News Brief: Palestinians Start Returning to Northern Gaza; DEA Says Dozens Arrested in Colorado Raid Targeting Venezuelan Gang

In Gaza, Palestinians return home as the fragile truce between Israel and Hamas continues...
News Brief: Palestinians Start Returning to Northern Gaza; DEA Says Dozens Arrested in Colorado Raid Targeting Venezuelan Gang
This aerial photo shows displaced Gazans walking toward Gaza City on Jan. 27, 2025, after crossing the Netzarim corridor from the southern Gaza Strip. AFP via Getty Images
Bill Thomas
Updated:
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Good morning, and welcome to The Epoch Times News Brief for Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025. I’m Bill Thomas, we have some pressing stories to share with you right now, and here’s what’s happening nationally and around the world.

In Gaza, Palestinians return home as the fragile truce between Israel and Hamas continues, the Drug Enforcement Administration takes dozens of violent gang members into custody during a Colorado raid, and our nation’s new Pentagon chief vows to eliminate a controversial policy as he begins to reshape the Department of Defense.

Also, another NATO member country agrees to meet a defense target set by President Donald Trump, and the U.S. tech markets take a massive tumble following the introduction of a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) app.

We have a great deal of ground to cover today, and we begin with international news. The cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas is holding up, Israeli hostages are being released, and Palestinians are going home. More now on our top story.

Palestinians Start Returning to Northern Gaza

Following a two-day setback, Israel has reopened the route to northern Gaza and thousands of Palestinians are now returning to their homes.

A spokesman for the Israeli military said that people are now permitted to cross what’s called the Netzarim Corridor on foot, and that vehicles would also be allowed to move north after they’ve been inspected. However, he said that any transfer of either weapons or terrorist fighters along the routes would be considered a breach of the fragile cease-fire agreement.

The reopening of the passage comes after Israel and Hamas settled a dispute regarding the order of the release of several Israeli hostages by Hamas in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

Israel delayed the opening of the route last week after it said Hamas had violated the terms of their hostage-for-prisoner exchange by failing to release a previously agreed upon female Israeli civilian who was kidnapped by Hamas during the initial Oct. 7, 2023, attack.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office now says that Israel is expecting her release this Friday, along with release of two additional hostages.

A Qatari official says that another three Israeli hostages are scheduled to be released this Saturday. He also says that Hamas has agreed to provide a full list of the remaining hostages to be released during the first phase of the cease-fire agreement, and that in return, Israel will hand over a list of 400 Palestinian prisoners they have arrested since Oct. 7, 2023.

Further negotiations are expected to take place in the future; meanwhile, the White House has reaffirmed its commitment to “push for the release of all remaining hostages and the pursuit of peace throughout the region.”

We continue now in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States, where in an early morning raid, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has just arrested dozens of illegal immigrants tied to a notorious South American gang. More now on what we’ve learned.

DEA Says Dozens Arrested in Colorado Raid Targeting Venezuelan Gang

The DEA says that more than a hundred law enforcement personnel recently took into custody 49 illegal immigrants during a raid near Denver, Colorado. That raid targeted a criminal Venezuelan gang who had gathered at a makeshift nightclub, and all suspects were then turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

The DEA says that drugs, weapons, and cash were seized in the raid, no shots were fired, and there were no reported injuries.

You may recall that during his 2024 election campaign, President Donald Trump pointed out that members of the gang, which is called Tren de Aragua, had taken over buildings and certain areas in places across Colorado.

At that time, he said that a number of those towns had been invaded and “conquered” by the gang, and he promised to quickly remedy the problem by deporting criminal illegal immigrants from the United States.

By the way, Tren de Aragua began as a prison gang; they’re involved with human smuggling, drug trafficking, money laundering, and other criminal activity; and U.S. officials say that in recent years, it has quickly expanded across both North and South America.

Meanwhile, the DEA raid was made just days after Trump was sworn into office and after he issued an executive order that designated a number of gangs and drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.

More now from Washington, and as newly confirmed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth begins his first week at the helm of the Pentagon, he’s already making significant changes to reshape our country’s military, and here’s what we know.

Hegseth Vows to Remove DEI From Defense Department

Hegseth says that effective immediately, the Pentagon will implement a mandate to remove all diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies from the Department of Defense, and that there will be “no exceptions, name-changes, or delays” regarding that revision.

He says that the guidance of President Donald Trump is clear regarding the matter, and the move comes as part of a push by Trump to remove DEI from all branches of the federal government because he says it’s both discriminatory and unfair.

Hegseth says that further executive orders are also on their way from Trump dealing with the military, including one to reinstate troops who were pushed out of the armed forces due to COVID vaccine mandates, as well as another to create an “Iron Dome” defense system for America.

Hegseth also pointed out that changes to the Pentagon are “happening quickly,” and he said he will make sure that the Pentagon acts “rapidly” in implementing the president’s lawful orders as soon as they are issued.

In case you missed it, Hegseth was sworn in as the nation’s defense secretary last Saturday, after the Senate narrowly confirmed his nomination in a 51–50 vote, with Vice President JD Vance casting the deciding ballot.

Hegseth later sent a message to the entire U.S. armed forces, promising to restore “the warrior ethos,” rebuild the military, and reestablish the country’s ability to deter enemies.

