Drop Site News

Israeli prime minister and international fugitive Benjamin Netanyahu is the first foreign leader to be hosted in Washington, D.C., by President Donald Trump. They are meeting in the wake of a barrage of chaotic and conflicting messages by Trump on what he believes should happen in Gaza and the West Bank.Without a doubt, Trump wants to preside over a normalization agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel, though the Saudis have said they will not enter into such a deal without a credible process to create an independent Palestinian state. Israeli officials have made clear Netanyahu wants to push Trump to fully embrace his position that Hamas should be wiped out completely and there are indications the Israeli leader does not want the so-called ceasefire to move to the second phase—which envisions a withdrawal of Israeli forces, further exchange of captives and discussions on a large reconstruction plan for Gaza—or toward an actual rebuilding of Gaza.
All of this happens as Palestinians continue to return to an apocalyptic scene in the north of the Gaza Strip and Israel continues to intensify its attacks against the West Bank. Mouin Rabbani and Dr. Annelle Sheline join Jeremy Scahill to discuss. Mouin Rabbani is the co-editor of Jadaliyya and non-resident fellow at both DAWN and Middle East Council on Global Affairs, and a former UN official who worked as a special adviser on Israel-Palestine for the International Crisis Group. Dr. Annelle Sheline is a research fellow in the Middle East program at the Quincy Institute. She served as a foreign affairs officer at the U.S. Department of State until resigning in March 2024 over the Biden administration's Gaza policy. To support Drop Site News, become a paid subscriber or consider making a one-time or recurring 501c3 tax deductible donation. Get full access to Drop Site News at www.dropsitenews.com/subscribe

In a wide-ranging interview, Mustafa Barghouti, the general secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative, speaks with Drop Site News journalists Jeremy Scahill and Sharif Abdel Kouddous about the latest developments in the Gaza “ceasefire” deal, Israel’s large-scale military operation in the West Bank, national unity talks between Palestinian political factions, President Trump’s plans to persuade Saudi Arabia to normalize relations with Israel, and much more. Barghouti is a former presidential candidate who was elected to parliament in 2006 and has been a leading Palestinian political figure for over two decades. Get full access to Drop Site News at www.dropsitenews.com/subscribe

Sina Toossi, a Senior nonresident fellow at the Center for International Policy and an expert on Iran, discusses the fraught U.S.-Iran relationship shaped by Trump's nuclear deal withdrawal. He highlights Iran's accelerated nuclear capabilities and internal debates on weaponization. Toossi emphasizes the challenges of potential military action against Iran and calls for urgent diplomatic efforts amidst rising tensions and regional alliances. He also touches on Iran's shifting political landscape, especially concerning future leadership dynamics.

In this special breaking news episode, senior Hamas official Basem Naim speaks to Drop Site’s Jeremy Scahill about the Gaza “ceasefire” that went into effect Sunday. Naim said that Hamas intends to uphold its side of the deal—despite claims by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he received assurances from both President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump that Israel can resume its war against Gaza after the first phase of the agreement. “What kind of side deals they have done, this is their business,” he says. “But what I can say here: the American administration led by Biden, we consider complicit—directly complicit—in the genocide.” Naim discusses why Hamas considers the agreement an achievement for the armed resistance in Gaza, discusses the role of Trump in the negotiations, and talks about how Israel sabotaged previous negotiations over the exact deal that was signed this week. Drop Site also asked Naim whether Hamas still stands by its decision to launch the October 7 attacks, given the horrifying death toll inflicted on the Palestinians of Gaza. Get full access to Drop Site News at www.dropsitenews.com/subscribe

An agreement on a deal that will halt — at least temporarily — Israel’s 15-month long genocidal assault on Gaza was announced on Wednesday to scenes of celebration by Palestinians in Gaza. At the time of writing, Israel has not yet officially announced it has agreed to the deal. The terms of the agreement being negotiated are nearly identical to what was on the table last May when outgoing President Joe Biden first announced it. Much of the last minute negotiations this month were around specific details, including sensitive topics such as the extent of withdrawal of Israeli forces, a buffer zone, control of the Rafah border crossing, and whether displaced Palestinians would be able to return to their homes in northern Gaza.Sami Al-Arian, director the Center for Islam and Global Affairs, Zaim University, and Muhammad Shehada, journalist and analyst from Gaza, joined Jeremy Scahill to discuss the breakthrough in the deal and the potential loopholes for Israel. While Trump’s interventions have been “monumental” in making the ceasefire deal possible, Shehada said, there is a likely “gift bag” in the deal for Israelis. Get full access to Drop Site News at www.dropsitenews.com/subscribe

