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 Hormuz, CEO Amin Nasser said on Tuesday. Saudi Arabia aims to increase pipeline export capacity to as much as 10 million barrels per day, up from the East-West pipeline’s current capacity of 7 million. The key pipeline has been attacked several times since September, with Saudi Arabia blaming an Iraqi armed group for a strike and Ansarallah claiming responsibility for others.

Lebanon

• Israel again violates ceasefire in southern Lebanon: Israeli forces launched multiple attacks across southern Lebanon on Tuesday, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency.

  • Bint Jbeil: Israeli forces shelled the outskirts of Bra’shit.

  • Nabatieh: Israeli forces set fire to homes in Zawtar Al-Sharqiya, and carried out an airstrike on the outskirts of Kfartabnit.

  • Marjeyoun: Israeli forces carried out an explosion in the town of Qantara, accompanied by machine-gun fire.

• France investigating Israeli attack on Beirut apartment building as possible war crime: Two judges in the crimes against humanity unit of the Paris Judicial Court were appointed to investigate an Israeli airstrike on a 12-story residential building in central Beirut on November 26, 2024, that killed seven civilians, including the parents of French-Lebanese artist Ali Cherri, AFP reported.

  • Cherri, whose parents were 87 and 77, filed a complaint this year with the International Federation for Human Rights. His lawyer described the judicial investigation as a first involving alleged Israeli war crimes in Lebanon.

  • “What happened to my parents is not an isolated case,” Cherri told AFP. “I hope this investigation will help break the impunity enjoyed by Israeli officials responsible for attacks against civilians in Lebanon and Palestine.”

U.S. News

• Midterm elections nationwide: U.S. voters will head to the polls on Tuesday with control of both houses of Congress on the line and with several key Senate races – in Michigan, Texas, Kansas, Ohio, Iowa, Maine and Alaska — garnering particular attention. Recent polling indicates that Democrats are likely to take over the House and are leading in most (if not all) contested Senate races. Drop Site will be hosting a joint livestream with Breaking Points, available on both YouTube feeds; coverage begins at 6 p.m. here.

• The Guardian: ICE re-arrests immigrants who won release from detention: The Guardian found at least 20 cases of immigrants who won their release from detention and were later detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Immigrants have filed more than 91,000 habeas petitions since January 2025, per ProPublica, more than during the past three administrations combined. Attorneys link many re-detentions to the Trump administration’s push for third-country deportations, with more than 25,000 people already sent to third countries.

• Mamdani demands ICE stop using city property to stage operations: New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani demanded that ICE stop using city-owned lots during its enforcement actions. On Monday, the mayor’s office sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, acting ICE Director David Venturella, and New York ICE field office head Kenneth Genalo, saying “ICE has no right to use our property as a base for tearing families apart.” The letter added, “if they keep coming back, we will see them in court.” Mamdani’s demand comes after ICE shot a man while he was in his car with his five-year-old son on October 8 in upper Manhattan.

• Supreme Court rejects Trump administration attempt to force California to set aside 20,000 mail-in ballots: On Monday, the Supreme Court denied the Trump administration’s emergency application to set aside 20,000 mail-in ballots in California. The ruling was swift, coming hours after the administration filed an emergency request. The case follows the Justice Department’s declaration in October that it had compiled a list of more than 20,000 likely noncitizen voters in California. That list appeared to be riddled with errors, according to California officials, with only 7,035 names carrying Los Angeles County addresses and others confirmed as U.S.-born citizens.

• Judge dismisses DOJ’s case against Harvard: Massachusetts U.S. District Judge Myong Joun granted Harvard University’s motion to dismiss the Justice Department’s case against it. The DOJ had accused the university of withholding admissions data from investigators seeking to determine if it was in compliance with the Supreme Court’s 2023 ban on affirmative action in admissions. The government failed to prove that it had tried to resolve the dispute with the school before suing it, the court found. Joun did not rule on the merits of the case, meaning that the government can reopen its complaint once it addresses procedural deficiencies.

