Official death toll in Iran tops 3,300. President Donald Trump says negotiations to start Tuesday, threatens Iran; Iran says no negotiations scheduled. U.S. warship attacks and takes control of Iranian cargo ship. Tanker fired upon near Oman. UAE in talks with U.S. about currency swap. Israel continues military activity in Lebanon despite ceasefire. French UNIFIL peacekeeper killed in southern Lebanon ambush; France points to Hezbollah. Israeli attacks continue in Gaza. Israel kills two UNICEF water truck drivers. Gaza reconstruction costs estimated at $71.4 billion. U.S. military kills three in latest vessel strike in the Caribbean. Pro-Israel candidates beaten in Michigan races. Gunman in Louisiana kills eight children. U.S. sanctions Colombian mercenary recruiters supplying fighters to Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces. Brazil, Spain, and Mexico warn against military intervention in Cuba. DRC government and M23 rebels agree to prisoner releases and aid access. 56 bodies, mostly infants, found abandoned at Trinidad and Tobago cemetery. Gunman kills six in Kyiv street attack. Strikes hit Russian and Ukrainian energy infrastructure. Fire destroys over 1,000 homes in Malaysia. Colombia’s Gustavo Petro threatens lawsuit against Ecuador’s Daniel Noboa.

From Drop Site: Trump’s erratic behavior might torpedo talks, Iranian official tells Drop Site.

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Iran and Ceasefire

• At least 3,375 killed in Iran during the war: The head of Iran Legal Medicine Organization released final casualty figures for the conflict from the start of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran to April 10, 2026, reporting a total of 3,375 deaths, including 2,875 men and 496 women, according to WANA. At least 383 children were killed in the attacks. The provinces most affected were Tehran, Hormozgan, and Isfahan.

• Trump says negotiations to start Tuesday, threatens Iran; Iran says no negotiations scheduled: President Donald Trump told Fox News on Sunday, ahead of a potential second round of negotiations, that if Iran did not sign a deal, “the whole country is going to get blown up.” The deal, Trump claimed, is “very simple“ and requires the full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Trump announced on Truth Social that the U.S. negotiating team would arrive in Pakistan on Monday evening. Speaking to the New York Post on Monday, Trump signaled openness to a direct meeting with Iranian officials. “I have no problem meeting them,” he said. “If they want to meet, and we have some very capable people, but I have no problem meeting them.” The 10-day ceasefire expires tomorrow, on April 21st.

• Iran is undecided on another round of talks with the U.S.: “We have no plans for the next round of negotiation, and no decision has been made in this regard,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said in a briefing on Monday. The ceasefire with the U.S. is set to expire on Tuesday. “While claiming diplomacy and readiness for negotiations, the U.S. is carrying out behaviors that do not in any way indicate seriousness in pursuing a diplomatic process,” Baghaei said, citing the U.S. attack on an Iranian cargo ship and naval blockade on Iranian ports.

• U.S. warship takes control of Iranian cargo ship: An American destroyer fired on and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship, U.S. President Donald Trump posted on Sunday. The USS Spruance intercepted the Touska after its crew refused orders to halt what he described as an attempt to breach the U.S. naval blockade, Trump posted, saying the Navy “blew a hole in the engine room” before U.S. Marines took custody of the vessel. The spokesperson for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said Iran will take action, describing it as a “terrorist U.S. attack” on an Iranian vessel. He stated that Iran was initially prepared to respond but refrained due to the presence of crew members and their families on board.

• Pakistan holds emergency calls with Iranian leadership: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar held back-to-back calls Sunday with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, respectively, as Islamabad scrambled to keep diplomatic channels open ahead of Tuesday’s ceasefire expiration with a second round of talks still unconfirmed.

• Tanker fired upon near Oman: A commercial tanker came under fire Saturday from two suspected Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps gunboats roughly 20 nautical miles northeast of Oman, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency warned, saying the vessels approached without radio contact before opening fire. No injuries were reported, and the crew was confirmed safe. At least 8 tankers appeared to have exited the Persian Gulf after transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, based on AIS data.

• Two Indian-flagged vessels struck in Strait of Hormuz: India summoned Iran’s ambassador on Saturday after two Indian-flagged ships were hit in separate Strait of Hormuz incidents—one involving Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps gunboats firing on a tanker and a second struck by an unknown projectile—as Reuters reported that vessels in the waterway were receiving Iranian VHF radio broadcasts declaring the strait “completely closed” to all traffic.

• Iran’s parliament speaker warns of full closure of Strait of Hormuz if U.S. blockade continues: Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, said Sunday in a televised address that the Islamic Republic holds effective control over the Strait of Hormuz and warned that passage will “definitely be restricted” if the United States does not lift its naval blockade of Iranian ports. Ghalibaf said Iranian forces responded to what he described as a U.S. mine-clearing operation in the strait—which Tehran considers a ceasefire violation—and claimed that during talks in Islamabad, he personally warned the American delegation that any forward movement by the vessel would be met with fire. “It is impossible for others to pass through the Strait of Hormuz while we cannot,” Ghalibaf said. CNN reported on Saturday that Iran would prioritize passage through the Strait of Hormuz for vessels that comply with new operating rules and pay security fees, with ships that decline at risk of having their transit “postponed.”

• UAE in talks with U.S. about currency swap: The United Arab Emirates has begun preliminary discussions with American officials about a potential financial backstop should the Iran war deepen its economic strain, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday. UAE Central Bank Governor Khaled Mohamed Balama reportedly raised the possibility of a currency swap line with Federal Reserve and Treasury officials, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, during meetings in Washington last week. The discussions reflect growing Emirati anxiety that the conflict could drain foreign currency reserves and trigger capital flight, threatening the country’s standing as an international financial center.

• Trump’s erratic behavior could torpedo talks, Iranian official tells Drop Site: A senior Iranian official with direct access to Tehran’s internal deliberations told Drop Site News that Iran believes there is a significant chance that Trump—urged on by Israel—will resume military strikes if no deal is reached before the ceasefire expires Tuesday. In that scenario, the official said, Tehran would suspend all diplomatic channels and seek to impose “significantly greater costs” on U.S. interests for a prolonged period. The latest from Jeremy Scahill and Murtaza Hussain for Drop Site here.

Lebanon

• Israel continues military activity in Lebanon despite ceasefire:

  • ​​Israeli airstrikes were reported on the town of Al-Tiri in the Bint Jbeil district Monday and on a house in Burj Qalawiyah, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency.

  • Overnight, multiple homes in the Duwayb area west of Meiss El Jabal were also demolished, alongside ongoing widespread destruction of infrastructure in southern villages.

  • The Israeli military published a map on Sunday, showing a newly established “Yellow Line” line inside Lebanon where its troops were deployed. The map named more than 50 villages in the south to which residents should not return. The deployment line on the map runs 5-10 km deep along the border into Lebanese territory. Israel also ordered residents to stay away from the area of the Litani River. Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah told AFP the group would work to break the so-called “Yellow Line.”

  • Israel’s military said Saturday it carried out airstrikes and artillery strikes in southern Lebanon after reporting that individuals crossed south of the “Yellow Line” toward Israeli troops.

• Hezbollah claims destruction of four Israeli tanks: Hezbollah said that an Israeli force of eight armored vehicles moving from Al-Taybeh toward the old Al-Sal’a position in Deir Seryan was hit by “a detonation of pre-planted explosive devices” on Sunday. The group claimed the blasts destroyed four Merkava tanks, which “were seen on fire,” and said Israeli forces later removed them from the site.

• Lebanese president meets with U.S. ambassador: Lebanese President Joseph Aoun held talks Monday with the U.S. ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa, focused on maintaining the ceasefire. Earlier Monday, Aoun insisted Lebanon will pursue “bilateral negotiations”—separate from the Iran talks. “The upcoming negotiations are separate from any other negotiations because Lebanon faces two options: either the continuation of the war with all its humanitarian, social, economic, and sovereignty repercussions, or negotiation to put an end to this war,” Aoun said.

• French UNIFIL peacekeeper killed in southern Lebanon ambush; France points to Hezbollah: A French soldier serving with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon was killed and three others wounded Saturday in an ambush near the village of Ghandouriyeh in southern Lebanon. French and UNIFIL officials blamed Hezbollah, though Hezbollah denied involvement. In late March, three Indonesian peacekeepers were killed in separate incidents—a UNIFIL vehicle explosion and a projectile strike.

Gaza, the West Bank, and Israel

• Casualty count: Over the last 24 hours, two Palestinians were killed and 22 were injured in Israeli attacks across Gaza. The total recorded death toll since October 7, 2023 has risen to 72,553 killed, with 172,296 injured. Since October 11, the first full day of the so-called ceasefire, Israel has killed at least 777 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded 2,193, while 761 bodies have been recovered from under the rubble, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

• Israeli attacks continue in Gaza:

  • An Israeli drone strike targeted a group of Palestinians in the Zeitoun neighborhood, southeast of Gaza City. At dawn, one person was killed and another injured in a drone strike on the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza. Three more people were injured on Al-Rashid Street, west of Gaza City, and others were wounded by gunfire in Khan Younis.

  • Israeli strikes killed at least three Palestinians across Gaza on Sunday, according to Palestinian media and medical sources. A child, Hala Darwish, was killed near Al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, Wafa reported, while Khalil Nasser, 62, was shot in the head outside his tent in a displaced families’ camp in Jabalia while helping others collect water. Ayman Abu Hasna, 38, was killed in an Israeli drone strike on a motorcycle along Salah al-Din Street northeast of Nuseirat camp, Al-Awda Hospital said.

  • Israeli forces killed a Palestinian identified as Yousef Bin Hasan northwest of Rafah, and a young girl was separately reported shot in the southern Mawasi area.

• Israel kills two UNICEF water truck drivers: Two truck drivers contracted by UNICEF to deliver clean water to Palestinian families in Gaza were killed by Israeli fire at the Mansoura water filling point in northern Gaza. Mansoura is the only operational truck filling point for the Mekorot water supply line serving Gaza City, according to UNICEF.

• Senior Hamas official denies NYT report on disarmament: The New York Times reported on Sunday that Hamas is willing to relinquish “thousands of automatic rifles and other weapons,” and that it would turn these weapons over to the Palestinian administrative committee set up under the Gaza Board of Peace. A senior Hamas official told Drop Site’s Jeremy Scahill, however, that this report is “rubbish.”

• Satellite imagery shows Israeli military entrenchment expanding across Gaza: An investigation by Al Jazeera using satellite imagery found that Israeli military construction is accelerating across Gaza while civilian reconstruction has essentially ceased. Satellite images show Israeli forces have secretly moved concrete boundary markers hundreds of metres further into Palestinian territory, building new fortifications, paved roads, watchtowers, and permanent outposts expanding across the territory. Meanwhile, the “New Rafah” reconstruction vision promoted by Jared Kushner at Davos in January has shown no ground-level progress. Read the full report here.

• Gaza reconstruction costs estimated at $71.4 billion: A joint assessment by the European Union, United Nations, and World Bank estimates that Gaza will require $71.4 billion for recovery and reconstruction over the next decade, including $26.3 billion in the first 18 months to restore essential services and infrastructure. The report notes that more than 371,888 housing units have been destroyed or damaged, over 50% of hospitals are non-functional, nearly all schools have been affected, and the economy has shrunk by 84%. According to the report, development has been set back by an estimated 77 years, about 1.9 million people have been displaced, and over 60% of the population have lost their homes.

• Israeli attacks on the occupied West Bank:

  • Israeli forces detained more than 50 Palestinians on Monday during raids in Hebron, Yatta, Beit Ummar, and Anabta near Tulkarm, according to WAFA. Three others, including a local Prisoners Society director, were also detained in Tammun. Meanwhile, military bulldozers uprooted dozens of olive and almond trees for the second consecutive day. In the Tubas area, Israeli forces also destroyed water pipelines near Tammun as part of ongoing land clearing reportedly linked to plans for a 22-kilometer road connecting checkpoints east of Nablus and Tubas.

  • Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian who allegedly entered the illegal settlement of Negohot in the southern Hebron Hills on Saturday. The military claimed—without providing evidence—that the person was armed with a knife.

U.S. News

By Julian Andreone, with Ryan Grim. Have a tip on Capitol Hill? Email Andreone at Julian@dropsitenews.com.

• U.S. military kills three in latest vessel strike in the Caribbean: The U.S. military conducted a strike against a boat in the Caribbean on Sunday, killing three people, according to U.S. Southern Command. SOUTHCOM posted a video of the strike and said, “Three male narco-terrorists were killed during this action” without providing evidence. Over 180 people have been killed in dozens U.S. strikes on vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific since September.

• Pro-Israel candidates beaten in Michigan AG and Regents races: Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel coordinated with top figures on the board of the University of Michigan Board of Regents to attempt to prosecute student protesters in 2024 in connection with the encampment. At this weekend’s Democratic convention, the party rejected pro-Israel Regent Jordan Acker in favor of Dearborn attorney Amir Makled, despite an attempt to gin up scandal for social media posts favorable to Hezbollah, as well as a retweet of Candace Owens calling Israelis “demons.” The Regents who led the charge against the student protesters backed Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald in the AG’s race to replace Nessel, yet she was beaten by Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit.

• Also at the convention: Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Rep. Haley Stevens—supported by AIPAC—was booed as she went onstage. A poll by Drop Site and Zeteo in April showed the race is neck and neck between Stevens and her opponents, Mallory McMorrow and Abdul El-Sayed. Poll here.

• Gunman in Louisiana kills eight children: A father in Shreveport, Louisiana shot and killed eight children Sunday morning and critically wounded two women, including the mother of seven of the children, in a domestic dispute before being killed by police. It was the deadliest U.S. mass shooting in more than two years, the Associated Press reported.

• Zohran Mamdani meets Obama in New York in first face-to-face sit-down: New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani met former President Barack Obama in New York, Politico reported. During the meeting, the two read aloud to a group of children at a childcare center. The meeting follows Obama’s earlier offer to serve as a “sounding board” for Mamdani.

• Ben Rhodes discusses Biden-era Cuba policy: In a podcast appearance, Obama’s deputy national security advisor Ben Rhodes reviewed President Joe Biden’s Cuba policy, arguing it was largely the same as President Trump’s. “Biden was a chickenshit,” Rhodes said, “and was afraid to go back to the Obama policy because he was afraid of Bob Menendez.” (Ed Augustin wrote for Drop Site back in October 2024 about this very topic.)

Other International News

• Spanish prime minister calls on EU to terminate association agreement with Israel: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called on the European Union to end its Association Agreement with Israel on Sunday during a rally in Andalusia, saying a government that violates international law and European values “cannot be our partner.” Spain will formally propose to end the agreement at a meeting of EU foreign ministers on Tuesday, Politico reports.

• U.S. sanctions Colombian mercenary recruiters supplying fighters to Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces: The U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions Friday against three individuals and two Bogotá-based firms for recruiting and deploying hundreds of former Colombian soldiers to fight alongside Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The sanctioned entities include the employment agency Fénix—established last year as a replacement for a previously sanctioned firm, A4SI—as well as a second recruitment agency, GQAB. Both are linked to retired Colombian military officer Alvaro Andres Quijano Becerra and his wife, who were sanctioned in December.

• Brazil, Spain, and Mexico issue joint statement warning against military intervention in Cuba: The governments of Brazil, Spain, and Mexico issued a joint statement Saturday expressing deep concern over Cuba’s humanitarian crisis and calling for respect for international law, territorial integrity, and the peaceful settlement of disputes under the United Nations Charter—an implicit warning against military intervention as Washington has declined to rule out military action against the island. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum called for a formal declaration against intervention in Cuba during her address on Friday in Barcelona. Sheinbaum also proposed directing 10% of global arms spending toward a UN-led reforestation program.

• DRC government and M23 rebels agree to prisoner releases and aid access: The government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and M23 rebels agreed Saturday to ease humanitarian aid deliveries, protect civilians, and release prisoners within 10 days following five days of talks in Switzerland. The two sides also signed a memorandum of understanding for a ceasefire monitoring mechanism to conduct surveillance and verification of a permanent ceasefire; fighting has persisted in the country’s east despite a December peace agreement.

• 56 bodies, mostly infants, found abandoned at Trinidad and Tobago cemetery: Trinidad and Tobago police launched a forensic investigation Saturday after 56 bodies—including 50 infants and six adults—were discovered abandoned at a cemetery in the town of Cumuto, roughly 40 kilometers from the capital Port of Spain. Preliminary indications suggest the case involves the unlawful disposal of unclaimed corpses, police said, noting that the adult remains bore morgue-style identification tags and that at least one adult male and one adult female showed signs of having undergone post-mortem examinations.

• At least 17 migrant bodies recovered on Libyan shore: At least 17 bodies of capsized migrants were recovered in recent days from the shore near Zuwara, roughly 117 kilometres west of Tripoli, Libya’s Emergency Medicine and Support Center said Saturday. Most were buried, while one was identified as a Bangladeshi national and received by his family in Tripoli.

• Gunman kills six in Kyiv street attack: A gunman killed six and wounded 10 others, including one child, in Kyiv’s Holosiivskyi district on Saturday before barricading himself inside a supermarket with hostages, officials said. After 40 minutes of attempted negotiations, he was shot and killed by special tactical police units. Ukrainian authorities identified the attacker as a 58-year-old born in Moscow, who carried a legally registered firearm and had renewed his weapons permit as recently as December 2025.

• Strikes hit Russian and Ukrainian energy infrastructure: Russian forces launched 219 long-range drones overnight Friday, damaging port infrastructure, agricultural warehouses, depots, and administrative buildings in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region and knocking out power to 380,000 consumers in the north, Reuters reported. Ukrainian drones struck two oil refineries in Russia’s Samara region, an oil depot in Crimea, and a Lukoil-operated terminal at the Vysotsk port on the Baltic Sea overnight Friday. Ukraine’s Security Service also said it struck two Russian landing ships and a warship based in Crimea on Friday night.

• Fire destroys over 1,000 homes in Malaysia: A fire tore through Kampung Bahagia, a coastal village on the island of Borneo, early Sunday, destroying more than 1,000 of the settlement’s roughly 1,200 homes and displacing over 9,000 residents, authorities said. The village, home to many Indigenous and undocumented residents living in wooden houses built over water, was declared a disaster zone. No deaths were reported, though several residents were injured. The cause of the blaze remains under investigation.

• Colombia’s Petro threatens lawsuit against Ecuador’s Noboa: Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced he will sue his Ecuadorian counterpart Daniel Noboa after the latter accused him of links to organized crime. Petro rejected the allegation and said it was an effort to interfere in Colombian politics as voters prepare for presidential elections at the end of May. Ecuador also recently announced 100% tariffs on Colombia, their largest trading partner in the region.

• Leaks point to illegal influence campaign in Colombian elections: An investigation by Señal Investigativa and Revista Raya revealed details of “Plan Júpiter,” a strategy allegedly led by Jaime Bermúdez, a longtime communications strategist linked to right-wing former President Álvaro Uribe. According to leaked documents and audio, the plan aims to unduly influence Colombia’s presidential election in order to undermine the chances of Iván Cepeda Castro, the left-wing candidate representing outgoing President Gustavo Petro’s Historic Pact.

• Cuban government underscores right to self defense amid U.S. threats: Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel responded to renewed U.S. threats of a military aggression by stressing that Cuba does not seek war but has the right of self-defense. The Cuban leader told teleSUR that the island has “the responsibility to defend” itself against threats but underscored his country’s willingness to dialogue with the Trump administration. Drop Site News’s José Luis Granados Ceja was in Cuba last week; you can watch his report on today’s episode of Breaking Points.

More from Drop Site

• Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) joined Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) in calling attention to the case of Ahmed Shihab-Eldin, who was arrested on March 3 in Kuwait City and now faces prosecution in a special tribunal. “Shame on the Kuwaiti government,” she said on Friday. Drop Site’s reporting on Shihab-Eldin’s case is available here. A petition from The Committee to Protect Journalists demanding his release can be found here.

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Ahead of a potential new round of negotiations in Islamabad, Iran believes there is a significant chance that President Donald Trump—urged on by Israel—will resume military attacks if a deal is not reached soon, a senior Iranian official told Drop Site. Tehran, the official said, is preparing for a prolonged war during which Iran would cut off all talks with the U.S.

While the official said Iran prefers to make a comprehensive deal with the U.S. that would address nuclear enrichment, offer sanctions relief, and establish a long-term non-aggression framework, Tehran believes the window for an agreement is rapidly closing as a result of maximalist U.S. demands and Trump’s erratic behavior.

“Our assessment is that Trump effectively lacks both a coherent plan and the capacity to secure even a temporary agreement,” the official said. “His decision-making appears to be grounded in Israeli political and security assessments, conveyed to him on a daily basis.”

The senior official has direct access to Tehran’s internal deliberations. He requested anonymity because he is not authorized to publicly discuss strategy.

Despite the intensifying war of words between Trump and Iran, Pakistan has been preparing for another round of talks in Islamabad expected this week. While the Iranian official told Drop Site that Tehran is skeptical of U.S. intentions, he also emphasized that Iran prefers a diplomatic path if an acceptable negotiating framework is mutually agreed upon.

“There hasn’t been any real progress” on the positions of the respective sides, the Iranian official said. “Both sides are just signaling behind the scenes that they’re open to reaching an agreement.”

In a Truth Social post on Sunday morning, Trump claimed that a new round of talks was scheduled, while reiterating a previous threat to commit war crimes against Iranian civilians if a deal was not made. “We’re offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and I hope they take it because, if they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran. NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!”

At the time of Trump’s post, Iran had not agreed to a second round of talks and has still not confirmed it will do so. The first meetings were held on April 11 and 12 in Islamabad, where top Iranian officials met a U.S. delegation led by Vice President JD Vance. “In the previous round, it was clearly stated to Vance that public threats should not be repeated,” the senior Iranian official said. “We’re not opposed [to another round of talks],” he added, but cautioned: “Given what Trump has publicly stated, the negotiations definitely need to be meaningful, and their framework should be defined in advance.”

The senior Iranian official told Drop Site that contrary to Trump’s repeated claims that Iran was “begging” for a deal, it was Washington that sought talks with Tehran via intermediaries led by Pakistan. “President Trump himself persistently sought a cessation of hostilities,” he said.

“The Islamabad negotiations provided President Trump with an appropriate opportunity to exit the war,” the official added. “Should [Trump] nevertheless choose to continue the conflict, Iran will, for a prolonged period, suspend diplomatic channels and will seek, within the context of the conflict, to impose significantly greater costs on United States interests.”

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Despite Trump’s repeated claims that a deal will soon be reached, he has continued his whiplash pattern of saying a “new regime” in Tehran is offering concessions and then threatening to bomb additional Iranian infrastructure. While engaging in diplomatic talks with mediators and reviewing new proposals, Iran has also been preparing for the war’s resumption.

“We see that the Americans have been bringing in more troops and equipment to prepare to attack, but the Iranians have also not been resting during these two weeks of ceasefire,” said Mohammed Sani, a political analyst based in Tehran, in an interview with Drop Site. “They have been preparing, repairing the underground missile cities, bringing in new air defenses, missiles and drones. Iran is at a high standard of readiness right now. If there is another round of negotiations sometime later in the future after another round of American attacks against Iran fail, the Iranian conditions for peace will be much tougher.”

The Iranian official said that most of the issues at the center of the Islamabad negotiations are identical to those being discussed in February when the U.S. and Israel launched the war. Iran, he said, has maintained the “same flexibilities” it put on the table in February and suggested that Trump’s war had not moved the needle in any significant way.

He reiterated Iran’s view that Trump’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president’s son in law, had “failed to fully grasp” the significance of Tehran’s offers during negotiations in Geneva in February. The U.S. decision to launch the war, the official believes, was based on technical and political ignorance, an underestimation of Iran’s military capabilities and the fact that Israel had put tremendous pressure on Trump to launch a regime change war aimed at severely damaging the Iranian state. In the aftermath of the Geneva talks, Iran made clear to mediators it does not trust Witkoff and Kushner and refused to agree to the Islamabad negotiations unless the U.S. sent a top official. Trump subsequently dispatched Vance.

Even if another round of talks between Iran and the Trump administration takes place this week, bridging the gaps between the sides may prove insurmountable in a short time frame. Iran has insisted it wants a comprehensive agreement centered on firm commitments that the U.S. and Israel will not attack Iran again, a demand that seems nearly impossible to guarantee.

“It’s always tough between Iran and the U.S., but between Iran and the Trump administration is going to be much more difficult,” said Robert Malley, a former top U.S. Iran negotiator who was an official on the U.S. team that secured the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, in an interview with Drop Site. “There’s no process on the American side. It’s entirely in the hands of one person who is whimsical, unpredictable, impulsive, subject to extraordinary mood swings.”

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Trump seems intent on achieving a “relatively quick deal,” which Malley says, at best, would involve a “pretty broad framework” requiring weeks or months to fully negotiate in a form acceptable to Tehran. “If things are going to get dragged out, in time Trump may lose patience,” Malley said. “If he doesn’t get his dramatic, all at one time, success, it may not be sufficient for him. In which case, I would expect renewed US strikes with increased intensity and even more blatant war crimes.”

The Iranian official said Tehran’s allies, as well as international diplomats involved with mediation efforts, have expressed increased skepticism that a comprehensive deal will be reached. “Some of Tehran’s strategic partners assess that President Trump is likely to continue the war,” he said.

Iran, the official added, is in parallel discussions with friendly nations, including nuclear powers, “aimed at establishing a balance of power with the United States and Israel in order to bring about a lasting end to the conflict.” He declined to name any nations or offer more details.

The mediation on the Pakistani side has been led largely by the country’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, who has engaged in shuttle diplomacy between Islamabad and Tehran during the two-week ceasefire. Following a high-profile summit last week that failed to produce an agreement, the Pakistani military establishment started sharing messages for public consumption aimed at managing expectations about the possibility of a deal being reached and emphasizing the limitations faced by any mediating party in such a negotiation.

Late Saturday night, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf—Iran’s Parliament Speaker and head of the country’s negotiating delegation in Pakistan—told Iranian state TV that during the talks in Islamabad, Iranian officials made clear their “red lines” to Vance and that the U.S. also laid out its bottom line.

“We have achieved some progress in the Islamabad negotiations, but there are still significant gaps and key points that have not yet been resolved,” Ghalibaf asserted, adding that there remain “disagreements on several issues, including nuclear matters and the Strait of Hormuz.”

“Negotiation, by nature, is for reaching understanding, but we have our principles,” Ghalibaf said. “We have no trust in the enemy. Even at this moment, while we are sitting here, the war may start—the armed forces are fully prepared in the field.”

Iran, Ghalibaf said, will not accept a temporary agreement that leaves the door open for a resumption of war, which happened after the “12-Day War” last June. “The Zionist regime and the United States have continuously operated in a cycle of war, ceasefire, and peace,” Ghalibaf said. “This cycle must be broken, and a durable peace must be established with guarantees that war will not happen again.”

A Question of Leverage

On Friday, a potential breakthrough seemed possible after the U.S. forced Israel to formally agree to a short-term ceasefire in Lebanon, a condition of the deal made on April 7 between the U.S. and Iran. Israel initially said it would not agree to a ceasefire. Trump then suggested a 10-day deal that Israel has portrayed as essentially meaningless and Hezbollah has denounced as a ploy. Nonetheless, the move appeared to clear the hurdle. “In line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all commercial vessels through Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote in a post on X.

Trump initially responded with a brief post on Truth Social thanking Tehran and referring to the waterway as “The Strait of Iran.” Moments later, Trump posted another message, stating that while the Strait was “completely open and ready for business and full passage,” the U.S. would maintain its naval blockade on Iranian ports imposed on April 12.

Iran swiftly shot back, retracting Araghchi’s announcement. “The Islamic Republic of Iran, following previous agreements in negotiations, had in good faith, agreed to the managed passage of a limited number of oil tankers and commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz,” said the Iranian military spokesman, accusing the U.S. of violating the agreement by maintaining its blockade. “Control of the Strait of Hormuz has returned to its previous state, and this strategic Strait is under the strict management and control of the armed forces.”

Sitting in the Oval Office Saturday, Trump nonetheless said that talks with Iran were ongoing. “We have very good conversations going on. It’s working out very well. They got a little bit cute as they have been doing for 47 years and nobody ever took them on. We took them on,” Trump said, claiming that Iran has no navy, air force, or leaders and that there had already been “regime change” in Iran. “They can’t blackmail us,” Trump declared. “It’s going along, actually, very well.”

The two-week ceasefire agreement is scheduled to end Tuesday. Last week, Trump made a series of sweeping claims about Iranian concessions, including that Tehran had agreed to hand over its highly enriched uranium, which he referred to as “nuclear dust,” to the U.S. “We’re going to get it together. We’re ‌going to go in with Iran, at a nice leisurely pace, and go down and start excavating with big machinery,” Trump said. “We’ll bring it back to the United States.” He also claimed that Iran had agreed to an indefinite suspension of its nuclear enrichment activities. “No years, unlimited,” Trump declared.

In response, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said at a briefing, “Iran’s enriched uranium is not ⁠going to be transferred anywhere,” while President Masoud Pezeshkian said, “Trump says Iran cannot make use of its nuclear rights but doesn’t say for what crime. Who is he to deprive a nation of its rights?”

During the recent talks in Islamabad, the U.S. reportedly asked Iran for a 20-year moratorium on nuclear enrichment. Some reports suggested Iran countered with an offer of a five-year suspension, though the Iranian official said Iran’s offer was even shorter in duration. “This proposal was first put forward by our side during the final round of negotiations prior to the outbreak of the war, solely to demonstrate goodwill and the necessary degree of flexibility,” the official said. “The timeframe we proposed was less than five years.” He also said that Iran rejected a transfer of its enriched uranium to the U.S. and said Iran instead had offered to dilute the highly enriched materials.

“Iran has proposed a transparent mechanism to address the stated concerns and pretexts of the United States regarding [Iran’s] nuclear program, centered on peaceful applications and low-level enrichment,” he said. “A voluntary suspension of enrichment was also put forward, given that sufficient uranium stockpiles—following dilution—would remain available for research, medical, and other peaceful nuclear purposes.”

Malley, the former U.S. negotiator, said it will be “extremely difficult” to construct a deal that Iran will trust the U.S. to implement. “A lot of the things that Iran is being asked to do are concrete, tangible, irreversible,” he said, citing U.S. demands that it dilute or hand over its enriched uranium. “And the commitments that, in theory, they would get from the U.S.—which is sanctions relief or the unfreezing of assets—those are spaced in time and highly reversible. We’ve seen it before.”

Iran’s negotiating position could potentially weaken if it agrees to a limited deal or engages in a protracted negotiation with the U.S., particularly if the Strait of Hormuz were fully re-opened as part of an initial settlement.

“From an Iranian perspective, I think it would be very important to extract the maximum tangible economic benefits it can as a condition for ending the war,” Malley added. “Because once it’s ended, it is pretty hard for Iran to say, ‘Now we’re going to resume closing the Strait of Hormuz because we’re not happy with what we got in return.’” Over time, the U.S. will recover from the economic damage it has suffered as a result of the war, Malley argued. “Iran? Not so sure,” he said. “They will confront an almost unmanageable economic crisis and a restive population without the means to address one or satisfy the other.”

Iran was deeply skeptical of accepting a temporary ceasefire agreement with the U.S. Twice in one year, the U.S. and Israel launched massive military attacks against Iran in the middle of supposed negotiations between Iran. Iranian officials and analysts have consistently said they believe that scenario is likely to be repeated. Prior to the April 7 deal, an Iranian official told Drop Site that Tehran believed the U.S. and Israel would use such a period to replenish their defenses, which had been severely depleted by Iran’s ballistic missile and drone attacks. As Drop Site previously reported, Israel was facing a significant shortage of interceptors before the two-week ceasefire was announced. Iran ultimately moved forward with the Islamabad talks, after concluding that it had a stronger negotiating position than at any point since the 2015 nuclear agreement was voided in 2018 by Trump during his first term as president.

Iran inflicted unprecedented damage on U.S. military infrastructure across the Persian Gulf, forcing the evacuation of more than a dozen military bases and other facilities and pounded Israel with ballistic missile and drone strikes, despite daily claims by the U.S. and Israel that its weapons capacity had been all but wiped out. “The Americans had a plan in mind that they would conquer Iran, or overthrow the Islamic Republic within three days of attacks. But ever since that plan failed they have been proceeding without any clear vision at all of what their objectives are,” said Sani, the Iranian analyst. “They are now trying to take something from Iranians in talks that they couldn’t take on the battlefield. Iranians are not fools and are not going to take one step back from our rights, nor are we seeking a deal at any price. No deal is much better than a bad deal from the Iranian perspective. Iran is not going to hand over its ballistic missile and drone programs, or the right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes.”

While the U.S. has indeed moved more military assets into the region, leaders of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps say they have also used this period to prepare for more fighting. “During the ceasefire, our speed in updating and replenishing missile and drone launch pads is even faster than before the war,” said Majid Mousavi, the IRGC’s Aerospace Force commander, on Sunday. “We know that the enemy is incapable of creating these conditions for themselves, and they are forced to bring ammunition from the other side of the world in a trickle.”

Ghalibaf, the Iranian parliament speaker and lead negotiator, said that Iran had already defeated the U.S. by preventing it from achieving its goals. He warned that Iran would not capitulate to ultimatums. “This nation managed to bring a superpower and the ruthless Zionist regime to a standstill. We held no negotiations until 48 hours before the ceasefire,” he said in his interview on Iranian TV. “Trump is a master of lying and psychological warfare.”