He also promised to work with U.S. allies and partners to deter the aggression of communist China, and to support the president’s priority to both “end wars responsibly” and “reorient to key threats.”

Another story we’re keeping a close watch on today concerns the European nation of Estonia agreeing with President Donald Trump’s request for all NATO member countries to increase their defense spending, and more now on this developing story.

Estonia Agrees to Meet Trump’s 5 Percent Target for Defense Spending

The prime minister of Estonia says his country will now meet Trump’s request for NATO countries to apply 5 percent of their GDP toward their defense spending.

He called the United States his country’s “key security partner,” and he said that under Trump’s leadership, a “clear message” has been sent. He also said that a number of “public sector cuts” would have to be made in order to fund his country’s extra defense spending; however, he did not say what those cuts would be.

In case you missed it, last week, Estonia’s neighbor, Lithuania, also announced it would boost its defense spending to between 5 and 6 percent of GDP. Additionally, both Lithuania and Estonia are former republics of the Soviet Union, and both share a border with Russia.

For Lithuania’s part, the country’s foreign minister says that Europe is facing a new era, that it’s received what he called “good and constructive pressure” from its biggest NATO ally, and that those messages cannot be ignored. He also said that it’s now necessary for his country to have “real war-fighting” capabilities, and that it'll fund the extra spending on defense through government borrowing.

By the way, Poland also shares a border with Russia; it’s next door to Ukraine; and it also recently backed Trump’s call for NATO countries to meet the 5 percent target. However, NATO members Germany, France, and Britain have all balked at increasing defense spending significantly above NATO’s current suggested 2 percent level.

We have just enough time to squeeze in one more story, and a tough day for the markets yesterday—it had everything to do with China, AI, a new app, and the threat to U.S.-based high-tech firms. More now on what we’ve learned.

Nasdaq Tumbles as China’s DeepSeek AI Ignites Market Rout

First off, the app is called DeepSeek, and it recently soared to the top of the U.S. App Store. Yesterday, it caused the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index to drop by 3 percent, and investors were apparently rattled by the Chinese tech startup for its efficient and cost-effective open-source AI models.

According to projections made by Dow Jones Market Data, the drop in the market erased more than $1 trillion in value in early trading.

So you know, DeepSeek was founded in 2023, and it has constructed a pair of AI models that outperform the premier models from Google, Meta, and OpenAI in a number of critical ways, including coding, mathematics, and natural language reasoning.

That development has sparked widespread fears across the markets, because DeepSeek’s models appear to be developed at a fraction of the cost of those other models, while using less energy and requiring fewer employees.

One AI market research expert told The Epoch Times that DeepSeek could have vast implications for a wide range of industry titans, various semiconductor businesses, and even the energy sector. He says that the app has taken the market by storm by doing more with less, and that its model saves both money and computational power.

Meanwhile, some investors say while the new app could reduce the demand for certain chips, it could also increase the demand for certain hardware. Other market observers also believe that in the long run, many U.S. companies could benefit because lowering the price of certain things will increase the demand for others.

Additionally, the CEO of Microsoft recently pointed to the effectiveness of DeepSeek’s new AI model, and he said that we should take the developments that are coming out of China “very, very seriously.”

Almost time for us to wrap things up, but before we go, a few more stories we’re watching very closely here in The Epoch Times News Brief newsroom:

In Washington yesterday, Senate Democrats unveiled a new resolution that condemns President Donald Trump’s pardons of people who were found guilty of assaulting Capitol Police officers during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Also in Washington, the U.S. Senate has just voted to confirm Scott Bessent as the nation’s new Treasury secretary.
And the National Association of Realtors says that existing home sales in the United States hit an almost three-decade low last year, before eventually showing some signs of recovery during the final months of 2024.

And now, it looks like our time is just about up for today, so we’re going to call it a wrap for the Tuesday edition of The Epoch Times News Brief.

To make contact with the News Brief crew, simply reach out to us via email, and we’re at [email protected]. You can also leave comments for us on the Epoch Times app, which you can download for free on either the App Store or Google Play.

Don’t forget the News Brief Motto: We’re portable, affordable, and we’re always on-demand.

And finally, as we do each and every day on this program, we wrap everything up with a very notable quote, and this one comes to us from Scatman Crothers, who said: “We are all stars in this galaxy. All of us. No one’s greater than the other.”

Crothers was an American actor and musician with a long and storied career. He is known for playing Louie the Garbage Man on the TV show “Chico and the Man,” as well as Dick Hallorann in Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining” with Jack Nicholson.

For all of us here at The Epoch Times News Brief, I’m Bill Thomas.

The Epoch Times News Brief program is written each day by David Ross.

Thank you for making us your one-stop source for a concise, accurate, and unbiased daily synopsis of many of the news stories you need to know about.

Enjoy the remainder of your day, and we’ll see you right back here next time for another edition of The Epoch Times News Brief.

For now, it’s imperative that we all continue to watch out for one another, and have an absolutely superb day today. Bye for now.

Bill Thomas
Bill Thomas
Author
Bill Thomas is a two-time Golden Mike Award winner who has specialized in breaking news coverage. In his career he has covered floods, forest fires, police pursuits, civil unrest, and freeway collapses. He is a host of EpochCasts News Brief, an audio news show from The Epoch Times. You can reach Bill via email at [email protected]