• Trump says he would consider preemptive pardons for Elon Musk, other allies: In a New York Post interview released Monday, President Trump called supposed Democratic threats against Elon Musk, including arrest and nationalizing SpaceX, just “talk,” but said “we just have to protect those people.” Asked by columnist Miranda Devine about preemptive pardons for Musk and others, he said “I would if I needed to, sure,” adding “I’d do it. I did it for J6,” referring to clemency for more than 1,500 Capitol riot defendants. Democratic leaders have discussed investigating Musk’s business practices, but have not called for his arrest. Musk, whose net worth hovers around $1 trillion, has spent nearly half a billion dollars on Republican candidates and groups during the 2026 midterms.

• NYT: Trump administration preparing to scale back pregnancy-related workplace protections: The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, under chair Andrea Lucas, plans to narrow work accommodations for pregnant workers, the New York Times reported. As early as this month, the EEOC could release a proposal that scants the implementation of the 2022 Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which covers such worker protections as bathroom and water breaks, reprieve from heavy lifting, and time off for prenatal care. The law includes accommodations for “related medical conditions,” such as abortions, fertility treatments, and care for endometriosis and menstruation.

• FEMA directs disaster aid to Republican districts in California and Minnesota ahead of midterms: On October 30, the Federal Emergency Management Agency directed tens of millions of dollars to several Los Angeles, Calif., churches and to projects in or near vulnerable GOP Rep. David Valadao’s Central Valley district, the Washington Sun reported. The same day, FEMA funded one Minnesota project, a road in Rockville in House Majority Whip Tom Emmer’s district. The funds were released after Valadao worked with Speaker Mike Johnson‘s office to pressure the White House and Office of Management and Budget for funds, most of which will repair a water district in the San Joaquin Valley.

• U.S. to remove South Africa, Rwanda from African trade program: Trump informed Congress and the governments of South Africa and Rwanda that the two countries are being cut from the African Growth and Opportunity Act, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Monday. He said the countries were removed for reasons related to “barriers that undermine American trade and investment and practices that pose a threat to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests in the region.” The Trump administration has accused South Africa, the program’s top exporter, of “anti-white” policies, and criticized its stance on Israel and its ties with Iran. The U.S. sanctioned Rwanda’s defense ministry last week over its support for the M23 rebel group in eastern Congo.

• New York child is first to die of measles in the state in 30 years: New York State health officials announced on Monday that a child in northern county of Lewis died after contracting measles. Gov. Kathy Hochul linked the death to Trump administration policies that she said eroded confidence in pediatric immunization. Lewis County recorded 15 measles cases by mid-October, all occurring in unvaccinated people. New York has recorded at least 178 cases this year, concentrated in about 10 upstate counties, with Amish communities particularly hard hit. Across the U.S. there have been 4,852 cases this year, more than double the number in 2025.

Other International News

• Exclusive: Al-Shabaab attack in Somalia kills four civilians: Drop Site contributor Mohamed Gabobe reports that Al-Shabaab, an Islamist rebel group, killed four civilians in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region last week, according to two security officials. The dead were identified as Ikran Jama, Naima Ahmed, Jama Said, and Salma Mohamed.

  • On the morning of October 27, Al-Shabaab fighters fired mortar rounds toward Galgala, a town in the Al-Madow mountain range, killing four people. Puntland troops returned fire on the rebels’ position, using anti-aircraft guns to repel the attack, the officials said.

  • Just days before the attack, Puntland’s President Said Abdullahi Deni announced that the regional government would be launching a military campaign to remove Al-Shabaab from the mountains of Al-Madow. The United Arab Emirates and the United States are backing Somali operations, Gabobe previously reported for Drop Site.

• Exclusive: Turkish airstrikes against Al-Shabaab in Somalia kill two civilians: In response to an Al-Shabaab attack on Somali government troops last week, Turkey launched strikes targeting the rebels’ military vehicles, Somali security officials involved in joint operations with Turkey told Drop Site contributor Mohamed Gabobe. The strikes killed two civilians and sparked anti-Turkish protests.

  • On October 26, Al-Shabaab ambushed Somali government forces outside the town of Lego, in the country’s Lower Shabelle region. Al-Shabaab detonated car bombs before firing weapons at the troops. Security officials declined to provide a precise number of military casualties, but told Drop Site that a “substantial” number of troops are unaccounted for.

