Confirmed Gaza death toll tops 62,000, Hamas accepts ceasefire proposal, Trump announces plans for trilateral talks with Putin and Zelenskyy

Drop Site Daily: August 19, 2025

The confirmed death toll in Gaza has crossed 62,000 with at least 26 Palestinians killed over the past 24 hours, including four while seeking aid. Gaza City under siege. Hamas accepts the latest ceasefire proposal, while Israel has yet to issue a response. Gaza fisherman discuss extermination campaign by Israeli government. U.S. to revoke more than 6,000 student visas. Trump and Zelensky meet. Congolese government and rebels fail to meet deadline for negotiations.

On Tuesday, Hamas appealed the UK Home Secretary’s decision to maintain the group’s designation as a “proscribed terrorist organization,” in an exclusive from Jeremy Scahill.

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U.S. President Donald Trump greets Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on August 18, 2025 in Washington, D.C.( Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images).

The Genocide in Gaza

• Israeli forces killed at least 26 people across Gaza since dawn, four of whom were seeking aid, according to Al Jazeera. The Ministry of Health recorded 60 people killed over the past 24 hours, including 31 while seeking aid. Three more people died due to starvation. In total, Israel has killed 62,064 people and injured 156,573 since October 7, 2023, according to the Ministry of Health.

• Among those killed was Palestinian journalist Islam al-Koumi in heavy Israeli airstrikes last night on the al-Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City. The number of journalists killed by Israel since the start of the war is now at least 239, according to the Government Media Office.

• Over the past three days, only 266 aid trucks entered Gaza out of the 1,800 required, with many looted amid what officials describe as deliberate chaos created by Israel to worsen humanitarian conditions. In the last 22 days, just 1,937 trucks entered—less than 15% of the 13,200 needed—leaving Gaza’s 2.4 million people without sufficient food, medicine, and other essentials.

• The UN Human Rights office on Tuesday said that Israel is not allowing in enough aid into Gaza. "In the past few weeks, Israeli authorities have only allowed aid to enter in quantities that remain far below what would be required to avert widespread starvation," U.N. Human Rights Office Spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan told a press briefing in Geneva. He added that the risk of starvation in Gaza was a "direct result of the Israeli government's policy of blocking humanitarian aid."

• Israel’s military leadership convened a high-profile “operational learning” conference Monday at the Israeli forces’ Gaza Division headquarters, with Prime Minister Netanyahu, Defense Minister Katz, and top commanders in attendance. Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir declared the war at a “turning point,” ordering preparations for an escalation in Gaza City under Operation Gideon’s Chariots, while framing the campaign as laying conditions for captives’ release. The carefully publicized event, complete with photos and video, comes as Israel faces its largest nationwide protests since the war began, with demonstrators demanding a deal to end the war and free hostages.

• The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), backed by the U.S. and Israel, has launched a pilot “reservation system” for food distribution that requires participants to be photographed, entered into a database, and issued ID cards for ration collection. Hamas previously banned collaboration with GHF, accusing it of serving as a tool of occupation rather than genuine relief. Rights groups warn the program deepens surveillance and control in Gaza, where distribution sites remain militarized and deadly for civilians seeking food.

• Al Jazeera yesterday shared footage of 10-year-old Amna al-Mufti killed by an Israeli drone as she fetched water. Media outlet Sahat English spoke with her father, who described the day she was taken from him and how Israel also killed her mother and younger brother in North Gaza.

• Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty held a press conference at the Rafah crossing with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa on Monday, and accused Israel of deliberately blocking aid and crippling the crossing’s operations. The Rafah border crossing has been closed since May 2024 when Israel invaded Rafah and took control of the Palestinian side of the crossing. Meanwhile, Abdelatty told The Associated Press that they are inviting U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff to join the ceasefire talks.

• Amid Gaza’s devastation, a grim real estate market has emerged, with war-damaged apartments—charred, collapsed, or patched with tin and tarps—being bought and sold, according to a report in Ultra Palestine. With 90% of Gaza City’s housing destroyed and towns like Rafah and Beit Hanoun leveled, families are opting for bombed-out flats as an alternative to tents or high rents. Sellers need cash to survive or flee, while traders buy cheap, betting prices will rise if a truce arrives. Apartments once valued at $40–45k now sell for $13–20k, often via banking apps, in neighborhoods perceived as safer or less destroyed.