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As the Minnesota Democratic primary to succeed the retiring Sen. Tina Smith in the United States Senate heats up, Rep. Angie Craig is privately distancing herself from AIPAC. While courting the crucial endorsement of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) party, Craig’s campaign staffers have told DFL delegates that the pro-Israel lobby is not funding her candidacy, according to messages obtained by Drop Site News. AIPAC has held at least a dozen fundraisers for Craig, however, over the course of the past year.

Craig’s behind-the-scenes communications are an indication of AIPAC’s growing toxicity in primary races as it advocates blanket U.S. support for a state committing an unpopular and brutal genocide in Gaza. In two recent races, AIPAC’s millions in support, once firmly understood as a moniker of credibility with the DC political class and financial protection from grassroots-funded challengers, has proven it can do more harm than good. In Illinois’s 9th congressional district, Laura Fine faced outrage from progressive voters in Evanston and surrounding areas centered around her decision to accept millions from the lobby. Similarly, AIPAC fell flat on its face in New Jersey’s 11th district, spending more than $2 million dollars to defeat pro-Israel AIPAC critic Tom Malinowski, only to help elect Analilia Mejia, who is further to his left.

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Craig announced her run for Senate in April of last year. AIPAC sent out an email directly fundraising for her in September, and also publicly advertised several fundraisers for Craig between June and December. The email states, “Congresswoman Angie Craig has repeatedly demonstrated the kind of courageous, principled, and pro-Israel leadership our movement needs right now. Angie Craig has been a friend of the community since she was first elected to Congress.”

Nevertheless, campaign staffers have sent messages to DFL delegates and voters emphasizing that “AIPAC hasn’t spent a dime in this race” and “Angie Craig has not accepted a PAC check from AIPAC in this race, nor have they endorsed her.”

Craig’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

Since the fall of 2023, AIPAC bundled more than $507,000 for Craig’s congressional campaign committee to support her bids for re-election in 2024 and 2026 respectively. Nearly 40% of these funds, $195,409 raised in 2025, have since been transferred to her Senate campaign.

Of course, candidates cannot control who fundraises for them. But Craig benefited from hundreds of thousands in donations from AIPAC’s network before appearing to disavow them this year—after AIPAC proved to be an election liability in two major races with progressive challengers. AIPAC and other special interest groups are not required to report the bundling they do, meaning that PACs are able to come in behind candidates without direct spending, which has to be reported.

Craig’s opponent in the Minnesota Senate race, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan is endorsed by the five most progressive senators—Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), as well as Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) herself. She is running to Craig’s left on key issues and has no history of AIPAC support. Flanagan also supported Sanders’ Joint Resolution of Disapproval to block offensive arms sales to Israel, which came to the Senate floor for a vote April 15 and failed by votes of 40-59 on blocking bulldozers and 36-63 on blocking bombs.

The DFL state convention, where the delegates will vote on which candidate to endorse ahead of the August primary, is in May.

Even as Craig attempts to distance herself from AIPAC in name as the lobby has become increasingly toxic in American electoral politics, she continues to align with its agenda. Craig has also consistently voted in favor of sending blank-check military aid to Israel, regardless of whether that be in an offensive capacity or defensive capacity for resources like the Iron Dome. The congresswoman does not have a foreign policy section with updated stances on her campaign website.

More than half, 53%, of Democratic voters nationwide, as well as 33% of voters across the political spectrum, said they’d be less likely to vote for a candidate endorsed by AIPAC, according to a YouGov poll from March 30. Another poll conducted earlier that week, sponsored by the adjacent but more liberal pro-Israel group J-Street, found that 40% of Jewish Democrats, and 66% of those under the age of 35, would be less likely to vote for an AIPAC-endorsed primary candidate. A poll conducted by Drop Site and Zeteo from earlier this month suggests that 64% of likely Democratic voters in Michigan are less likely to support a Senate candidate who receives donations from AIPAC and other pro-Israel groups like Democratic Majority for Israel and J-Street, while 10% said they would be more likely.

The distancing is quite a turnaround from the last election which, where AIPAC notably spent more than $17 million to defeat former Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) in June of 2024 and over $8 million more to defeat former Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) in August that year. Bush is running to reclaim the seat. This year, a poll commissioned by Bush shows her neck and neck with incumbent Rep. Wesley Bell despite AIPAC’s endorsement.

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Iran declares Strait of Hormuz “completely open” for the remainder of ceasefire. War Secretary Pete Hegseth vows to maintain Iran blockade indefinitely, warns of strikes on energy infrastructure. Three loaded Iranian tankers bypass U.S. blockade. Ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel announced Thursday, Israeli violations reported. Thousands of displaced Lebanese return south on the first day of the ceasefire despite warnings. Israeli troops will remain in southern Lebanon, defense minister says. Hezbollah says it will respect ceasefire but hands “remain on the trigger.” Israeli assault on Gaza and the occupied West Bank continue. Israel reinstates soldiers charged with raping Palestinian detainee at Sde Teiman. On Palestinian Prisoners Day, rights groups report a 83% surge in Palestinian prisoner population since start of Gaza genocide. Analilia Mejia wins New Jersey special election. ICE agent charged with assault after pointing gun at motorists on Minnesota highway. House rejects resolution to end U.S. war with Iran by one vote with one Democrat, Rep. Jared Golden, voting against it. House extends FISA over “serious reservations” of Congressional Black Caucus. Senior Treasury official bought oil, nuclear, and cybersecurity funds eight days before U.S. strikes on Iran. UK security vetting officials did not clear Peter Mandelson to be U.S. ambassador. IMF and World Bank resume ties with Venezuela. Myanmar junta leader grants amnesty to 4,000 prisoners. 2025 was the deadliest year on record for Rohingya sea crossings, UN says. Lula and Pedro Sánchez convene left leaders in Barcelona.

From Drop Site: Jeremy Scahill speaks with Hezbollah MP Ibrahim al-Moussawi.

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Iran and Ceasefire

• Iran declares Strait of Hormuz “completely open” for the remainder of ceasefire: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi declared the Strait of Hormuz “in line with the ceasefire in Lebanon” will be “completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire,” in a post on X. Araghchi specified that the Strait will be open on “the coordinated route,” referring to the path that runs near Iran’s coast and Qeshm and Larak Islands. President Donald Trump responded by thanking Iran for opening the “STRAIT OF IRAN,” in a post on Truth Social. Shortly after, Trump added that “THE NAVAL BLOCKADE WILL REMAIN IN FULL FORCE AND EFFECT AS IT PERTAINS TO IRAN,” until ongoing negotiations are complete. “THIS PROCESS SHOULD GO VERY QUICKLY IN THAT MOST OF THE POINTS ARE ALREADY NEGOTIATED.” Iran’s state broadcaster reported that the opening of the Strait is conditional on a Lebanon ceasefire and the passage of military vehicles remains prohibited, citing a senior military official.

• Trump talks Iran ceasefire: President Donald Trump claimed on the White House lawn Thursday that Tehran had “agreed to not have a nuclear weapon” and that Iran would “give us back the nuclear dust that’s way underground because of the attack we made with the B-2 bombers.” He added he would travel to Pakistan “if the deal is signed.” “Pakistan has been great,” he told reporters. “I might go.” When asked about his spat with Pope Leo XIV, Trump said he had “nothing against the pope” but mischaracterized the pontiff’s position, falsely asserting that the Pope had suggested Iran could possess a nuclear weapon. “The Pope has to understand: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.”

• War Secretary Pete Hegseth vows to maintain Iran blockade indefinitely, warns of strikes on energy infrastructure: The U.S. will maintain its naval blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf “as long as it takes,” Hegseth said Thursday, warning Tehran that continued noncompliance would bring “a blockade and bombs dropping on infrastructure, power and energy.” Hegseth said the U.S. is using the current pause in fighting—which President Donald Trump announced Monday following the breakdown of talks in Pakistan and which is set to extend through early next week—to rearm and gather intelligence on Iranian military movements. Joint Chiefs Chairman General Dan Caine said 13 ships departing Iranian ports had already turned back in response to U.S. military warnings, adding bluntly: “If you do not comply with this blockade, we will use force.” Hegseth also said Washington had received assurances from Beijing that China does not intend to supply weapons to Iran during the pause.

• Three loaded Iranian tankers bypass U.S. blockade: Three tankers, Deep Sea, Sonia I, and Diona, left Iran with oil and crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday despite a new U.S. blockade aimed at stopping exports, according to maritime data company Kpler via AFP. Their tracking signals were turned off, but satellite imagery confirmed their passage. Separately, two sanctioned Iranian container ships exited the Gulf earlier in the week but reversed course near the Pakistan border and were last detected near the port of Chabahar, while two sanctioned cargo vessels transited the strait into the Gulf and were last detected near Bandar Abbas.

Lebanon

• A 10-day ceasefire in Lebanon announced by U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday went into effect at midnight local time. Israel bombed Lebanon heavily right up until the ceasefire went into effect with some its heaviest strikes of the past six weeks:

  • Lebanese media reported 60 different towns were struck in hours leading up to the ceasefire.

  • A series of airstrikes in the southern city of Tyre killed at least 13 people, wounded 35, and destroyed six residential buildings, according to AFP. Around 15 people remain missing under the rubble, authorities said, as emergency crews continue search operations.

  • Seven killed and 33 wounded in an Israeli attack on the city of Ghaziyeh, in Sidon district.

• Reported Israeli violation of ceasefire: The Israeli military violated the ceasefire hours after it went into place when it struck an ambulance in the town of Kounine close to the border with Israel on Friday, according to the National News Agency, with reported casualties among the targeted medical workers. Over 90 medical workers have been killed in Israel attacks since March 2, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. The Lebanese army also reported “a number of violations of the agreement, with several Israeli attacks recorded, in addition to intermittent shelling targeting a number of villages” and renewed its call for citizens to “exercise caution” in returning to their homes in southern Lebanon.

• Thousands of displaced Lebanese return south on the first day of the ceasefire despite warnings: Photos and video showed congested roads on Friday, with cars backed up for miles on the road leading south to the Qasmiyeh bridge, the last remaining bridge over the Litani River. The bridge was destroyed by Israel just a day earlier but partially repaired by the Lebanese army with a single reopened lane. More than 1.1 million people in Lebanon—one fifth of the country’s population—have been displaced since March 2.

• HRW: Israeli attack on bridge a possible war crime: Human Rights Watch said the Israeli military’s destruction of the Qasmieh bridge, which threatened to cut off Lebanese territory south of the Litani River, should be investigated as a possible war crime. “The Israeli military’s systematic and repeated attacks on bridges, which threaten to isolate civilians in southern Lebanon from access to means of survival, demonstrate a callous disregard for the welfare of the tens of thousands of people still living there,” Ramzi Kaiss, Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.

• Israeli troops will remain in southern Lebanon, defense minister says: The 10-day ceasefire is “temporary,” Israel Katz said, and the Israeli military “holds and will continue to hold all the areas it has cleared and captured” in Lebanon, including a 10-kilometer buffer zone. He added that many homes in the area would be destroyed. “Disarming Hezbollah by military or diplomatic means was and remains the goal of the campaign to which we are committed—with significant political leverage now also due to the direct involvement of the U.S. president and his commitment to this goal—while applying pressure to the Lebanese government,” he said. “This would have to be done, either diplomatically or by resuming Israeli military activities at the end of the ceasefire.”

• Hezbollah says it will respect ceasefire but hands “remain on the trigger”: Hezbollah said in a statement on Friday that it would respect the ceasefire but that its hands “will remain on the trigger, vigilant against the enemy’s treachery and betrayal.” The group also praised the performance of its fighters, saying it carried 2,184 attacks during the war including drone and missile strikes targeting Israel and attacks targeting Israeli forces inside Lebanese territory.

• A recap of negotiations:

  • Trump reportedly called Lebanon’s President Aoun directly on Thursday afternoon and said a ceasefire would take effect “within hours,” according to Al Araby, which cited a Lebanese presidency source. A phone call between the two was also confirmed by Asharq, LBCI Lebanon, and Axios.

  • Trump publicly announced the ceasefire soon after with a Truth Social post, saying that he had “directed Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, together with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Caine, to work with Israel and Lebanon to achieve a Lasting PEACE.”

  • Israel’s i24 News reported on Thursday evening Israeli ministers are outraged at Trump’s announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon

  • Israel, under the 10-day ceasefire agreement, is permitted to carry out strikes in Lebanon as long as it claims they are in “self-defense.” Article 3 reads: “Israel shall preserve its right to take all necessary measures in self-defense, at any time, against planned, imminent, or ongoing attacks. This shall not be impeded by the cessation of hostilities. Besides this, it will not carry out any offensive military operations against Lebanese targets, including civilian, military, and other state targets, in the territory of Lebanon by land, air, and sea.”

  • Iran repeatedly came close to resuming confrontation during efforts to secure a Lebanon ceasefire, with missile launch platforms prepared and ready on multiple occasions, a senior Iranian military source told Al Mayadeen. The source said Iran halted launch operations each time in response to diplomatic promises about a Lebanon ceasefire—promises that were subsequently broken by Israel.

  • Drop Site’s Jeremy Scahill speaks with Hezbollah MP: Hezbollah parliamentarian Mohammad Al-Moussawi told Drop Site, “We will be respecting the ceasefire,” and, notably, said the deal is based on the original agreement between the U.S. and Iran that a ceasefire would apply to Lebanon. In an interview Moussawi told Scahill that the Lebanese government’s decision to accept bilateral negotiations outside the Iran framework had “opened a window for the Israelis to make more massacres,” and dismissed Israeli plans to establish a West Bank-style partitioned zone in southern Lebanon as categorically unacceptable. Full report here.

Genocide in Gaza, the West Bank, and Israel

• Israeli assault on Gaza continues: Two Palestinian brothers were killed, and two others were injured on Friday after Israeli forces targeted a water desalination station in the Shuja’iyya neighborhood, east of Gaza City; two brothers were also killed in a drone strike near a school in Beit Lahia on Thursday. A drone strike on the Bani Suheila roundabout east of Khan Younis, resulted in two injuries. On Thursday, Israeli forces shot and killed a 9-year-old body, Saleh Badawi, in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City.

• Israeli attacks on the occupied West Bank:

  • Israeli forces detained about a dozen Palestinians after early morning raids on the town of al-Ram, near Jerusalem, and on Nablus on Friday, WAFA reports. They also conducted raids in Yaffa and Beit Awwa in the Hebron governorate on Friday, blowing up the doors of stores in Yaffa and ransacking them.

  • Armed Israeli settlers set fire to two Palestinian cars in the Majd al-Baa community, near Hebron, a local activist reported to WAFA, leaving only the charred frames of the vehicles. Another settler attack in Al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya on Thursday evening left a Palestinian seriously injured; settlers reportedly threw a stone at his head after attacking his vehicle.

  • Settlers attacked the displaced Bedouins from the Arab Al-Mleihat community near Jericho, breaking into their dwellings and chasing livestock herders, according to WAFA.

• Israel reinstates soldiers charged with raping Palestinian detainee at Sde Teiman: Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir has approved the return of five soldiers to active duty after charges against them were dropped, Haaretz reported. The soldiers had been accused of beating, dragging, tasering, and sexually assaulting a Palestinian detainee at Sde Teiman prison, who was hospitalized with broken ribs, a punctured lung, and severe internal injuries. The military’s chief prosecutor withdrew the indictment last month, though no command-level investigation into the incident was completed. Defense Minister Israel Katz apologized to the soldiers and characterized their prosecution as an “injustice.”

• France denies visa to Palestinian human rights official: France refused to grant a visa to Shawan Jabarin, director of Al-Haq—one of the oldest human rights organizations documenting abuses in Palestine—blocking his attendance at planned briefings with French lawmakers, the foreign ministry, and European officials in Paris and Brussels. Al-Haq said the last-minute refusal undercut the group’s scheduled European campaign, in which it would seek “accountability” and advocate “for Palestinian rights.”

• On Palestinian Prisoners Day, rights groups report a 83% surge in Palestinian prisoner population since start of Gaza genocide: The number of Palestinian and Arab political prisoners held in Israeli prisons now exceeds 9,600—an 83% increase from the roughly 5,250 held before the war on Gaza began—according to a joint report Thursday by the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society, the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs, and Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association. Among those detained are 86 women, and approximately 350 children held primarily at Ofer and Megiddo prisons. Administrative detainees—Palestinians held without trial or charge—now number more than 3,532; the report notes that about half of all Palestinian political prisoners are currently held without trial or charge. The associations reported that 89 prisoners have died inside the Israeli prison system since the start of the Gaza war, bringing the total since 1967 to 326 identified deaths, with dozens from Gaza listed as forcibly disappeared. Israeli authorities are withholding the bodies of 97 slain Palestinian prisoners.

U.S. News

By Julian Andreone, with Ryan Grim. Have a tip on Capitol Hill? Email Andreone at Julian@dropsitenews.com.

• Analilia Mejia wins New Jersey special election: Progressive organizer Analilia Mejia won the New Jersey special election to replace Mikie Sherrill as the representative for New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District, defeating Republican Joe Hathaway and independent Alan Bond by more than 20 points. Mejia previously served as the national political director for Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign and as the director of her state’s Working Families Party. She has also been a vocal critic of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, notably winning the primary after AIPAC ran attack ads against her opponent, former Rep. Tom Malinowski.

• ICE agent charged with assault after pointing gun at motorists on Minnesota highway: Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty on Thursday charged Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr. with two counts of second-degree assault, accusing him of pointing a handgun at two motorists from a moving, unmarked government vehicle on a highway near Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport on February 5. The incident occurred during Operation Metro Surge, a federal immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities. Morgan told state investigators he feared for his safety after a car cut him off and yelled “Police, stop!” before drawing his weapon, though the motorists said they had no indication the occupants of the unmarked SUV were law enforcement and called 911, believing they were being threatened by a civilian.

• House rejects resolution to end U.S. war with Iran by one vote: The Republican-controlled House voted 213–214 on Thursday to defeat a resolution directing President Donald Trump to withdraw U.S. armed forces from hostilities against Iran, one day after the Senate rejected a similar measure 52–47. Only one Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie (Ky.), broke with his party to support the measure. One Democrat, Rep. Jared Golden (Maine) voted against it; Rep. Warren Davidson (Ohio), who had previously voted to end the war, voted present. The resolution, introduced by Rep. Gregory Meeks (N.Y.), would have required congressional authorization to continue military operations under the War Powers Resolution.

• House extends FISA over “serious reservations” of Congressional Black Caucus: The House passed an extension of Section 702 of FISA on Friday morning, keeping surveillance powers in place until April 30. Passed by unanimous consent, after two earlier attempts to extend by five years and eighteen months failed. Four Democrats joined Republicans to support the extension, 20 Republicans voted against. On Thursday, following reporting from Drop Site, The American Prospect, and The Lever, the Congressional Black Caucus said it had “very serious reservations about legislation that would allow the continued oversurveillance of our communities.” Before this, it was expected that the Caucus would support the “clean reauthorization” of FISA and its controversial Section 702 provisions, which allow for warrantless surveillance of Americans. The CBC statement called for “guardrails” and cited its objection to “documented instances of abuse” of the provision.

• AOC discusses endorsements and non-endorsements: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who has yet to endorse her former campaign manager and chief of staff Saikat Chakrabarti in his bid to succeed Nancy Pelosi in representing California’s 11th district, told Drop Site’s Julian Andreone that she is “trying to think about the role that I am trying to play more broadly” as candidates across the country court her endorsement. With Chakrabarti, as with all others, she said, “Once you go in it’s like ‘what about this, what about this, what about this one’ and I’m one person with an amazing but pretty lean team.”

• Congressman calls for sanctions on Israel: Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) called Thursday for the United States to sanction those involved in implementing Israel’s newly passed death penalty law, which applies exclusively to Palestinians. “Anyone involved in carrying out this directive should be sanctioned by the United States government,” McGovern wrote on X. “It is long past time to put our money where our mouth is and impose consequences for the Israeli government’s ongoing occupation of the Palestinian territories and two-tiered system of justice.”

• Trump and Mamdani talk relationship: President Donald Trump publicly criticized New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Thursday for the first time since their Oval Office meeting last November, accusing him of “DESTROYING” the city over a proposed tax increase on luxury properties. “They must change their ways,” Trump said in a post, “AND FAST.” He walked this back a bit, however, responding to a question from Drop Site contributor Timmy Facciola about whether or not he had fallen out with Mamdani by saying: “No, not at all. He’s going to ruin the city, however. His policies are no good.” Earlier in the day, Mamdani had said he and President Trump were “in touch” and were “honest” and “direct” about their disagreements. “There is one place of agreement that we have, which is that we both love New York City,” he told CBS. Also on Thursday, The New York Times reported that the Trump administration would release nearly $60 million in funding for New York City’s Second Avenue subway extension, reversing a prior hold that triggered a lawsuit by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

• Senate votes to allow copper mining near Minnesota wilderness: The Senate voted 50 to 49 on Thursday to repeal a Biden-era moratorium on new mining across more than 225,000 acres of Minnesota’s Superior National Forest, which encompasses the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The House had already passed the Republican-led resolution under the Congressional Review Act of 1996, and President Donald Trump is expected to sign it into law. The measure clears the way for Twin Metals Minnesota, a subsidiary of Chilean mining giant Antofagasta, to pursue a copper and nickel mine roughly five miles from the wilderness area. Environmentalists, Native American tribes who depend on the watershed for fishing and wild rice harvesting, and hunting and fishing groups had fought the project for years, warning of contamination from heavy metals and sulfuric acid.

• House passes Haitian TPS bill over GOP leadership opposition: The House passed legislation Thursday that would reinstate three-year Temporary Protected Status protections for approximately 350,000 Haitian immigrants, with ten Republicans breaking from party leadership to join all Democrats in a 224-204 vote. The bill was forced to the floor through a discharge petition, a maneuver made possible by the GOP’s razor-thin 218-213 majority. The White House issued a veto threat, with a senior official calling the bill “terrible” and saying it was “going nowhere.” The Trump administration moved last summer to terminate Haitian TPS, but a federal court blocked the effort; the administration’s attempts to end TPS for both Haitian and Syrian nationals are now pending before the Supreme Court.

• State Department announces restrictions on visas in Western Hemisphere: The State Department announced Thursday it is broadening visa restrictions against individuals “from countries in our hemisphere who support our adversaries in undermining America’s interests in our region.” Twenty-six people have already had their visas revoked under the policy, it said in a statement. Proscribed “activities” on the parts of Western Hemisphere nations “include but are not limited to: enabling adversarial powers to acquire or control key assets and strategic resources,” “destabilizing regional security efforts,” “undermining American economic interests,” and “conducting influence operations designed to undermine the sovereignty and stability of nations in our region,” the agency noted.

• Senior Treasury official bought oil, nuclear, and cybersecurity funds eight days before U.S. strikes on Iran: Jonathan Burke, the Treasury Department’s assistant secretary for terrorist financing, purchased between $15,001 and $50,000 in shares across three sector-specific exchange-traded funds—covering oil and gas exploration, nuclear energy, and cybersecurity—on February 20, eight days before President Donald Trump ordered the first strikes on Iran, according to reporting from NOTUS. The trades were part of a mandated divestiture process: Burke had been required to sell existing Citigroup holdings worth between $250,000 and $500,000 and reinvest in funds that do not conflict with his duties. Burke’s oil and gas fund gained several percentage points immediately after the war began and rose roughly 20% within a month, though it has since retreated. Read the full report from NOTUS here.

• LAUSD teachers win tentative agreements with District: A coordinated strike threat by nearly 70,000 Los Angeles Unified School District employees was averted hours before a scheduled April 14 walkout, after the acting superintendent reached separate tentative agreements with United Teachers Los Angeles, SEIU Local 99, and the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles/Teamsters 2010. Support staff won a 24% pay increase over three years, along with protections against subcontracting; teachers secured a nearly 14% raise over two years, plus an immediate bump in starting pay to approximately $77,000 and hundreds of new counseling and mental health positions; and administrators will see pay rise by an average of nearly 12% over two years.

Other International News

• UK security vetting officials did not clear Peter Mandelson to be U.S. ambassador: Britain’s security vetting officials recommended against granting Peter Mandelson the country’s highest level of security clearance before he was appointed ambassador to the United States, but were overruled by the Foreign Office, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office confirmed. Downing Street said neither Starmer nor any government minister knew until this week that the Foreign Office had granted Mandelson the elevated clearance against the formal vetting team’s advice; David Lammy, currently the country’s Justice Minister, was the head of the Foreign Office when Mandelson was vetted. Mandelson was dismissed from the ambassadorship last September after leaked emails revealed his longstanding friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein; he was subsequently arrested in February over accusations of passing confidential government information to Epstein in the late 2000s.

• Syria takes control of final U.S. military bases: The government of Syria announced that it has assumed control of all military bases previously hosting American forces, completing a withdrawal it had coordinated with Washington. U.S. Central Command said it would “continue to support” Syria in counter-terrorism efforts. Syria’s foreign ministry framed the handover as reflecting a shared assessment that the circumstances requiring American military presence had fundamentally changed, and credited the integration of Kurdish forces into national state structures as a factor enabling the transition.

• IMF and World Bank resume ties with Venezuela: The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank announced the restoration of institutional ties with Venezuela under acting President Delcy Rodríguez, ending a freeze that began in 2019 and clearing the way for Venezuela to request financial assistance from both institutions. The country carries an estimated $150 billion in external debt.

• Myanmar junta leader grants amnesty to 4,335 prisoners: The recently sworn-in military president of Myanmar, Min Aung Hlaing, approved an amnesty for 4,335 prisoners on Thursday, commuting all death sentences to life imprisonment, reducing life sentences to 40 years, and cutting all other terms by one-sixth. Former president Win Myint, detained since Myanmar’s February 2021 coup, was pardoned of his convictions and the sentence of former leader Aung San Suu Kyi—who is 80 and serving 27 years in prison—was reduced by one-sixth, her lawyer told Reuters.

• Russian drones strike Ukraine’s Izmail port, enter Romania: A Russian overnight drone assault damaged port infrastructure at Izmail on Friday, damaging but not shutting down Ukraine’s largest Danube river port, according to Reuters. Administrative and production buildings and railway infrastructure at Izmail were damaged, and fires were briefly ignited, with no injuries reported. The Romanian government confirmed that a drone also strayed across the border into Romanian territory.

• 2025 deadliest year on record for Rohingya sea crossings, UN says: Nearly 900 Rohingya refugees were reported missing or dead in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal in 2025—the deadliest year on record for the route. More than one in seven of the estimated 6,500 who attempted the crossing perished, the UN refugee agency UNHCR reported. The numbers reflect a deepening “sense of desperation among the Rohingya population,” UNHCR’s spokesperson said, driven by ongoing conflict in Myanmar and deteriorating conditions in overcrowded refugee camps in Bangladesh. More than half of those attempting the crossings in recent years have been women and children.

• Chile carries out first deportation flight under Kast: Under new far-right President José Antonio Kast, Chile conducted its first deportation flight, sending 40 foreign nationals from the northern city of Iquique to Bolivia, Colombia, and Ecuador. Pavez described the flight as “the first of many” under a planned immigration crackdown the government has been developing since taking office on March 11.

• Lula and Sánchez convene progressive leaders in Barcelona: Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva arrived in Spain on Friday for a two-day visit that will include meetings with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, European Council President António Costa, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Colombian President Gustavo Petro, and U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), among others. Meetings will focus on wage inequality and electoral strategy for left-leaning parties. “We are going to discuss the state of democracy, to see what went wrong and what we have to do to repair it,” Lula told the Spanish newspaper El País.

• Pope continues Africa tour with visit to Cameroon war zone: Pope Leo XIV delivered a sermon in the conflict-hit city of Bamenda on Thursday, the third day of his 11-day Africa tour, after stops in Algeria and ahead of visits to Angola and Equatorial Guinea. His visit to the heart of Cameroon’s Anglophone Crisis prompted a fragile three-day pause in fighting, as he met with religious leaders and called for lasting peace in a war that has killed more than 6,500 people and displaced hundreds of thousands. He also sharpened his criticism of global powers amid an escalating rift with Donald Trump, condemning a “handful of tyrants” who ravage the world with “killing and devastation,” while exploiting Africa’s resources and pouring wealth into weapons instead of rebuilding.

More from Drop Site

• Updates on journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin: A State Department spokesperson says the Trump administration is aware that American journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin has been detained in Kuwait and claims the safety of U.S. citizens is its top priority. Officials confirm awareness of the case and say consular assistance is being provided in line with U.S. and international law. They declined to give further details, citing privacy considerations, offering no additional comment on the circumstances of his detention. Sen. Chris Van Hollen joined Sen. Chris Murphy in calling for release, as well. The Committee to Protect Journalists launched a petition demanding that Kuwait immediately release Shihab-Eldin, whose case we recently reported on here—we encourage our readers to consider signing.

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Hezbollah MP Ibrahim Al-Moussawi told Drop Site, “We will be respecting the ceasefire,” and says the deal is based on the original agreement between the US and Iran that a ceasefire would apply to Lebanon.

Al-Moussawi’s statement that this ceasefire is based on the original Iranian deal reached with the U.S. contradicts claims by Trump and Netanyahu that Lebanon would not be included, and by the U.S. State Department that the Lebanon ceasefire be a wholly separate deal.

"They went back to the same ceasefire agreement that has been reached to in Islamabad by the Iranian initiative,” Al-Moussawi told Drop Site. "We will be respecting the ceasefire and we will deal with it cautiously, actually. And the Israelis have to abide by it completely, comprehensively in all of the Lebanese territories, including the areas bordering Palestine. And it should include total cessation of the hostilities and restraint to the movement of the Israelis to stop their assassinations. And it should hopefully be a beginning of a course of the Israeli withdrawal from our occupied territories."

As President Donald Trump tries to manufacture some form of a Lebanon “ceasefire” acceptable to the U.S.’s rogue ally Israel, a senior Hezbollah politician told Drop Site that any agreement must include a total end to Israeli bombing and a complete withdrawal of occupation forces from Lebanese territory. Ibrahim Al-Moussawi, a member of the Lebanese parliament with the Loyalty to the Resistance bloc, criticized the Lebanese government for agreeing to direct talks with Israel in the midst of the ongoing, massive attacks on Lebanon that have killed more than 2,100 people, including over 170 children, since early March.

“We reject direct negotiations. Of course we don’t accept that the Lebanese go there and surrender to the dictations and to the will and to the hegemony of the American and Israeli warmongers,” said Al-Moussawi in an interview with Drop Site. “None of the conditions of Lebanon has been met, none of the requirements and the goals of Lebanon has been met. This is going to be rejected not only by Hezbollah, but by the majority of the people.”

Trump, for purely short-term strategic reasons, is pushing for a ceasefire announcement—reportedly as soon as tonight. His administration has offered full support for Israel’s ongoing bombing and ground invasion of Lebanon. But the policy has become complicated over the past week as the U.S. and Iran have engaged in backchannel talks with Pakistan about conducting another round of negotiations. Tehran has repeatedly said that failure to secure a ceasefire in Lebanon could derail any potential agreement.

On Wednesday, the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the U.S. met in Washington, D.C., the highest level, publicly known direct talks between the two governments since 1993. Hours after the meeting ended, Trump claimed on Truth Social that the leaders of Israel and Lebanon would speak by phone on Thursday. “Trying to get a little breathing room between Israel and Lebanon. It has been a long time since the two leaders have spoken, like 34 years. It will happen tomorrow. Nice!,” Trump wrote.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has come under intense criticism from Hezbollah and other factions in Lebanon for authorizing direct talks with Israel while it conducts intense attacks that have forcibly displaced more than 1.1 million people—a fifth of Lebanon’s population—since early March and inflicted widespread destruction of villages and neighborhoods throughout the south. The Lebanese government has engaged in these talks with Israel without seeking a consensus from Lebanon’s diverse political factions, or allowing formal parliamentary debate, and has done so over the explicit objections of Hezbollah, whose forces would be at the center of any deal reached with Israel.

A direct call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be unprecedented and would spark mass anger inside Lebanon.

“Do not comply with Trump’s orders to make contact with Netanyahu. If you do, you will sever the last thread that still exists between us, the people, and you,” wrote Hasan Illaik, a prominent Lebanese analyst and host of a popular YouTube show, in a post on X. “If you do it, it will mean that your presidency ends in that very instant, and more dangerously, it will be an announcement that you have proceeded to implement an American-Israeli decision to destroy the country, and history will then remember you at the very bottom of the ranks.”

Lebanese officials claimed early Thursday that they had “no information” about a call, but did not explicitly deny it was under discussion. Some Lebanese analysts told Drop Site that Trump’s post may have been floated as a trial balloon to gauge public reaction. Lebanese TV later reported that Aoun had refused a call with Netanyahu. Moments after that, U.S. officials told Lebanon’s MTV that Trump planned to have Aoun and Netanyahu join a three-way call. The Lebanese presidency confirmed in a statement that Aoun spoke with Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday.

Over the past several days, the Trump administration has scrambled to try to push through an agreement acceptable to Israel, which maintains that it will not end its war against Lebanon until Hezbollah is disarmed or defeated. Ha’aretz and other Israeli media outlets reported that senior Israeli military commanders had been told to prepare their forces deployed in southern Lebanon ahead of a truce that would reportedly take effect Thursday between 7 p.m. and midnight local time.