After his victory in the 2024 election, Donald Trump made clear that he wants a deal to release Israeli and international captives held in Gaza prior to his inauguration on January 20. Trump’s public posture has added urgency to what had become a diplomatic process surviving on the weakest of life support systems. The president-elect’s position on the Gaza war is largely in sync with that of Biden’s; Trump’s nominees for key national security positions and U.S. ambassador to Israel are a kettle of pro-Israel hawks, some of whom have openly declared there is no such thing as a Palestinian and no such place as the West Bank. At the same time, Trump clearly wants to proclaim a victory by securing the release of hostages as he resumes office in Washington, D.C. In a new Drop Site News podcast episode, Jeremy Scahill speaks to Muhammad Shehada, a Palestinian writer and journalist from Gaza who has been doing in-depth reporting on the negotiations for a ceasefire and exchange of captives. His most recent piece for the Center for International Policy is titled “The Biden Administration’s False History of Ceasefire Negotiations.” They discuss the details of what is being negotiated, Benjamin Netanyahu’s history of sabotaging a ceasefire and how the Biden administration enabled it, as well as the prospects for a deal before Trump’s inauguration.Our continued work depends on reader support. Your tax-deductible donation will fuel the hard-hitting investigations you won't find anywhere else.Subscribe to get Drop Site's free newsletter at dropsitenews.com. Get full access to Drop Site News at www.dropsitenews.com/subscribe

Joe Biden has just weeks left in his presidency. Israel’s genocidal war against Gaza is continuing at full force. In Lebanon, the so-called ceasefire was one-sided by U.S. design, meant to require only Hezbollah to cease its fire. A UN peacekeeping force official told CNN Tuesday that Israel had committed roughly 100 violations of the ceasefire, including gradually intensifying military strikes in southern Lebanon. After several days of Israeli attacks, Hezbollah fired back what it said was a warning to Israel. And now Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is saying he is going to escalate even further. In the midst of all of this, in Syria, armed opposition forces seeking to topple the government of Bashar Al-Assad stunned the region when they marched into Syria’s second largest city, Aleppo, and encountered almost no resistance from the Syrian armed forces or their allies. That operation was led by the group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham or the Organization for the Liberation of the Levant, which the U.S. government has classified as a terror organization. HTS has its origins in ISIS and Al Qaeda, though the group’s leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani has spent years seeking to rebrand HTS as a national liberation front that is no longer affiliated with either Al Qaeda or ISIS. While the events in Syria unfold against the backdrop of the US-facilitated Israeli wars in Gaza and Lebanon, there are many factors that led to this moment in Syria. On the new episode of Drop Site News's podcast Intercepted, Dr. Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi, a historian who focuses on jihadist groups in Iraq and Syria, joins Jeremy Scahill for a wide-ranging discussion on the unfolding situation. Listen above or on the Drop Site channel on Apple, Spotify, RSS, or wherever you get your podcasts.Before you go: Giving Tuesday is today and we have an exciting opportunity to strengthen our journalism. Right now, every donation to Drop Site News will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to $100,000 by a group of our most dedicated supporters. Whether you choose to make a tax-deductible donation directly or become a paid subscriber on Substack, you'll be helping us deliver the kind of deep, investigative journalism that corporate media won't touch. Help us reach our goal by becoming a paid subscriber or making a tax-deductible donation today.Photo: Anti-government fighters pose in front of an army helicopter on the tarmac at the Nayrab military airport in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on December 2, 2024. Photo by AAREF WATAD / AFP via Getty Images. Get full access to Drop Site News at www.dropsitenews.com/subscribe

