Israel kills 25 journalists in Yemen newspaper bombing, Forced march in the West Bank, Alleged Kirk shooter in custody
Drop Site Daily: September 12, 2025
Israeli attacks kill at least 50 people, 14 from the same family, since dawn in Gaza. Israelis conduct a mass abduction of men in Tulkarem in the occupied West Bank, detaining hundreds and leading them in a forced march. Deadliest journalist massacre in years: 25 reporters killed in Israeli air strikes on two newspaper offices in Sana’a, Yemen. Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon defends the attack on Doha: “There is no sanctuary for terrorists.” Trump announces suspect is in custody in connection to Charlie Kirk’s killing and signs an executive order creating a National Guard “quick reaction force” for rapidly suppressing “civil unrest.” Former President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro sentenced to 27 years in prison for his role in a failed coup. Leaked emails reveal Paramount-Skydance CEO David Ellison coordinated with ex-Israeli military chief Benny Gantz in 2015 on a “Counter-BDS Initiative” involving Israeli intelligence firm Black Cube.
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The Genocide in Gaza
Israeli attacks across Gaza killed at least 50 Palestinians today, including at least 37 in Gaza City and the north, according to Al Jazeera.
Gaza’s Ministry of Health reports at least 38 Palestinians killed and 200 injured in the past 24 hours. Fourteen Palestinians were killed and 143 injured while seeking aid. The total recorded death toll since October 7, 2023 is now 64,756 killed, with 164,059 injured.
Two more deaths, including one child, were recorded over the past 24 hours due to starvation and malnutrition, bringing the total since the start of the war to 413, including 143 children.
Chapin Fay blamed the continued violence and chaos at Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites on the growing number of displaced people, saying the newcomers are disrupting the “self-organized rhythm” meant to protect women. The total number of Palestinians killed seeking aid since GHF took over aid distribution in May is over 2,400.
Journalist Muhammad Nashbat reports that only three traders with ties to the Israeli army control the market in Gaza—driving up costs and limiting access, while aid deliveries fall far short of the minimum requirement of 600 trucks a day.
West Bank and Jerusalem
Israel launched what may be Tulkarem’s largest mass arrest campaign since 2001, Drop Site contributor Mariam Barghouti reports, after an explosion wounded two Israeli soldiers. Israeli forces detained hundreds of Palestinians, with residents describing soldiers “grabbing anyone in sight from inside stores, bakeries, the street, everyone.” Footage from Tulkarem shows dozens of men being marched out on the street at gunpoint.
The governor of Tulkarem, Maj. Gen. Dr. Abdullah Kamil, called on the international community to stop Israeli attacks on the city, citing over 1,000 arbitrary arrests, home raids, and destruction of property, including the home of former Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah. He condemned the actions as part of a systematic policy of occupation and urged urgent protection for civilians and accountability for these crimes.
In addition to Tulkarem, the Israeli military is continuing to carry out raids across the occupied West Bank, including in the town of Beitin, near Ramallah; Beit Ummar and ad-Dhahiriya, near Hebron; and Qusra, near Nablus.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu approves E1 settlement expansion, greenlighting 3,400+ units that link Ma’ale Adumim to Jerusalem, effectively cutting the West Bank in two. UN Secretary General António Guterres has described the plan as an “existential threat.”
Israel’s Attack on Qatar
The United Arab Emirates summoned Israel’s envoy in Abu Dhabi on Friday over Israel’s attack on Hamas leadership in Qatar on Tuesday that killed at least six people. “Any aggression against a [Gulf Cooperation Council] member state constitutes an attack on the collective Gulf security framework,” the ministry said in a statement. It marked a rare moment of rebuke from the UAE, which normalized relations with Israel in 2020 and was the driving force behind the 2020 Abraham Accords led by the Trump administration.
Qatar’s prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani addressed an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Thursday where he said “Israel is trying to rearrange the region by force” but that Qatar will continue its “humanitarian and diplomatic role without any hesitation in order to stop the bloodshed.” He also accused Israel of ignoring its captives being held in Gaza. Al Thani is expected to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington on Friday. Reuters reports Al Thani is also planning to meet with President Trump.
Trump told reporters he doesn’t see Israel’s strike on Hamas leaders in Doha as derailing efforts to free Israeli captives. He said the priority remains securing the release of Israeli hostages.