“I would take any ceasefire declaration on the part of the US or Israel with a huge grain of salt at this point. The talks themselves —Israeli-Lebanese and to a lesser extent, U.S.-Iranian, are starting to look more like a means of warfare through other means,” said Amal Saad, a lecturer on international relations and politics at Cardiff University in the UK who is writing a book on Hezbollah and the Axis of Resistance. “This could well be another ploy to deceive, buy time to reconstitute or give cover to the Lebanese government to quickly normalize Israel and its aggression before the fighting resumes.”

Following the talks on Wednesday, the State Department released a statement emphasizing that the aim of the meeting was to develop a framework for disarming Hezbollah and increasing cooperation between Israel and the Lebanese government.

“This is nonsense,” said Al-Moussawi. “This is something that no one can accept. This is stripping Lebanon from its points of strength. You’re talking about honorable people fighting on the front to defend Lebanon.” Al-Moussawi, the former head of Hezbollah’s media relations department, was first elected to Lebanon’s parliament in 2018. He is a journalist and academic and holds a PhD in philosophy from the University of Birmingham in the UK. “I’ll tell you, as long as the occupation continues, the resistance will continue,” he stated. “And the resistance has every right to fight back if the Lebanese army isn’t equipped enough to fight back,” he added. “We should be thanked for what we are doing and not to be accused or not to be delegitimized because of this.”

When Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif formally announced on April 7 that a two-week ceasefire agreement had been reached between the U.S. and Iran, he emphasized that the agreement would apply to all territories involved with the war. “I am pleased to announce that the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America, along with their allies, have agreed to an immediate ceasefire everywhere including Lebanon and elsewhere, EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY,” Shehbaz wrote in a post on X.

The specific mention of Lebanon by Shehbaz was significant. Iranian negotiators had repeatedly emphasized that any deal must include an end to Israel’s scorched earth attacks against southern Lebanon. Iran’s ally Hezbollah entered the war on March 2, two days after the start of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran and had stunned the region by exhibiting a continued capacity to strike Israel and fight off invasion forces. Soon after the U.S.-Iran agreement was announced, Netanyahu said that he would not end Israel’s war against Lebanon and ratcheted up the bombing. Israel conducted one of its heaviest aerial assaults on Lebanon, dropping 160 munitions within 10 minutes in what some Lebanese have come to call “Black Wednesday.” Within 24 hours more than 350 people had been killed, and over 1,200 wounded, in Israeli attacks, one of the bloodiest days in Lebanon since the 1982 Israeli invasion.

Iran charged that the Israeli attacks and the refusal to halt its bombing “blatantly violates the initial ceasefire,” while Trump claimed Lebanon was “not included in the deal,” calling Israel’s war against Lebanon a “separate skirmish.”

Initially, Lebanese officials insisted that Lebanon should be included in the deal, but soon shifted their diplomatic language to calls for a separate ceasefire. On April 9, a Lebanese official told Reuters that Lebanon had been advocating for a temporary ceasefire on a “separate ​track but the same model” as the Iran agreement, effectively signaling acceptance of the U.S. and Israeli rejection of Lebanon’s inclusion in the Iran deal.

The State Department reiterated Wednesday that it would not abide by the terms announced by Shehbaz regarding a Lebanon ceasefire, saying in a statement that “any agreement to cease hostilities must be reached between the two governments, brokered by the United States, and not through any separate track.” Pakistan, which is the main mediator of the Iran negotiations, continues to insist that Lebanon is part of the initial deal. “Peace in Lebanon is essential for peace talks,” said Tahir Andrabi, a spokesperson for Pakistan’s foreign ministry, at a briefing Thursday. “Israeli attacks against Lebanon constitute a grave violation of international law and fundamental humanitarian principles.” Several European nations also signed onto a joint statement endorsing the agreement and emphasizing the importance of including Lebanon.

Al-Moussawi said that the Lebanese government’s decision to capitulate to the U.S. demand for bilateral negotiations with Israel rather than insist that Trump uphold the terms of the agreement with Iran opened the door for continued Israeli attacks. “This has opened a window for the Israelis to make more massacres in Lebanon,” Al-Moussawi said. “This massacre has taken place simply because of the lack of responsibility of the Lebanese officials because they [excluded] themselves from the ceasefire that has been put as a core requirement by the Iranians,” Al-Moussawi said. “They are responsible and they are partners in the killing of their own people.”

The speaker of the Iranian parliament, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, spoke to Nabih Berri, the speaker of Lebanon’s legislature, on Thursday and reiterated that Iranian negotiators continue to demand the ceasefire apply to Lebanon. “We have been seriously pursuing forcing the enemies to establish a permanent ceasefire in all conflict areas according to the ceasefire agreement because for us, the ceasefire in Lebanon is as important as the ceasefire in Iran,” Ghalibaf said, according to IRIB, the official Iranian broadcast network.

Some supporters of Hezbollah were angry that Iran did not halt the negotiations with the U.S. once it became clear that Israel was going to continue its war against Lebanon in violation of the announced ceasefire framework. Al-Moussawi, however, said he is confident Iran is prioritizing a Lebanon ceasefire. “We want the result to happen, to pressure the Israelis, to pressure the Americans and this is what the Iranians are doing. The most important card in the Iranian hands is the Strait of Hormuz. And they continue to say we will not open the Strait of Hormuz unless you include Lebanon in the agenda of the ceasefire,” Al-Moussawi said. “Iran has never abandoned the Lebanese. Iran has proved to be very faithful and loyal to its allies and to its friends.”

The Lebanese government is in a difficult position. While it is the internationally recognized authority ruling Lebanon, it cannot force Hezbollah to abide by an agreement that the resistance movement rejects. Israel and the U.S. have consistently described their vision for a ceasefire as an agreement that involves Israel and the Lebanese Army jointly disarming Hezbollah. Hebrew media outlets close to Netanyahu have reported that Israel is promoting a plan to effectively create a West Bank-type structure in southern Lebanon, dividing it into three sections. Israeli forces would establish a long-term presence in a “buffer zone,” continue its military operations against Hezbollah in a second zone until the resistance group is disarmed and after which Lebanese forces would deploy. A third zone would involve Lebanese forces engaging in disarmament operations against Hezbollah.

President Aoun, in a meeting with the British Secretary for Middle East Affairs on Thursday, said Lebanon was calling for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon as part of an agreement for the Lebanese army to deploy in the south. “The decisions taken by the government, particularly those related to the exclusivity of arms, will be implemented in the interest of Lebanon and to ensure the protection of all Lebanese people who aspire to see their state solely responsible for maintaining security, stability, and public safety in the country,” Aoun said, according to a readout of the meeting. He added that a ceasefire would enable “the Lebanese army to redeploy up to the international borders.”

Al-Moussawi dismissed the reported Israeli buffer zone plans and said Hezbollah would never accept it. Hezbollah, he argued, is necessary because the Lebanese army is incapable of defending the country from Israeli aggression. “No one can disagree that the official [Lebanese] authorities have to have a monopoly of arms. This is one of the definitions of a state,” he said. But, he added, Lebanon “has never had an army that is equipped enough or that has the political [backing] by the leaders or the officials to defend or protect Lebanon…to fight back against the Israelis.”

Hezbollah stunned many international observers with the ferocity of its attacks against Israel when it joined the war alongside Iran in early March. Both Israeli and U.S. officials had portrayed the group as severely degraded and a remnant of its previous stature, yet it launched repeated missile attacks and has fought off Israeli attempts to impose a broader occupation in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah’s stance stood in stark contrast to Lebanon’s official armed forces.

In early April, as Israeli attacks ravaged southern Lebanon, the Lebanese army announced its forces had withdrawn from southern border villages, leaving residents without even the semblance of protection. “The villagers, the people of the villages in southern Lebanon—Christians, Muslims—they were begging the army to stay,” Al-Moussawi said. “But officials ordered the army not to fight back, not to protect, not to defend, but simply to withdraw.” he added, “One of the important [jobs of the] Lebanon state is to defend and protect its people. This is what the army should be.”

The day after the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, Hezbollah entered the Gaza war, opening what it called a second front against Israel. Less than a year later, in September 2024, Israel unleashed its strongest campaign of attacks on Lebanon since the 2006 invasion. It conducted an assassination campaign targeting Hezbollah officials and civilian workers with exploding pagers, massively bombed civilian neighborhoods and ultimately assassinated Hezbollah’s Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah. By November 2024, over 3,800 people had been killed and more than 1.2 million forcibly displaced. That month, Israel and Lebanon signed a ceasefire agreement, which Israel systematically violated on a nearly daily basis, killing over 340 people in the period leading up to March 2, the day Hezbollah joined the Iran war.

After the U.S. and Israel initiated the war against Iran in February, which began with the assassination of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other senior political and military leaders, Hezbollah announced it was entering the war and began launching missiles at Israel. “We saw that this is the proper time for us to engage in the war and to retaliate because Israel would be preoccupied with fighting against a huge regional power, which is Iran,” said Al-Moussawi. “You’re talking about a war that has never been stopped by the Israelis. We were retaliating.”

Israel has a multi-decade track record of violating ceasefire agreements, including with Lebanon. “The Israelis say, ‘Yes, we had reached a ceasefire,’ but they continue to assassinate, they continue to kill,” said Al-Moussawi. “This is not something that Lebanon should accept, not on the resistance level, not on the official level. This is something that should come to a total stop. The Israelis should be pressured in order to respect a full ceasefire and not to be given the liberty to do whatever they want anytime, anywhere in Lebanon.”

“Without the Americans, you know, I know, everybody knows, that the Israelis cannot continue the war,” Al-Moussawi added. “It’s the American administration that should be held responsible for this. Without America, I believe we would have been released from all of this terrorism, Israel, a long time ago.”

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Pakistan army chief arrives in Tehran for talks. UAE and Iran hold first high-level contact since diplomatic rupture. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warns China and Japan of “dangerous consequences” of U.S. posture in Hormuz. Iran has up to two months before blockade forces production cuts, analysts say. Top oil companies pocketed $30 million per hour in war profits during first month of Iran conflict. IEA chief says Europe has 6 weeks of jet fuel left. Israel continues its attacks on Lebanon. Hezbollah continues attacks on Israeli military. Israel kills three medical responders. BBC: Over 1,400 buildings confirmed destroyed in southern Lebanon. President Donald Trump claims direct meeting planned between leaders of Israel and Lebanon. 31 settler attacks documented across West Bank and East Jerusalem in 24 hours. 350 Palestinian students held in Israeli detention, ministry says. Former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax and wife found dead in an apparent murder-suicide. House Speaker Mike Johnson postpones then cancels FISA vote. Sen. Bernie Sanders leads charge to block arms sales to Israel. Senate Republicans block fourth Iran war powers resolution as 60-day deadline looms. Jury finds Live Nation and Ticketmaster held illegal monopoly over concert venues. U.S. military kills three in third Pacific boat strike in three days. Russia kills at least 16 in massive overnight attack on Ukraine. South Africa’s Julius Malema sentenced to five years for firing rifle at party rally. Sudanese army drone strike kills three at Chad border crossing. 14-year-old kills nine at Turkish middle school. Syria detains more than 40 Palestinians near Damascus. France and Italy advance antisemitism laws which could criminalize criticism of Israel. Leftist surges to second place in Peru vote count. Nine million stripped from voter rolls in West Bengal ahead of state election.

From Drop Site: “My Daughter Went Out to Learn, Not to Fight”: Gaza Grieves More Children Killed by Israel

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Iran and Ceasefire

• Pakistan army chief arrives in Tehran for talks: A high-level delegation led by Pakistan’s army chief Asim Munir arrived in Tehran on Wednesday evening for talks focused on arranging a new round of negotiations between Iran and the United States less than one week before the truce is set to expire. Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is in Saudi Arabia for the first stop in a four-day Gulf tour. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that a second round of in-person talks would “very likely” be held in Islamabad, and that Pakistan is the “only mediator” between the U.S. and Iran.

• UAE and Iran hold first high-level contact since diplomatic rupture: UAE Vice President Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf spoke by phone Wednesday in the first high-level contact between the two countries since the war began. Per Ghalibaf’s office, the two sides exchanged views on “reducing tensions in the region and the prospects for developing bilateral relations in the security and economic spheres,” while UAE state media WAM characterized the call as focused on “de-escalation and regional stability.”

• Araghchi warns China and Japan of “dangerous consequences” of U.S. posture in Hormuz: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned of “the dangerous consequences of the provocative positions and actions of the United States in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz” in a call on Wednesday with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. He also held a call with Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, briefing both on regional developments.

• Iran has up to two months before blockade forces production cuts, analysts say: Iran holds enough onshore crude storage capacity to absorb diverted output for up to two months before being forced to curtail upstream production, consultancy FGE NextantECA estimated, according to Reuters—as the U.S. naval blockade, which took effect April 13 following the collapse of Islamabad ceasefire talks, tightens around Iranian ports. Once onshore tanks reach capacity at roughly 122 million barrels total, with approximately 90 million barrels currently available, Iran would be compelled to cap upstream output—a far more damaging and difficult-to-reverse step than export disruptions alone. Brent crude has risen roughly 40% since the war began and is nearing $100 a barrel.

• Top oil companies pocketed $30 million per hour in war profits during first month of Iran conflict: The world’s top 100 oil and gas companies earned more than $30 million every hour in windfall profits during the first month of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, generating an estimated $23 billion in excess earnings in March alone as oil averaged $100 a barrel, according to analysis by Global Witness using Rystad Energy data reported exclusively by the Guardian. Saudi Aramco stands to make an estimated $25.5 billion in war profits in 2026 if the $100 price holds, while ExxonMobil is on track for $11 billion, Chevron $9.2 billion, and Shell $6.8 billion—with three Russian state-linked companies, Gazprom, Rosneft, and Lukoil, projected to collect a combined $23.9 billion, boosting Vladimir Putin’s war chest for the conflict in Ukraine.

• IEA chief says Europe has 6 weeks of jet fuel left: The head of the International Energy Agency Fatih Birol told the AP that Europe has “maybe six weeks or so [of] jet fuel left,” warning of possible flight cancellations “soon” if oil supplies remain blocked by the war. Birol characterized it as “the largest energy crisis we have ever faced,” adding: “It is going to have major implications for the global economy. And the longer it goes, the worse it will be for the economic growth and inflation around the world.”

• Ghalibaf demands Lebanon ceasefire, tells U.S. to abandon “Israel First” policy: Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf issued a pointed statement Wednesday demanding the United States honor its ceasefire commitments as Israeli strikes on Lebanon continued, writing that Washington “must comply with the agreement” and calling on America to “withdraw from the ‘Israel First’ mistake.” Ghalibaf credited Hezbollah and the Axis of Resistance with securing a ceasefire in Lebanon, asserting that “resistance and Iran are one soul, both in war and in ceasefire.”

• Iran proposes limited Strait of Hormuz passage in U.S. negotiations: Iran has proposed allowing commercial vessels to transit safely along the Omani side of the Strait of Hormuz as part of ongoing negotiations with the United States, contingent on a broader deal to avoid renewed conflict, a source told Reuters Wednesday—a potential first step back from Tehran’s plans to control or tax passage through the waterway. U.S. Central Command reported on Wednesday that 10 ships had been directly blocked from exiting Iranian ports since the beginning of the blockade on Monday, though on the same day, two U.S.-sanctioned tankers reportedly made it through the Strait to an Iranian port, according to Tanker Trackers.

• Iran halts petrochemical exports to shore up domestic supply amid war disruptions: Iran’s Petrochemical Industries Development Organization ordered an immediate suspension of all petrochemical exports Wednesday, directing companies to redirect output to the domestic market and report any undeparted cargoes for possible reallocation, citing war-related disruptions and price volatility. The directive reflects mounting pressure on Iran’s energy sector following early April strikes on key facilities including the Mahshahr Petrochemical Special Zone and South Pars plants, which sharply reduced output, compounded by a U.S. naval blockade that has paralyzed maritime trade into and out of Iranian ports.

• Iran used Chinese satellite to monitor and target U.S. bases, leaked documents show: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force acquired a Chinese spy satellite in late 2024 that it used to monitor and help target U.S. military bases across the Middle East during the war, the Financial Times reported Wednesday, citing leaked Iranian military documents confirmed by Fox News. The IRGC purchased the TEE-01B satellite from Chinese company Earth Eye Co for roughly $36.6 million, paid in renminbi, according to the report. Time-stamped coordinate lists, satellite imagery, and orbital analysis show Iranian commanders used the satellite to surveil Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia on March 13, 14, and 15—the same days President Donald Trump confirmed U.S. aircraft at the base had been struck—as well as Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, the U.S. Fifth Fleet naval base in Bahrain, and Erbil airport in Iraq around the time of IRGC-claimed strikes on those facilities. China’s Foreign Ministry denied the report, calling it “not true.”

Lebanon

• Israel continues its attacks on Lebanon:

  • At least five people have been killed in Israeli air attacks on southern Lebanon on Thursday, according to the National News Agency (NNA).

  • An Israeli airstrike on Thursday destroyed the Qasmiyeh Bridge over the Litani River—the last bridge connecting southern Lebanon to the rest of the country, according to the NNA.

  • Heavy clashes broke out Thursday morning between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli forces in the town of Bint Jbeil, according to the NNA. The Israeli military has surrounded the town and has deployed warplanes and helicopters in the fighting. On Thursday, the Israeli military posted a video of a mass demolition in Bint Jbeil and said it destroyed “70 terror infrastructure sites in just one minute.”

  • The Israeli military demolished homes in Naqoura, near Tyre on Wednesday. Warplanes struck the town of Hanniyeh on the same day, and a drone targeted Aatit near Tyre. An airstrike also hit Meifdoun, and as rescue teams arrived, a second drone strike targeted the crew, according to Lebanon’s NNA.

  • Also on Wednesday, Israeli airstrikes hit Al-Shehabieh in the south, causing several injuries, and drone strikes hit a car on the road between Kfour and Kfarjouz in Nabtieh, the NNA reported. Airstrikes hit Deir al-Zahrani as well, and killed a Syrian national in Harouf. An additional Lebanese citizen was killed in an airstrike in Ibn-al-Saqi-Blat.

• Hezbollah continues attacks on Israeli military: Hezbollah claimed over a dozen attacks on northern Israel and Israeli ground troops in southern Lebanon, including in Khiam, Qantara, Rab el-Thalatheen, and Ras al-Naqoura.

• WHO chief documents Israeli attacks on Tebnine hospital in southern Lebanon: The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for “the immediate protection of health care facilities, health workers, ambulances, and patients” across Lebanon amid Israel’s attacks. In a statement, he said that Lebanon’s “Tebnine Government Hospital, one of the busiest trauma management hospitals in the south, was damaged due to two consecutive strikes close by on 12 and 14 April.” He said at least 11 workers were injured, with the hospital’s emergency department and its equipment destroyed and that the hospital’s “pharmacy and outpatient clinics were also damaged.” Over 90 medical workers have been killed since March 2, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.

• Israel strikes and kills three medical responders: Israeli forces carried out four successive waves of airstrikes outside Nabatieh on Wednesday, deliberately targeting emergency responders in sequence—first striking the area, then hitting ambulances dispatched to aid the wounded, followed by strikes on a second and third wave of responders, killing three medical workers and wounding six others.

• BBC: Over 1,400 buildings confirmed destroyed in southern Lebanon: Towns and villages in southern Lebanon are being leveled by the Israeli military, according to an analysis of satellite images and videos by BBC which found that more than 1,400 buildings had been destroyed since March 2. “This is just a snapshot of the overall damage caused by Israeli air strikes and demolitions, because of limited access on the ground and available satellite imagery. The true scale is likely to be much higher,” BBC said.

• Trump claims direct meeting planned between leaders of Israel and Lebanon: President Trump announced on social media that the leaders of Israel and Lebanon will speak on Thursday, as part of his efforts to “get a little breathing room” between Israel and Lebanon. “It has been a long time since the two leaders have spoken, like 34 years. It will happen tomorrow. Nice!” Trump said. Trump did not specify who would be present at the meeting or give any further details. Israel’s Minister of Science and Technology Gila Gamliel also said in a radio interview that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will speak with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Thursday. “We told America we aren’t ready to take that step,” a Lebanese official told CNN.

• Lebanon president thanks Rubio for “efforts”: The Lebanese presidency said on Thursday that President Joseph Aoun held a call with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. In a statement posted on X, it said Aoun thanked Rubio “for the efforts Washington is undertaking to reach a ceasefire and its support at all levels.” In turn, Rubio “affirmed his continuation of the ongoing efforts to achieve a ceasefire as a prelude to establishing peace, security, and stability in Lebanon.” The statement made no mention of any possible talks between Aoun and the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Gaza, the West Bank, and Israel

• Casualty count: Over the last 24 hours, one Palestinian was killed due to wounds sustained in earlier attacks, and eight were injured in Israeli attacks across Gaza. The total recorded death toll since October 7, 2023 has risen to 72,345 killed, with 172,250 injured. Since October 11, the first full day of the so-called ceasefire, Israel has killed at least 766 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded 2,147, while 760 bodies have been recovered from under the rubble, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

• Israel continues to attack Gaza: Three Palestinians, including two brothers, were killed on Thursday in Israeli attacks in northern Gaza and Gaza City, according to WAFA. The two brothers were killed in a drone strike near Abu Tammam School in Beit Lahia, while another man died from wounds sustained in a separate strike on a police vehicle on Al-Nafaq Street in Gaza City. In central Gaza, four people, including a woman, were injured by gunfire from Israeli forces east of Al-Maghazi camp toward Salah al-Din Street. Meanwhile, the body of Ismail al-Haddad was recovered in western Khan Younis nearly two years after he had gone missing.

• Israeli attacks on the occupied West Bank:

  • Israeli forces destroyed agricultural land and water pipelines on Wednesday in the Jordan Valley, south of Tubas, according to WAFA.

  • Israeli forces set up a military checkpoint near Bethlehem on Wednesday, according to WAFA, and Israeli settlers re-erected an iron gate in the village of Al-Maniya, near Bethlehem, after it had been previously removed. Settlers also continued to raid homes in the area. Four Palestinians were also detained on Wednesday from across the occupied West Bank, as part of raids on Silwan in East Jerusalem, the Tubas governorate, and near Hebron, and Israeli forces also reportedly detained a child from Al-Khader on Wednesday, after chasing and severely beating him.

  • Israeli forces shot and killed a 17-year-old Palestinian during a raid on Beit Tuqqu, near Jerusalem, on Wednesday, following extensive raid operations by the Israelis in the village.

  • Two Palestinians were injured in settler attacks near Bethlehem, which involved Israeli settlers throwing rocks and wielding knives at Palestinian vehicles.

  • Mobs of Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian citizens on Wednesday evening in the towns of Birzeit and Jifna, near Ramallah, where settlers attempted to attack Palestinians and destroy their properties. A group of settlers also staged attacks in Beita, near Nablus, and armed settlers threw rocks at cars and blocked roads to the northern entrance of Hebron, WAFA reported.

  • Armed settlers attacked and injured a Palestinian and his son in the village of Masafer Yatta on Wednesday, WAFA reported, assaulting a group of citizens and shepherds and spraying them with pepper spray.

• 31 settler attacks documented across West Bank and East Jerusalem in 24 hours: The Settlement Observatory documented 31 settler violations in a single day across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, including assaults, land seizures, and infrastructure destruction, according to the Palestinian Information Center. Incidents included 120 settlers entering Al-Aqsa Mosque and performing rituals—part of over 1,000 incursions recorded since last week—alongside land bulldozing, the uprooting of 160 olive trees, and water line cuts in Nablus, where settlers also attempted to run over a child and stole livestock; further incidents in Bethlehem, Hebron, Ramallah, and Jericho included road construction on Palestinian land, a cemetery destroyed, farmers assaulted, homes raided, and water infrastructure sabotaged.

• 350 Palestinian students held in Israeli detention, ministry says: Approximately 350 Palestinian students are currently held in Israeli jails under conditions that violate international law, Palestine’s Ministry of Education and Higher Education said Wednesday in a statement marking Palestinian Prisoners’ Day. The ministry said detainees are subjected to nighttime arrests, harsh interrogations, solitary confinement, medical neglect, and denial of education. The ministry called the widespread detention of children “a direct attack on the Palestinian education system and a systematic attempt to undermine the future of generations,” and urged international human rights organizations—particularly those focused on children’s rights—to hold Israel accountable.

U.S. News

By Julian Andreone, with Ryan Grim. Have a tip on Capitol Hill? Email Andreone at Julian@dropsitenews.com.

• Former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax and wife found dead in apparent murder-suicide: Former Virginia Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax, 47, and his wife Cerina Fairfax, a dentist, were found dead at their Annandale, Virginia home shortly after midnight Thursday in what Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis described as a murder-suicide. Davis said the couple had been engaged in an ongoing domestic dispute tied to their divorce proceedings and that the couple’s teenage children were home at the time. Fairfax, a Democrat, served as lieutenant governor from 2018 to 2022 alongside Gov. Ralph Northam, and his tenure was overshadowed by sexual assault allegations from two women in 2019. Fairfax went on to finish his term and ran for governor in 2021, placing fourth in the Democratic primary with 3.6 percent of the vote.

• Johnson postpones then cancels FISA vote: Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.), who previously intended to bring the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act up for a vote on Wednesday afternoon, first postponed the vote on the measure before ultimately canceling it on Wednesday afternoon. The series of delays comes as Democrats, who had previously considered voting with Republicans to pass a “clean” reauthorization of the surveillance bill, have begun cautiously retreating amid grassroots backlash. Public outrage has centered mainly around two provisions in the legislation that allow the government to surveil American citizens without a warrant unconstitutionally. Drop Site’s Julian Andreone spoke with members of Congress on Wednesday:

  • Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), the House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member, and Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus PAC, have led the push to whip Democratic votes for a “clean” FISA reauthorization without reforms. Andreone spoke directly with Meeks, asking him about the use of Section 702 to surveil Black Lives Matter activists. Meeks said he had to “do his job” to prevent “terrorist attacks,” and that 702 would enable him and intelligence agencies to do so. “Ultimately, I’m going to have to make a decision when it’s on the floor.… There is already information that I’ve been able to receive that have saved us or our allies.…[Section 702] has prevented terrorist attacks.” His full conversation with Andreone is available here.

  • Andreone spoke with more CBC members, including Reps. Shontel Brown (D-Ohio), Troy Carter (D-La.), Emmanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), Nikema Williams (D-Ga.), Wesley Bell (D-Mo.), to ask how they would be voting on FISA reauthorization, how they felt about recent reports about the use of Section 702 against black activists, and the extent to which each had spoken with Rep. Meeks about the bill. The members he interviewed usually either refused to directly say how they were voting or offered that they “still had concerns.” Most did not comment on Meeks’s whipping of the bill. Rep. Jennifer McClellan (D-Va.) said she would “like to see some reforms” to the bill but did not want FISA to lapse entirely, and Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) explicitly said he would not be voting for a clean reauthorization. Andreone’s full set of interviews is available here.

  • In a separate interview, Democratic Whip Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) told Andreone that he is “not worried” about warrantless surveillance of Americans, including BLM activists, ahead of the FISA vote. “I don’t worry about stuff. I just live through it,” he said.

• Sanders leads charge to block arms sales to Israel: Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders moved Wednesday to force Senate votes on two resolutions that would block roughly $450 million in U.S. arms sales to Israel, including over $150 million in 1,000-pound gravity bombs and nearly $300 million in Caterpillar bulldozers used to demolish structures in Palestinian territories, Lebanon, and Syria. The resolution earned 40 votes in the Senate; last year, only 15 Democrats voted for similar measures. “It’s clear that Democrats are beginning to listen to the average American who is sick and tired of spending billions of dollars to support Netanyahu’s horrific wars when people in this country can’t afford housing or health care,” Sanders said after the vote. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), however, did not support the measure and faced significant backlash for not doing so. “These bulldozers are used to illegally destroy Palestinian villages,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said about the measure, and said it is now time for the Leader to “step aside.”

• Senate Republicans block fourth Iran war powers resolution as 60-day deadline looms: Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked a fourth Democratic war powers resolution aimed at reining in President Donald Trump’s authority to wage war against Iran, with 52 Republicans voting against the measure—all but Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.)—while every Democrat voted in favor except Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), who sided with Republicans. A similar House resolution sponsored by Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is expected to reach the floor Thursday, though without Senate passage it would remain symbolic. The votes come as the war approaches the 60-day mark, after which troops must be withdrawn or their deployment approved by Congress—a threshold that Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) suggested could be a turning point, saying the administration “has got to start answering questions” about the war’s trajectory. Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) said the conflict has cost American taxpayers roughly $50 billion so far. “Trump’s war of choice in Iran is a moral tragedy and economic disaster playing out before our eyes. It is only making the United States and the world less safe.”

• Jury finds Live Nation and Ticketmaster held illegal monopoly over concert venues: A New York jury found Wednesday that Live Nation Entertainment and its Ticketmaster subsidiary maintained an illegal anticompetitive monopoly over large concert venues, ruling in favor of a lawsuit brought by dozens of states after four days of deliberation. The jury found that Ticketmaster’s anticompetitive practices caused concertgoers in 22 states to overpay by $1.72 per ticket—a figure that could result in hundreds of millions of dollars in damages once trebled, though Live Nation estimated the aggregate single damages figure would fall below $150 million. The penalty phase, including potential divestiture of venues such as amphitheaters, will be decided by the judge in a separate proceeding.

• Tillis blocks Fed nominee Warsh: Retiring Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) is single-handedly blocking the confirmation of Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve chair, telling NBC News he considers Warsh “a perfect candidate” but will not vote to confirm him until the Justice Department ends its criminal probe into outgoing Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who Tillis said did nothing wrong. Tillis, a member of the Senate Banking Committee whose vote is decisive as long as Democrats remain unified against the nominee, said he will cast his vote “simultaneously with the conclusion of that statement coming out of the DOJ, and not a day before.” The retiring senator, who said he has lost his political “filter,” also rebuked Trump’s attacks on Pope Leo XIV as incomprehensible, opposed any effort to eliminate the Senate filibuster, and suggested Trump’s presence on the campaign trail in purple North Carolina could be a liability for Republican senate candidate Michael Whatley.

• Sotomayor apologizes for remarks about Kavanaugh’s upbringing: Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued an unusual public apology Wednesday for remarks she made about Justice Brett Kavanaugh at a University of Kansas School of Law appearance last week, in which she criticized an opinion he wrote on immigration enforcement sweeps by saying “this is from a man whose parents were professionals” who “probably doesn’t really know any person who works by the hour.” In a statement issued by the court, Sotomayor said her comments “were inappropriate,” adding, “I regret my hurtful comments. I have apologized to my colleague.”

Other International News

• U.S. military kills three in third Pacific boat strike in three days: The U.S. military conducted a strike against a boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Wednesday, killing three people, according to U.S. Southern Command. SOUTHCOM posted a video of the strike and said, “Three male narco-terrorists were killed during this action” without providing evidence. On Tuesday, a similar strike killed four people, and a strike on Monday killed two people. The latest attacks bring the death toll to at least 178 people killed in dozens of U.S. strikes on vessels in the Pacific and Caribbean since September.

• Brazilian intelligence chief freed from ICE detention: Alexandre Ramagem, the former Brazilian intelligence chief convicted in connection with a 2023 coup plot in support of former President Jair Bolsonaro, was released from U.S. immigration detention Wednesday, according to Reuters. Ramagem was detained Monday in Orlando following a traffic stop that led to an ICE referral—a stop reportedly unrelated to Brazil’s outstanding request for his extradition. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said Tuesday he had formally asked the U.S. to return Ramagem to serve his sentence in December. Ramagem has a pending asylum application in the U.S.

• Israel appoints first ambassador to Somaliland: Israel has appointed Michael Lotem, a former ambassador to Kenya, as its first ambassador to Somaliland, Israel’s public broadcaster reported Wednesday. Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi told a joint session of parliament on Tuesday that Israel had proven itself a “reliable partner,” while Somalia’s foreign ministry condemned the ambassadorial appointment as a “direct breach” of its sovereignty and unity. Drop Site has reported twice on the relationship between Israel and Somaliland, discussing Somaliland’s push to acquire U.S. recognition after succeeding with Israel, and the involvement of financier Jeffrey Epstein in cultivating ties between the two parties. Those articles are available here and here.

• Russia kills at least 16 in massive overnight attack on Ukraine: Russia launched a wave of missile and drone attacks on Ukraine overnight, killing at least 16 people across the country following the end of a 32-hour Orthodox Easter truce. Strikes on Odesa killed nine people and wounded 23; attacks on Kyiv killed at least four, including a 12-year-old child, and wounded 48, with widespread damage across multiple city districts; and three were killed and 34 wounded in the central Dnipropetrovsk region. A Ukrainian drone strike on Russia’s Black Sea port of Tuapse killed two children aged five and 14 and sparked a large fire, Russian officials said.

• South Africa’s Malema sentenced to five years for firing rifle at party rally: Julius Malema, leader of South Africa’s far-left Economic Freedom Fighters and one of the country’s most prominent opposition politicians, was sentenced to five years in prison Thursday by Magistrate Twanet Olivier for unlawful possession of a firearm and discharging a weapon in a public place during a 2018 party rally at a stadium in the Eastern Cape. If upheld on appeal, the sentence would bar the 45-year-old from serving as a lawmaker—a significant blow to the EFF, the fourth-largest party in the country’s parliament.

