a result of complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease, according to a statement by his family. Cheney spent decades in government in a number of positions, including White House chief of staff, congressman, and secretary of defense. He also served as CEO of oil giant Halliburton. Cheney is widely viewed as one of the most influential and powerful vice presidents in US history during his tenure under President George W Bush. He was a key architect of the “war on terror” after 9/11, saying the U.S. would have to work on the “dark side.” He paved the way for the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq on false allegations that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, while defending the use of secret detention at CIA black sites, the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, “enhanced interrogation techniques” that constituted torture, and mass domestic surveillance.
U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard made an unannounced visit to Israel on Monday, touring the U.S.-run Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC) and the Karam Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing as Israel continues to block vital aid from entering Gaza despite the ceasefire. Gabbard, whose visit included 200 U.S. troops stationed at the CMCC, told Fox News the site “is a living example of what can happen when nations unite for common interests,” praising Trump’s peace deal for bringing “hope and optimism across the Middle East.”
Virginia gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger contrasted her campaign with Zohran Mamdani’s approach in an interview with CNN, saying she doesn’t see democratic socialism gaining traction within the party and warning that Mamdani’s sweeping promises risk misleading voters. Asked about his claim to have won the “battle over the soul” of the Democratic Party, she replied, “Then maybe he should be a Democrat,” before acknowledging his nomination. Spanberger argued that Democrats should “dream big” without “lying” about what can pass, while Mamdani, when asked about making room for moderates like Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill, said the party must reflect “who we are fighting to serve: working people.”
“Andrew Cuomo hung up in the middle of a radio interview [with New York hip hop radio personalities DJ Ebro, Laura Stylez, and Peter Rosenberg] today, after the hosts pressed him on Donald Trump expressing support for him,” as reported by Prem Thakker.
CBS News removed a key exchange from its extended broadcast of President Donald Trump’s interview, omitting his final response to Norah O’Donnell’s question about potential corruption in his cryptocurrency dealings. In the unaired segment, Trump hesitated before saying, “I can’t say. I’m not concerned. I’d rather not have you ask the question,” then added, “We are number one in crypto, and that’s the only thing I care about. I don’t want China or anybody else to take it away. It’s a massive industry.”
Elon Musk publicly endorsed former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the New York City mayoral race on Monday, urging voters on X to “VOTE CUOMO!” and warning that “a vote for Curtis [Sliwa] is really a vote for Mumdumi or whatever his name is,” referring to Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani. Musk, who previously criticized Mamdani as “the future of the Democratic Party,” had not endorsed a candidate until now. Mamdani has accused Cuomo of giving Musk nearly $1 billion in state subsidies for a failed solar panel project during his governorship. Sliwa echoed that criticism, saying Musk “couldn’t care less about what happens in New York City.” Musk joins other billionaires opposing Mamdani’s campaign—including Mike Bloomberg, Joe Gebbia, and Bill Ackman—while President Donald Trump also said he preferred Cuomo, calling him “the bad Democrat” over “a communist.” Read more about the big money campaign against Mamdani in Meghnad Bose and Biplob Das’s latest for Drop Site.
Laura Loomer, the far-right activist and close ally of President Donald Trump, has been credentialed to cover the Defense Department under its new press policy, according to one person familiar with the decision. The move comes as the Pentagon replaces its traditional press corps—after most major outlets refused to sign a restrictive new media agreement—with a roster dominated by far-right publications and influencers, including the Gateway Pundit, Post Millennial, and LindellTV. Loomer, 32, has frequently met with Trump in the Oval Office and has been credited—or blamed—for prompting the dismissals of senior defense and intelligence officials she publicly attacked. Loomer, known for incendiary statements about Muslims and immigrants, has described herself as a “truth-teller” and “patriot” despite repeated bans from mainstream platforms and prior failed bids for office.
Most of the corporate donors funding President Donald Trump’s new White House ballroom have major business before the administration, including billions in federal contracts and ongoing enforcement cases—a new report from watchdog group Public Citizen finds. More than half of the donors’ companies have faced government investigations or penalties in recent years for alleged labor, consumer, or environmental violations. The report says the 36 publicly known donors have received $279 billion in federal contracts and spent $1.6 billion on lobbying and political giving over the past five years. The arrangement appears to blur ethical lines as Trump demolishes the East Wing to make room for the $300 million, 90,000-square-foot venue. The White House defended the donations as reducing taxpayer burden, while Public Citizen called the project a “pay-to-play” scheme, noting that several firms—such as Amazon, Apple, and Lockheed Martin—have benefited from favorable regulatory decisions since Trump’s second term began.
The Trump administration said it will restart food assistance under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) but only pay out about half the normal amount, using $4.65 billion from an Agriculture Department contingency fund—roughly half of what’s needed for a full month of benefits. Officials warned that depleting the fund would leave no money for new applicants or emergencies, and that distributing even partial payments could take weeks as states reprogram eligibility systems. The move follows two federal court rulings deeming the administration’s freeze on SNAP unlawful, though millions of low-income Americans are still expected to face significant delays and food shortages.