At the UN Security Council, Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon defended the Doha strike that killed Hamas leaders, declaring “there is no sanctuary for terrorists” and vowing Israel will pursue them anywhere. His remarks came just after the Council unanimously condemned the attack—including the U.S.—though the statement avoided directly naming Israel. Danon repeated the same message on CNN, framing the strike as a necessary warning to Hamas and its backers.
U.S. News
Tyler Robinson named as the alleged shooter in right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk’s killing. The Utah governor’s office said a family member turned him in. Watch Breaking Points coverage this morning for details:
President Trump signed an executive order directing War Secretary Pete Hegseth to establish a standing National Guard “quick reaction force” for rapid nationwide deployment against civil unrest. The order requires Guard units in every state to be trained, equipped, and ready for presidential mobilization. On Democracy Now!, journalist Radley Balko warned the move blurs the line between military and civilian policing, calling it part of Trump’s push for a loyal paramilitary force. He added that, if blocked by courts, Trump could expand ICE and Border Patrol as a de facto domestic army, given their new funding and fewer constitutional constraints.
Leaked emails reveal Paramount-Skydance CEO David Ellison coordinated with ex-Israeli military chief Benny Gantz in 2015 on a “Counter-BDS Initiative,” seeking $1M each from 12 philanthropists to fund cyber tools and hire private intelligence firm Black Cube to surveil and disrupt activists. The archive, verified by Drop Site contributor Jack Poulson and published by Handala, shows Ellison offering help as a “core American supporter.” The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions North American movement director Olivia Katbi said the emails suggest Ellison was “offering assistance to a foreign government to spy on Americans.” Ellison’s Skydance, which recently took over Paramount, is reportedly preparing a majority-cash bid to acquire Warner Bros Discovery. The deal would merge studios, streaming platforms, networks, news outlets, and major franchises into one of the largest entertainment conglomerates ever.
The State Department said it will impose visa bans on foreigners who “praise, rationalize, or make light” of the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Deputy Secretary Christopher Landau announced Thursday. He urged social media users to flag such posts for review, stressing that “foreigners who glorify violence and hatred are not welcome visitors.” The move follows Kirk’s killing during a speech at Utah Valley University, an attack that has sparked bipartisan outrage.
A Fort Worth jury acquitted Raunaq Alam of a hate-crime enhancement in the “Tarrant 3” case, ruling it didn’t apply to his graffiti. Alam was convicted a felony for criminal mischief for spray-painting “Fuck Israel” with three red triangles on the wall of a nondenominational Christian church. The charge entails up to 2 years in jail and a $10,000 fine.
Amazon suspended Palestinian worker Ahmed Shahrour on September 8, hours after he emailed CEO Andy Jassy condemning the company’s role in Project Nimbus and urging colleagues to join a worker-led campaign to drop the contract.
Athena Bitcoin, one of the nation’s largest Bitcoin ATM (BTM) operators, is being sued by D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb for allegedly enabling widespread financial scams. The lawsuit claims that Athena profited from hidden fees, refused refunds to scam victims, and allowed its machines to funnel cash directly into scammers’ crypto wallets, with 93% of D.C. deposits tied to fraud. Read more at The American Prospect here.
Senate Republicans invoked the “nuclear option,” voting 53-45 to confirm multiple Trump nominees at once with a simple majority, bypassing the usual 60-vote threshold. The change, opposed by Democrats, excludes cabinet, Supreme Court, and federal judicial picks, and aims to clear a backlog of nearly 150 nominees.
From Pablo Manríquez at Migrant Insider: Two California Democrats are pushing bills to block the Trump administration from accessing sensitive personal data to aid ICE deportations. Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove’s “LINE Act” would bar Health and Human Services and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services from sharing Medicaid records, while Rep. Juan Vargas’s “Home Together Act” would stop the Department of Housing and Urban Development from disclosing public housing data. Both measures aim to protect immigrant families from having benefits databases weaponized for enforcement.