• Sudanese army drone strike kills three at Chad border crossing: A Sudanese Armed Forces drone strike on the Adukong border crossing with Chad killed three porters and wounded dozens of workers—the majority of them Chadian nationals—while destroying civilian vehicles, food supplies, and fuel, Sudan Tribune reported on Wednesday. This is the fifth such strike on the crossing. The same drone also targeted the villages of Bir Daqiq and Habila, striking civilian areas north and east of Geneina in West Darfur. The Sudanese Army maintains it is targeting military equipment and cross-border fuel trucks used by the RSF to transport weapons, ammunition, and mercenaries from West Africa, and has accused Chad of facilitating the flow of UAE-supplied military equipment to the RSF in Darfur.

• Fire kills five at Darfur displacement camp: A fire tore through a displacement camp in the town of Rokoro in Central Darfur’s North Jebel Marra locality on Wednesday, killing at least five people, including two children, and leaving more than 1,400 people displaced and without shelter, Sudan Tribune reported. The camp houses thousands of people who fled El Fasher, North Darfur’s capital, after it was seized by the Rapid Support Forces in October 2025.

• Berlin Sudan conference pledges €1.3 billion: The Third International Sudan Conference convened in Berlin on Wednesday, as the war entered its fourth year three, with donors pledging over €1.3 billion—including €212 million from Germany, €168 million from the United Kingdom, and more than €811 million from the EU and member states—to address famine conditions and support over 11.6 million displaced people. The pledges fall well short of what is needed: the UN’s 2026 Sudan Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan requires roughly $2.9 billion for basic aid inside the country, with an additional $1.5 billion needed for the regional refugee response, leaving the overall effort less than half funded.

• Kazakhstan convicts 19 Xinjiang activists: A Kazakh court convicted 19 activists on Wednesday following a November protest near the Chinese border, sentencing 11 of the protesters to five years in prison for “inciting discord” and placing movement restrictions on the remaining eight. At the protest, the demonstrators burned Chinese flags and portraits of President Xi Jinping and called for the release of a Kazakh citizen detained in Xinjiang. The prosecutions were opened after Kazakhstan’s government received a diplomatic note from the Chinese consulate in Almaty describing the protest as “an open provocation against the national dignity of the People’s Republic of China.”

• 14-year-old kills nine at Turkish middle school: A 14-year-old student opened fire on two classrooms at a middle school in Kahramanmaraş, Turkey on Wednesday, killing nine people and wounding 13 others—six of them seriously—before being killed himself, Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftci said. The gunman, identified by state broadcaster TRT as İsa Araş Mersinli, arrived armed with five firearms and seven magazines, which reportedly belonged to his father. The attack comes one day after 16 people were wounded in a separate school shooting in nearby Şanlıurfa province.

• Rival of pro-Israel Druze leader killed in Suweida: Munir Najib al-Bahri, a prominent opponent of pro-Israel Druze militia leader Hikmat al-Hijri and one of the early participants in Syria’s 2011 anti-government uprising, was shot dead during an attempted kidnapping in Suweida city on Tuesday, according to local sources cited by Arabi21.

• Syria detains more than 40 Palestinians near Damascus: Syrian security forces have detained more than 40 Palestinians during a “security sweep” in the Damascus and Damascus countryside governorates in recent days, with at least 30 arrested from the Khan al-Shih camp southwest of the capital, according to a report by the Action Group for Palestinians of Syria. The majority were taken from their homes or detained en route to work and transported to unknown locations, with no official explanation provided by Syria’s Interior Ministry. Syria is home to approximately 450,000 Palestinian refugees, most of whom are descendants of Palestinians expelled during the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948.

• France and Italy advance antisemitism laws which could criminalize criticism of Israel: France and Italy are both advancing legislation this week that would codify new legal definitions of antisemitism, with France proposing to sanction speech “implicitly” supportive of “terrorism,” and the Italian bill looking to write into law the controversial International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism. The Italian bill passed the Upper House last month by a large majority and begins its Lower House passage on Thursday. The French law, scheduled for parliamentary debate on Thursday, references the IHRA definition without fully adopting it, and includes as sanctioned speech calling for the destruction of a state recognized by France, and comparing Israel to the Nazis.

• Leftist Sanchez surges to second place in Peru vote count: Leftist congressman Roberto Sánchez moved into second place Wednesday in Peru’s presidential election, with 91% of ballots counted showing him at 12.1%—just ahead of right-wing former Lima mayor Rafael López Aliaga at 11.9%—as conservative Keiko Fujimori held a comfortable lead at 17% and appeared certain to advance to the June 7 runoff. Sánchez, a 57-year-old congressman running for the left-leaning Together for Peru party, has called for a new constitution establishing a “plurinational” state giving greater voice to Indigenous communities, and is an ally of jailed former President Pedro Castillo.

• Australian court rejects ex-U.S. Marine pilot’s extradition appeal: A Federal Court of Australia judge dismissed former U.S. Marine Corps pilot Daniel Duggan’s appeal against extradition to the United States on Thursday, clearing the way for Duggan to be tried in the United States. Duggan has been charged with violating U.S. arms export control laws by training Chinese military pilots in South Africa between 2009 and 2012, and has been in custody since his October 2022 arrest.

• Nine million stripped from voter rolls in West Bengal ahead of state election: More than nine million people—nearly 12% of West Bengal’s 76 million registered voters—have lost voting rights ahead of the state’s two-phase assembly election on April 23 and April 29, following a controversial purging of electoral rolls conducted by India’s Election Commission, with analysis showing Muslims have been disproportionately affected. Nearly six million of those removed were declared absentee or deceased, while the remaining three million face a near-impossible path to reinstatement through special tribunals unlikely to process their cases before polling day. Research by the Kolkata-based SABAR Institute found that in the constituency of Nandigram, where Muslims constitute roughly 25 percent of the population, more than 95 percent of deleted names belonged to Muslims. Read more about the mass disenfranchisement in a full report on it from Al Jazeera, available here.

More from Drop Site

• The Committee to Protect Journalists launched a petition demanding that Kuwait immediately release journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin, whose case we recently reported on here. Shihab-Eldin, who was born in the United States and has worked with PBS, The New York Times, Al Jazeera, and Vice, has been detained since March 3 under vague “national security” charges widely used to silence reporters. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) also called for Shihab-Eldin’s release on Wednesday, accusing the Trump Administration of “trying to censor journalists reporting on the realities of this war.” The CPJ’s petition is available below—we encourage our readers to consider signing.

• Noa Avishag Schnall talks with GSF leader about flotilla: Drop Site contributor Noa Avishag Schnall spoke with Saif Abukeshek, a member of the Global Sumud Flotilla Steering Committee, in Barcelona on April 12, as participants prepared to launch the latest and largest Gaza-bound flotilla. Abukeshek said the war on Palestinians has continued largely out of public view despite a nominal ceasefire, and that reduced media attention has created the false impression that the violence has ended. “What we want to do is mobilize people again…to bring it to the streets, bring it to the ports, bring it to the factories…and to the political spaces,” Abukeshek said. His full discussion with Schnall is available here.

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Story by Mohammed Ahmed, Sharif Abdel Kouddous, Jawa Ahmad

GAZA CITY, GAZA—Three-year-old Yahya Al-Malahi lay on a metal table in the morgue of Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. Family members wept as they caressed his small body and stroked his cheek. A large hole, the size of an orange, was missing from the back of his head.

Yahya was among five Palestinians killed in an Israeli airstrike that targeted a police vehicle on Al-Nafaq street, a crowded civilian area in the middle of Gaza City on Tuesday.

“I wish it had been me instead of you,” Yahya’s father Mukhlis Al-Malahi said as he sobbed over his son’s body. His sweater was soaked with his son’s blood. Al-Malahi told Drop Site Yahya was being carried on his uncle’s back when the missile struck. “I felt I was hit, I began to say the shahada. Then I found my son, his head was split open,” he said.

Yahya Al-Malahi’s father, Mukhlis, and other relatives inside the morgue at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on April 14, 2026. Video by Mohammed Ahmed.

The Al-Malahi family were walking on Al-Nafaq street on their way back from a wedding of a relative when the attack happened. “My cousin, his son, and his brothers were on their way home when there was an airstrike in the street,” Yahya’s cousin, Hader Al-Malahi, told Drop Site through tears. “The little boy was martyred, and his brothers and uncles were injured. That’s what happened. His crime was that he was a Palestinian child—a Palestinian child who had a wedding to attend. Instead of wearing a suit, he is now wearing a shroud.”

Overcome with grief, Mukhlis bent over his son’s lifeless body and held it close. “Is this a ceasefire, people? Look,” he said pointing at the gaping wound in Yahya’s head. “Is this a ceasefire?”

On Al-Nafaq street, crowds gathered around the destroyed police vehicle. Small pools of blood stained the road. Abu Ahmad, a bystander, witnessed the attack. “There was a police patrol going out on a mission,” he told Drop Site. “They took a detainee with them and while coming from Al-Yarmouk Junction toward Al-Nafaq Junction, they were targeted.” Two policemen and the detainee were killed in the strike and several others injured.

In response, Hamas blasted Israel for deliberately targeting police forces working for Gaza’s Interior Ministry. “The intensified targeting of civilian police officers by the terrorist occupation army comes within the context of the Zionist government’s relentless efforts to sow chaos in the Gaza Strip, weaken the security apparatus, and provide an opportunity for its proxy militias to implement its malicious agendas,” the group said in a statement.

The aftermath of an Israeli airstrike on a police vehcile on Al-Nafaq street in Gaza City on April 14, 2026. Video by Mohammed Ahmed.

Seven more Palestinians were killed in separate Israeli attacks on Gaza on Tuesday alone, including five killed in an airstrike near Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, one killed by Israeli fire in Beit Lahia, and another child—14-year-old Adam Ahmed Halaa—killed in an Israeli attack near the Jabaliya refugee camp.

Since Israel signed a “ceasefire” deal with Hamas in October, it has violated the agreement on a routine basis, killing Palestinians in near daily attacks; preventing sufficient amounts of food, medicine, building materials, and other life essentials from entering the territory; and restricting the number of Palestinians allowed to leave Gaza through the Rafah crossing for medical evacuations or to return from abroad. As part of the agreement, Israeli ground troops withdrew to what is known as the “yellow line” but have continued to encroach further west, sometimes by hundreds of meters in Gaza’s narrow territory, and currently occupy close to 60% of the Strip.

Negotiations around the next phase of the ceasefire, which was supposed to entail a further withdrawal of Israeli troops, remain frozen. Over the past month and a half, as the world’s attention has shifted to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran and Israel’s invasion and bombardment of Lebanon, Israel has been able to continue its genocidal assault on Gaza with little international notice. Attacks by Israeli settlers and soldiers in the occupied West Bank have also escalated significantly.

Since the agreement went into effect, over 760 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry—the equivalent of four Palestinians being killed every day for six months. Over 2,100 have been wounded. At least 180 children have been killed over this period.

“Six months on, the ceasefire has failed to end the genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, with Israeli authorities continuing to impose conditions intended to destroy conditions of life,” Claire San Filippo, the emergency manager for Doctors Without Borders, said in a recent statement. “Despite the reduction of the intensity of violence, Israeli attacks are continuous and the situation remains catastrophic.” The group said since October its teams in Gaza have dressed over 40,000 wounds for patients who suffered violent trauma, including gunshots and blasts.

Killed in a school tent

Among the Israeli attacks that rippled through northern Gaza last week was the killing of Ritaj Rihan, a 9-year-old girl who was shot dead while attending class in a school tent in Beit Lahia. The Abu Ubaida Ibn Al-Jarrah School, a series of tents held up by wooden frames and lined with simple benches and desks, is located two kilometers from the yellow line, according to multiple witnesses, where Israeli troops are stationed.

“The girl was in a classroom, among her classmates. We were suddenly shocked by gunfire from the Zionist enemy. She was wounded with a bullet through her mouth, and she was martyred instantly,” Ayman Rihan, 45, a teacher at the school, told Drop Site as he stood beside Ritaj’s body in the morgue of Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on Thursday. Her body was covered with a piece of blue cloth and her bloodied jacket and sweater placed on her torso. Her long auburn hair draped out from under the cloth over the edge of the table and her bare arms stretched out to the side. The bullet that struck her had been placed on the table beside her head. Ayman, who is the cousin of Ritaj’s father’s, carried Ritaj to Al-Shifa and called her parents to tell them she was dead.

Ritaj Rihan’s body in the morgue, her mother in Beit Lahia, and the tent at the Abu Ubaida Ibn Al-Jarrah School where Ritaj was killed. April 9, 2026. Video by Mohammed Ahmed.

“This girl was holding her notebook and had her backpack, she was writing and was inside the classroom, inside the school, inside a safe space—a space where all the students feel safe. Today, even when we are in a school or in an educational tent, we have no safety,” Ayman said. “Every day children like this one are killed—innocent children. What was her crime? Was she carrying a Kalashnikov? Was she carrying a rocket? Was she carrying ammunition? She was carrying her schoolbag on her shoulders.”

Inside a tent in Beit Lahia, Ritaj’s mother, Ola Rihan, sat with other women in a circle of grief and mourning. The ever present buzz of Israeli drones overhead filled the air. Her mother held Ritaj’s notebook, its pages splattered with her daughter’s blood.

“She went to school like every other time she goes,” Ola told Drop Site. “She hadn’t even been there an hour when I got the news that she was injured. I said, ‘Maybe it’s a minor injury in her leg or her hand.’ Not even fifteen minutes later they told me ‘Your daughter has been martyred,’” she said, taking deep breaths as she spoke, nearly unable to speak. “I collapsed to the ground from the shock—I couldn’t bear it.”

“There was supposed to be a ceasefire but it didn’t happen. She was in the school when the bullet found her…What do you want me to say? Ritaj is everything to me. Ritaj is a piece of my heart,” she said, breaking down in tears. “She went on her own two feet and she came back to me on a stretcher.” She held up pictures of Ritaj on her phone, one showed her holding a soccer ball and giving a thumbs up sign.

On Wednesday, a group of 350 former European ministers, ambassadors, and senior officials urged the European Union to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement over Israel’s systematic violations of international law in Palestine. “With the world attention focussed elsewhere, Israel under the cloak of illegal military operations in Iran and Lebanon, has pursued the subjugation of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, by doubling down on its illegal occupation policy,” the signatories said in a joint statement on Wednesday.

“We are in danger. There is nowhere safe to go,” affirmed Ritaj’s mother. “There is no shelter. They destroyed our houses and left us with nothing. They took our loved ones. They took what is most precious to us…There is no hope. Gaza is exhausted.”

Ritaj’s father, Abdul Raouf Rihan, 29, had walked her to school that morning. “As usual, I dropped her off at school. But yesterday, I was shocked—after just one hour, my daughter came back to me as a lifeless body,” he told Drop Site. “The school is about two kilometers away from the yellow line. My daughter went out to learn, not to fight. A bullet of spite from the Israeli occupation struck her.”

“As for the ceasefire, it is a big lie,” he said. “The war has not ended. As long as blood is spilled every day, the war has not ended.”

Sami Vanderlip edited the video for this report.

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Mediators reportedly move closer to extending U.S.-Iran ceasefire. President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance comment on war and ceasefire negotiations. President Masoud Pezeshkian says Iran seeks dialogue. U.S will send thousands more troops to Middle East. Report: Iranian supertanker crosses Strait of Hormuz despite U.S. blockade. Iranian Kurdish leader signals that he would support further U.S. attacks on Iran. Despite ceasefire talks, Israel continues to batter Lebanon. U.S., Israel, and Lebanon hold talks. Israel continues to attack Gaza and the West Bank. Joint Chiefs chairman lobbies Congress to renew warrantless surveillance law. State Department accuses Cuba of role in Russia’s war in Ukraine. Trump administration is ordering the Pentagon to prepare for military operations against Cuba, Zeteo reports. ICE arrests immigrant delivery drivers at California checkpoint. ICE pays $12.2 million for AI surveillance tool that maps immigrants’ daily routines. 86-year-old detained by ICE in Louisiana. Maine Gov. Janet Mills deflects genocide question, points to African countries instead. Tennessee passes act that would penalize student protest. Argentinian President Javier Milei’s disability agency at center of campaign corruption, report says. U.S. military kills four in second Pacific boat strike in two days. School shooting injures 16 in Turkey. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum rebukes Trump for his immigration policy. Spain approves amnesty program for half a million undocumented immigrants. Greece accused of recruiting migrants as “enforcers” to pressure other migrants out. Rival Libyan factions participate in U.S. special forces exercises together for the first time. Somali forces kill 27 al-Shabaab militants in Jubbaland. Russian strikes hit Dnipro and Izmail, killing civilians and hitting foreign-flagged ships.

From Drop Site: Voters Think Candidates Who Won’t Stand Up To AIPAC Won’t Fight On Other Issues, Either: New Poll

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Iran and Ceasefire

• Mediators reportedly move closer to extending U.S.-Iran ceasefire: Efforts are underway to restart negotiations between the United States and Iran to extend a shaky ceasefire before it expires next week. Regional officials told the Associated Press Wednesday that the U.S. and Iran had given an “in principle agreement” to extend it to allow for more diplomacy. The main three sticking points include Iran’s nuclear program, the Strait of Hormuz, and compensation for wartime damages, a regional official told the AP. Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif began a four-day trip to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey on Wednesday as part of a diplomatic push to secure a new round of talks between the U.S. and Iran.

• Trump and Vance comment on war and ceasefire negotiations: In an interview with Fox Business on Wednesday, President Donald Trump said the U.S-Israeli war on Iran is “very close” to an end. “I think it’s close to over, yeah. I view it as very close to being over,” he told Fox Business. He appeared to break with that position in the same interview, however, threatening that the U.S. is “not finished,” and once again making dubious claims that the war was motivated by Iran’s near-acquisition of a nuclear weapon. Vice President JD Vance also talked about the war, telling attendees at a Turning Point USA event that there was a lot of mistrust between the Americans and Iranians, and “You are not going to solve that problem overnight,” but that he felt “very good about where we are.”

• Pezeshkian says Iran seeks dialogue: Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran is seeking dialogue. “Iran is not seeking war or instability and has always emphasized dialogue and constructive engagement with various countries. However, any attempt to impose one’s will or force the country to surrender is doomed to failure, and the Iranian nation will never accept such an approach,” Pezeshkian said, according to the IRNA news agency.

• WP: U.S sending thousands more troops to Middle East: While diplomatic efforts are underway to extend the ceasefire, the United States is sending thousands of additional troops into the Middle East in the coming days, according to the Washington Post. Citing U.S. officials, the Post reported that the forces include 6,000 troops aboard the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush and several warships escorting it, and 4,200 others with the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group and its embarked Marine Corps task force that are expected to arrive near the end of the month. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told the Post that Trump “has wisely kept all options on the table in the event that the Iranians will not forgo their nuclear ambitions and make a deal that is acceptable to the United States.”

• Report: Iranian supertanker crosses Strait of Hormuz despite U.S. blockade: A sanctioned Iranian supertanker crossed the Strait ⁠of Hormuz towards Iran’s ⁠Imam Khomeini Port despite a U.S. blockade, Iran’s Fars ‌News Agency reported on Wednesday. It was ⁠not clear ⁠if the tanker ⁠was returning with its cargo on board or ‌was empty, the report said. Fars also cited ship tracking data to report that a vessel transporting food supplies has entered the Gulf and is en route to Imam Khomeini port. On Tuesday, U.S. Central Command claimed that no ships calling at Iranian ports have passed the American blockade, saying six that merchant vessels were ordered to turn around re-entered an Iranian port on the Gulf of Oman. The commander of Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, Maj Gen Ali Abdollahi, warned on Wednesday that Iran’s military could block shipping beyond the Strait of Hormuz if the U.S. continues with its naval blockade, which Tehran would consider a breach of the ceasefire. Iranian armed forces “will not allow any exports or imports to continue in the Persian Gulf, the Sea of Oman or the Red Sea” if the U.S. blockade continues “creates insecurity for Iran’s merchant and oil tanker vessels,” Abdollahi said, according to the Tasnim news agency.

• World Bank prepares up to $100 billion in war relief funding for Middle East: World Bank President Ajay Banga said Tuesday the institution could mobilize $80 billion to $100 billion over the next 15 months for countries hit hard by the Middle East war—surpassing the $70 billion it deployed during the COVID pandemic. “I’m trying to create a toolkit that has a tiered response capacity, depending on how this continues, to at least be able to bring adequate firepower to do something about it,” he said at the International Monetary Fund’s spring meetings. The announcement came alongside an International Monetary Fund decision to cut its global growth outlook due to war-driven energy price spikes, with the IMF noting it would have upgraded its forecast by 0.1 percentage point to 3.4% absent the conflict. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said the global economy could recover rapidly if the war ends within weeks, but warned the outlook would worsen significantly if the conflict extends through the summer.

• Iranian Kurdish leader signals that he would support further U.S. attacks on Iran: Iran launched four attacks on at least two Iranian Kurdish opposition groups inside Iraqi Kurdistan on Tuesday, continuing a campaign of drone and ballistic missile strikes against Kurdish targets, after Kurdish groups flirted with joining the U.S. and Israel in their war on Iran and reportedly received some “light weapons” from U.S. officials to help facilitate an uprising. The leader of the Kurdish Komala Party, Abdullah Mohtadi, told Al-Monitor in an exclusive interview, that “America and Israel sustaining their bombing campaign, weakening the regime any further, would make it easier for the people to rise up,” and did not rule out cooperating with any country “including Israel.” He also denied that Komala had received weapons from the U.S., while expressing admiration for Trump, for putting “an end to the policy of appeasement toward Iran.” More on the Kurds, from Al Monitor, here.

Lebanon

• Despite ceasefire talks, Israel continues to batter Lebanon:

  • At least 14 Lebanese civilians have been killed by Israeli airstrikes on Wednesday, according to the National News Agency, including four members of one family in Jbaa and five in Ansariyeh, with additional casualties reported in Qadmus. A drone strike on a motorcycle in Zahrani killed one person. Two Israeli airstrikes hit civilian vehicles south of Beirut on Wednesday morning without any reported casualties, artillery shelling struck the Bint Jbeil district, and strikes were reported in towns across the south, in the areas between Hallousiyeh and Zrariyeh.

  • The Israeli military renewed its sweeping displacement order for all Lebanese residents in areas south of the Zahrani River on Wednesday.

  • Intense fighting was reported in Bint Jbeil on Tuesday, as Israeli forces advanced toward the town center, according to Al Mayadeen. Machine-gun fire and shelling were heard across the area, with troops now about 500 meters from the main market, L’Orient reported.

  • Air strikes on Tyre and al-Abbasiyya on Tuesday killed least two, according to Al Jazeera.

  • Israel’s military claimed on Wednesday it struck more than 200 targets in southern Lebanon over the past 24 hours.

• U.S., Israel, and Lebanon hold talks: Lebanon and Israel held their first direct diplomatic talks in decades on Tuesday in Washington, DC. The trilateral meeting was convened by the State Department with the participation of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter, Lebanese Ambassador to the U.S. Nadeh Hamadeh, and other officials. In a statement, the State Department claimed the two sides had “productive discussions on steps toward launching direct negotiations between Israel and Lebanon.” The U.S. also said any ceasefire agreement “must be reached between the two governments, brokered by the United States, and not through any separate track,” despite Lebanon being specifically mentioned as part of the U.S.-Iran ceasefire agreement. Hezbollah staunchly opposed the talks. The U.S. made a point of reiterating its support of Israel’s “right to defend itself from Hezbollah’s attacks.” The Lebanese delegation emphasized its sovereignty, called for full implementation of the November 2024 ceasefire, and sought urgent humanitarian relief. Israel’s delegation, which has claimed as its foremost priority the disarming of Hezbollah, said that it “discovered today” that it was on “the same side of the equation” as its Lebanese counterparts.

Gaza, the West Bank, and Israel

• Israel continues to attack Gaza

  • The Israeli military said on Wednesday it killed one Palestinian in northern Gaza “who crossed the yellow line.”

  • Israeli gunfire and shelling wounded four Palestinians in the Zeitoun neighborhood and at the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza City on Wednesday, WAFA reports. Later attacks on Zeitoun destroyed several houses in the neighborhood.

  • At least 11 Palestinians were killed in separate Israeli attacks on Tuesday, including at least two children, according to Al Jazeera. Four people were killed, including a three-year-old in a strike targeting a police vehicle in Gaza City on Tuesday. Later in the evening, Civil Defense reported that another Israeli strike killed several people near an intersection in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City. Another person was killed by Israeli fire in Beit Lahia.

  • Israeli forces shot and killed 14-year-old Adam Ahmed Khalaa near the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza on Tuesday.

• Israeli attacks on the West Bank persist

  • Israeli forces demolished a house and several residential structures in Silwan and Issawiya in East Jerusalem on Wednesday morning, and assaulted several community members and foreign journalists in a raid on the Al-Bustan neighborhood.

  • Israeli settlers attacked a Bedouin family near Jericho on Wednesday, in the community of Halq al-Rumman, attempting to break into the house of a family in the community and causing widespread panic.

  • Israeli security forces arrested a former head of a local charity in Hebron on Wednesday, storming into the city’s Charitable Islamic Association and grabbing him.

  • Three Palestinians were detained in Bal’a, near Tulkarm, during a 15-hour raid on the village by the Israeli military, according to WAFA. Israeli soldiers reportedly conducted extensive raids in the town, handcuffing and blindfolding its young men before leading them to a “field interrogation center.” One of those still detained is a 63-year-old man.

  • An attack by Israeli settlers on the village of Tuqu’, near Bethlehem, injured three Palestinians on Tuesday. The settlers reportedly sprayed pepper spray in the faces of the Palestinians while attempting to steal their sheep. Another Israeli settler attack, conducted late at night near Nablus, involved the destruction of the road that connects the village of Duma to Khirbet al-Marajem. And in an attack on the Jerusalem suburb of Al-Ram, a bulldozer, reportedly belonging to Israeli military forces, razed a Palestinian horse stable.

• Palestinian political prisoner Marwan Barghouti repeatedly assaulted by Israeli prison guards: Ben Marmarelli, a lawyer for Palestinian political prisoner Marwan Barghouti, reported three violent assaults by Israeli prison guards against his client in the span of two weeks, including a severe beating on April 8 at Ganot Prison during which Barghouti was left bleeding for more than two hours and denied medical care, following an earlier attack during a prison transfer and a dog attack at Megiddo Prison. He said the attacks “form a pattern of rapidly escalating abuse” that places Barghouti “at immediate risk of severe harm or death,” and called for his immediate release.

U.S. News

By Julian Andreone, with Ryan Grim. Have a tip on Capitol Hill? Email Andreone at Julian@dropsitenews.com.

• House Dems introduce bill which would formally assess Trump’s fitness for office: House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) introduced legislation on Tuesday that would establish a 17-member bipartisan commission authorized under Section 4 of the 25th Amendment to conduct a medical examination of President Donald Trump and assess whether he is mentally or physically unable to discharge the duties of his office, with 50 Democratic co-sponsors signed on. The bill faces long odds—Republicans control Congress, Trump could veto it, and any removal would ultimately require Vice President JD Vance’s sign-off and a two-thirds vote in both chambers—but comes after more than 85 House and Senate Democrats last week called for Trump’s impeachment or removal.

• Joint Chiefs chairman lobbies Congress to renew warrantless surveillance law: Joint Chiefs Chair General Dan Caine wrote a letter to several key congressional committees on Monday urging lawmakers to back President Donald Trump’s push for an 18-month clean reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which, though ostensibly used to collect data on “foreign targets abroad,” in effect permits the warrantless surveillance of Americans and the collection of their data. Caine warned that its loss would “increase risk to the Joint Force, degrade our worldwide combat lethality, and significantly impair U.S. security,” according to a copy of the letter obtained by Politico. The intervention signals White House anxiety about vote counts ahead of the law’s April 20 expiration, with more than a dozen House Republican holdouts citing privacy concerns. Several Democrats are expected to flip from their 2024 “yes” votes amid fears the Trump administration could weaponize the program against immigrants, and Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) introduced an amendment Monday to shorten the extension to one year.

  • Ahead of the Wednesday vote on whether to reauthorize FISA without any reforms, Drop Site’s Julian Andreone caught up with members of the Congressional Black Caucus to address reporting that, led by Rep. Greg Meeks (D-NY), the group sought to join the Trump administration—in particular, Stephen Miller—in pushing for a swift passage. Just hours before the vote, some CBC members are changing course and backing reforms. The video is available here.

• State Department accuses Cuba of role in Russia’s war in Ukraine: The Trump administration told Congress that between 1,000 and 5,000 Cuban nationals are fighting for Russia in Ukraine at any given time, while also supplying “diplomatic and political support for Moscow,” according to a five-page unclassified State Department memo reported on by Axios. The report stops short of concluding Havana officially dispatched “all Cuban fighters,” but states there are “significant indicators that the regime knowingly tolerated, enabled, or selectively facilitated the flow,” and dismisses Cuba’s claim to have prosecuted traffickers. In response to the report, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) told Axios, “If and when President Trump gets around to replacing” Cuba’s government, “and I believe that will happen sooner rather than later, it will be a very good day for the U.S. and our allies.”

• Trump admin is ordering the Pentagon to prepare for military operations against Cuba, Zeteo reports: The Trump administration has quietly directed Pentagon officials and other U.S. government agencies to step up preparations for possible military operations against Cuba, according to three sources familiar with the matter, Zeteo reported Tuesday.

• ICE pays $12.2 million for AI surveillance tool that maps immigrants’ daily routines and location: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has awarded a $12.2 million contract to defense vendor Edge Ops LLC for an artificial intelligence tool called “Project SAFE HAVEN” that uses “persistent passive data collection” to map the “habitual locations, routes, and behavioral patterns” of its targets. It also purports to have the ability to build “profiles” of suspects by scraping data from Wi-Fi connections and mobile devices. The tool was purchased specifically for the Homeland Security Task Force National Coordination Center—a hub coordinating ICE, the Pentagon, and the FBI. Read more about this recent contract, and the expansion of ICE surveillance capacities, in the latest from The Lever, available here.

• ICE arrests immigrant delivery drivers at California checkpoint: An “interagency” pilot program at the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base in California has resulted in the detention of dozens of rideshare and delivery drivers, according to Capital & Main, with military police at the base’s gates calling Immigration and Customs Enforcement on any non-citizen or non-green card holder and attempting to persuade detainees to leave the United States. Among those caught up in the program is Assim Alkhawaja, a Palestinian man with a pending asylum claim and a valid work permit who was arrested in mid-February while dropping off two Marines at the base, shackled, pressured to voluntarily depart the country, before his community raised over $10,000 for his bail; another is a Haitian Uber Driver who complained about the exploitative nature of the detention facility, where detainees are made to pay for food, water, and calls to family. Read the full report from Capital & Main here.

• Thomson Reuters fires employee who dissented against selling data to ICE, lawsuit says: Thomson Reuters fired legal editor Billie Little on March 20, after more than 200 of its employees wrote a letter objecting to the use of the company’s CLEAR database, which contains significant amounts of personal data, by federal immigration authorities, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday and reported on by 404 Media. Little was singled out for her resistance, and according to her attorneys appears to be the only employee fired for her resistance. Her team argues that the firing violated Oregon’s whistleblower protection law.

• 86-year-old detained by ICE in Louisiana: An 86-year-old French woman identified only as Marie-Thérèse, who moved to Alabama last year to marry a former U.S. Army colonel she had fallen in love with at a NATO base in France in the 1950s, is being held in a crowded Louisiana detention facility after ICE agents arrested and shackled her on April 1. Marie-Thérèse’s husband died in January 2026 before she had obtained a green card, leaving her immigration status unresolved. Her son told Ouest-France that her family fears for her life, given her heart and back conditions. “Given her health, she won’t last a month in such conditions of detention,” he said.

• Tennessee passes act that would penalize student protest: The Tennessee General Assembly passed the Charlie Kirk Act on Monday, “free speech” legislation that could subject students and faculty to suspension or expulsion for staging walkouts and using oversized signs during speaking events on campus. The bill also offers protections against disinvitation for individuals with certain views, including opposition to abortion, homosexuality, and “transgender behavior.” It also allows student organizations to deny membership or leadership roles to students who conflict with their “lifestyle.” The measure passed along partisan lines and needs only Gov. Bill Lee’s signature to become law.

• New poll shows Cori Bush tied with Wesley Bell in Missouri Democratic primary: A new poll commissioned by former Rep. Cori Bush and conducted by HIT Strategies shows Bush and incumbent Wesley Bell (D-Mo.) statistically tied among likely Democratic primary voters in Missouri’s 1st congressional district, with Bell at 44% and Bush at 40%, within the survey’s 5.4% margin of error. The poll, conducted February 19–23 among 401 likely Democratic primary voters, also found Bush holds higher overall favorability than Bell—52% to 45%—and that AIPAC, a major backer of Bell’s 2024 campaign, carries a 40% unfavorable rating among district Democrats, while ICE is 86% unfavorable to the same demographic.

• Mills deflects genocide question, points to African countries instead: Maine governor and senatorial candidate Janet Mills (D) was asked at a campaign event on Tuesday if she thinks Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza. After opening with a condemnation of events of October 7, using the word “horrific” to describe it and what has transpired in Gaza, she refused to answer the question directly. Instead she pointed to one African country with a widely reported genocide and two with historic genocides. “There’s a genocide right now going on in Sudan. Rwanda…there’s a genocide. There’s a genocide going on in Somalia.…There’s a lot we have to be concerned about, a lot on our plate.”