Israeli Prime Minister and international fugitive Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a speech Tuesday encouraging his ministers to accept a ceasefire deal with Lebanon. The truce with Lebanon, Netanyahu said, would allow Israel to rearm itself and focus on the war against Hamas and Iran. He also claimed that the U.S. had assured Israel that it would be permitted to resume its military attacks on Lebanon if Hezbollah violates the agreement. The proposed agreement between Lebanon and Israel does not include any terms requiring Israel to end its war of annihilation against the Palestinians of Gaza. Netanyahu’s cabinet voted to accept it, 10-1. Itamar Ben-Gvir, Netanyahu’s far-right minister of national security, was the sole vote against it.Throughout the day Tuesday, as the Lebanese people waited for word on whether their government would accept the deal, Israel pounded Lebanon with massive airstrikes, including fire belt bombings in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiya. The full specifics of the proposal, which was spearheaded by the U.S. and France, have not yet been made public. In his speech announcing the agreement, President Joe Biden characterized the deal as a permanent cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah that would take hold Wednesday morning. He said Israeli forces would withdraw from Lebanon within 60 days. Biden emphasized that Israel would retain the right to attack Hezbollah if it posed any threat to Israeli security, confirming Netanyahu’s claim. Biden also said he is going to "make another push" for a Gaza ceasefire before leaving office.Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Tuesday evening that he welcomed the ceasefire and called on Israel to respect the terms of the agreement and to fully withdraw from Lebanese territory and cease its attacks. But as of publication, Hezbollah had not released an official statement. A senior Hezbollah official told Al Jazeera it doubted Netanyahu’s commitment to a ceasefire and said the movement was reviewing the terms of the final deal carefully.In recent days, Hezbollah has indicated it was open to a truce, including one that did not involve an end to the war in Gaza. “When the enemy fails to achieve its [set] goals, this means we have achieved victory,” said Sheikh Naim Qassem, the leader of Hezbollah on November 20. On this breaking news bonus episode of Intercepted—recorded just before Biden’s speech at the White House this afternoon—Jeremy Scahill speaks with Dr. Sami Al-Arian, the Director of the Center for Islam and Global Affairs at Istanbul Zaim University. They discuss the emerging details of the agreement, its impact on the war against Gaza and what to expect with Donald Trump’s imminent return to power. Listen above or on the Drop Site channel on Apple, Spotify, RSS, or wherever you get your podcasts. Originally from Palestine, Al-Arian lived in the US for four decades and was a university professor in Florida. Some of our listeners may be familiar with his story. Under the George W. Bush administration, Sami Al-Arian was subjected to a decade long legal persecution and portrayed by the Bush administration as a dangerous terrorist and a leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad. He was charged with 53 counts. The case was, at its core, a political attack waged by Bush’s Justice Department as part of a wider assault on the rights of Muslims in the U.S. The legal case against Al-Arian was flimsy, and prosecutors largely sought to portray his protected First Amendment speech and charitable activities as terrorism. At trial, the government failed to win a conviction on any of its charges and years later Al-Arian agreed to a plea deal to bring an end to the legal harassment. As part of that deal, he agreed to leave the U.S.Before you go: Giving Tuesday is just around the corner (December 3rd), and we have an exciting opportunity to strengthen our journalism. Right now, every donation to Drop Site News will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to $100,000 by a group of our most dedicated supporters. Whether you choose to make a tax-deductible donation directly or become a paid subscriber on Substack, you'll be helping us deliver the kind of deep, investigative journalism that corporate media won't touch. Help us reach our goal by becoming a paid subscriber or making a tax-deductible donation today. Get full access to Drop Site News at www.dropsitenews.com/subscribe

With just two months remaining in his presidency, President Joe Biden is moving forward with an aggressive U.S. posture toward the war in Ukraine. On Monday, the administration greenlit the use of U.S. made long-range missiles to hit targets in Russia, a move President Vladimir Putin has stated is a red line for Moscow. Ukraine then proceeded to use the missiles the next day. Israel is continuing its genocidal war in Gaza with daily attacks killing large numbers of civilians. While the administration claims to want an end to the wars against Gaza and Lebanon, it continues to facilitate those very wars.All of President-elect Donald Trump's defense and national security nominees have backed Israel’s war against Gaza. Some have accused Biden of not giving enough support to Israel and several have advocated military action against Iran, as well as regime change.On Intercepted, Kelley Vlahos from the Quincy Institute joins Jeremy Scahill for a wide-ranging discussion on the kettle of hawks assembled by Trump, the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, and other issues.We're a fully reader-supported newsroom, which means our journalism depends on people like you. Find all our reporting at dropsitenews.com, and subscribe to the Drop Site News channel on any podcast platform. If our work matters to you, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution today. Your support keeps us independent and investigating. Get full access to Drop Site News at www.dropsitenews.com/subscribe

Barely 72 hours after his victory, Donald Trump’s team is already taking shape. Our latest reporting reveals that Brian Hook―known from Trump’s first term to be a major Iran hawk―is being tapped to run the transition at the State Department. In a follow-up report, we exposed a lobbying campaign by neoconservatives to bring war hawk Mike Pompeo, who plotted to assassinate Julian Assange during the previous Trump years, back into the cabinet. But we also reported that he is facing fierce opposition internally, and that Trump is leaning against reinstalling Pompeo. This comes as Trump has tapped his daughter’s father-in-law, the Lebanese-born Massad Boulos, to advise on Middle East policy. Boulos says he’ll be traveling to Lebanon to seek a “just and comprehensive peace” and enter into a new nuclear deal acceptable to “the Iranians, neighboring countries, and the US.” In other words, things are quite fluid. The Drop Site News team gathered to discuss what we know about how Trump might handle Israel and what that will mean for war with Iran; who might lead the State Department; and the broader dynamics of the Middle East. We're a fully reader-supported newsroom, which means our journalism depends on people like you. Find all our reporting at dropsitenews.com, and subscribe to the Drop Site News channel on any podcast platform. If our work matters to you, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution today. Your support keeps us independent and investigating. Get full access to Drop Site News at www.dropsitenews.com/subscribe