• Zakaria Bakr, head of Gaza’s Fishermen’s Committees, says Israel is carrying out a systematic campaign to wipe out the strip’s fishing sector—once its second most important food source—as part of a wider war on food production. Since October, over 210 fishermen have been killed, ports and fish farms bombed, and 95% of the industry destroyed. Only 450 of 4,500 fishermen can still work, confined to shallow waters where they remain targets of Israeli fire. A new Gisha report confirms: Israel has banned all Palestinian access to the sea, even during ceasefires..

• A “shocking new record” of 383 aid workers were killed around the world in 2024, nearly half of them in Gaza, the U.N. humanitarian office said Tuesday in a statement to mark World Humanitarian Day. The humanitarian group Save the Children said: “The sharp rise in fatalities over the past three years has been driven largely by the war in Gaza, where Israeli forces have killed 173 humanitarian workers in 2025 alone—more than the total number of aid workers killed globally in 2022.”

Diplomatic Negotiations

• Al Jazeera Arabic’s Tamer Al-Mishal has reported details of the new truce proposal accepted by Hamas and allied factions, though Israel has yet to issue a response. Hamas itself has not released the text, and Drop Site has not independently verified the specifics.

• Captives & Prisoners

  • Hamas would release 10 Israeli captives — eight immediately and two more on day 50 — along with the bodies of 18 Israelis.

  • In return, Israel would free 1,700 Palestinians: 45 lifers, 15 long-term prisoners, and 1,500 Gazans detained since October 7.

• Military Redeployment

  • Israeli troops would pull back to 1,000m from the border and 1,200m from civilian areas.

  • Israel would remain at the 1,200m line in Beit Hanoun and Shuja’iya, a concession Hamas accepted to ease famine conditions.

• Mediators’ Role

  • Egypt and Qatar pledged to work against a return to war if no final deal follows the 60-day truce, but this is not written into the proposal.

  • Hamas has also dropped its earlier demand for a U.S. guarantee.

• Deferred Issues

  • Key questions are pushed to later talks: the future of resistance arms, possible Arab/international forces in Gaza, governance of the Strip, and the final terms for ending the war.

  • The only outstanding dispute is over the list of Palestinian prisoners for release, though factions said this will not block the deal.

• Qatari Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Majed al-Ansari, speaking at a press conference in Doha on Tuesday, said that the proposal Hamas agreed to was “almost identical” to Witkoff’s previous proposal. “Almost 98 percent of what has been agreed to by the Israelis was contained in this recent proposal,” al-Ansari said.

• President Trump wrote on his social media platform on Monday: "We will only see the return of the remaining hostages when Hamas is confronted and destroyed!!! The sooner this takes place, the better the chances of success will be."

• In a Channel 4 interview following Hamas’s acceptance of a phased ceasefire proposal, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein refused to confirm whether Israel would accept it. He dismissed mass protests in Tel Aviv calling for a deal, falsely claimed Israel “accepts every deal” despite walking away from the Doha talks last month, and denied the existence of any starvation policy in Gaza. When pressed by Channel 4 about prior ceasefire breakdowns and Gaza’s humanitarian situation, Marmorstein insisted, “Israel did not break the ceasefire… there is no starvation policy in Gaza. Full stop.”

• Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blasted Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as a “weak politician,” escalating a dispute between the two countries after Canberra announced Australia would recognize Palestinian statehood. “History will remember Albanese for what he is: A weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia’s Jews,” Netanyahu said in a social media post.

U.S. News

• At Monday’s White House meeting, President Trump announced plans to arrange a face-to-face meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to negotiate an end to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while affirming U.S. support for European security guarantees to prevent future Russian aggression. The proposed talks would be followed by a trilateral discussion to address a ceasefire, territorial issues, and a broader peace agreement, though it remains unclear if Putin has fully committed. European leaders cautiously welcomed the initiative, urging an immediate ceasefire, while observers expressed concern that pressuring Ukraine to make concessions could embolden Russia.