Other International News

• Milei’s disability agency at center of campaign corruption, report says: Argentina’s National Disability Agency (ANDIS) is at the center of an alleged kickback scheme in which pharmaceutical companies received government contracts in exchange for bribes worth roughly 3% of contract value, bribes paid to officials close to President Javier Milei, according to Página/12. One defendant has even implicated Milei’s sister, Karina, in the scheme. Milei himself is accused of having a campaign event financed by the Kovalivker family, which owns a pharmaceutical distributor and is implicated in the case, and is reportedly under investigation. Read more on this story here.

• U.S. military kills four in second Pacific boat strike in two days: The U.S. military struck a boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Tuesday, killing four people in the 50th such strike since early September, bringing the total death toll to at least 174, according to U.S. Southern Command. The command cited unspecified intelligence and said the vessel had been traveling on “known narco-trafficking routes,” releasing a 16-second video showing the boat exploding, but provided no evidence of drug smuggling.

• School shooting injures 16 in Turkey: An 18-year-old opened fire with a shotgun at a vocational high school he had once attended in Siverek, Şanlıurfa province, on Tuesday, wounding 16 people—including 10 students, four teachers, a canteen employee, and a police officer—before killing himself. Five of the wounded were transferred to a hospital in the provincial capital due to the severity of their injuries. The motive for the shooting remains unclear.

• Mexico’s Sheinbaum rebukes Trump for his immigration policy: Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum once again noted her disapproval of her northern neighbor’s immigration policy during a daily press briefing, calling the deaths of Mexican nationals in U.S. immigration detention “unacceptable” on Tuesday. Her remarks come a day after 49-year-old Alejandro Cabrera Clemente died at a Louisiana ICE facility, the fifteenth such death in little over a year. She announced she had opened investigations into all 15 deaths, instructed Mexican consulates to visit U.S. detention centers daily, and said she was bringing the cases before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and was also considering an appeal to the United Nations. “We are going to defend Mexicans at every level,” Sheinbaum told the press, adding that “there are many Mexicans whose only crime is not having papers.”

• Spain approves amnesty program for half a million undocumented immigrants: Spain’s government approved a program on Tuesday that will allow up to 500,000 undocumented immigrants to apply for legal status. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez fast-tracked the measure via decree to bypass a parliament where his left-wing government lacks a majority, after a previous amnesty bill failed because of parliamentary objections. Eligible applicants must have arrived before January 1, prove at least five months of residency, and have no criminal record. They will receive a one-year work and residency permit, which can be renewed into a longer-term status. Sánchez called the move “an act of justice and a necessity,” arguing that immigrants have helped Spain become “the fastest-growing economy in Europe.”

• Greece accused of recruiting migrants as “enforcers” to pressure other migrants out: Greek police have been recruiting detained migrants to carry out violent illegal pushbacks along the Evros river border with Turkey since at least 2020, according to a new investigation from the BBC. Witnesses described masked units stripping new arrivals, robbing them, and beating them, with some migrants reporting sexual violence and death threats at the hands of their masked captors. The mercenary migrants were reportedly compensated for their services with Arab or Turkish currencies, and occasionally with sexual services, according to one source. The BBC’s full investigation is available here.

• Hundreds of former European ministers, diplomats call for suspension of EU-Israel Association Agreement: A group of 350 former European ministers, ambassadors, and senior officials has urged the European Union to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement over Israel’s systematic violations of international law in Palestine. “With the world attention focussed elsewhere, Israel under the cloak of illegal military operations in Iran and Lebanon, has pursued the subjugation of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, by doubling down on its illegal occupation policy, the signatories said in a joint statement on Wednesday.

• Venezuela’s interim president calls for full sanctions relief: Venezuelan interim President Delcy Rodríguez called on Tuesday for the United States to lift all sanctions on Venezuela, writing on X that “We reiterate the need to advance towards a Venezuela free of sanctions, as a means of providing institutional legal certainty to investors coming to our country—a setting where they are guaranteed sustained investment over time and a forward-looking perspective.” She made this statement on the same day the U.S. Treasury Department announced it would be easing a small spate of restrictions on Venezuela’s banking system, by issuing licenses that would allow the country’s central bank and several state-owned financial institutions to make transactions.

• Hundreds of Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi nationals missing after boat capsizes: Approximately 250 Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi nationals are missing after a boat capsized in the Andaman Sea, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reported on Tuesday. The boat reportedly left Bangladesh and was en route to Malaysia. The Bangladesh Coast Guard rescued nine survivors on April 9, including one woman found floating on drums and logs; six of the nine are alleged traffickers and have been detained. One survivor, Rafiqul Islam, told AFP he had been lured aboard by traffickers who promised him work in Malaysia, that the vessel travelled for four days before capsizing, and that 25 to 30 people died from suffocation and overcrowding before he spent 36 hours floating in open water before rescue.

• U.S. to send third-country deportees to DRC. this week: The United States is set to send between 37 and 45 deportees—all nationals of countries other than Congo, including people from Colombia, Peru, Chile, and Guatemala—to the Democratic Republic of Congo by Friday under a third-country deportation agreement announced on April 5, with the deportees to be housed in a hotel near Kinshasa’s main airport for 10 to 15 days, Reuters reported Tuesday.

• Rival Libyan factions participate in U.S. special forces exercises together for the first time: Forces from Libya’s eastern and western rival administrations participated jointly in U.S. AFRICOM’s “Flintlock” special operations exercises in the central city of Sirte on Tuesday, the first such joint military event between the former civil war adversaries, with more than 30 countries taking part. The exercises come days after the two sides agreed to Libya’s first unified budget in more than a decade, marking a notable thaw between the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity and Khalifa Haftar’s eastern Libyan National Army, which attempted to seize the capital in 2019–2020.

• Somali forces kill 27 al-Shabaab militants in Jubbaland: Somalia’s armed forces and regional security forces killed 27 al-Shabaab militants, including “key members” of the group, in a “large-scale operation” in the Lower and Middle Jubba regions of the country, Reuters reported Tuesday. The operation was supported by airstrikes from undisclosed international partners, the military said. The U.S. military has previously conducted airstrikes in support of the Somali government’s military actions.

• Russian strikes hit Dnipro and Izmail, killing civilians and hitting foreign-flagged ships: A Russian missile strike killed at least five civilians and wounded more than two dozen others in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Tuesday, according to Reuters. At least 10 of the hospitalized were in severe condition, and an infrastructure facility was also damaged in the strike. Russian drones also struck Ukraine’s Izmail port in the Odesa region overnight, damaging a Panama-flagged vessel and parts of the port’s infrastructure, and a separate strike hit the Liberian-flagged merchant vessel “Lady Maris” as it travelled through a maritime corridor to load corn, Ukrainian officials reported Tuesday. The Lady Maris reached the port of Chornomorsk after its crew extinguished a fire on board.

• Accusations of fraud in Peru’s presidential race: Latest figures from Peru’s election authority place leftist candidate Roberto Sánchez in second place, which would advance him to the runoff. Presidential candidate Rafael López Aliaga, a wealthy businessman and leader of the ultraconservative Popular Renewal party, who had been in second, called for the annulment of the April 2026 general election, warning he could push for “insurgency” if authorities do not comply. He accused National Jury of Elections president Roberto Burneo of complicity in alleged electoral sabotage tied to logistics delays, a claim other candidates have also raised, but Burneo has rejected. Four-time candidate Keiko Fujimori, who placed first but failed to secure a majority, will proceed to the runoff.

More from Drop Site

• Weekly Livestream: Drop Site co-founder Jeremy Scahill and Middle East editor Sharif Abdel Kouddous host veteran Middle East analyst Rami Khouri to discuss the latest in Iran, cover the most recent developments in the ceasefire, and review the situation in Lebanon. The full livestream is available here:
  

• Panel on upcoming congressional renewal of warrantless surveillance: Drop Site’s Capitol Hill correspondent, Julian Andreone, hosted a conversation about the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and the state of mass surveillance in America, in anticipation of Congress’ potential reauthorization of Section 702 of that act, which allows intelligence agencies to sweep up vast troves of personal data without a warrant in the pursuit of “security.” Andreone is joined by Liza Goitein of the Brennan Center, Sean Vitka of Demand Progress, and political commentator Jess Craven. That panel discussion is available here:

• Global Sumud Flotilla’s Spring Mission commences: Drop Site contributor Noa Avishag Schnall sent a video dispatch from the launch day of the Global Sumud Flotilla’s Spring Mission to Gaza, which launched from Barcelona on April 12 with 39 vessels and over 1,000 participants. The flotilla aims to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza. That video is available here:

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Michigan’s Democratic primary for U.S. Senate is a three-way dead heat, according to a new poll conducted for Drop Site News and Zeteo.

The poll from Data for Progress found that 22% of likely Democratic primary voters support Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, endorsed by Bernie Sanders and a vocal critic of Israel; 23% support Haley Stevens, a pro-Israel Democrat who is being backed by party leaders in Washington, D.C.; and 22% support Mallory McMorrow, the J Street-endorsed candidate positioning herself in between Stevens and El-Sayed.

Notably, a third of voters were undecided—and a majority (64%) said they are less likely to support a Senate candidate who receives donations from AIPAC and other pro-Israel groups, while 10% said they are more likely.

Data for Progress polled 515 likely Democratic primary voters in Michigan, from April 2-8. The poll tested what would happen in a two-way race, and found McMorrow would benefit more from El-Sayed dropping out than vice versa: His voters are more likely to consider McMorrow their second choice, whereas McMorrow’s are more likely to call Stevens their second choice, suggesting that McMorrow and El-Sayed are not simply splitting the more progressive vote.

However, in all of the scenarios that were polled, a plurality of likely Democratic primary voters remained unsure as to whom they would support—suggesting that the race remains fully up for grabs with three-and-a-half months left before the August 4 primary election.

And, the poll indicates, Michigan primary voters appear to be far more concerned about the influence of AIPAC, America’s top pro-Israel lobby, than that of Hasan Piker, the leftist Twitch streamer who campaigned with El-Sayed at two Michigan universities last week.

The poll found 62% of Michigan Democratic primary voters agreed that they are less likely to trust a candidate would stand up for Michiganders in general if they won’t stand up to AIPAC; 13% disagreed with this sentiment.

Stevens has long been an AIPAC favorite. AIPAC’s political action committee raised over $340,000 worth of direct campaign donations for Stevens in early 2025, just before she announced her bid for Senate, though it has not raised money directly for her Senate campaign. Last month, Stevens taped a promotional video for AIPAC, which in 2022 helped her oust former Michigan Democratic Rep. Andy Levin, a progressive who was supportive of Israel but argued for Palestinian rights.

El-Sayed and McMorrow have both been critical of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, though McMorrow has been reluctant to describe it this way—and has instead complained that the word “genocide” has become some kind of “political purity test.”

As Drop Site News previously reported, McMorrow privately drafted a “position paper” for AIPAC, according to one of her supporters, before publicly demanding a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and saying that “this violence needs to stop.”

McMorrow has been endorsed by the liberal pro-Israel lobby J Street.

Meanwhile, voters did not come to the poll concerned about El-Sayed’s decision to hold rallies with Piker—despite the aggressive anti-Piker cancellation campaign led by the centrist think tank Third Way, which was egged on by both McMorrow and Stevens.

Per the poll, 13% of likely Democratic primary voters in Michigan view Piker favorably, while 7% view him negatively. The vast majority of them say they don’t know enough about Piker to have an opinion about him.

The poll then gave voters more context on the controversy to assess whether it would influence their vote. They were told that El-Sayed’s opponents had criticized him for planning rallies with Piker, accusing Hasan Piker of antisemitism and highlighting past controversial remarks, and that El-Sayed has argued that criticism of Israel should not be confused with antisemitism.

Asked then whether they approve or disapprove of El-Sayed inviting Piker to join his rallies on college campuses, 40% said they approve, 30% said they disapprove, and 30% said they weren’t sure.

The full poll results are available here.

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Meanwhile, as Israel continued to bombard Lebanon on Tuesday and Hezbollah conducted retaliatory attacks, Israeli and Lebanese government officials met in Washington, DC, for their highest-level direct talks in decades. In the run-up to the meeting, Lebanon’s presidency said the talks would focus on announcing a ceasefire and setting a start date for bilateral talks. However, Israel has said it would not discuss a ceasefire during the talks and instead would focus on disarming Hezbollah and establishing peaceful relations between Israel and Lebanon. Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem in a televised address Monday rejected the planned meeting, calling the talks “futile” and urging the Lebanese government to take “a historic and heroic stance” by refusing to attend.

Drop Site’s Jeremy Scahill and Sharif Abdel Kouddous discuss the latest with Palestinian American journalist Rami Khouri , a distinguished public policy fellow at the American University of Beirut and nonresident senior fellow at the Arab Center Washington, DC.

Jeremy and Sharif also discuss the case of American born Kuwaiti journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin, who was arrested six weeks ago in Kuwait where he remains in detention and faces prosecution in a special tribunal over social media posts related to the Iran war.

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Pakistan proposes to host second round of talks on Iran war. At least 3 ships pass through Hormuz on first day of blockade. Vice President JD Vance discusses Islamabad talks, U.S. demands. Iran says damaged railway infrastructure repaired. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer rejects U.S. blockade push, calls for Lebanon ceasefire extension. HRW: Israel’s oil depot strikes in Iran likely war crimes. Most Israelis oppose Iran ceasefire, poll finds. Israel and Lebanese ambassadors set to meet in Washington. Hezbollah leader rejects talks between Israel and the Lebanese government. Israel continues to violate ceasefire, strikes Gaza City. President Donald Trump sparks backlash after posting AI image depicting himself as Jesus Christ. Rep. Eric Swalwell and Rep. Tony Gonzales announce resignations from Congress. Trump says “we may stop by Cuba.” Congressional Black Caucus set to back warrantless surveillance reauthorization, Rep. Lauren Boebert registers objection. Minnesota county investigates ICE arrest of American citizen as a potential kidnapping. Dozens arrested at NYC protest against the Iran war and arms sales to Israel. Sudanese army drones kill at least 20 civilians across Darfur. Former Brazilian intelligence chief detained by ICE in Florida. Philippines says China is using cyanide to poison contested maritime region. Police attempt to suppress Indian factory workers’ protest in Noida. Islamist militants kill seven soldiers at Nigerian army base near Chad border. U.S. military kills two in latest vessel strike in the Pacific.

From Drop Site: Prominent journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin has been in jail for six weeks in Kuwait. Former contractor outlines abuses at GHF aid sites. Leaked documents reveal secret Pakistan-Saudi defense pact. Student faces up to 34 years on felony charges over 51-second dispute.

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U.S.-Iran War

• Pakistan proposes to host second round of talks: Pakistan has proposed hosting a second round of talks between the United States and Iran in Islamabad in the coming days, according to the Associated Press. A Pakistani official told Al Jazeera that the country is ready to host the process to bring peace for as many rounds as it takes.

• At least 3 ships pass through Hormuz on first day of blockade: Three Iran-linked tankers have passed through the Strait of Hormuz on the first full day of the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports, according to shipping data. The three vessels were not heading to Iranian ports and so they were not covered by the blockade, Reuters reported. The U.S. military blockade of all Iranian ports and coastal areas along the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, which Trump announced on Sunday, was supposed to go into effect at 10 a.m. ET on Monday. Trump told reporters that he did expect other countries to assist in the blockade, before refusing to name these countries. “We don’t need other countries,” he said. He also suggested that his threats against Iran still stood, saying he didn’t want to comment directly on those remarks, but that “it won’t be pleasant for them” if they refuse to meet the U.S. demands.

• Vance discusses Islamabad talks, U.S. demands: Vice President JD Vance discussed the peace talks in Pakistan over the weekend with Fox News, saying that “the meeting was useful in acquiring knowledge about how they are negotiating,” and saying that it is “up to the Iranians to take the next step.” In the same interview, Vance said that uranium enrichment was a non-negotiable red line for the U.S. delegation. Axios reported Monday that the United States proposed a minimum 20-year moratorium on uranium enrichment in Islamabad, with Iran countering with a “single digit” number of years. The U.S. also demanded Iran remove all highly enriched uranium from the country, while Tehran offered a “monitored process of down-blending” as an alternative. Vance told Fox News that the U.S. is insisting Iran fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz. “We need to see the Straits of Hormuz fully open,” he said, and warned that if Iran does not “continue to make progress” with the Strait, it would “fundamentally change the negotiations.”

• Iran says damaged railway infrastructure repaired: Iranian state-linked Tasnim News Agency reported on Monday that six railway sites struck in recent U.S.-Israeli attacks have been repaired and returned to service. The strikes damaged several bridges across the country, including in Qom, Kashan, and Zanjan, as well as along the Tehran-Mashhad line. Tasnim said a key bridge near Qom was rebuilt in under 40 hours, with repairs at the remaining sites taking longer to complete. Tasnim also reported on Monday that more than 40,813 residential units in Tehran were damaged during the war. Of those, 34,348 require minor repairs, 4,483 need moderate repairs, and 779 require structural reinforcement.

• Two tankers reverse course near Strait of Hormuz: At least two tankers reversed course near the Strait of Hormuz on Monday following the start of the U.S. blockade, according to MarineTraffic data. Both vessels had been eastbound out of the Gulf, with one departing the United Arab Emirates en route to China before turning back; one of the two ships was fully laden at the time of the course reversal. Trump claimed in a post on Truth Social that 34 ships went through the Strait on Sunday, a claim which no independent ship traffic monitor has confirmed and which all available data contradicts.

• Starmer rejects U.S. blockade push, calls for Lebanon ceasefire extension: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer dismissed U.S. calls to support a multinational blockade of the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, insisting the waterway must remain open and free of tolls, and announced that the United Kingdom and France will co-host a high-level summit this week to establish a “peaceful multinational mission” aimed at restoring freedom of navigation there. Addressing members of Parliament following a three-day visit to the Middle East, Starmer called Israel’s ongoing bombardment of Lebanon “wrong” and demanded the strikes “stop now.” He urged that Lebanon be “included urgently” in the fragile ceasefire between the U.S., Israel, and Iran. European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas made similar calls for an international coalition on maritime security during remarks at the United Nations Security Council on Monday.

• Spain becomes first Western nation to reopen embassy in Tehran: Spain formally reopened its embassy in Tehran on Monday, becoming the first Western country to restore a diplomatic presence in Iran since the ceasefire, with Ambassador Antonio Sánchez-Benedito declaring he had returned “in order to join in efforts for peace from every possible quarter.” The embassy had closed on March 7 when staff evacuated amid U.S.-Israeli airstrikes.

• HRW: Israel’s oil depot strikes in Iran likely war crimes: Human Rights Watch said that Israeli attacks on four oil depots in and around Tehran last month violated international law and are likely war crimes. “Israel’s March 7 attacks on oil depots surrounding Tehran may have devastating consequences on the environment and people’s health for many years and likely amount to war crimes,” Bahar Saba, senior Iran researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. “Israeli forces don’t appear to have factored in the foreseeable long-term harm in the Tehran vicinity, for which they should be held accountable.” Read Drop Site’s coverage of the strikes here.

• Iran formally demands war reparations at the UN Security Council: Iran’s United Nations envoy Amir Saeid Iravani formally submitted a letter to the Security Council on Monday, demanding reparations from Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan, accusing all five of facilitating or directly participating in the U.S.-Israeli assault on Iran. Tehran claims the states allowed their territory to be used for attacks and, in some cases, took part in strikes on civilian targets, and says it has submitted documented evidence based on military assessments to support its case.

• Bahrain summons Iraqi envoy over drone attacks: Bahrain summoned Iraq’s chargé d’affaires Ahmed Ismail al-Karawi on Monday to deliver a formal protest over continued drone attacks launched from Iraqi territory against Bahrain and other Gulf Cooperation Council states, one day after Saudi Arabia took similar diplomatic action. Bahrain’s Foreign Ministry strongly condemned what it called “continued malicious drone attacks” and called on Baghdad to address the threat “urgently and responsibly.”

• Pro-Iran hackers claim to have shut down major Bahraini and Saudi steel producers: The Handala cyber group claimed Monday to have hacked and disabled all operations at Bahraini steel producer Fulat and Saudi Arabia’s SULB, describing the operation as retaliation for recent attacks on Iran’s infrastructure, according to Iran’s Fars News Agency.

• Most Israelis oppose Iran ceasefire, poll finds: Nearly two-thirds of Israelis oppose the U.S.-Iran ceasefire, according to a new poll from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Agam Labs, conducted April 9 and 10 among over 1,300 respondents. Thirty-nine percent said Israel should resume attacks on Iran, 41 percent said it should respect the ceasefire, and 19 percent were unsure. More than 61 percent of Israelis said the ceasefire should not extend to the conflict in Lebanon.

Lebanon

• Casualty count: The death toll from Israel’s assault on Lebanon has risen to at least 2,089—with 6,762 wounded—since March 2, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. That figure includes more than 166 children and 88 health care workers.

• Continuing Israeli attacks: At least six people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Lebanon on Tuesday, according to the National News Agency, including three people from one family in Sahmar in west Bekaa where a series of air raids hit the town, destroying more than 10 homes. Three people were also killed in Israel strikes in the Sidon district in southern Lebanon.

• Hezbollah conducts series of attacks, kills Israeli soldier: Hezbollah said it conducted a series of attacks on Israel and on military troops on Lebanese territory. The group said it struck Israeli artillery positions established in the town of Biyyada in southern Lebanon. It said it also targeted the Kfar Jaladi outpost with attack drones, followed by rockets targeting the Misgav Am settlement. The Israeli military said one soldier was killed and three seriously wounded during fighting in southern Lebanon.

• Red Cross calls attacks on Lebanese medics “gravely concerning”: The International Committee of the Red Cross on Monday condemned a pattern of attacks on medical personnel in Lebanon as “gravely concerning,” after a strike hit a Red Cross facility in the Sour district of southern Lebanon on Monday, killing one person and damaging vehicles. The organization said it was also “deeply distressed” by the death of Lebanese Red Cross paramedic Hassan Badawi, who was killed while conducting a rescue mission in the south. At least 88 medical workers in Lebanon have been killed in Israeli attacks since March 2.

• Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors set to meet in Washington: Israeli and Lebanese officials are scheduled to meet in Washington, DC, today for their highest-level direct talks in decades. Lebanese Ambassador Nada Hamadeh and Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter are due to meet at 11 a.m. ET according to a schedule published by the State Department. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will join the talks. Lebanon’s presidency has said the talks would focus on announcing a ceasefire and setting a start date for bilateral talks. However, Israel has said it would not discuss a ceasefire during the talks and instead would focus on disarming Hezbollah and establishing peaceful relations between Israel and Lebanon.

• Hezbollah leader rejects talks between Israel and the Lebanese government: Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem in a televised address Monday rejected the planned meeting between the Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors in Washington on Tuesday, calling the talks “futile” and urging the Lebanese government to take “a historic and heroic stance” by refusing to attend. Qassem said the negotiations are a ploy to pressure Hezbollah into disarming, noting that Netanyahu has openly stated disarmament as the talks’ objective. “We will not rest, stop or surrender. Instead, we will let the battlefield speak for itself,” he said.

Genocide in Gaza, the West Bank, and Israel

• Israel continues to violate ceasefire, strikes Gaza City:

  • The Israeli military bombed a police vehicle in Gaza City on Tuesday killing four Palestinians and wounding nine others, according to Drop Site contributor Mohammed Ahmed. Earlier on Monday, one Palestinian was killed in an Israeli bombing in Beit Lahia.

  • Israeli forces attacked a cafe near Dawood Tower in central Gaza City on Monday evening, WAFA reported, killing one and injuring several others. Earlier Israeli gunfire had left two Palestinians wounded, in the neighborhoods of Shujaiyya and Zeitoun east of Gaza City.

• Former contractor outlines abuses at GHF aid sites: A former British security contractor who managed a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid site in central Gaza between August and October 2025 has given his first on-record account of Israeli soldiers routinely and indiscriminately firing on unarmed Palestinians seeking food, telling Drop Site News and Middle East Eye that the killing of a boy of around 12 years old at the site was “straight up murder.” David McIntosh, a former Royal Marines commando, said Israeli soldiers positioned near Site 4 in the Netzarim corridor would open fire on crowds of Palestinians lying in a dry riverbed from 4 a.m. each morning, with snipers, machine guns, and tanks targeting anyone who moved. McIntosh said he filed detailed daily reports on the incidents to his employer, logistics firm Safe Reach Solutions, and never received a response. Read more about McIntosh and the abuses of GHF, in her latest for Drop Site News available here.

U.S. News

By Julian Andreone, with Ryan Grim. Have a tip on Capitol Hill? Email Andreone at Julian@dropsitenews.com.

• Trump sparks backlash after posting AI image depicting himself as Jesus Christ: President Donald Trump faced criticism from across the Christian political spectrum Monday after posting an AI-generated image of himself in a white robe performing what appeared to be a healing. He later claimed the image depicted him as “a Red Cross worker” or a “doctor.” Columnists and conservative activists accused the president of blasphemy for his post, and the criticism crossed political lines, with progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) posting on X: “Trump is now attacking the pope for speaking out against war while posting images of himself as a messianic figure. This is not only offensive. It is deranged, egomaniacal behaviour.”

• Swalwell and Gonzales announce resignations from Congress: Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) announced Monday he will resign from Congress, one day after suspending his campaign for California governor amid multiple allegations of sexual assault and misconduct. Swalwell apologized for what he described as “mistakes in judgment” from his past but explicitly denied the sexual assault claims and said he intends to fight them. Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) also announced Monday that he will resign from Congress. Gonzales, a third-term Republican whose border district stretches from San Antonio to El Paso, faced mounting bipartisan pressure after text messages documenting his pursuit of a female staff member, Regina Santos-Aviles, became public earlier this year. Santos-Aviles, who worked in Gonzales’s Uvalde district office, died by suicide in September 2025. Gonzales was subsequently accused of pursuing a second staff member, reportedly pressing her for nude photographs and sex in 2020. “When Congress returns tomorrow, I will file my retirement from office,” Gonzales said in a social media post Monday.

• Trump says “we may stop by Cuba”: While addressing reporters after DoorDash-ing McDonald’s to the White House on Monday, President Trump threatened Cuba once again, saying that “we may stop by Cuba after we are finished with this,” referring to the war on Iran. “We’re gonna see with Cuba,” he said before calling it a “failing nation” and accusing the government of being oppressive, of “beating up” its citizens and “mugging” them.

• Congressional Black Caucus set to back warrantless surveillance reauthorization, Boebert registers objection: Congressional Black Caucus is quietly preparing to support a clean reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) this week, according to The American Prospect, which grants U.S. officials, in theory, the right to collect communications data from foreign targets living abroad, but in practice has been used to conduct warrantless surveillance on Americans and collect troves of their data. The CBC intends to support the law, despite its use to collect the personal data of 130 Black Lives Matter activists in 2020. The caucus’s shift follows behind-the-scenes lobbying by Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who persuaded CBC leadership to drop its push for reforms; CBC chairwoman Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), who had opposed Section 702 as far back as 2010 and voted against its last reauthorization in 2024, appears to have reversed course. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) registered her objection to the provision, writing to NSA director Gen. Joshua Rudd and demanding answers over agency analysts’ use of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to search the private communications of individuals they had met on dating apps and a prospective tenant for a personal rental property, abuses first disclosed in a 2023 Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board report. For more on the potential renewal of 702 by Congress, read the latest The American Prospect, here.

• Minnesota county investigates ICE arrest of American citizen as a potential kidnapping: Ramsey County Attorney John Choi and Sheriff Bob Fletcher announced Monday they are investigating the January 18 arrest of ChongLy “Scott” Thao, a 56-year-old Hmong American man and longtime U.S. citizen, as a potential case of kidnapping, burglary, and false imprisonment after ICE agents broke down the door of his St. Paul home at gunpoint without a warrant, according to Ramsey County’s preliminary findings. The agents reportedly removed Thao in his underwear and a blanket in freezing temperatures, before eventually realizing that he had no criminal record and was a U.S. citizen, returning him home after several hours. Homeland Security later claimed ICE had been seeking two convicted sex offenders with ties to the property, but Thao said he had never seen the men.

• Energy secretary talks Hormuz, Venezuela: U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Monday at the Semafor World Economy Forum in Washington that oil prices will continue rising until “meaningful” vessel traffic resumes through the Strait of Hormuz, predicting a peak within weeks. Wright also highlighted rapid growth in Venezuelan oil exports, saying roughly 150 million barrels have been sold since January 3 following the forced ouster of Nicolás Maduro, with production up approximately 25% over the same period. He said five U.S. companies are currently operating inside Venezuela and that a sixth is expected to be announced soon.

• Dozens arrested at NYC protest against the Iran war and arms sales to Israel: Nearly 100 people were arrested in New York City on Monday at a protest against the war on Iran and U.S. arms sales to Israel. Hundreds of demonstrators attempted to stage a sit-in inside the Manhattan offices of Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer (D) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D). After security blocked the demonstrators from entering the building, the protest continued on the street outside. Jewish Voice for Peace, which helped organize the protest, said among those arrested was whistleblower Chelsea Manning and New York City Council Member Alexa Aviles.

Other International News

• Sudanese army drones kill at least 20 civilians across Darfur: The Sudanese armed forces launched a series of drone strikes across East, West, and North Darfur on Sunday and Monday, killing at least 20 civilians, according to Sudan Tribune. In West Darfur, five people were killed and 20 others were wounded when a strike hit the crowded Al-Jumruk market, leaving bodies charred and the facility completely burned; five more civilians died when a separate drone struck a vehicle on the road linking Zalingei and Geneina in the Sisi area. In Ed Daein, East Darfur’s capital, at least 10 civilians were killed, including five environmental health workers, with strikes hitting multiple sites, including the General Intelligence Service headquarters, which the RSF uses as a detention center.

• Former Brazilian intelligence chief detained by ICE in Florida: Alexandre Ramagem, former head of Brazil’s intelligence agency under ex-President Jair Bolsonaro, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Florida on Monday after fleeing Brazil last year, according to Reuters. Ramagem had been convicted and sentenced to more than 16 years in prison for his role in a plot to overturn Brazil’s 2022 presidential election won by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and Brazilian authorities had requested his extradition in 2025. U.S. officials said he is being held on immigration grounds rather than in connection with the extradition request, with reports indicating he was initially stopped in Orlando before being referred to ICE. Ramagem also faces accusations of using Brazil’s intelligence apparatus to surveil political opponents and judges during his tenure.

• Philippines says China is using cyanide to poison contested maritime region: The government of the Philippines announced Monday that laboratory tests confirmed the presence of cyanide in bottles seized by the Philippine navy last year from Chinese boats at Second Thomas Shoal, a submerged reef in the Spratly Islands, and suggested that the substance may have been used to deliberately kill local fish populations and damage the reef, where a Philippine warship had intentionally grounded itself to reinforce Manila’s maritime claim to the area. National Security Council spokesperson Cornelio Valencia said the cyanide represented “a form of sabotage” that could deprive navy personnel of a vital food source and ultimately compromise the vessel’s structural stability. China’s Foreign Ministry rejected the allegations as a “stunt.”

• Police attempt to suppress Indian factory workers’ protest in Noida: Police fired tear gas and deployed anti-riot personnel Monday to contain a factory workers’ protest in Noida, one of Asia’s largest planned industrial townships on the outskirts of New Delhi, after demonstrations entered their fourth day with vehicles torched and stones thrown at security forces. Workers are demanding fixed hours, paid overtime, and compliance with India’s federal labor guidelines, grievances amplified by rising living costs linked to fuel supply disruptions from the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. The unrest follows similar protests last week in the auto-manufacturing state of Haryana, where the government responded by ordering a 35% hike in minimum wages.

• Islamist militants kill seven soldiers at Nigerian army base near Chad border: Islamist militants riding motorbikes stormed an army base in Monguno, near Nigeria’s northeastern border with Chad, late Sunday, killing the base commander and six other soldiers, according to Reuters. The attack on the base was carried out by members of both Boko Haram and its splinter group Islamic State West Africa Province, the sources said, and came days after a string of coordinated attacks on military positions elsewhere in Borno State. At least 12 militants were also killed in a gunfight with officers.

• U.S. military kills two in latest vessel strike in the Pacific: The U.S. military conducted a strike against a boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Thursday, killing two people, according to U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM). SOUTHCOM posted a video of the strike and said, “Two male narco-terrorists were killed during this action” without providing evidence. At least 170 people have been killed in dozens U.S. strikes on vessels in the Pacific and Caribbean since September.

• Italy suspends defense agreement with Israel: Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni announced on Tuesday she was suspending Italy’s defense agreement with Israel “in light of the current situation,” according to Italian news agency Ansa. The agreement, first launched in 2005 and automatically renewed every five years, was designed to promote trade deals between Italy and Israel, particularly in the defense sector, according to Corriere della Sera.

More from Drop Site

• Leaked documents reveal secret Pakistan-Saudi defense pact: Classified documents obtained by Drop Site News reveal that Pakistan is bound by a secret defense agreement with Saudi Arabia that has never been reviewed by its parliament and that obligates Islamabad to send forces to the kingdom for defensive purposes—a treaty that directly complicates Pakistan’s posture as a neutral mediator in the U.S.-Iran conflict. Read about the history and contents of this agreement in Murtaza Hussain’s latest for Drop Site, available here.

• Student faces up to 34 years on felony charges for pro-Palestine protest: Muhammad Ali, a 23-year-old Muslim American college student, faces felony charges carrying a maximum sentence of 34 years in prison stemming from a 51-second confrontation at a pro-Palestine encampment at the University of Pittsburgh on June 3, 2024. Body camera footage shows Ali briefly pulling on a metal barrier before stepping back with his hands raised. Ali was expelled from the University of Pittsburgh one semester short of graduating and lost nearly a year of classes. He hopes to attend law school, but whether that’s possible depends on the outcome of his trial, which is scheduled for May. Drop Site contributor Mehr Shehr writes about Ali’s egregious case in her latest, available in full here.