  • Following Monday’s ambush, Al-Shabaab seized multiple military vehicles belonging to the Somali government that had been donated by Turkey, according to the officials. Turkish aircraft located some of the captured vehicles the following day, they said, using GPS tracking systems installed in the vehicles.

  • One of the captured vehicles was located in an area called Jameeco. Turkish aircraft launched an airstrike that destroyed the vehicle. A civilian, 28-year-old Ibrahim Iidow Suxaaye, was working on nearby farmland when he was struck by shrapnel and killed, according to the officials.

  • Al-Shabaab fighters took another seized vehicle to the Waberi neighborhood in Burhakaba district, where they eventually abandoned it, the officials said. A group of civilians were filming a TikTok video near the vehicle when a Turkish airstrike struck the area, wounding 23-year-old Mohamed Hassan Osman, who later died from his wounds, the security officials said.

• Russia attacks aid site, killing 31, and hospital, injuring 73: Russian forces “directly struck a city clinical hospital” on Monday night, damaging its cardiology department and injuring 73 people, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. Russia also bombed an aid center in Zaporizhzhia, killing 31 people. Overnight on Monday, Russia launched 289 attack drones, 17 ballistic missiles, and 59 cruise missiles, mainly targeting the power grid, leaving more than 180,000 people without power in Zhytomyr and prompting scheduled outages in Odessa.

  • Also on Monday, a Ukrainian drone attack in Russia’s Yaroslavl province injured two workers at an oil refinery.

• UK increases wait time for most foreign workers seeking permanent residency to 10 years: Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced changes to the UK’s immigration rules on Monday, tying eligibility for permanent residency to income. People earning over 50,000 pounds ($67,000) will be able to apply for permanent status after five years, and people earning over 125,000 pounds after three years. Others must wait 10 years to apply. Exemptions were carved out for care workers earning at least 25,000 pounds, and for refugees arriving by new “safe and legal routes.” Anyone arriving by a small boat or any other “illegal method,” Mahmood noted, will have to wait 30 years to apply. Applicants will also be disqualified if they have a criminal record, lack English language proficiency, owe debt to the UK government, or show fewer than three years of national insurance contributions.

• Ebola death toll in central and eastern Africa tops 5,300; most cases in the Congo: The latest Ebola outbreak in central and Eastern Africa has killed 5,376 people, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Two deaths have occurred in Kenya and Uganda each. The other 5,372 deaths occurred within the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There have been about 10,444 infections total across the DRC, Uganda, and Kenya, according to data from the Africa CDC—putting the fatality rate above 50%. There are no approved treatments or vaccines for the Bundibugyo strain.

• Attackers ambush police convoy in Nigeria, killing 8 personnel: An attack on a police convoy in Nigeria’s northeastern Zamfara state killed at least eight Nigerian security personnel, Reuters reported. The dead include five police officers and three members of the state-backed Community Protection Guard. Police also said the attackers, identified only as “bandits,” seized five AK-47 rifles and abducted several members of the police convoy; the number and their location are unknown.

• Northern Ethiopia conflict pushing health system toward collapse, WHO says: The conflict between Tigrayan rebels and the government has killed several civilians in recent days and strained medical facilities, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday. The fighting is pushing the healthcare system to the brink, he added. It is straining health care workers and medical supplies and services. Ghebreyesus warned that drone attacks and civilian casualties were becoming “more frequent” across Ethiopia. The WHO and other UN agencies are working to deliver supplies, he added, urging protection for civilians and health workers.

• Rubio talks reforms with Venezuelan officials: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Venezuelan Foreign Minister Oliver Blanco on Monday, with a State Department readout from the meeting saying that Washington reaffirmed Trump’s “three-phase plan for Venezuela: stabilization, economic recovery and political reconciliation, and democratic transition.” Rubio and Blanco discussed a potential framework for “free, fair, and credible elections” in the country, the readout said. A date for elections has not been scheduled, despite public pressure from opposition figure María Corina Machado, and a promise by interim president Delcy Rodríguez to hold elections.

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