• Exclusive arrest records obtained by Saagar Enjeti reveal senior Israeli official Tom Alexandrovich was caught in a Las Vegas sting for allegedly soliciting a 15-year-old. Alexandrovich told police he had just met with the FBI and NSA that week and had another NSA meeting scheduled the next day — yet he was quietly released and allowed to walk free without facing charges.

• U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee told Army Radio that Washington will not oppose Israel’s plan for “massive” settlement expansion in the E1 zone east of Jerusalem. Analysts caution the project would bisect the West Bank and erase any possibility of territorial continuity for Palestinians. The United Nations has warned it would “drive a stake through the heart of prospects for a two-state solution.”

• Just days after declaring the U.S. must “take action” to stop the “starvation, and genocide, and destruction of Gaza,” top Democrat Katherine Clark has walked it back—now insisting she wants to be “clear that I am not accusing Israel of genocide.”

• The U.S. State Department told the BBC it has revoked over 6,000 international student visas this year, citing legal violations and alleged “support for terrorism.” About 4,000 cases involved alleged lawbreaking—overstays, assault, DUI, or burglary—while 200–300 were revoked under a broad terrorism provision, though the government offered no clear definition. Critics say the move targets students involved in pro-Palestine activism, effectively labeling campus dissent and criticism of Israel as security threats.

• Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), a close Trump ally, was booed off the stage twice at her first public appearance in months in Plattsburgh, the heart of her district. Protesters outnumbered supporters, holding signs and criticizing her lack of town halls, office presence, and opposition to cuts affecting rural hospitals. Though she was briefly considered by Trump for UN ambassador, Stefanik is now hinting at a gubernatorial run against Kathy Hochul.

• The Justice Department will begin releasing records from its Jeffrey Epstein investigation by the end of the week, after a subpoena from Rep. James Comer’s House Oversight subcommittee. Comer said production will take time to redact victims’ identities and child sexual abuse material. The subpoenas also seek records involving high-profile figures tied to Epstein—including Bill and Hillary Clinton and several former attorneys general—amid growing pressure on the Trump administration over document transparency.

• MSNBC is undergoing a name change. It will be called MSNOW.

International News

• Macron calls for a "quadrilateral meeting" involving Putin, Trump, Zelensky, and European leaders.

• The Congolese government and M23 rebels missed Monday’s deadline to finalize a peace agreement in Doha, raising concerns that rising tensions could derail progress in eastern Congo. Fighting has escalated this year, with M23 capturing the region’s two largest cities, despite a July 19 declaration of principles setting August 8 as the start of formal negotiations. While both sides haven’t fully met preconditions like prisoner releases, Qatari mediators say they remain willing to continue talks, with delegations expected to return to Doha later this week.

• Burkina Faso’s military junta has declared UN resident coordinator Carol Flore-Smereczniak “persona non grata” following a UN report accusing both jihadi groups and government forces of abuses against children, including recruitment, sexual assault, and attacks on schools and hospitals. The government dismissed the report as “without evidence or supporting documentation,” despite it verifying 2,483 grave violations against 2,255 children between July 2022 and June 2024. The move comes amid worsening insecurity in the Sahel, where coups in Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali have led to the expulsion of French forces, reliance on Russian mercenaries, and rising civilian casualties from both militants and government-aligned forces.

• Trump trade advisor Peter Navarro published a strongly worded op-ed in the Financial Times today criticizing India for buying Russian oil and warning of potential retaliatory measures, including halting technology transfers. The underlying hostility may stem from frustration over India’s refusal to reduce protectionist policies and open its economy to greater U.S. competition.

More from Drop Site

• In the UK, Hamas submitted an appeal to a British government commission challenging the Home Secretary’s decision to maintain the group’s designation as a “proscribed terrorist organization,” Jeremy Scahill reports in a Drop Site News exclusive. In a six-page legal filing, lawyers for Hamas argued that Home Secretary Yvette Cooper “acted with an improper motive,” when she rejected Hamas’s April 9, 2025 challenge of the terror designation, saying she failed to give it proper review or engage its legal arguments because of “her support for and belief in Zionism and the Apartheid State of Israel, and/or her related and racist hostility towards non-Jewish Palestinians.”