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Prominent journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin was arrested six weeks ago in Kuwait where he remains in detention and faces prosecution in a special tribunal over social media posts related to the Iran war. His detention comes as part of a wider crackdown on online speech in Kuwait and other Gulf countries during the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran that has engulfed the region.

Shihab-Eldin, 41, an American born Kuwaiti citizen, is an award-winning journalist with more than two million followers across social media platforms. He has worked with PBS Frontline, The New York Times, Al Jazeera English, Vice on HBO, The Huffington Post, and has appeared as a guest major news outlets, including BBC, CNN, NBC and MSNBC.

“We are seeing escalating censorship of journalists and news outlets across the world in relation to the Iran war, including in the Gulf. National security is being used as a pretext to crack down on freedom of speech and Shihab-Eldin’s detention is emblematic of that. He must be freed immediately,” Sara Qudah, the Middle East and North Africa Regional Director for the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), said in an emailed statement.

Shihab-Eldin was arrested on March 3 in Kuwait City and has remained in prison since then with limited access to his lawyer. There has been little transparency around his case, but the charges he faces are reported to be related to his social media posts, including a video showing a U.S. fighter jet crash near a U.S. air base in Kuwait, according to CPJ, which stressed that the videos and images he shared had been publicly available. The charges Shihab-Eldin faces may include allegations of spreading false information, harming national security, and misuse of a mobile phone.

After the Iran war began, Kuwait’s Information Ministry published a list of strict “guidelines” for media coverage, which included a ban on publishing or circulating “rumors, unverified news, or misleading information” or “any content that insults brotherly or friendly countries or that could harm Kuwait’s foreign relations.”

Shihab-Eldin is reportedly being prosecuted by a new specialized court overseeing crimes involving state security and terrorism set up by official decree by Kuwaiti authorities on March 31. The courts were established to “resolve cases with high speed,” and the Kuwaiti government claimed they were “necessary due to the extreme danger terrorism poses to national stability and peace,” according to Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Wasat.

In Kuwait, Shihab-Eldin is one of dozens of people who have been arbitrarily arrested since the war began, according to the Gulf Center for Human Rights (GCHR). Other prominent figures detained, reportedly following social media posts, include activists Fareah Alsaqqaf and Suad Al-Munayes, according to HuMENA, a human rights group. They remain in custody without access to legal counsel and without being clearly informed of the legal basis for their detention.

On Kuwait, the GCHR said in a statement it has “received credible reports from various local sources confirming that the State Security Apparatus has carried out dozens of arbitrary arrests of citizens who peacefully expressed their opinions on social media.” It added, “most of those arrested were being held in secret State Security prisons for several days, during which they are denied contact with their families or lawyers, which is a commonly used tool to intimidate them. They were then referred to the Public Prosecution and detained in the Central Prison, after arrest warrants were issued against them for 21 days pending the completion of investigations.”

“Most governments in the Gulf region and neighboring countries, exploiting the current war, are intensifying their systematic repression to suppress public freedoms, including freedom of expression online and offline,” GCHR said.

Last week, authorities in the United Arab Emirates said police had detained 375 people across Abu Dhabi alone over the course of the war for filming and “disseminating false information” on social media.

Shihab-Eldin is a graduate of Columbia Journalism School where he has also taught as an adjunct lecturer. His journalism has earned him a British Journalism Award, an Amnesty International Media Award for Digital Creativity, and an Amnesty International Human Rights Defender Award.

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On Saturday, as Pakistan was in the middle of mediating hard-won ceasefire talks between the U.S. and Iran, Saudi Arabia made a sudden revelation that appeared to undermine Pakistan’s status as a neutral host. In a statement posted on X, the Saudi Ministry of Defense announced “the arrival of a military force from the Islamic Republic of Pakistan at King Abdulaziz Air Base in the Eastern Sector,” adding that the force would include a contingent of military aircraft and would improve “operational readiness between the armed forces of the two countries.”

Those deployments are the result of a defense pact signed last year between Riyadh and Islamabad that has now been activated amid an ongoing regional war and numerous Iranian attacks against military and energy targets in Saudi Arabia.

Ceasefire talks collapsed over the weekend in Pakistan, with the American delegation leaving without an agreement. But Pakistan is far from out of the picture; secret documents obtained by Drop Site News reveal the extent to which Pakistan is committed by treaty to potentially become a participant in the war it was attempting to mediate.

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The details of the Pakistan–Saudi Arabia defense agreement have never been made public or even reviewed by Pakistan’s parliament. They are being reported here for the first time based on an archive of classified documents about the pact obtained by Drop Site.

The risk that Pakistan may itself be pushed into the war is also important context for the zeal of Pakistan’s leaders to bring an end to the fighting. Pakistan enjoys good ties with both Iran and the U.S., and relies heavily on financial support from Saudi Arabia. Following news that the United Arab Emirates had recalled a loan from Pakistan last week, Saudi Arabia and Qatar stepped up with $5 billion aimed at propping up Islamabad’s foreign reserves as it deals with fallout from the economic crisis caused by the war.

Talks in Islamabad

After weeks of intense fighting, Pakistan emerged as an unlikely mediator seeking to bring an end to the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. Pakistan does not have an extensive history of mediating conflicts in the Middle East, and is mired in its own conflict in Afghanistan.

But Pakistan was extremely motivated to end the war. Early on, Pakistan attempted to broker an arrangement under which Iran would refrain from attacking Saudi installations. On March 3, a few days into the war, Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar referenced the Saudi-Pakistan defense agreement and stated that he had communicated Pakistan’s position to Tehran. “We have a defense pact with Saudi Arabia, and the whole world knows about it,” Dar said. “I told the Iranian leadership to take care of our pact with Saudi Arabia.”

On April 8, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced that Islamabad had successfully negotiated a two-week pause in fighting between the parties, intended to apply to the entire region and laying the groundwork for talks in Islamabad that could produce a more lasting deal. “With the greatest humility, I am pleased to announce that the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America, along with their allies, have agreed to an immediate ceasefire everywhere including Lebanon and elsewhere, EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY,” he wrote in a post on X.

(Later, it turned out that Sharif’s message was likely vetted—if not written by—the Americans. The initial post on X, edit history shows, had a heading that read “*Draft - Pakistan’s PM Message on X*.” The New York Times reported the U.S. had signed off on the statement, though the White House denied actually writing it.)

On Friday, Vice President JD Vance, envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, and a technical team flew to Islamabad to meet with a large delegation of Iranian diplomats and technical experts. Shortly beforehand, Saudi Arabia, which has been relatively tight-lipped about damage in the country, revealed that attacks on a critical pipeline had wiped out 10% of its export capacity.

On Saturday, April 11, right as Vice President JD Vance was conducting negotiations with the Iranian leadership in Islamabad, the Saudi Ministry of Defence announced that Pakistan has sent its forces, including fighter jets, to Saudi Arabia under their defense pact. Pakistan had actually been quietly conducting airlifts of military equipment throughout December and January, noted by open-source intelligence monitors. The announcement coming on a day of consequential negotiations in Islamabad could be seen as a form of pressure on Iran. Notably, the Pakistani government did not release a corresponding statement about the deployments.

While Pakistani officials have periodically referenced this pact, which has been in place in various forms since the 1980s, its details have largely remained secret. The current iteration, the Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement (SMDA) was signed by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Prime Minister Sharif on September 17, 2025—but it was never even presented to the country’s parliament for review.

The documents were provided to Drop Site by a source who requested anonymity in order to share classified documents. They include historical versions of the pact as well as internal Pakistani memos and analysis detailing how the treaty has been updated over time—giving critical insight into Pakistan’s stance on the ongoing war with Iran, as well as the risks that it faces as the conflict continues.

Historical Pacts

The pact began with a confidential agreement signed between the two countries on December 14, 1982. A revised version entitled the Military Cooperation Agreement (MCA) was signed on July 30, 2005.

The classified 2005 agreement—a copy of which was obtained by Drop Site—states that the goal of the MCA is “to develop and strengthen cooperation in the military field between the two countries through expansion in areas such as training, deputation of personnel, defense production and transfer of technology, exchange of experience, purchase of weapons, equipment, spare parts and military medical services.” The document also includes provisions allowing for both parties to amend and expand the pact over time.

While the 2005 agreement was significant, it limited the scope of the bilateral military relationship to cooperation in training and equipment sharing. It did not obligate Pakistan to engage in actual military action or assume responsibility for the defense of Saudi Arabia.

In later years, the scope of Pakistani commitments to Riyadh would grow substantially. In August 2021, a summary of a new amendment to the defense agreement was sent to the government of then-Prime Minister Imran Khan. The amendment added a profoundly important new component to the pact, effectively committing Pakistan for the first time to engage in the physical defense of the Saudi government if requested.

Pakistani foreign policy has long been determined by the country’s powerful military establishment, which serves as kingmaker for Pakistani politicians and has conducted clandestine agreements and diplomacy for decades outside the purview of the country’s weak democratic institutions.

But for almost a year, the amendment to the 2005 pact sat on Imran Khan’s desk. The description of Pakistani obligations also left ambiguous the question of whether the threat to be combatted at Saudi government request was foreign or domestic. According to two former officials who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive information, Khan was apprehensive about signing an agreement that would obligate the Pakistani military to participate in a foreign war.

“The second party [Pakistan] is obligated to send its forces to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia upon a request of the first party, to support the armed forces of the first party in dealing with any threat that affects its security, safety, sovereignty, territorial integrity and interests,” the amendment stated. “A protocol will be signed between both parties and attached to this agreement to clarify the details of such arrangements.”

While imposing sweeping obligations onto Pakistan, the text of the document did not commit Saudi Arabia to any specific reciprocal support. Instead, Saudi Arabia has provided financial support to Pakistan’s unstable economy over the years. The Kingdom currently holds more than $5 billion in deposits at the State Bank of Pakistan, which are rolled over periodically.

Between August 2021 and April 2022, commentators aligned with the Pakistani military continuously pressured the government over its policy towards Riyadh—alleging that Khan, who had continued to hedge on signing the agreement, was destroying the country’s relationship with Saudi Arabia.

A prominent critic of Khan, Najam Sethi, noted in an op-ed around the time, “General Qamar Javed Bajwa, has paid countless visits to the Kingdom to smooth the crown prince Muhammad bin Salman’s ruffled feathers, over transgressions by Imran Khan.” The alleged transgressions included, “an attempt to set up a rival bloc comprising Pakistan, Turkey and Malaysia” against the Saudi-led Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and to “don the mantle of an interlocutor between Saudi Arabia and Iran without the blessing of MBS.”

In April 2022, Khan was removed from government in a thinly veiled military coup. The summary was ultimately signed in February 2024 by the military-backed caretaker government that came to power after imprisoning Khan and banning his political party.

The amendment was speedily approved by the caretaker federal cabinet appointed by Pakistani Army Chief Asim Munir. However, documents show that the language of the new amendment expanding Pakistani obligations to Riyadh was hotly debated inside the military establishment after it was signed. The amendment was one-sided, some worried, and would obligate Pakistan to defend Saudi Arabia, without imposing a reciprocal obligation on Riyadh.

Assessments also noted the amendment did not clearly differentiate between conventional and nuclear forces. The documents show that the Pakistani military was only interested in committing conventional forces to any deal with Saudi Arabia, and sought to explicitly exclude nuclear capability from the obligation.

Internal debates also noted that threats to Saudi sovereignty and interests might not remain confined within Saudi territory, and could require military action outside Saudi Arabia. The Pakistani side subsequently sought to narrow the scope of its obligations to Saudi territory.

Many of these concerns were eventually addressed in the 2025 SMDA, signed months before the Iran war. Even though the immediate catalyst for the SMDA seemed like the Israeli strike on Qatar last year, it was always clear that the agreement was directed at Iran—as has all Pakistan-Saudi cooperation since the 1980s. The SMDA is not part of the leaked documents. But public disclosures from Pakistan suggest that the new agreement was an update to the old MCA; renaming the agreement while including additional amendments to the security relationship.

Bypassing Parliament

According to the joint Saudi-Pakistan press release announcing the 2025 SMDA, “The agreement states that any aggression against either country shall be considered an aggression against both.”

The conditions in which such reciprocity may be triggered remain unclear, however. Saudi Arabia has limited capacity to provide military assistance to Pakistan in a conflict. The primary strategic rival to Islamabad remains India, which enjoys close political and economic ties with Riyadh. Pakistan is also currently involved in a fierce cross-border war with Afghanistan, for which Saudi Arabia has not provided material assistance.

Despite their numerous private agreements, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have had a difficult history actually enacting meaningful security cooperation.

In early 2015, Saudi Arabia launched a military coalition to intervene in Yemen’s civil war, targeting the Ansarallah movement, which had swept south from its northern strongholds and forced the internationally recognized government out of the capital, Sanaa. At the time, Riyadh asked Pakistan to contribute warships, aircraft and ground troops to help fight the group. The request was rooted in decades of financial patronage and the assumption that the signing of the 2005 MCA would enable such collaboration.

However, in the absence of a clear bilateral framework, and not wanting to involve the country in an increasingly ugly civil war in Yemen, then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif referred the matter to the Pakistani parliament. In April 2015, in a rare display of democratic cross-party consensus, Pakistan’s National Assembly passed a resolution rejecting military participation in the Yemen war and calling for neutrality to allow a mediating role. The vote was embarrassing for Riyadh and a shock to Saudi-Pakistani relations.

The war with Iran has once again raised the question of if and how the agreement can be enforced. The current version of the defense pact signed in 2025 has already been called into question, as Pakistan has been loathe to involve itself in a military confrontation targeting Iran, which currently enjoys widespread support among the Pakistani public.

“The Saudi pact is becoming a problem for us,” a source described as being familiar with Pakistani military decision-making told the Financial Times in an article about Pakistani mediation efforts on March 28. The comments also shed light on what Pakistan expected to get out of the deal: “It was supposed to be cash for deterrence. But we’ve not gotten any new Saudi investments, and deterrence failed.”

Iran has launched numerous attacks on U.S. forces based at Saudi military facilities who have been assisting in attacks against Tehran. On April 6, in retaliation for Israeli attacks on its own energy infrastructure, Iran also bombed Saudi Arabia’s Jubail petrochemical complex—one of the largest industrial complexes in the world and, according to some reports, responsible for 7% of Saudi GDP.

For now, the deployment remains largely symbolic and is not likely to have an immediate effect on the war as a whole. A Pakistani military expert who spoke to Drop Site News on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter said the deployment on Saudi territory offers limited utility in the current scenario. Iran is not conducting—and is not expected to conduct—a ground invasion of the Arabian Peninsula. Pakistani support for missile and drone defense would also not add much to the U.S.-provided defensive support that Riyadh presently enjoys.

Under the current terms of the deal, which is entirely defensive, Saudi Arabia could not request that Pakistan counterattack Iran, even from Saudi territory. An attack launched from Pakistani soil also appears unlikely, and would likely fall outside the scope of the SMDA.

Even a limited conflict with Iran would be politically radioactive inside Pakistan. It would place Pakistan on the side of the Israel-led coalition—an allegiance that would be highly unpopular with many Pakistanis. And it would also be a strategic nightmare for a country that is already facing two other hostile countries on its border, and would risk the prospect of total encirclement if ties deteriorated with Tehran.

Pakistan has a large Shia population which acts as a strong bridge between Islamabad and Tehran and the conflict has raised tensions with the government. In a late March meeting with prominent Shia clerics who had expressed concerns about the war, Army Chief Asim Munir reportedly told those assembled, “If you love Iran, go to Iran.” Syed Ahmad Iqbal Rizvi, deputy head of the Muslim Unity Movement, an umbrella body for Shia parties, pushed back in a recorded statement: “We boldly respond to the army chief’s remarks: we love our country, but this war is between right and wrong. We stand with the right, with Iran.”

In that light, Islamabad’s continued commitment to acting as a peacemaker makes sense as an attempt to ward off a strategic disaster that could engulf its own interests. In a statement the day after the collapse of the talks, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar held out hopes that Pakistan would continue to find a way to bridge the gap between Washington and Tehran.

“It is imperative that the parties continue to uphold their commitment to the ceasefire,” said Dar. “Pakistan has been and will continue to play its role to facilitate engagement and dialogue between Iran and the U.S. in the days to come.”

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On September 25, 2025, David McIntosh filed a report to his bosses at Safe Reach Solutions (SRS) detailing an account of Israeli soldiers gunning down a young Palestinian boy as he was getting food at a site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). “There’s no way he survived,” McIntosh told Drop Site News and Middle East Eye in his first interview since returning from Gaza five months ago. “He was murdered. He was straight up murdered.”

At the time, McIntosh was one month into a three month stint working as a contractor with GHF’s logistics partner SRS. Between August and October 2025, he mostly managed Site 4, the only aid site in central Gaza, near the Netzarim corridor. According to McIntosh, Site 4 was more dangerous for aid seekers than its other sites in southern Gaza.

Like thousands of other Palestinians trying to survive an Israeli-imposed starvation campaign on Gaza, the boy—who looked about 12 years old—had come to the site that day looking for food. After he managed to get his hands on an aid parcel, he continued playing atop a sand berm at the site, according to McIntosh.

Members of GHF’s security firm UG Solutions threw a flash bang grenade to warn the boy to leave the area. Minutes later, Israeli snipers shot the boy in the shoulder near his chest. Severely wounded, he struggled to carry himself to a nearby bridge before collapsing.

“He was doing nothing but laughing and joking and they killed him,” McIntosh told Drop Site. “There was no reason they shot him. There is no reason on God’s given earth that they shot that lad.” The boy was left to bleed out for around 30 minutes before a “vehicle came and took him away,” according to the report, which was based on eyewitness accounts of two of his SRS colleagues. The report was part of a daily written briefing he was required to send to his superiors at SRS at the end of every day.

Though the report detailed the likely fatal shooting of a child at a GHF site, McIntosh said he never received a response from SRS and nothing came of it.

McIntosh told Drop Site and MEE that such attacks on Palestinian aid seekers by Israeli soldiers were routine and provided documents and footage to back up his claims. GHF has claimed that the Israeli military has no presence inside its aid sites but the videos McIntosh provided shows the Israeli military positioned in close proximity, demonstrating just how intertwined their operations were.

Video: An Israeli tank stationed close to GHF Site 4 in central Gaza. August 28, 2025. Courtesy: David McIntosh.

The internal documents McIntosh provided also show that higher-ups within SRS were informed about deadly incidents at GHF aid sites and received several complaints about the conduct of Israeli soldiers that risked the lives of their own contractors.

In response to a detailed list of questions, SRS denied any knowledge of Israeli soldiers killing Palestinians at their aid sites but did acknowledge receiving formal complaints of concerns about the IDF’s conduct.

“SRS is not aware of any fatalities caused by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) personnel within GHF sites, as IDF personnel were not permitted access to those locations,” the company said in an emailed statement. “However, during the course of its work, SRS staff escalated any external conduct by IDF personnel that they considered inconsistent with the humanitarian nature of the mission, including through formal complaints where appropriate.”

“If anyone started to move…they would be shot”

On March 2, 2025, Israel abandoned a ceasefire agreement it had signed in January and reimposed a full spectrum siege on Gaza, blocking any food, fuel, medical supplies, or other life essentials from entering the territory. At the end of May, GHF—backed by the U.S. and Israeli governments—was brought in to restart aid distribution. GHF coordinated closely with the Israeli military and deployed security contractors from two U.S. companies.

Between May and October 2025, over 2,600 Palestinians were killed and more than 19,000 wounded at or near the distribution sites and UN convoys, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Israeli soldiers were accused in the majority of the shootings, though security contractors also fired on Palestinians at the aid sites, according to the Associated Press, CBS News and other outlets.

The Israeli military has long denied that the attacks on Palestinian aid seekers were the result of deliberate targeting. In statement after statement, the Israeli military has denied killing aid seekers, claiming instead they fired “warning shots” in their attempts at crowd control. GHF has likewise claimed the killings happened outside their aid sites.

Accounts by Palestinian eyewitnesses have long contradicted these claims. Only one security contractor apart from McIntosh has spoken out on the record previously—Anthony Aguilar, a retired Special Forces officer who worked as a security contractor with UG Solutions. Aguilar said he witnessed security contractors firing on crowds.

McIntosh served as a Royal marines commando in the British armed forces. After leaving the army, he worked as a security consultant in the private sector. McIntosh said the opportunity to work with SRS first came from a friend who was working with them in Gaza.

When he arrived in Gaza, McIntosh said he saw Israeli soldiers regularly and indiscriminately fire on unarmed Palestinians seeking aid, use stray dogs for target practice, and fire dangerously close to or directly at the GHF contractors themselves.

Often, Palestinians—mostly men and boys—would gather underneath a bridge located near Site 4 at around 10 p.m., waiting in a dry riverbed until morning when the site would open. Food parcels were set out in huge-plastic wrapped pallets for thousands of starving Palestinians to rip open and grab themselves.

Video: Palestinian aid seekers scramble to get food at GHF Site 4 in central Gaza. September 3, 2025. Courtesy: David McIntosh.

When Israeli soldiers stationed close to the site began their shift at 4 a.m., McIntosh said, they would routinely open fire at the crowds laying on the ground with a near constant barrage of gunshots.

“They light up and have the tanks and they’d have the snipers, machine guns, all in position there, about 20, 30 men, a troop level of men,” McIntosh said. “Now, if anybody started to move in that riverbed from when they got into position up until after distribution, they would be shot,” he added. “Anybody that moved from that riverbed, even to put their hand up, [the Israelis] would shoot them.”

In one incident in September 2025, McIntosh said he saw a platoon of Israeli soldiers positioned at Site 4 fire directly on three Palestinians who were trying to position themselves behind a mound around 10 meters past the bridge where aid seekers would regularly gather. “Running 10 meters forward from that riverbed gets you that extra seconds to get your parcel because there’s not enough aid to feed a thousand people let alone 5,000,” McIntosh said.

The Israeli soldiers opened fire, he said. “Machine gun fire, boom, straight away onto them,” McIntosh said. “Then sniper fire, then a tank round. They’re hiding behind this mound, then a drone comes over, drops a grenade.”

As he did with the boy who was shot by Israeli soldiers, McIntosh detailed the incident in his daily report to his superiors at SRS. While he lost access to the reports after GHF shut down its operations in October 2025, McIntosh said he was able to save a few of them on his personal device, three of which he shared with Drop Site.

McIntosh said SRS never followed up with him about the incidents.

Aid sites under fire

McIntosh said he and his colleagues frequently came under fire from Israeli soldiers, as well.

“They would fire at our camp for no reason. They would fire tank shells over us,” he said. An experienced combat veteran, McIntosh believes the attacks were deliberate. “A trained army should know arcs of angle, where to fire, when to fire and how close. We’ve got mortar rounds literally landing right next to our base. Tank rounds right next to our base. Like the enemy is over there. How are you nearly hitting us? We have rounds from 0.5 rounds hitting inside our base,” he said.

McIntosh also detailed these incidents in his daily reports. In one report provided to Drop Site dated September 10, 2025, he wrote: “At 4.30am the IDF started dropping heavy ordnance around SDS-4, I’d strongly advise for the commanders to check their fire, as shots were falling extremely close to our compound. The ordnance coincided with sustained machine gun fire all the way up to distribution time.”

In another report dated September 13, 2025, McIntosh wrote: “once again we had problems with the IDF’s use of indirect fire. Blindly firing a tank round straight over our heads mid way through distro skimming the berm and landing in the wadi. Needless to say an unnecessary show of force, completely unprofessional and dangerous.”

McIntosh told Drop Site the shootings hindered their aid operations. One time, he said, “we had to stop a well-needed resupply to us because [the Israelis] were firing on our base. So we couldn’t have our logistical lorries come through.”

When GHF suddenly shuttered its sites in October 2025 as part of the so-called ceasefire agreement, McIntosh switched gears to closing out these operations before going back to the UK the following month.

When asked why he hadn’t spoken out sooner, McIntosh said he was waiting to see if there would be another opportunity to go back to gather more documentation. “I wanted to get as much as possible...so the more time there’s for me, the better.”

McIntosh said he was made to sign a non-disclosure agreement as part of his work contract but said he couldn’t stay silent as a matter of conscience.

“There’s a bigger issue at hand rather than my personal safety…If you document something that is wrong, then you should put it out there,” he said. “I’m exposing war crimes.”

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The struggle over a fallen police barrier lasted less than a minute, but it has forever altered the course of student Muhammad Ali’s life.

On June 3, 2024, the 21-year-old University of Pittsburgh senior was protesting in support of a pro-Palestine encampment in the center of campus. University police had set up metal barriers, held together with zip ties, to keep protesters from delivering food, water, and supplies to the encampment. Frustrated, some protesters tried to move the barriers.

Ali bent down to pick up a fallen barrier. An officer grabbed the other side and tried to pull it from his hands. After a brief exchange of words, Ali let go and stepped back, his hands raised. He thought that was the end of it. Weeks later, Ali was charged with multiple crimes, including three felonies. The most serious charges against him carry a maximum sentence of 34 years in prison.

Ali’s attorney and supporters say he is being treated harshly because he is Muslim and brown. They point out that the Allegheny County District Attorney’s office filed criminal charges against other protesters, but nearly all of them were offered plea deals with lesser charges, or a pretrial rehabilitation program that if completed would leave them with no criminal record.

But Ali and another community member, his co-defendant Cole Florkewicz, who is white, were not offered any deal. Both are still facing felony charges.

Assistant District Attorney James Sheets said in court that the decision to prosecute Ali “was not based on where in the world he comes from, the color of his skin or whatever God to whom he prays,” and that he is not “being made an example of.”

The Allegheny County District Attorney’s office and the University of Pittsburgh Police Department did not respond to requests for comment. The University of Pittsburgh did not respond to questions about Ali’s case.

The ACLU of Pennsylvania and other advocacy groups have raised concerns about racial disparities in Allegheny County’s criminal justice system since 2021 and called for accountability in prosecutorial practices.

“I think there’s a very concerted effort, and there has been for decades, to demonize speech about Palestine and speech that is against Israel,” said Solomon Worlds, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Pennsylvania, “speech about Palestine being the exception to free speech.” These colleges and universities, he said, seem to be targeting pro-Palestine activists and speech “as a way to show the federal government that they’re tough on antisemitism, so that they don’t lose funding.”

For Ali, who had no prior criminal record, the possibility of a felony conviction for exercising his First Amendment rights is shocking. “This cannot be real,” he said. “Why am I being charged with felonies?”

The Crackdown on Pro-Palestinian Protest

After the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas and the launch of Israel’s war in Gaza, protests erupted at more than 525 U.S. campuses, leading to thousands of arrests, doxxing campaigns, and criminal charges against demonstrators. The University of Pittsburgh in particular took a number of harsh actions against students and faculty involved in pro-Palestinian speech and protests.

In December 2024, Students for Justice in Palestine held an overnight “study-in” in the library. Students who participated wore keffiyehs, traditional scarves that symbolize Palestinian identity, and Palestinian flags as they prepared for their finals. The university held a conduct hearing against the student organization and suspended them in March 2025, after an open letter was released condemning this action.

The ACLU of Pennsylvania sued Pitt on behalf of the students. A federal judge ruled last August that the group’s suspension was a violation of protected speech and ordered Pitt to reinstate them.

That month, Elon Dancy II, a Pitt professor in the School of Education, filed a federal lawsuit against the university and one of its deans claiming he was removed from leadership positions after he defended a group of students who criticized the dean’s response to the war in Gaza.

In April 2024, Ali, who had started at Pitt in 2021 and founded an organization called Progressive Students for Change, helped organize the first encampment at the University of Pittsburgh. The encampment lasted about a week and ended peacefully. In June of that year, as the war in Gaza entered its eighth month, students and community members set up a second encampment at Pitt, calling for transparency on endowment investments and divestment from Israel.

Colorful tents dotted the grass outside the Cathedral of Learning, the Gothic skyscraper at the center of campus. Protesters, including Ali, arrived to support those inside, chanting and holding up signs. Ali wasn’t one of the leaders or organizers for this effort, but showing up and supporting the people in the encampment was important to him, he said.

Campus police arrived soon after, setting up metal barriers to put distance between the encampment and their supporters. The next morning, when protesters returned, they saw that Pitt Police had moved the metal barriers farther out from the encampment. The distance set the tone. By late afternoon, the mood among protesters had shifted. Ali could sense the tension in the air. Frustration rippled through the crowd.

On the second day, protesters tried to pull apart the zip-tied barriers to move supplies inside. Campus police and protesters struggled over the fence pieces. Ali could see some protesters were injured from the encounters. Soon, only a few of the barriers remained standing. Those who tried to move through the gaps were met with force.

The charges against Ali stem from a 51-second confrontation recorded on body-camera footage obtained by Drop Site.

Footage from University of Pittsburgh Police Lt. Brooke Riley’s body camera shows a 51-second confrontation during a pro-Palestine protest that led to charges against Muhammad Ali, on June 3, 2024.

Lt. Brooke Riley’s body camera was recording as she repeatedly screamed at other protesters and Ali, demanding to know whether they wanted to hurt her. Ali, wearing a tee shirt with beige shorts and a white face mask, walked over. He checked on another protestor and stepped between them and Riley, standing near fallen barriers. He stared ahead and said “yes.” After Ali tried to pick up one of the barriers, Riley, Ali, and Florkewicz pulled back and forth on the metal fence for a few seconds before Ali let go and stepped back.

“It was an emotional response that what she was saying is incorrect, but looking back it feels like an entrapment thing with regards to the questions she was asking about remembering her and also whether or not I wanted to hurt her,” Ali said.

“I think those things are connected in a way,” he said.

A Pitt police criminal complaint alleges that this brief tug-of-war over the barrier by Riley, Ali, and Florkewicz, caused “numbness and pain” in Riley’s fingers and bruising to her leg.

Riley did not respond to requests for comment.

Charges and Leniency

By January 2025, the DA’s office had filed charges against 20 protesters. Eight were initially charged with felonies, including Ali.

All the protesters but Ali and his co-defendant were offered plea deals or Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (ARD), a pretrial program for first-time, nonviolent offenders that involves probation, community service, and rehabilitation. Of the protesters who were charged, 10 were offered plea deals they accepted. Eight were offered ARD. After completion of the program, all charges are dismissed and criminal records are expunged.

Drop Site interviewed nine protesters, including seven who were among those initially charged. They all say they can’t understand why Ali and Florkewicz are still facing felony charges, when most protesters engaged in similar conduct.

Mark Goldstone, a Washington D.C.- based lawyer with more than 35 years of experience with protest-related offenses, said he thought the charges against Ali were excessive. “It just seems to be a classic case of government overcharging,” he said.

“There’s nothing I saw in the video that would indicate that the barricade was being used offensively against an officer, and any injury to the officer probably was a result of accidental conduct,” Goldstone added. “In the heat of a back and forth, people can say certain things that may not really hold up as an actual threat to injure.”

David Rudovsky, a senior fellow who teaches at the University of Pennsylvania Law School also reviewed the footage. Rudovsky, a civil rights and criminal defense lawyer with a career spanning over five decades, also sees this as overcharging. “To me, it’s a close call,” he added, after reviewing the footage. “It’s hard to tell from that at all whether and how she was injured, but let’s assume that she was to some degree,” said Rudovsky. “She didn’t get treatment, didn’t take time off, so it couldn’t have been a very serious injury.”

“We’re just talking about probable cause at this point,” Rudovsky said, “but there are grounds certainly, probably for some of the charges, in my own legal view.”

Andrew Collins, a protester and community member, won’t forget Ali stepping between him and an officer who was pointing a non-lethal firearm in his direction. Ali placed himself in the line of fire, Collins said. He raised his hands and said, “Hands up, don’t shoot.”

It was the first time he had ever had a weapon pointed at him, Ali later told Drop Site.

Collins was offered ARD for his third-degree felony charge—a charge Ali is still facing.

For years, the county’s District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. and his office faced scrutiny over their treatment of people of color.

In 2021, Black defense attorney Milton Raiford accused the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office of systemic racism, alleging it offered less favorable plea deals to people of color. District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. responded by emailing deputy prosecutors and directing them not to offer plea deals to Raiford’s clients. The ACLU of Pennsylvania condemned the move as an abuse of power and evidence of potential bias. Zappala later rescinded the directive after widespread criticism.

In 2023, a national public interest law firm and two law professors filed an ethics complaint against Zappala. Civil rights groups and local elected officials called for accountability, but he was reelected to a seventh term that year.

An Aggressive Prosecution

Over 21 months, Ali’s case has been before six judges. The prosecution was marked by a notably aggressive tone. When a preliminary hearing was delayed at the prosecutors’ request because a witness was unavailable, Ali’s defense attorney Aaron Sontz objected. In response, Assistant District Attorney James Sheets, who according to court documents was wearing an Israeli flag lapel pin, threatened to hold Ali without bail if the continuance were denied.

After Sontz protested that such threats were inappropriate, Sheets said, “I don’t make threats, I make promises,” according to Ali, Sontz, and a court watcher whose name was redacted from the court transcript. The judge granted the delay.

In response to allegations of selective prosecution in a July 2025 hearing, Sheets pointed to the charges against Florkewicz, who is white, and said that Ali, who he claimed was the “de facto leader” of the encampment, had prior encounters with police. Sheets also cited the “egregious nature” of Lt. Brooke Riley’s injuries and said that the officer had specifically asked that no offers be made to Ali.