Democratic Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Jeff Merkley, both members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, published a report on Thursday where they reach the “inescapable conclusion” that Israel is acting on a systematic plan to destroy and ethnically cleanse Palestinians from Gaza. The report follows their trip to the Gaza border, Israel, the West Bank, Jordan, and Egypt. In "The Netanyahu Government is Implementing a Plan to Ethnically Cleanse Gaza of Palestinians. America is Complicit. The World Must Stop It," Van Hollen and Merkley write: "We found that the Netanyahu government has used a two-pronged approach to pursue its current strategy to displace Palestinians from Gaza—the systematic destruction of civilian infrastructure and the use of food and humanitarian assistance as a weapon of war. The goal is, in effect, to ethnically cleanse Gaza of its Palestinian population." The report concludes: "Whether or not Palestinians will ultimately be driven out of all or most of Gaza is yet unknown. The world has a moral and legal obligation to stop the ongoing ethnic cleansing there. Strong words alone will not be sufficient. The world must impose penalties and costs on those who are implementing this plan."
International News
Yemen reports the deadliest massacre of journalists in years: 25 reporters were among 46 people killed after Israel launched air strikes on two newspaper offices—26 September and Al-Yaman—in Sana’a on Wednesday. Yemen’s Health Ministry says 165 were wounded and warns the toll may rise as rescuers continue to search the rubble.
Brazil’s Supreme Court sentenced former president Jair Bolsonaro to 27 years and three months in prison for attempting a coup after his 2022 electoral loss, making him the first ex-president in Brazilian history convicted of such a crime. Bolsonaro, currently under house arrest, can appeal the ruling, while U.S. officials, including Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, criticized the decision. Despite the conviction, Bolsonaro remains a significant political force, barred from running until 2030, with allies pushing for possible congressional amnesty.
British PM Keir Starmer has fired U.S. ambassador Peter Mandelson after emails revealed his close relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The 2008 correspondence showed Mandelson expressing support for Epstein shortly before his first conviction, prompting his immediate withdrawal. Mandelson expressed regret, saying he “foolishly relied” on assurances of Epstein’s innocence.
New satellite images analyzed by Yale’s Humanitarian Research Lab and verified by Reuters show Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) deployed at least 13 long-range “kamikaze” drones near Nyala airport during May attacks on the army-controlled Port Sudan. The delta-wing drones, likely Chinese-made, mark a major escalation in RSF capabilities, far exceeding anything previously in their arsenal.
The Trump administration plans to make a push to reframe the global approach to asylum and migration to reflect Trump's restrictive stance at the UN later this month, according to an exclusive report by Reuters. "Under the proposed framework, asylum seekers would be required to claim protection in the first country they enter, not a nation of their choosing...Asylum would be temporary and the host country would decide whether conditions in their home country had improved enough to return, a major shift from how asylum works in the U.S. and elsewhere," Reuters reports.
On Friday, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a resolution to back the “New York Declaration,” which calls for a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine that excludes Hamas. The declaration, put forward by France and Saudi Arabia, had already been endorsed by the Arab League and co-signed by 17 UN member states. It urges “collective action to end the war in Gaza, to achieve a just, peaceful and lasting settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on the effective implementation of the Two-State solution.” It also states: "In the context of ending the war in Gaza, Hamas must end its rule in Gaza and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority, with international engagement and support, in line with the objective of a sovereign and independent Palestinian State."
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright demanded that EU countries still buying Russian fossil fuels switch to American energy instead. Speaking in Brussels, Wright said Europe should rely on “its friends” rather than Moscow, stressing that cutting Russia’s energy revenues is key to ending the war in Ukraine. The Trump administration has demanded that EU countries impose new tariffs on buyers of Russian hydrocarbons like India and China, and has also pushed holdout countries in the European bloc like Hungary and Slovakia to pivot to U.S. oil and gas suppliers.
More from Drop Site
New article: Gaza City is under relentless Israeli attack, with dozens of airstrikes hitting hundreds of targets, from residential buildings to crowded tent encampments. Nearly one million Palestinians are left with “no safe or viable options,” forced south into overcrowded, dangerous zones, while families struggle with repeated displacement, makeshift shelters on beaches, and skyrocketing costs. The UN and Amnesty International warn these orders are cruel, unlawful, and inhuman. Drop Site’s Abdel Qader Sabbah reports that Gaza’s residents are trapped in a shrinking space, enduring a siege that leaves nowhere to turn.
Global Sumud Flotilla update: Drop Site’s Alex Colston checks in from Tunis, where the Global Sumud Flotilla has made a brief stop on its way to break the siege on Gaza.
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I am exceedingly grateful to Van Hollen and Merkley for their courage in the defense of human rights. Most US politicians have utterly failed in this regard.
Thank you.