• Operation targeted Comando Vermelho drug gang.
• Over 70 corpses recovered by local residents.
• UN urges probe into Brazil police actions.

The deadliest police operation in Brazil’s history killed at least 132 people, officials said on Wednesday, after Rio de Janeiro residents lined a street with dozens of corpses collected overnight, a week ahead of global climate events in the city.

The tally from the Rio public defender’s office was more than double the death toll released on Tuesday, when state authorities reported at least 64 dead, including four police officers. The raids were targeting a major drug gang, the state government said.

Rio Governor Claudio Castro said the initial tally had only counted bodies processed in the public morgue.

Penha residents who went looking for lost relatives had collected many of the corpses from a forested area behind their neighborhood, according to people at the scene, where more than 70 of the bodies were lined up in the middle of the street.

“I just want to take my son out of here and bury him,” said Taua Brito, a mother of one of those killed, surrounded by weeping mourners and onlookers on either side of the long row of bodies, some of which were covered with sheets or bags.

Governor Castro said he was certain those dead from the operation were criminals, as much of the gunfire was in a wooded area. “I don’t think anyone would be walking in the forest on the day of the conflict,” he told reporters.

“The only real victims were the police officers,” he said.

The police operation came days before Rio hosts global events related to the United Nations climate summit known as COP30, including the C40 global summit of mayors tackling climate change and British Prince William’s Earthshot Prize.

Rio has hosted several global events over the past decade, including the 2016 Olympics, the 2024 G20 summit and the BRICS summit in July, without violence on the scale seen on Tuesday.

The Rio state government said the operation was its largest ever to target the Comando Vermelho gang, which controls the drug trade in several favelas – poor and densely populated settlements woven through the city’s hilly oceanside terrain.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who landed in Brasilia late on Tuesday from a trip to Malaysia, has yet to comment on the raids.

He met with Vice President Geraldo Alckmin and cabinet members on Wednesday to discuss the matter, his office said. Lula’s justice minister said on Tuesday the government had not received any request for support from state authorities.

Several civil society groups criticized the heavy casualties of the military-style raid. The UN Human Rights office said it adds to a trend of extreme lethal consequences of police raids in Brazil’s marginalized communities.

“We remind authorities of their obligations under international human rights law, and urge prompt and effective investigations,” it said in a statement.

US President Donald Trump appeared to close the door on seeking a third term in office, acknowledging that the Constitution bars him from running again after his current term ends in January 2029.

“If you read it, it’s pretty clear — I’m not allowed to run. It’s too bad,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Wednesday en route to South Korea, signalling a shift from earlier comments in which he declined to definitively rule out another bid.

The 22nd Amendment to the US Constitution bars anyone from being elected to the US presidency a third time, but Trump has publicly toyed with the idea since he won a second term in November.

US House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Tuesday that he had discussed the issue with Trump and concluded there was no viable path to amend the Constitution in time to allow a third term. “It’s been a great run,” Johnson said. “But I think the president knows, and he and I have talked about, the constrictions of the Constitution.”

Johnson noted that the amendment process would require two-thirds approval in Congress and ratification by three-fourths of the states, a process he estimated could take a decade. “I don’t see the path for that,” he added.

Trump’s allies, including former strategist Steve Bannon, have floated legal theories challenging the two-term limit established by the 22nd Amendment.

Trump has referenced the idea at rallies and sells “Trump 2028” merchandise, though Johnson characterised it as political theatre. “He has a good time with that, trolling the Democrats whose hair is on fire about the very prospect,” Johnson said.

Trump, 79, also pointed earlier this week to Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio as potential Republican contenders for the 2028 election. If he were to run again, Trump would be 82, making him the oldest president in US history.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday said he had instructed the military to launch “powerful strikes” in Gaza, accusing Hamas of breaching the ongoing ceasefire agreement in the enclave.

A statement from Netanyahu’s office did not provide specific details regarding the alleged violation.

However, an Israeli military official claimed Hamas had attacked Israeli forces in a zone under Israel’s control, calling it “another clear breach of the ceasefire.”

Earlier, Netanyahu had also accused Hamas of failing to return the correct remains during the process of transferring the bodies of Israeli hostages.

Hamas had initially announced that it would hand over the body of a missing hostage discovered in a tunnel in Gaza, but later postponed the handover, saying Israel had already violated the ceasefire terms.

Reports from Israeli media suggested clashes took place between Israeli troops and Hamas fighters in Rafah, though the Israeli military has not commented on those accounts.

Hamas, for its part, said it was adhering to the ceasefire agreement and accused Netanyahu of “seeking pretexts” to avoid fulfilling Israel’s commitments.

A U.S.-backed ceasefire is in force between Israel and Hamas, but each side has accused the other of violations.

Under the ceasefire terms, Hamas released all living hostages in return for nearly 2,000 Palestinian convicts and war-time detainees, while Israel pulled back its troops and halted its offensive.

Hamas has also agreed to hand over the remains of all dead hostages yet to be recovered, but has said that it will take time to locate and retrieve the bodies in the enclave, which has been devastated by two years of war. Israel says Hamas can access the remains of most of the hostages.