At a prior hearing Riley said that she was “limping” after the incident but continued to work and did not seek medical care.

The issue of bias also emerged in the prosecution’s evidence, a point raised unsuccessfully by Sontz. Video files, shown in a photo obtained by Drop Site, that were presented by the prosecution at a hearing were labeled as “anti-semetic [sic] protests.”

Ali and other protesters all maintain that the encampment did not have a leader, and the prosecution has provided no evidence to the contrary.

In another hearing, Riley recalled telling a Pitt detective she did not want Ali to receive a plea offer and wanted the case to proceed, according to the court transcripts. “I want to be heard because he doesn’t see me as a person,” she testified. Riley also said she was upset that Ali “had an opportunity to apologize” at his student conduct hearing at Pitt, but did not.

Sontz, Ali’s lawyer, pointed out that offering an apology while facing a pending criminal case would essentially be an admission of guilt, and a violation of Ali’s Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

Ali’s trial is scheduled to begin in May, but regardless of the outcome, he has faced significant consequences. He was expelled from school, one semester short of graduating, and doxxed on Canary Mission, a site that purports to be fighting antisemitism. Ali is still grappling with what all this means for him. Since last year, he has been taking online classes at the University of Maryland. When he transferred, he lost 40 credits or nearly a year of classes. He hopes to attend law school and took his LSAT this year, but whether that’s possible depends on the outcome of his trial.

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U.S.-Iran talks in Pakistan fail to produce a deal. U.S. announces blockades of Strait of Hormuz, Iranian ports. Three oil supertankers cross Hormuz. U.S. military members have a crisis of conscience. President Donald Trump attacks Pope Leo XIV as “weak.” Israeli tank rams UNIFIL vehicles twice in southern Lebanon. Israel escalates double-tap strikes on rescue crews in Lebanon, killing Red Cross paramedic. Israel and Lebanon agree to meet Tuesday for direct peace talks. Attacks on Gaza continue over the weekend. Settlers kill unarmed Palestinian near Ramallah. Trump says gas prices might not drop before midterms. Rep. Eric Swalwell drops California governor bid after sexual misconduct allegations. J Street now supports ending aid to Israel. Trump administration detains hundreds of DACA recipients, fires two judges who refused to deport pro-Palestinian students. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán defeated after 16 years in historic upset. Keiko Fujimori leads Peru presidential vote. U.S. military kills five people in strikes on two vessels in Eastern Pacific. Nigerian military airstrike kills at least 200 civilians. Libya’s rival governments approve first unified budget in over a decade. Senior RSF commander defects to Sudanese army. Gunmen kill Hazara Shia civilians in western Afghanistan. Three Pakistani coast guards killed in Baluch separatist attack. At least 30 killed during a stampede in Haiti. Cuba’s president discusses blockade.

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Ceasefire updates

• U.S.-Iran talks in Pakistan fail to produce a deal: Negotiations in Islamabad—attended by Vice President JD Vance, Envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, and a technical team on the U.S. side—ran for 21 hours from Saturday into Sunday. When Vance emerged from the negotiations on Sunday, he said that the United States had presented Iran with its “final and best offer,” framing the impasse around nuclear specifically—a framing Iran rejected.

  • According to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who helped lead the Iranian delegation, Iran and the U.S. were “inches away” from an “Islamabad MoU” following “intensive talks at highest level in 47 years,” but the talks fell through because of U.S. “maximalism, shifting goalposts and blockade.” Araghchi added, “Zero lessons earned. Good will begets good will. Enmity begets enmity.” Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the two sides had “reached understandings on a number of issues,” but had failed to resolve disagreements on “two to three major points.” Washington reportedly proposed early in the negotiation for joint administration of the Strait of Hormuz, according to the Financial Times, which the Iranian delegation rejected.

  • Vance said the core U.S. demand is a firm, long-term commitment from Iran not to pursue a nuclear weapon or the capability to rapidly build one, claiming Iran’s previous enrichment facilities have been destroyed and that the remaining obstacle is political will rather than capability. He said the U.S. was “flexible” and negotiated in good faith that Iran “chose not to accept.”

  • No date or location has yet been set for another round of negotiations, but Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Sunday that Islamabad would “continue the necessary efforts” to come to an agreement.

• U.S. announces blockades of Strait of Hormuz, Iranian ports: President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that the U.S. will begin blockading all ships entering or leaving the Strait of Hormuz, ordering the U.S. Navy to interdict vessels and warning that any ship paying Iranian transit fees will be stopped: “No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage.” Trump said Iran “knowingly failed” to keep the Strait open and may have placed mines, and declared the U.S. will “begin destroying the mines,” adding that “any Iranian who fires at us… will be BLOWN TO HELL.” U.S. Central Command announced Sunday that it would begin a blockade of all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports on the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman at 10 a.m. ET on Monday. In response, Iran’s speaker of parliament Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, who helped lead the talks for Iran posted online: “Enjoy the current pump figures. With the so-called ‘blockade’, Soon you’ll be nostalgic for $4–$5 gas.”

• Netanyahu, in “close coordination” with U.S., supports naval blockade: Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that Israel supports Washington’s decision to impose a naval blockade on Iran. “We, of course, support this firm position, and we are in constant coordination with the United States,” Netanyahu said, according to AFP. Axios’s Barak Ravid reported that Netanyahu told his cabinet that “[JD Vance] called me from his plane on his way back from Islamabad. He reported to me in detail, as this administration does every day, about the development of the negotiations.”

• U.S. says warships transited Hormuz, Iran disagrees: Iran disputed CENTCOM claims that two Navy destroyers—the USS Frank E. Peterson and USS Michael Murphy—had successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz. The ships did not appear on VesselFinder, Kpler, or MarineTraffic. Iranian state media described the attempt as “a very high-risk operation…basically to take a ‘souvenir photo,’” and “strongly denied” that any U.S. military ships had made the transit.

• Three supertankers cross Hormuz: Two Chinese supertankers and one Greek vessel crossed the Strait of Hormuz carrying a combined 6 million barrels of oil Friday—the largest single day of oil exits through the strait since the war brought traffic to a near-halt six weeks ago, Bloomberg reported. The Chinese vessels Cospearl Lake and He Rong Hai loaded their crude in Saudi Arabia and Iraq, respectively, while the Greek tanker Serifos loaded in Saudi Arabia and was bound for Malacca, Malaysia.

• Thousands of crew members still stuck on tankers: Thousands of crew members stuck on vessels in and around the Strait of Hormuz are running short on basics, according to Milind Kandalgaonkar, general secretary of the National Union of Seafarers of India. “Many of these seafarers are reportedly facing acute shortages of food, potable water, and essential medical supplies,” Kandalgaonkar wrote a letter to India’s national shipping board, according to AP, where he highlighted the plight of nearly 20,000 Indian crew members stranded in the region.

• U.S. military members have a crisis of conscience: The U.S. military is facing a significant and accelerating retention crisis driven by the Iran war, NPR reports, with the GI Rights Hotline—which was set up to inform service members of their options for military discharge—reporting more than 80 new clients in March alone, nearly twice its average annual caseload. An Army career counselor told NPR that retention is “crumbling fast,” with service members retiring early, declining to reenlist, and in some cases breaking contracts outright; the counselor also noted that 2025 saw nearly double the number of early retirees compared to 2024. One counselor said nearly all his callers cite the bombing of an elementary girls’ school in Iran on the first day of the war, which killed at least 165 school children and was later reported by multiple news outlets as a U.S. missile attack. “It comes up almost always. It’s like, ‘I can’t be a part of something that’s doing that,’” the counselor told NPR.

• Trump attacks Pope Leo XIV as “weak” after pontiff condemns Iran war as immoral: Pope Leo XIV issued a sharp rebuke of what he called “a delusion of omnipotence that’s becoming increasingly unpredictable and aggressive,” saying “those who pray don’t threaten death” and calling for an end to “the idolatry of self and money” and “the display of power.” Cardinal Robert McElroy also rebuked the U.S.-led war against Iran on Sunday, saying “we are in the midst of an immoral war” entered “not out of necessity but rather choice” and that negotiation was abandoned before it was exhausted. President Donald Trump responded by attacking the pontiff on Truth Social, calling Pope Leo XIV “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” and told reporters he does not think the pope “is doing a very good job,” falsely claiming the pope had said “it’s ok to have a nuclear weapon.” “I am not a fan of Pope Leo,” Trump said.

• Iran says part of Lavan refinery to restart within 10 days: The chief executive of Iran’s National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company told SNN TV, an official news agency, on Sunday that part of the Lavan refinery—struck after the ceasefire took effect—will be brought back online within approximately 10 days. The executive also said that most damaged refining and distribution facilities are expected to return to 70-80% of pre-war capacity within one to two months, with full restoration to pre-strike levels to follow.

• Saudi Arabia reopens East-West Pipeline: Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Energy announced Sunday that full pumping capacity has been restored on the East-West Pipeline—the kingdom’s primary oil export route bypassing the Strait of Hormuz—returning throughput to approximately 7 million barrels per day. Saudi Arabia also said production of 300,000 barrels a day had been restored at the Manifa offshore field. Repair work at the Khurais facility, also struck during the war, remains ongoing, according to the Ministry’s announcement.

• Updated Iranian casualty information: The head of Iran’s Forensic Medicine Organization said the bodies of 3,375 victims of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran have been identified, according to Fars news. 2,875 of the bodies are male and 496 female.

• China sent a delegation to Islamabad to support mediation: A Chinese delegation was present in Islamabad to assist Pakistani mediation in Iran-U.S. negotiations, with Beijing potentially offering guarantees if the two sides reach an agreement, according to a Pakistani foreign ministry source cited by The New Arab. The development follows New York Times reporting that China played a last-minute role in persuading Iran to accept the original ceasefire, though Chinese officials have not confirmed involvement. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said only that Beijing would “maintain communication with all parties and continue working toward de-escalation.”

• UN says Iran war could drive over 32 million into poverty: More than 32 million people around the world could be plunged into poverty by the economic fallout from the Iran war, according to a new report by the United Nations Development Program, with developing countries expected to be hit hardest. The report said the world was facing a “triple shock” involving energy, food, and weaker economic growth.

Lebanon

• Casualty count: The death toll from Israel’s assault on Lebanon has risen to at least 2,055—with 6,588 wounded—since March 2, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. That figure includes more than 165 children.

• Continuing Israeli attacks:

  • At least five people were killed in Israeli attacks on Monday on the towns of Bazouriyeh, Nabatiyeh El Faouqa, Sir El Gharbiyeh, and Choukine, according to the National News Agency (NNA).

  • An Israeli strike on Qana on Sunday killed five people, including three women, and wounded 25 others. NNA said the raid targeted “homes and infrastructure.” Israel struck around 30 locations across southern Lebanon and the West Bekaa on Sunday alone. On Sunday, Israel also cut off all main roads leading to the besieged city of Bint Jbeil, continuing to pound it with airstrikes, artillery, and white phosphorus.

  • An Israeli strike killed a one-and-a-half-year-old girl during her father’s funeral in the southern town of Srifa, according to Reuters. Relatives had returned to the village believing a U.S.-Iran ceasefire would reduce the risk of violence. “They said it was a ceasefire,” her grandfather said; the family lost four additional relatives in this week’s strikes.

  • A strike on a house in Ma’rub killed six civilians, including women and children, and wounded four children. A separate strike hit a three-story residential building in Zrarie.

  • Israeli airstrikes struck homes across multiple towns in southern Lebanon early Saturday, killing at least five and wounding others, including paramedics who were targeted by drones while responding to the scene, L’Orient-Le Jour reported. Two people were killed when a home was bombed in Zefta and three more died in a strike on a residence in Mayfadoun, both near Nabatieh, where raids also destroyed a three-story building in the Hay al-Rahibat neighborhood. In Toul, a drone struck an ambulance responding to a home attack, wounding paramedics, while generators in Jibsheet were hit and set ablaze. Israel also reportedly used white phosphorus bombs in attacks over the residential village of Al-Tiri in southern Lebanon on Saturday.

  • Israeli fighter jets struck the Jibsheet power station in the Nabatieh district of southern Lebanon—north of the Litani River—on Friday, according to Mehr News and Al Jazeera.

• Israel escalates double-tap strikes on rescue crews in Lebanon, killing Red Cross paramedic: Israeli forces carried out a surge of strikes targeting first responders across Lebanon over the weekend, including a direct drone attack Sunday on a Lebanese Red Cross unit conducting a humanitarian mission on the road to Beit Yahoun, killing paramedic Hassan Badawi and wounding another, according to Lebanon’s Red Cross. At least three double-tap strikes—in which a second strike hits rescuers responding to an initial attack—were reported Friday night, two more on Saturday. The offices of the Lebanese Red Cross in Tyre were also hit by a drone strike on Monday, according to NNA. The strike killed a wounded person being transported and damaged Red Cross vehicles. At least 87 medical workers have been killed and 190 wounded since March 2, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

• Nearly 40,000 housing units destroyed or heavily damaged in Israeli attacks: Nearly 40,000 housing units have been destroyed or heavily damaged in Lebanon since March 2, according to the National Council for Scientific Research in Lebanon, a government-affiliated body. The most affected areas are Nabatieh, Bint Jbeil, Sour, and the southern suburbs of Beirut.

• Israeli tank rams UNIFIL vehicles twice in southern Lebanon: Israeli Defense Forces soldiers rammed United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon vehicles with a Merkava tank on two occasions Sunday, as Israeli forces blocked a road in Bayada used to access UNIFIL positions. The peacekeeping force reported a broader pattern of obstruction, including shots fired at and striking UNIFIL vehicles and the destruction of UN force protection cameras at six separate locations in southern Lebanon. “These actions hinder peacekeepers’ ability to report violations by both sides on the ground,” UNIFIL said.

• Hezbollah attacks Israeli settlements and military targets: Hezbollah said it carried out a series of strikes on Israeli settlements and military positions, including hitting the Misgav Am settlement, an attack on Israeli soldiers in Kfar Giladi, and the targeting of the Zarit barracks.

• Israel and Lebanon agree to meet Tuesday in Washington for direct peace talks: Israel and Lebanon held their first direct ambassador-level contact Friday via a phone call at 2 p.m. ET, mediated by the U.S. ambassador to Lebanon following an initiative by Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to secure a ceasefire and launch negotiations, according to NBC News. Both sides agreed to meet on Tuesday in Washington under U.S. State Department sponsorship to “discuss the announcement of a ceasefire” and begin formal negotiations despite Israel and Lebanon having no formal diplomatic relations. Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., Michael Leiter, confirmed the agreement but said Israel “refused to discuss a ceasefire with Hezbollah.”

Genocide in Gaza, the West Bank, and Israel

• Casualty count: Over the last 24 hours, four Palestinians were killed and 10 were injured in Israeli attacks across Gaza. The total recorded death toll since October 7, 2023 has risen to 72,333 killed, with 172,202 injured. Since October 11, the first full day of the so-called ceasefire, Israel has killed at least 754 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded 2,100, while 760 bodies have been recovered from under the rubble, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

• Daily attacks on Gaza continue: An Israeli airstrike killed at least three Palestinians in central Gaza on Monday morning. This followed Israeli attacks Friday and Saturday across the territory that killed at least eight Palestinians, seven of whom died in attacks on the Al Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.

• Ceasefire has failed to end the genocide: Doctors Without Borders: Since the “ceasefire” went into effect in Gaza on October 10, 2025, tams with Doctors Without Borders (MSF) have done over 40,000 dressings for patients with wounds from violent trauma, including gunshots, blasts or other kinds of weapons, the group said. “Six months on, the ceasefire has failed to end the genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, with Israeli authorities continuing to impose conditions intended to destroy conditions of life,” Claire San Filippo, emergency manager for MSF, said in the statement. “Despite the reduction of the intensity of violence, Israeli attacks are continuous and the situation remains catastrophic.”

• Settlers kill unarmed Palestinian near Ramallah: An unarmed 23-year-old Palestinian, Ali Majed Hamadneh, was shot and killed during a settler attack on the West Bank town of Deir Jarir on Saturday, according to the Associated Press. The Israeli military claimed that he was shot by “a soldier in the reserves,” though the head of the local village council said that his attacker was wearing civilian clothes, and that the military, which deployed into the town in response to a violent settler riot, arrived after Hamadneh had been killed. 33 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank this year, eight of them by settlers.

• Israel kills another Palestinian journalist: Palestinian journalist Mohammad Sayed was among at least six people killed in an Israeli airstrike on a police checkpoint in Al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza on Friday. Over 260 Palestinian journalists have been killed in Israel’s war on Gaza since October 2023.

U.S. News

By Julian Andreone, with Ryan Grim. Have a tip on Capitol Hill? Email Andreone at Julian@dropsitenews.com.

• Trump says gas prices might not drop before midterms: President Donald Trump acknowledged Sunday that gasoline prices—which have risen more than $1 per gallon over the last two months to a national average of $4.13—may not fall before the November midterm elections, telling Fox News that prices “should be around the same” and might be “a little bit higher.”

• Rep. Eric Swalwell drops California governor bid after sexual misconduct allegations: The California congressman suspended his gubernatorial campaign on Sunday, saying he was “deeply sorry for mistakes in judgment” in his past, after a San Francisco Chronicle report published Friday detailed allegations by a former staffer that he sexually assaulted her twice while she was too intoxicated to consent. CNN subsequently reported allegations from four additional women and the Manhattan district attorney’s office confirmed it has opened a sexual assault investigation into Swalwell. Reps. Jimmy Gomez and Adam Gray, his campaign co-chairs,former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Senator Ruben Gallego all called on him to step aside, with several others calling on him to resign from Congress. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) also said she would bring a motion to expel Swalwell from the House floor, which may be joined by a motion to expel Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), who has also faced sexual misconduct allegations involving staffers.

• J Street now supports ending aid to Israel: The liberal, pro-Israel lobbying group J Street announced that it now calls for an end to all military subsidies to Israel, its president, Jeremy Ben-Ami, told Haaretz. Ben-Ami said that, in order for relations between the United States and Israel to normalize, there could be “no more exceptions to special treatment,” though it did clarify it would maintain its support for the Iron Dome until at least 2028. “The law should apply to whether we’re selling weapons to Ukraine or Turkey or Egypt,” Ben-Ami told Haaretz. “If those weapons are being used to commit gross violations of human rights, then we shouldn’t send those weapons.”J-Street also announced on Friday that it is endorsing Analilia Mejia, the Democratic candidate in New Jersey’s 11th congressional district, who won despite heavy opposition from AIPAC.

• Trump administration detains hundreds of DACA recipients: Hundreds of recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals protections have been detained under the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, NOTUS reports. The Department of Homeland Security has said it detained as many as 270 DACA holders and deported as many as 174 last year, and has argued that DACA “does not confer any form of legal status” and that recipients “may be subject to arrest and deportation,” a position that has shattered trust among the roughly 600,000 people who voluntarily provided their personal information to the government in exchange for protection. Read the full report here.

• Trump administration fires two judges who refused to deport pro-Palestinian students: The Trump administration fired immigration judges Roopal Patel and Nina Froes on Friday, after both dismissed high-profile deportation cases against international students Rümeysa Öztürk and Mohsen Mahdawi, targeted for deportation over their pro-Palestinian activism. Trump has dismissed more than 100 immigration judges, while hiring more than 140 new ones more aligned with his enforcement agenda.

Other International News

• Viktor Orbán defeated after 16 years in historic upset: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán conceded defeat Sunday after 16 years in power. Opposition leader Péter Magyar’s center-right Tisza party took a commanding lead, standing at 52 percent to Orbán’s Fidesz at 38% with over half of precincts counted, in an election that drew nearly 78% voter turnout—the highest in Hungary’s post-communist history. Magyar, a former Fidesz insider who broke with Orbán in 2024 over a government corruption scandal, promised in his campaign to restore EU ties, unfreeze billions in EU funds, and return Hungary to Western institutional norms.

• Fujimori leads Peru presidential vote, with runoff in June: Early exit polling by Ipsos Peru shows right-leaning candidate Keiko Fujimori leading Sunday’s presidential vote with 16.6%, followed by leftist Roberto Sánchez at 12.1%. With no candidate expected to clear the 50% threshold needed to win outright, the top two finishers would advance to a runoff scheduled for June 7. Peru’s electoral authority announced that voting will be extended into Monday after missing election materials disrupted the process in certain regions. Another potential runoff candidate, Rafael “Porky” López Aliaga, the former mayor of Lima and a far-right populist, has alleged “fraud” over missing ballot boxes.

• U.S. military kills five people in strikes on two vessels in Eastern Pacific: U.S. Southern Command carried out two strikes on April 11 against vessels it said were operated by designated cartel organizations along narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific, killing two people in the first strike and three in the second, as part of “Operation Southern Spear.” The U.S. military identified those killed as “narco-terrorists”—a designation with no standing under international law.

• Nigerian military airstrike kills at least 200 civilians in northeast: At least 200 people are feared dead after Nigerian military jets struck the Jilli weekly market near the border of the Yobe and Borno states on Saturday night. The military said that it was pursuing Boko Haram militants as part of “mop-up” strikes on areas where it had identified members of the group. The attack, which was condemned by Amnesty International, is not the first such incident where Nigerian military operations against jihadist groups have killed gatherings of civilians.

• Libya’s rival governments approve first unified budget in over a decade: Libya’s two rival legislative bodies approved a unified state budget for the first time since 2013 on Saturday, with the Central Bank of Libya confirming that both the eastern-based House of Representatives and the Tripoli-based High Council of State had endorsed the agreement.

• Four killed in a strike in Dilling strike: Four people—including a woman and two children—were killed, and others were wounded, when a strike hit a market in Al-Dilling city on Sunday during peak activity, according to the Sudan Doctors Network. The attack was attributed to forces aligned with the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement–Al-Hilu faction.

• Senior RSF commander defects to Sudanese army: Rapid Support Forces major general Al-Nour Ahmed Adam, known as “Al-Nour Guba,” defected to the Sudanese army on Saturday, taking with him 136 fully equipped combat vehicles, according to the Sudan Tribune. Guba’s defection followed internal friction after RSF leadership appointed rival commander Gedo Abunshouk as the military commander of North Darfur. One former Sudanese commander described Adam’s defection as “a painful blow” for the RSF, which would severely disrupt its morale and tactical balance.

• Gunmen kill multiple Hazara Shia civilians in western Afghanistan: Unidentified gunmen riding motorcycles opened fire on civilians gathered at a recreational area near the village of Deh Mehri in Herat province, Afghanistan on Friday, killing at least seven, people according to the Taliban interior ministry, though a doctor at a Herat hospital told the BBC that 12 people were killed and 12 injured—all Hazara Shia Muslims who had gone to a local shrine for a picnic. No group has claimed responsibility. Hazara Shia Muslims, a persecuted minority in Afghanistan, have been targeted by similar attacks in the past.

• Three Pakistani coast guards killed in Baloch separatist attack: Three members of Pakistan’s Coast Guard were killed Sunday when their patrol boat came under attack in Jiwani, a coastal town roughly 84 kilometers from Gwadar port in Balochistan province, according to Reuters. The Baloch Liberation Army, one of the most prominent Baluch separatist groups in Pakistan, claimed responsibility.

• At least 30 killed during a stampede in Haiti: At least 30 people were killed Saturday in a stampede at the Citadelle Laferrière, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and early-19th-century fortress in northern Haiti, during an annual celebration that had drawn large numbers of students and visitors, according to Al Jazeera. A Haitian official said the stampede occurred at the entrance to the site and was worsened by rain, with rescue teams continuing to search for missing persons and authorities warning the death toll could rise.

• Over 500 arrested in London at Palestine Action protest: Police in London arrested over 500 pro-Palestinian activists at London’s Trafalgar Square on Saturday as they protested Britain’s banning of the group Palestine Action. Palestine Action was declared a terrorist organization in the UK last year, making support for the group punishable by up to 14 years in prison. Britain’s High Court struck down the ban in February on free speech grounds. UK Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood has been granted approval to appeal the ruling.

• Cuba’s president discusses blockade: President Miguel Díaz-Canel told NBC’s Kristen Welker in the event of a U.S. attack the Cuban response would be “based on regular and asymmetrical warfare,” that “the U.S. might achieve initial success, but the occupation would be unsustainable,” and that, as the U.S. discovered in its war on Iran, “leadership in Cuba is not about one person…Removing one individual would not change anything.” In an extended interview Díaz-Canel acknowledged that “conditions [in Cuba] are difficult, but the country remains functioning.” He asserted that Cuba has a right to import oil. “If Cuba is truly weak, as some claim, then why has the United States spent decades trying to isolate and undermine it?” he asked Welker. “Why not let it fail on its own? The answer is clear.” He also told Welker that he had not spoken directly with Secretary Marco Rubio. “I do not know him. We have engaged in talks, and we will continue to engage through the representatives that the United States designates.” He added that Cuba’s “political system and our constitutional order are not under negotiation with the United States.”

More from Drop Site

• Drop Site’s Ryan Grim spoke with journalist and commentator Owen Jones about how Trump’s coalition is cracking. “Fox News remains very popular among people 65 to 70 and up in the United States—and that’s it,” he said. “That’s not a coalition.” Watch his full appearance here:

• Drop Site co-founder Jeremy Scahill spoke to Progressive International’s Varsha Gandikota-Nellutla on Al Jazeera about the latest developments in the war with Iran, and also about recent attacks on Drop Site and others who have made clear their opposition to the war. “I have never in my quarter of a century in journalism seen a greater effort to criminalize and demonize speaking to people on the other side of America’s wars,” he told her. His full discussion with her is available here:

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Story by Alexis Daloumis

SULEYMANIYAH, KURDISTAN REGION OF IRAQ—On April 5, during an interview with Fox News journalist Trey Yingst, President Donald Trump apparently confessed to trying to foment an armed uprising by dissidents inside Iran earlier this year, suggesting that the effort had only failed due to the betrayal of unnamed Kurdish groups. The U.S. government had, Trump said, “sent guns to the protesters, a lot of them. We sent them through the Kurds, and I think the Kurds took the guns.”

The claim of an ill-fated Kurdish role in attempting to topple the Iranian government triggered immediate denials by all major Iranian Kurdish parties. In comments to Drop Site, the Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK), one of the largest and most organized Kurdish parties, denied Trump’s claim that they or other Kurdish groups—six of whom had formally announced the formation of a new alliance days before the start of the war—had received U.S. weapons to fight or transfer to other opposition factions in the country.

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“No, we have never received weapons or assistance from the United States or any other country. As far as we know, all Kurdish parties have rejected Trump’s statements and are not aware of such claims,” said Zegrus Enderyarî, a member of the PJAK External Relations Committee. “It is possible that Trump intended to do such a thing or wanted to test the reaction of Iran and other regional countries. However, the time he referred to was when thousands of protesters in Iran were killed by the regime, and at that time, this alliance had not yet been formed.” (Drop Site could verify neither Trump’s claim he sent weapons nor the Kurds’ denial.)

The Alliance of Iranian Kurdistan Political Parties—involving six out of the seven active Kurdish parties in Iranian Kurdistan—was announced on February 22, six days before the start of the war. The timing of the pact has led many to suggest that it was intended as preparation for an alignment with Israel and the U.S. in the coming conflict. Enderyarî, without directly refuting that narrative, pointed out that the relevant discussions between the parties had started in the aftermath of the 2022 anti-government “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement in Iran—significantly predating the current war. “Although political conditions also played a role, the formation of this alliance was a historical necessity, and it can even be said that it was delayed,” said Enderyarî.

RELATED: “It Seems Like Blind American Ignorance”: The New U.S. War on Iraq

Regardless, Iranian Kurds quickly found themselves thrust into the forefront of the U.S. and Israeli war against Iran. In the first week of fighting, the U.S. and Israel bombed numerous government positions in Kurdish regions of Iran, while making public calls to Kurdish groups to launch an uprising against the government. That uprising, intended to drain the resources and attention of the Iranian military, while potentially causing the ethnic dissolution of the country, did not come to pass.

Other Iranian Kurdish groups who spoke to Drop Site expressed suspicion over attempts to maneuver them into a conflict at the behest of foreign powers.

Ebrahim Alizadeh, General Secretary of Komala (CPI), also known as the Kurdistan Organization of the Iranian Communist Party, the only party of the seven that didn’t join the alliance, stated that one of the reasons his group had not joined the February 22 announcement was out of belief that the alliance had been hastily formed in the shadow of U.S. and Israeli war plans.

“We asked to have a trial period of collaboration…but we realized that there was external pressure to do it faster. Afterwards we understood that this pressure was related to the war that started,” he said. ”When the war started, the Americans and Israelis asked them to enter Iran to liberate a region and put pressure on the central state. The plan didn’t work and they withdrew from it, partly because Turkey convinced them.”

The Iranian portion of Kurdistan, where Israel and the U.S. have tried to encourage revolt, has several distinctive features setting it apart from the other three parts. Unlike Kurdish regions in Turkey, Iraq, and Syria—all once part of the Ottoman Empire—Iranian Kurdistan has been under continuous Iranian rule for at least four centuries, with the Safavid Empire dismantling Kurdish principalities far earlier. Most Iranian Kurds are also Sunni in an emphatically Shia state, making them a double minority.

The failure to trigger a Kurdish uprising was one of many factors that contributed to transforming the war into a quagmire for the U.S. By early April, Trump’s frustrations over the war had begun publicly boiling over, leading to public accusations of betrayal by Kurdish groups.

On April 6, Trump fulminated that U.S. arms “were supposed to go to the people so they could fight back against these thugs. You know what happened? The people that they sent them to kept them because they said, ‘What a beautiful gun. I think I’ll keep it.’ So, I’m very upset with a certain group of people and they’re going to pay a big price for that.”

Trump’s references to “the Kurds,” as well as, “a certain group of people,” has led to confusion about whether his allegations are leveled against a specific Iranian Kurdish party, factions based in Iraqi Kurdistan, or the Kurdish people in general.

“He has still not clarified which Kurds he was referring to: the Kurds of Iraq or the Kurds of Iran?” Alizadeh told Drop Site. “All Iranian Kurdish parties have denied it. We reject cooperation with the American project in Iran. Other parties, by contrast, have sought weapons from the United States and are saying that they did not receive them. Were those weapons given to the Kurdish parties in Iraqi Kurdistan? They have remained silent on this matter. In the end, someone here is clearly lying.”

“Leave the Kurds alone”

Trump’s claims, which have been treated with disbelief by several regional journalists and experts, come amid intensified attacks on Iranian Kurdish parties and other targets within Iraqi Kurdish territory by Iran and its proxies. The attacks reflect a recurring tendency by the U.S. and Israel to “out” the Kurds and expose them to violent Iranian retaliation. This portrayal of Iranian Kurds as a perpetual fifth column working at the behest of foreign states has been devastating for Iranian Kurdish parties, who operate across the border in Iraq where many have been hosted by the autonomous Iraqi Kurdish government.

On March 4, false reports began circulating from journalists and others that thousands of Kurdish fighters had already crossed the border into Iran to begin a ground operation against the Iranian government.

The next day, Shanaz Ibrahim Ahmed, the wife of Iraqi President, Abdul Latif Rashid, as well as a long-standing Kurdish politician and a senior figure of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), denounced the idea of an intervention egged on by Tel Aviv and Washington. In a public statement decrying the effort to involve Kurds in the war, Ahmed said, “Leave the Kurds alone, we are not guns for hire.”

Ahmed’s statement, celebrated by many Kurds in the region, was released on the anniversary of Raperin, another famous Kurdish uprising against Saddam Hussein in 1991. That rebellion, which had also been tacitly encouraged by the U.S., was brutally suppressed by the Iraqi military, adding another chapter to a long history of perceived betrayals by Western powers.

When asked about the influence of Ahmed’s intervention, PJAK’s representative Enderyarî told Drop Site that despite a history of betrayals, Kurdish groups were still ultimately divided on the broader issue of foreign support. “The statements made by Shanaz Ibrahim Ahmad received wide attention among Kurds and others. However, not all political groups share the same view. Some believe that without foreign support—especially from the United States—it is not possible to change the regime in Iran, and therefore they support external intervention to some extent,” he said. “However, we, as a force based on grassroots organization and public awareness, believe that change must come from within society.”

Enderyarî added, “We do not see ourselves as part of this war. For us, this is a conflict between two hegemonic forces: one at the global level, the United States, seeking to maintain its dominance, and the other at the regional level, such as Iran and Israel, seeking regional hegemony. We do not choose either of these paths. Instead, we choose a third path based on self-governance and peaceful coexistence among the peoples of the region.”

This idea of the “Third Path” is not new, nor a product of the latest developments. PJAK belongs to the same political ecosystem as the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK. The historical Kurdish leader and founder of PKK, Abdullah Ocalan, has long expressed concern about the possibility of the Kurdish movement falling into Israel’s sphere of influence and being weaponized by it. Other top leaders of PKK such as Duran Kalkan have recently been explicit about it as well, stating in a recent interview that Israel and the U.S. were merely seeking a new, undemocratic hegemony in the region, and “preparing a new Shah” to replace the Islamic Republic.

Despite this stance from most of the leadership, there seems to be a real current among the base as well as some senior figures that see potential benefits in aligning with Israel.

“It is true Reber Apo and Duran Kalkan said those things, but there are indeed a lot of people within the movement that see Israel favorably,” Kawa, a 32-year-old construction worker in Suleymaniyah who’s ideologically aligned with PKK/PJAK told Drop Site. “If you ask me, is Israel good? No it isn’t. But it looks like Israel wants to give some respect to the Kurds—that’s why people think like that.”

