The Genocide in Gaza

Dropsite News, Oct 8, 2025

  • Over the past 24 hours, 10 dead and 61 injured Palestinians arrived at hospitals in the Gaza Strip, according to Gaza’s health ministry, while 11 Palestinians were injured while seeking aid. The total recorded death toll since October 7, 2023 is now 67,183 killed, with 169,841 injured.

  • To mark two years of Israel’s genocidal war, the health ministry on Tuesday released an infographic with details on Palestinians killed and wounded in Gaza, including:

    • 20,179 children killed (30% of the total)

    • 44,143 children wounded (26% of the total)

    • 4,900 children with amputations or disabilities (22.5% of the total)

    • 51,196 children under five years old suffering from malnutrition

    • The document includes additional data on maternal mortality rates, Israel’s destruction of the healthcare system, famine and malnutrition, and more.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said an interview with state television company RAI on Tuesday that she was accused of “complicity in genocide” in a complaint filed with the International Criminal Court last week over Italy’s military support for Israel. Defense Minister Guido Crosetto and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani are also named, Meloni said, as well as Roberto Cingolani, the head of Italian weapons and aerospace company Leonardo. The complaint, dated October 1, was signed by around 50 people, including law professors, lawyers, and several public figures, who accused Meloni and others of complicity by supplying arms to Israel.

Ceasefire Negotiations

  • In an exclusive interview with Drop Site’s Jeremy Scahill, senior Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzouk said Hamas wants a deal to end the war but will not “raise the white flag,” insisting any ceasefire must include a full Israeli withdrawal and guarantees from Trump and Arab states. He rejected calls for unilateral disarmament as a surrender, demanded top Palestinian leaders be included in any prisoner-exchange, and stressed Hamas cannot decide the larger question of Palestinian self-determination alone. Abu Marzouk warned that Hamas is now a broad political force and said its red lines are clear: a permanent ceasefire, Israeli withdrawal, and unrestricted aid to Gaza. Read or watch the full interview here.

  • The chief political negotiator for Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) is officially joining the Gaza negotiations in Egypt, according to Drop Site’s Jeremy Scahill. PIJ’s armed wing Saraya al Quds is the second largest armed faction in Gaza & also holds Israeli captives.

  • Senior Hamas official Taher al-Nounou told Reuters on Wednesday that Hamas and Israel have exchanged lists of captives who would be released should a deal be reached.

  • Qatar says ongoing ceasefire talks in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, must include guarantees preventing Israel from restarting the war, while ensuring maximum aid delivery to Gaza. Spokesperson Dr. Majed bin Mohammed Al-Ansari emphasized key issues under discussion, including Israeli withdrawal, prisoner exchanges, an international presence, and Palestinian-led post-war governance. Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani is expected to arrive in Egypt today to take part in the talks.

  • The Al-Quds Brigades in Gaza says it will only free Israeli captives as part of a prisoner exchange in which Israel agrees to end the war in Gaza. The group vowed that all Palestinian factions will work to stop the fighting and relieve Palestinian suffering, and insisted resistance weapons will remain until the land is liberated and the war ends.

  • President Trump met Tuesday with his national security team ahead of envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner’s departure to Sharm el-Sheikh for the Gaza ceasefire talks, Axios reports. Sources say Trump pushed for a deal within days to free captives and end the two-year war, while Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and others were briefed on messages from Egyptian, Qatari, and Turkish mediators. U.S. officials signaled they will not leave Egypt without an agreement, and Trump sent a letter to Israeli hostage families pledging he is “personally committed” to ending the war.

  • At a press conference, President Donald Trump was asked how the U.S. could ensure Israel would not resume its war on Gaza after releasing captives. He pledged that the U.S. would use “everything possible” to make sure all parties adhere to the deal, but stopped short of explicitly guaranteeing that Israel could be barred from restarting military operations.

  • Turkish intelligence chief İbrahim Kalın will lead a delegation to Sharm el-Sheikh on Wednesday for Gaza ceasefire talks, focusing on ending the fighting, arranging prisoner exchanges, and delivering humanitarian aid, Anadolu Agency reports. Kalın held consultations with U.S., Egyptian, Qatari, and Hamas officials ahead of the visit, following last week’s Doha, Qatar, discussions that set the stage for Türkiye’s active role in the indirect negotiations in Egypt.

  • U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to attend a ministerial meeting in Paris on Thursday with European and Arab states to discuss Gaza’s postwar transition, according to Reuters.

West Bank and Israel

  • Twenty-two-year-old Ahmad Khdeirat, detained without charge since May 2024, died in Israeli custody—the 78th Palestinian to die in prison since October 7. The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society said Khdeirat, who had diabetes, was denied medical care and endured extreme hunger and infection in Israel’s Negev camp, losing 40 kilograms before his death. He was one of more than 3,500 Palestinians held indefinitely under administrative detention.

  • Israeli army and settlers attacked the home of Issa Amro, the prominent Palestinian human rights defender in Hebron.