Nurses and veterans’ advocates say staff shortages at the Department of Veterans Affairs have reached crisis levels after the Trump administration’s workforce reductions and contract expirations cut thousands of medical positions nationwide. Since December 2024, the VA has lost more than 4,200 mission-critical employees—including doctors, nurses, and social workers—worsening wait times, limiting services, and forcing staff to work unpaid overtime as aging veterans’ health needs increase. VA officials under Secretary Doug Collins insist the departures are voluntary and have not affected care, but nurses report widespread burnout and diminished patient access, while lawmakers warn that the agency’s shift toward outsourcing care through the costly Community Care program risks hollowing out the VA’s own system. Advocates say the changes could undo years of progress transforming the VA into a world-class health provider, replacing veteran-centered care with a fragmented, profit-driven model. Read the full report from The American Prospect here.
Home insurance costs are surging nationwide, rising faster than both home prices and overall inflation, with premiums up 74 percent since 2008 and totaling $21 billion in added payments over the past three years. Insurers are increasingly using artificial intelligence to justify rate hikes—by as much as 15 percent—and to deny or cancel coverage in high-risk areas as climate disasters drive insured losses to near $100 billion annually. The result has been record profits for insurers, who earned $169 billion last year, even as homeowners face soaring costs and, in some cases, the inability to secure coverage at all. Read the full reporting from The Lever here.
International News
The Israeli military announced it bombed Lebanon on Monday, killing two people in separate strikes in Nabatieh and Ayta ash Shab. Meanwhile, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Tuesday that Beirut “has no choice but to negotiate” with Israel, arguing that “the language of dialogue is more important than the language of war.” He spoke amid near-daily Israeli airstrikes and ground incursions in southern Lebanon, as U.S. envoy Thomas Barrack conducts indirect mediation. At last week’s Manama Dialogue in Bahrain, Barrack called Lebanon “a failed state” and urged its leaders to open direct talks with Israel, pledging U.S. support and pressure on Israel “to be reasonable.”
Vietnam has rapidly expanded its military presence in the South China Sea, constructing fortified artificial islands across 21 reefs and atolls in the Spratly Islands—making it the region’s second-largest land builder after China. Satellite images analyzed by the Wall Street Journal and Center for Strategic and International Studies show Vietnam has reclaimed more than 2,200 acres since 2021, equipping its new outposts with ports, munitions storage, barracks, and a two-mile airstrip capable of hosting military aircraft. Analysts say the buildup mirrors China’s own militarization of the Spratlys but is seen as defensive—aimed at safeguarding Vietnamese sovereignty amid Beijing’s pressure over oil exploration and fishing rights.
Thailand and Cambodia have begun withdrawing heavy weapons and clearing land mines along their disputed border. The extended truce was signed with U.S. President Donald Trump present last week in Kuala Lumpur. Thai officials said the de-mining effort has started. Thailand proposes to clear 13 areas and Cambodia plans to clear one, while the withdrawal of rocket systems, artillery, and tanks will proceed in three phases through year’s end. Bangkok has not yet released 18 detained Cambodian soldiers or reopened checkpoints, pending verification that Phnom Penh is adhering to the deal. The July border conflict between the two states killed at least 48 people and displaced hundreds of thousands in the worst fighting between the neighbors in decades.
Peru cut diplomatic ties with Mexico after Mexico granted asylum to former Prime Minister Betssy Chávez, who is accused of aiding ex-President Pedro Castillo’s failed 2022 coup attempt. Lima called the move an “unfriendly act” and accused Mexico of repeated interference in its internal affairs. Mexico rejected the decision as “excessive and disproportionate,” saying its actions fully comply with international law.
Russia said its troops had advanced into Pokrovsk, a key eastern Ukrainian logistics hub, claiming control of areas near the city’s railway station and industrial zone. Ukraine denied the assertion, saying its forces were holding firm and that Russian troops were attacking in small groups without armored vehicles. President Volodymyr Zelensky said Pokrovsk remains under heavy pressure as fighting intensifies around Dobropillia, while peace talks remain stalled in the fourth year of the war.
More From Drop Site
Drop Site’s election coverage tonight: Ryan Grim gives an overview of the election landscape today, with off-year elections in California, New York City, New Jersey, and Virginia. A new report by journalist Nathan Bernard pays special attention to Maine, where Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner’s campaign has become the leading force opposing “Question 1,” a Republican- and Leonard Leo–backed measure to restrict absentee voting. Platner’s grassroots operation mobilized 3,000 volunteers who contacted 40,000 voters in two days, turning the fight against the measure into a test of his movement’s strength and a preview of how he might fare against incumbent Senator Susan Collins in next year’s election. Read it in full here, and RSVP here for our livestream coverage with Breaking Points.
DROP SITE REPORTING ON SUDAN: Survivors who fled El-Fasher and those still trapped inside the city describe horrific scenes of summary executions, kidnappings and sexual violence against civilians at the hands of the Rapid Support Forces who seized the city on October 26. Read more from Drop Site contributor Eisa Dafalla here.
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