The discourse around potential Kurdish involvement in the war is happening in the aftermath of recent developments in northeastern Syria, where a Kurdish-led project in autonomous governance known as the the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES) was dissolved by force in a military offensive by the new Syrian government based in Damascus. Despite working for years with U.S. forces as a counterterrorism partner, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) found itself abandoned at this critical moment—an episode viewed by many Kurds around the region as the latest chapter in a long history of betrayals.

The forcible integration of the DAANES into central government control came about after numerous Arab tribes that had previously fought alongside the SDF switched sides and pledged allegiance to Damascus. That decision has helped trigger a renewed sense of unity among Kurds across different factions, alongside sentiments of ethnic nationalism and resentment towards Arabs.

“I can’t, I’m done. I’m done with the Arabs,” said Marwan, a seasoned Kurdish fighter of the SDF, who spoke to Drop Site in the Syrian city of Haseke this February. The veteran of the historical Kobane battle against the Islamic State emphasized the sense of betrayal many Kurds felt from their former Arab partners. “It was not the government forces that attacked us in Shedadi and killed so many friends. It was our formerly allied Arab tribes that stabbed us in the back. How can we trust them any more?”

In the Kurdish-majority Syrian cities of Haseke and Qamislo, the Kurdish national flag is now everywhere—something which until recently was forbidden by the SDF because of policies stressing ethnic inclusion. Banners featuring Ocalan, together with Iraqi Kurdish leaders Massoud Barzani and Jalal Talabani, or of SDF chief Mazlum Abdi and Massoud Barzani, have become visible in some areas.

A sense of newfound ethnic unity and resentment has become particularly prevalent in Iraqi Kurdistan , where recent developments in Syria have been seen as a vindication of the nationalist conservative politics that dominate the regional government.

“Before, in my social group there were Arabs and Kurds and we were all just friends, but after all this we became Arabs and Kurds” said Sevak, a 24-year-old metal worker who spoke to Drop Site in Erbil. “Now the Kurds are united, before they were divided along party lines, ‘You are with Ocalan, or you are with Barzani.’ Now they are one.”

The increasing debates about the future of the Kurdish liberation movement comes as Iraqi Kurdistan has faced hundreds of missile and drone attacks from Iran and pro-Iranian militia groups in Iraq. In one of the latest incidents, a drone strike killed a Kurdish civilian couple in a rural agricultural village with no military presence—Musa Anwar Rasool and his wife Mujda Asaad Hassan, leaving behind two orphaned daughters.

The attacks, many of which are believed to have been carried out by groups associated with the Popular Mobilization Forces, an official part of the Iraqi security establishment, have further raised tensions between Iraqi Kurdistan and Baghdad. For the time being, the tentative ceasefire in Iran may give time for the Kurdish movement to reassess its future. The events of the past months will not soon be forgotten.

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Alexis Daloumis is the director of the documentary “Belkî Sibê,” that follows leftist Western fighters—of which he was one—who fought alongside the Kurdish-led, American-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in their battle against ISIS.

U.S. delegation heads to Pakistan as ceasefire talks hinge on Lebanon. U.S. President Donald Trump suggests Israel agrees to ceasefire in Lebanon, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says otherwise. Netanyahu says Israel will open direct talks with Lebanon “as soon as possible.” Iran-linked hackers claim breach of former Israeli army chief’s phone. Hormuz transit remains at a near standstill. Israeli army chief in Lebanon: “We are not in a ceasefire.” Israeli forces kill third-grade girl in northern Gaza. Inflation spikes on record energy price increases. White House told staff to stop insider trading. First Lady Melania Trump denies Epstein ties. DNC rejects resolution targeting AIPAC influence. Russia and Ukraine agree to Easter ceasefire. Trump wants to punish NATO for Iran War by withdrawing troops from Europe, report says. At least 56 killed, including 17 children, in drone strike on wedding ceremony in North Darfur. U.S. summons Iraq’s ambassador in Washington after “ambush.” Philippines opens coast guard base on disputed South China Sea island. Jihadists kill Nigerian brigadier general and 17 soldiers. UN expert warns Mexico has become a “garbage sink” for U.S. waste. Ecuador raises tariffs on Colombia to 100 percent. Argentina approves glacier mining bill amid protests.

NEW from Drop Site: Israel is running low on missile defense.

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Ceasefire updates

• U.S. delegation heads to Pakistan as ceasefire talks hinge on Lebanon: Vice President JD Vance will arrive in Pakistan on Friday to lead a U.S. delegation on high-level talks with Iran in Islamabad along with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. Iran’s speaker of parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, and foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, are expected to lead the Iranian delegation, though there are mixed messages from Tehran regarding Iran’s participation as a result of Israel’s ongoing attacks on Lebanon. An analyst, reportedly close to Ghalibaf, said on Thursday “Iran has informed Pakistan that if Lebanon is not part of the ceasefire, Iran’s team will not go to Islamabad.” Aragchi posted on Thursday: “If the U.S. wishes to crater its economy by letting Netanyahu kill diplomacy, that would ultimately be its choice. We think that would be dumb but are prepared for it.”

• Trump suggests Israel agrees to ceasefire in Lebanon, Netanyahu says otherwise: After telling PBS yesterday that Lebanon was “not included in the deal,” President Donald Trump told Israeli journalist Neria Kraus on Thursday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “is on board with the agreement,” and that he would “low key a little bit” with regards to Lebanon. In remarks to the Israeli public, however, Netanyahu unequivocally denied this, saying, “There is no ceasefire in Lebanon.” “We continue to strike Hezbollah with full force,” he said, and he said there would be no end to these strikes until the “security” of the Israeli people was “restored.” CBS News reported on Thursday that President Donald Trump had agreed to ceasefire terms with Iran that included Lebanon, according to multiple diplomatic sources, before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Trump, and the U.S. public position shifted.

• Netanyahu says Israel will open direct talks with Lebanon “as soon as possible”: Netanyahu announced on Thursday that Israel would enter direct negotiations with Lebanon “as soon as possible” after what he said were “repeated calls” from the Lebanese government to do so. He added that Israel would continue to strike Hezbollah in Lebanon. Lebanese Prime Minister Joseph Aoun welcomed the move. Hezbollah has rejected any talks with Israel. A U.S. official confirmed to AP that talks between Israel and Lebanon would take place starting next week at the State Department in Washington. AP cited a source as saying the talks would be led on the U.S. side by Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa and on the Israeli side by Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter.

• Iran’s supreme leader declares victory, outlines objectives: On the 40-day anniversary of his father’s death, Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei gave an address in which he declared Iranian victory, discussed plans for the Strait of Hormuz, and stressed the unity of the “Resistance Front.” “Today… it can be said that you, the heroic Iranian nation, are the definitive victors. The emergence of the Islamic Republic as a major power and the decline of global arrogance are now visible to all,” he said. Khamenei also mentioned the upcoming ceasefire talks with the U.S. and pledged there would be a “new era” in the Strait of Hormuz.

• New figures on Iran war toll:

  • Abbas Masjedi, the head of Iran’s Legal Medicine Organization, an official government body, was quoted in state media as saying the death toll from the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran is over 3,000 people. A previous tally from the Ministry of Health on April 3 put the toll at 2,076.

  • The head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society said on Friday a total of 125,630 civilian units were hit across the country in U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran, according to the IRNA news agency, including 32 universities, 857 schools, and 339 medical facilities.

• Iran-linked hackers claim breach of former Israeli army chief’s phone: The hacking group Handala, reportedly linked to the Iranian government, claimed on Thursday to have accessed more than 19,000 files from the phone of former Israeli Defence Forces Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, including images and videos from sensitive meetings. Some of the leaked material reportedly shows Halevi meeting with United States and Arab officials in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan. The group also claimed access to maps, command centers, and other classified systems, though much of that material has not been publicly released.

• Hormuz transit remains at a near standstill: A Gabon-flagged oil tanker became the first non-Iranian vessel to pass through the Strait of Hormuz since the ceasefire was announced Tuesday, carrying 44,000 barrels of fuel oil from Sharjah to India, MarineTraffic reported. Only nine vessels transited the strait on Wednesday and Thursday combined, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence, compared with a prewar daily average of more than 135. The International Maritime Organization estimates some 2,000 ships—including oil and gas tankers, bulk carriers, and six cruise liners—remain stranded in the Persian Gulf, with 20,000 seafarers aboard.

• “There will be no return to the pre-war status quo”: A senior Iranian source told Russian state news agency TASS on Thursday that Tehran will cap vessel transit through the Strait of Hormuz at fewer than 15 ships per day under the ceasefire terms, with all passage subject to approval by the IRGC. “There will be no return to the pre-war status quo,” the source said. Trump on Thursday, posted on Truth Social on Thursday that “Iran is doing a very poor job, dishonorable some would say, of allowing Oil to go through the Strait of Hormuz. That is not the agreement we have!” He also posted earlier: “There are reports that Iran is charging fees to tankers going through the Hormuz Strait – They better not be and, if they are, they better stop now!”

• Kuwait condemns drone strikes on vital facilities, blames Iran: The Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry on Friday accused Iran of launching drone attacks on Thursday that targeted “vital Kuwaiti facilities.” It blamed the attacks on Iran and its “allied factions, militias, and armed groups.” Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) denied launching attacks on Gulf states.

• Saudi government tallies damage from previous strikes: Strikes on Saudi energy infrastructure have reduced the kingdom’s oil production capacity by around 600,000 barrels per day and cut throughput on the East-West Pipeline—Saudi Arabia’s only crude export route while the Strait of Hormuz remains blockaded—by about 700,000 barrels per day, the Saudi Ministry of Energy said Thursday. The Saudi government had not previously provided details about strikes on its energy industry during the war. In its statement, it did not blame Iran directly (though it did note that it had intercepted many Iranian drones and missiles in recent weeks). It also announced the deaths of one Saudi national, an employee of the national oil company, and seven other foreign nationals.

• Kamal Kharrazi, senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, dies from airstrike injuries: Kamal Kharrazi, the former Iranian foreign minister and head of Iran’s Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, died Friday from injuries sustained in a United States-Israeli airstrike on his Tehran home on April 1, in which his wife was also killed. The 81-year-old served as Iran’s foreign minister from 1997 to 2005 and as ambassador to the United Nations from 1989 to 1997, and had continued as a senior adviser to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei following the death of Ali Khamenei. At the time of the strike, Kharrazi had reportedly been working with Pakistani intermediaries to arrange a direct meeting between Iranian officials and Vice President JD Vance.

• Israel is running out of missile defense systems: A Trump administration source told Drop Site News on the eve of the ceasefire that Israel’s ballistic missile interceptor stockpile had fallen to double digits, forcing Israeli military officials to selectively choose which incoming missiles to shoot down. A recent analysis by the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies estimated that by late March, Israel had expended the vast majority of its Arrow 2, Arrow 3, and THAAD interceptors—munitions that cost up to $12 million per unit and take months to replenish. The latest from Murtaza Hussain and Ryan Grim for Drop Site is here.

Lebanon

• Casualty count: The death toll from Israel’s assault on Lebanon has risen to at least 1,888—with 6,092 wounded—since March 2, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. The preliminary toll of Israel’s brutal Wednesday attack on Lebanon is currently at 303 killed and 1,150 wounded.

• UNICEF: Israel’s Wednesday attack on Lebanon killed 33 children and wounded 150: “Unicef is receiving reports of children being pulled from under the rubble, while others remain missing and separated from their families. Many are experiencing trauma, having lost loved ones, their homes, and any sense of safety,” the organization said in a statement.

• Continuing Israeli attacks:

  • At least 18 people were killed in Israeli strikes on Friday across Lebanon, according to the National News Agency (NNA). An Israeli airstrike on a car wash in the central square of Jbaa in the Iqlim al-Tuffah area killed six people, including the owner, his two sons, and three others, while a separate strike in the town of Ansar in the Bekaa region killed one person. A drone strike on the Samaiyah–Deir Qanoun Ras al-Ain area left two people dead, and another individual was killed in a drone strike while riding a motorcycle near the Al-Mahdi Schools junction in the town of Sharqiya.

  • In Nabatiyeh, the NNA reported heavy Israeli airstrikes hitting large parts of the city, including a state security office. At least eight state security personnel were killed and several buildings destroyed in what the state-run news agency described as a “horrific massacre.”

  • Israel bombed several ambulances and firetrucks in the town of Deir Qanoun Ras al-Ain in southern Lebanon on Friday, according to NNA. Israel’s military spokesperson on Friday reiterated a threat to target ambulances and medical facilities in Lebanon claiming without evidence that they were being used by Hezbollah for military activities. Over 50 medical workers in Lebanon have been killed in Israeli attacks since March 2.

  • Israeli airstrikes on Thursday hit the town of Kfar Dounin, a home in Ansarieh near the city of Saida, and a juice factory in Deir Takla. Artillery and gunfire struck Khiam in Marjayoun, with additional attacks on Bint Jbeil’s market, Kafra, and areas of Harouf. Drone strikes were reported in Haniyeh and Batoulieh, alongside multiple strikes on Qlalila and nearby areas, where three people were wounded. Further injuries were reported in Shehabieh, where ambulances were dispatched.

• Hezbollah vows to continue attacks until “Israeli-American aggression” stops: Hezbollah said its fighters launched rocket attacks targeting the settlements of Kiryat Shmona, Metula, and Misgav Am, vowing in a statement released on the group’s telegram channel Friday that “these attacks would continue until the Israeli-American aggression against the country and the people stopped.” The group also said it struck “a gathering of Israeli enemy soldiers east of the Khiam detention center” in southern Lebanon with a missile, and announced targeting the Israeli military naval base at the port of Ashdod Port with advanced rockets.

• “Resistance will continue until the last breath”: Naim Qassem, Secretary-General of Hezbollah, addressed “a message to the steadfast and sacrificing Lebanese people,” offering condolences for those killed and saying that “the Israeli enemy has failed in the field…and was unable to carry out a ground invasion as repeatedly declared.” He said Israel had turned to “bloody criminality” by targeting civilians across Lebanon “to cover its failure,” while praising Lebanese resilience and stressing that “the resistance will continue until the last breath.” He added, “we will not accept a return to the previous situation,” calling on officials to stop concessions and emphasizing unity between “the state, army, people, and resistance” to protect the country and expel the Israeli occupation.

• Israeli army chief in Lebanon: “We are not in a ceasefire”: Israeli army chief of staff Eyal Zamir said Israeli forces are continuing their combat operations in southern Lebanon. “The IDF is in a state of war, we are not in a ceasefire. We continue to fight here in this sector, this is our primary combat zone,” Zamir said in a video statement published by the Israeli military during his visit to the outskirts of Bint Jbeil on Thursday.

• WHO warns 450 Beirut hospital patients at risk after Israel orders evacuation of southern suburbs: The World Health Organization warned Friday that around 450 patients across two major Beirut hospitals—including 40 in intensive care—face serious risk following an Israeli evacuation order covering the capital’s southern suburbs. The affected facilities, Rafik Hariri University Hospital and Al Zahraa Hospital, are both operating at full capacity with no alternative facilities available to receive patients. The WHO called the evacuation order “operationally unfeasible” and urged Israel to reverse its directive. Lebanon’s Health Ministry said in a statement Friday, after contacting WHO and the Red Cross, that it received international assurances the hospitals won’t be targeted and all remain operating.

Genocide in Gaza, the West Bank, and Israel

• Israeli forces shoot and kill third-grade girl in northern Gaza: Israeli forces shot and killed Ritaj Rihan, a third-grade student, inside an educational tent in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza, on Thursday. The tent, which served as a makeshift classroom for children displaced by more than two years of war, stood atop the rubble of a school destroyed during the conflict. Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha, who attended the same school, said the site where Ritaj was killed was the ruins of his former high school. “Even when kids try to learn, after over two years of nonstop running from the bombs, Israel shoots them,” Abu Toha wrote.

• Palestinian journalist released from Israeli detention: Palestinian journalist Muath Amarneh, who spent seven months in Israeli administrative detention, was released today. He was detained by Israeli forces in August while traveling between Bethlehem and Hebron in the occupied West Bank, and had previously been imprisoned for nearly nine months at the start of the genocide in Gaza. Amarneh also lost an eye while covering protests against land confiscation in the West Bank in 2019, after an Israeli soldier shot him. He has described medical neglect in Israeli detention, with a severe infection causing his prosthetic eye to fall out of its socket.

• International flotilla departs Europe bound for Gaza: A French convoy of roughly 20 boats departed Marseille on April 4, set to join the larger Global Sumud Flotilla leaving Barcelona on April 12. The civilian effort aims to challenge Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid. More than 1,000 activists, doctors, and engineers are expected aboard, alongside public figures including climate activist Greta Thunberg, actor Susan Sarandon, and actor Liam Cunningham, with support from Greenpeace’s Arctic Sunrise vessel. Organizers say the convoy could grow to around 100 vessels, with an expected arrival near Gaza around April 20.

U.S. News

By Julian Andreone, with Ryan Grim. Have a tip on Capitol Hill? Email Andreone at Julian@dropsitenews.com.

• Inflation spikes on record energy price increases: Consumer prices rose 3.3% in March from a year earlier, the Department of Labor said Friday, up significantly from just 2.4% in February and the biggest yearly increase since May 2024. The increase in inflation was driven by a record spike in energy prices. “The index for energy increased 10.9 percent in March, the largest monthly increase in the index since September 2005. The gasoline index increased 21.2 percent over the month, the largest monthly increase since the series was first published in 1967,” the Labor Department wrote.

• White House told staff to stop insider trading: The White House Management Office sent a staff-wide email on March 24 warning employees against using their positions to place well-timed bets in futures markets, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal. Three accounts on the prediction platform Polymarket earned more than $600,000 by correctly betting on the timing of this week’s Iranian ceasefire, and a flurry of activity on oil futures markets—in which $760 million changed hands in less than two minutes—preceded this email by only 15 minutes. The White House confirmed the email’s authenticity but denied any wrongdoing, with Trump spokesman Davis Ingle calling any suggestion of insider trading “baseless and irresponsible.”

• Melania Trump denies Epstein ties: First Lady Melania Trump delivered an unscheduled address to reporters at the White House on Thursday, denying that she had any meaningful relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. She claimed she first crossed paths with Epstein in 2000 at an event she attended with her husband, and denied that Epstein introduced the couple, reaffirming that she met President Donald Trump in 1998 at a New York City party through Italian modeling agent Paolo Zampolli. Melania also addressed a 2002 email exchange with Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, calling it “nothing more than casual correspondence.” She closed by calling on Congress to hold a public hearing specifically for survivors of Epstein’s abuse.

• Trump official allegedly threatened rival pope: The Trump administration is working to contain possible diplomatic outrage after reports emerged that a U.S. official invoked the medieval Avignon papacy—widely interpreted as a threat to sponsor a rival pope—during a January meeting at the Pentagon with the Vatican’s former ambassador to the U.S., Cardinal Christophe Pierre, according to the Financial Times. The meeting, which included Under-Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby, was called after Pope Leo XIV publicly criticized the growing use of military force, saying “war is back in vogue.”

• Federal judge strikes down Pentagon press restrictions again: Judge Paul Friedman of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia declared a revised set of Pentagon restrictions on journalists covering the military unconstitutional on Thursday. This is the second time Judge Friedman has struck down elements of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s press policy. Friedman ruled that the Pentagon’s updated rules were “transparent attempts to negate the impact of this court’s order” and ordered the reinstatement of press access for New York Times reporters at the level they enjoyed at the time of his first ruling.

• DNC rejects resolution targeting AIPAC influence: The Democratic National Committee’s resolutions committee rejected a symbolic resolution targeting the influence of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in Democratic primaries, and referred a pair of measures calling for conditioning military aid to Israel to the party’s Middle East Working Group, which was established last summer. “We had various resolutions that focused on different industries and groups,” DNC Chair Ken Martin said on X, “and instead of going one-by-one, we passed a blanket repudiation.” “I have made my position on this clear from day one: We must end the influence of dark money in our politics and restore power back to the people.” Pro-Israel groups claimed the stifling of the AIPAC resolution as a victory, saying that its failure showed that the “vocal, far-left faction” of the party is “in no way in charge.”

• Candidate for Pelosi’s seat calls for sanctions on Israel: Saikat Chakrabarti, a former software engineer and chief of staff to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), running to represent California’s 11th District (the San Francisco seat long held by Nancy Pelosi), became one of the first candidates to call for U.S. sanctions on Israel. “Israel has been committing a genocide in Gaza and is now committing ethnic cleansing in Lebanon,” Chakrabarti said. “Ending funding isn’t enough—we need sanctions.”

• Trump administration wants to let predatory lender off scot-free: The Trump Justice Department has proposed settling a landmark predatory lending lawsuit against Texas land developer Colony Ridge—which allegedly duped tens of thousands of Hispanic residents into high-interest mortgages—with no monetary compensation for victims, instead directing $20 million toward local policing and immigration enforcement in Liberty County. Eight former federal civil rights attorneys and investigators told ProPublica and the Texas Tribune they were stunned by the agreement, with one calling it “a complete misjustice.” A federal judge is scheduled to hear the proposal on Friday. Read the full report on Colony Ridge, from ProPublica and The Texas Tribune, here.

Other International News

• Russia and Ukraine agree to Easter ceasefire: Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Friday that he has ordered Russian forces to cease fire “in all directions” from Saturday afternoon through Easter Sunday, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying Kyiv is “ready for symmetrical steps.” The truce comes after Zelenskyy had asked the United States to pass a holiday ceasefire proposal to Moscow earlier this week. Zelenskyy added that “Russia has a chance not to return to strikes after Easter as well,” signaling Kyiv’s desire for the pause to extend beyond the weekend.

• Trump wants to punish NATO for Iran War by withdrawing troops from Europe, report says: President Donald Trump has discussed with advisers the possibility of withdrawing some of the more than 80,000 U.S. troops stationed in Europe, angered by NATO allies’ failure to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz and by stalled efforts to acquire Greenland, according to a White House official cited by Reuters. The White House official said Trump is specifically considering bringing troops back to the United States rather than repositioning them within Europe. “He asked NATO specifically to come up with a plan [to secure the Strait] when ​we were in Davos” in January, the official said, “and they’re sort of not taking it seriously.”

• At least 56 killed, including 17 children, in drone strike on wedding ceremony in North Darfur: At least 56 people were killed, including 17 children, and 107 others were injured when a drone strike hit a wedding ceremony in the Al-Salama neighborhood of Kutum, North Darfur, on Wednesday evening, according to Sudan Tribune. Local witnesses and the Rapid Support Forces blamed the Sudanese Armed Forces for the attack; the SAF has not commented. Kutum, located roughly 120 kilometers northwest of El Fasher, has been under RSF control since 2023.

• U.S. summons Iraq’s ambassador in Washington because of an “ambush”: The U.S. State Department summoned Iraq’s ambassador in Washington on Friday after what it called an “ambush of American diplomats” in Baghdad on April 8, blaming Iran-supported militias operating from Iraqi territory. Washington cited hundreds of recent attacks targeting American personnel, facilities, and regional interests, and warned Baghdad that it has failed to prevent them, even as it acknowledged some contributions by Iraqi security forces. For background, read Nir Rosen and Hajar al Obeidi on the indiscriminate U.S. attacks in Iraq.

• Philippines opens coast guard base on disputed island in South China Sea: The Philippines on Thursday unveiled a coast guard district command on Thitu Island in the South China Sea, describing it as a “steadfast sentinel of our sovereignty” in a region where Chinese forces maintain a heavy patrol presence. Hours after the ceremony, the Philippine coast guard accused Chinese forces of firing flares at its patrol aircraft over the disputed Subi Reef and Mischief Reef, calling it “a clear and deliberate act of bullying” that endangered Filipino personnel. China did not immediately respond to either development. Thitu Island, home to around 400 Filipino civilians, sits roughly 24 kilometers from Subi Reef, where China has built a major island base with a military-grade runway.

• Jihadists kill Nigerian brigadier general and 17 soldiers: Jihadists overran a military base in Benisheikh in Borno, according to the AFP, killing Brigadier General O.O. Braimah and at least 17 other soldiers and burning vehicles and buildings before withdrawing. It is the second killing of a high-ranking Nigerian officer in five months, following the death of Brigadier General Musa Uba at the hands of the Islamic State West Africa Province in November. The U.S. State Department on Wednesday authorized non-emergency government employees to depart Abuja, “due to the deteriorating security situation” in the country.

• UN expert warns Mexico has become a “garbage sink” for U.S. waste: Marcos Orellana, a United Nations special rapporteur on toxics and human rights warned Friday that Mexico is facing a “toxic crisis” driven in part by imports of hazardous and plastic waste from the United States, saying that “US overconsumption and economic activity are using Mexico as a garbage sink.” His report cited factories dumping hazardous waste into the Atoyac River in Puebla, industrial pig farms contaminating drinking water on the Yucatan peninsula, and a decade-old mining chemical spill still affecting communities along the Sonora River. Orellana said weak regulatory standards had produced what he called “the legalized poisoning of people,” and recommended Mexico use the upcoming review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement to strengthen environmental enforcement. Read more at The Guardian, here.

• Ecuador raises tariffs on Colombia to 100 percent: Ecuador’s government announced Thursday that it will raise tariffs on Colombian exports to 100 percent effective May 1, citing Bogotá’s alleged failure to adequately address drug trafficking and border security. Colombian President Gustavo Petro responded declaring that Ecuador’s actions amounted to “the end of the Andean Pact for Colombia” and calling on his foreign minister to abandon the regional economic integration pact and instead pursue full membership in the Mercosur trade bloc.

• Cuba defends medical internationalism: Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez accused the United States of “extorting” Latin American and Caribbean nations into canceling medical cooperation agreements with the island. Rodríguez said Washington aims to cut a key source of hard currency for Cuba, whose medical brigades provide a key source of foreign currency. Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, and Guyana have recently ended such deals. Echoing U.S. criticisms, the president of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) recently charged that there are elements of forced labor and human trafficking in Cuba’s international medical missions.

• Argentina approves glacier mining bill amid protests: Argentina’s Congress passed a bill backed by President Javier Milei allowing mining in environmentally sensitive glacier and permafrost areas of the Andes, weakening a 2010 glacier protection law. Supporters say it provides legal certainty for copper and lithium extraction, while environmentalists warn it threatens water sources for 70% of Argentinians.

More from Drop Site

• Special Thursday livestream: Ryan, Sharif, and Murtaza discuss the assault on Lebanon, the current state of the ceasefire, and all the latest in the Middle East in yesterday’s livestream, available here:

• Ryan Grim responds to Ben Shapiro’s attacks on Drop Site: Drop Site co-founder Ryan Grim responded to Ben Shapiro’s attack on Drop Site on Breaking Points. Shapiro accused Grim of “despising America,” and Drop Site of having intentionally cloudy funding. Ryan makes clear just how we fund our reporting (mostly, with the contributions of readers like yourself). Watch Ryan here:

• Jeremy Scahill spoke to AJ+ on the meaning of the ceasefire in Iran, its prospects for survival, and our latest reporting on the conflict, here:

If you want to continue getting this newsletter, you don’t have to do anything. But if this is too much—we do try to be mindful of your inbox—you can unsubscribe from this newsletter while continuing to get the rest of our reporting. Just go into your account here at this link, scroll down, and toggle the button next to “Drop Site Daily” to the off setting. It looks like this:

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Meanwhile, Iran’s speaker of parliament Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf will reportedly join Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in leading talks in Islamabad with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Ghalibaf reiterated that “Lebanon and the entire Resistance Axis, as Iran’s allies, form an inseparable part of the ceasefire,” following Israel’s massive bombardment of Lebanon on Wednesday just hours after the ceasefire was announced, which left more than 300 people dead and over 1,150 wounded.

Drop Site’s Ryan Grim, Jeremy Scahill, Murtaza Hussain, and Sharif Abdel Kouddous unpack the context around the ceasefire agreement, the attack on Lebanon, and what it all portends for the U.S. and the region. Lebanese journalist Lylla Younes talks about witnessing Wednesday’s brutal bombardment of Beirut, and Palestinian journalist Abubaker Abed remembers his colleague Mohammed Samir Washah, a correspondent for Al Jazeera Mubasher who was assassinated in an Israeli airstrike near Gaza City on Wednesday.

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On the eve of the tenuous ceasefire reached between the United States, Israel, and Iran, the number of ballistic missile interceptors left in Israel’s arsenal had dwindled to “double digits,” according to a Trump administration source with knowledge of the situation.

The critical shortage had led Israeli military officials to be significantly more selective when confronting ballistic missile attacks from Iran as well as from Yemen, which recently entered the conflict in a limited fashion. “They’re having to pick and choose what they shoot down,” the official told Drop Site.

The White House referred questions about the dwindling stockpile to the Israeli military. “Refer you to the IDF,” said a White House spokesperson. The IDF told Drop Site “we are checking” but was still working on an answer by the time this article was published, and couldn’t estimate when such an answer might come. When it does, we will update this article.

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The number of missile defense interceptors that a country has remaining is typically treated as highly classified information because of what it reveals about their capacity to continue a war. Despite not being forthcoming about these figures, it has still been possible to estimate Israeli reserves based on knowledge of prewar stockpiles and estimates of expenditures during the current conflict.

A recent analysis by The Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies, a London-based think tank with ties to British intelligence, spells out the difficulty facing Israeli defenses. Drawing on data from the Payne Institute for Public Policy to calculate pre-war stocks, RUSI did the basic math to find that by March 24, Israel had expended 122 of its 150 Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 missiles, as well as 22 of its 48 THAAD missiles.

These interceptors are both expensive and time-consuming to replace. Each Arrow interceptor costs $2-3 million dollars and takes months to produce, whereas a THAAD interceptor, which can stop a ballistic missile in its terminal descent phase, costs a staggering $12 million per unit. In many cases, multiple interceptors are required to confront a single ballistic missile. Iran is also believed to be deploying their missiles in a strategy deliberately aimed at draining Israeli defenses—firing older models in earlier waves to help eliminate interceptor stockpiles, and effectively putting a “down payment” on the impact of future attacks that can take place with more advanced models once interceptor capacity is depleted.

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Information about missile impacts and damage in Israel during the current war is subject to intense military censorship, making it difficult to verify the effect of Iranian attacks on the country. But an April 6 research paper published by JP Morgan and citing figures from the Jewish Institute for National Security (JINSA) stated that missile impact rates targeting Israel had risen from 3% during the first two weeks of the war to 27%. That increase is believed to be in part due to an Iranian decision to begin deploying missiles with cluster warheads at Israeli targets, leading to smaller, dispersed impacts, but also forcing Israel to expend more interceptor munitions defending against each attack.

On Monday, the Jerusalem Post reported that the Israeli Ministry of Defense planned to hasten its production of new Arrow missiles. But replenishing stockpiles is a matter of years, not weeks. Iran also fired more than 500 ballistic missiles at Israel during the 12-Day War in June 2025, significantly depleting Israeli inventory even before the current war.

On the same day that JP Morgan issued its report, a ballistic missile struck a residential building in the city of Haifa, killing four people. The victims of that attack were killed by the kinetic energy of the missile itself which did not actually detonate—likely sparing the lives of many more people in what would have been its blast radius.

The decreasing supply of interceptors has also meant that Israel is becoming increasingly dependent on the missile defense capabilities of the U.S. Navy, which has stationed destroyers in the region. The recent departure of the U.S.S. Gerald Ford carrier strike group has hampered that capacity.

The U.S. is believed to have fired 431 of its 2,500 Navy Aegis missiles, designed for ballistic missile interception, making them a savior of last resort when it came to Israeli defense, according to RUSI.

In addition to defending Israel, the U.S. military has been forced to allocate huge amounts of its own limited interceptor stocks to defend the Gulf Arab states. This has meant drawing down from munition stockpiles intended to support deterrence against China as part of the “Asian Pivot” long-planned by the U.S. defense establishment. The drain on interceptors comes after the U.S. also reportedly used up roughly 25% of its THAAD interceptor inventory—between 100 to 150 missiles—along with an unknown number of Patriot and SM-3 missiles defending Israel during the 12-Day War.

Apart from being expensive, missile interceptors are notoriously slow to produce. Earlier this year, Lockheed Martin signed a deal with the Pentagon to increase its annual production from 96 per year to 400. But this increase is expected to be staggered over the next seven years, and will do little to improve capacity in the short-term. The U.S. procured only 12 THAAD interceptors in 2025, and was scheduled to receive a paltry 37 this year.

Israel has insisted throughout the war that it is not running low on interceptors, even as a greater number of Iranian missile attacks have impacted targets inside the country or been allowed to fall in “open areas” of the country.

The Israeli theory of war had been based on a quick victory that rapidly diminished the rate of Iranian missile launches by hitting stockpiles and missile launch vehicles to knock them out of the fighting. Despite those efforts, and the tremendous assistance of the U.S. in this campaign, Iranian missile launches have remained steady for weeks, as launchers and underground missile bases have proven difficult to destroy by aerial attacks. The addition of Hezbollah and Ansar Allah to the war has added a further strain on Israeli defenses.

This week, in the face of escalating questions about its missile defense stockpiles as the war has dragged on, the Israeli defense ministry announced plans to scale up production while denying it had a problem. “Israel has sufficient interceptors to protect its citizens, and the current move is intended to ensure continued operational freedom and the necessary endurance,” said defense minister Israel Katz in a statement.

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