Drop Site Daily: August 25, 2025
At least 58 Palestinians have been killed, 308 injured, and 11 have died due to famine in Gaza— all over the past 24 hours. Another attack on Nasser Hospital killed at least 20 people, including five journalists in Gaza—Hossam El-Masry, Mohamed Salama, Mariam Abu Daqqa, Moaz Abu Taha, and Ahmed Abu Aziz—raising the total number of journalists killed in Gaza to 245. Israel widens its assault on Gaza City where it has destroyed over 1,000 buildings, after days of heavy strikes on Jabaliya. Only six hospitals are partially operating in Gaza City, as the Gaza Health Ministry issues a distress call on Monday to protect what remains of health services. Israeli Forces raided the village of Al-Mughayyir in the West Bank for four consecutive days. Israel strikes Yemen’s capital Sana’a killing at least six people. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejects direct talks with Washington declaring the standoff with the U.S. “unsolvable.” Bridge bombings in Myanmar. Kilmar Abrego Garcia was released from custody Friday, after being wrongly deported to CECOT in El Salvador, and he was taken into ICE custody again during his immigration check-in appointment on Monday. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) considers another 6-year Senate term at age 92.
Drop Site’s @ryangrim will be live with the spokesman for the Gaza Civil Defense, Mahmoud Basal, at 1:30 pm ET on Monday. Link here.
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The Genocide in Gaza
- 58 killed and 308 injuries arrived at Gaza Strip hospitals over the past 24 hours, including 28 killed and 184 injured while seeking aid, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. An unknown number of victims are still trapped under the rubble, and rescue crews are unable to reach them. The Ministry also reports that 11 more people, including 1 child, have died from malnutrition in the past 24 hours, raising the total of deaths due to famine to 300, including 117 children. The total death toll has risen to 62,744 people with 158,259 injuries since October 7, 2023.
- Israel continues its mass murder spree against journalists in Gaza. At least five Palestinian journalists, including journalists who worked with Al Jazeera, Reuters, and the Associated Press (AP), were among 20 people killed in an Israeli attack on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. According to reports from Gaza, the journalists Israel killed today are Hossam El-Masry, Mohamed Salama, Mariam Abu Daqqa, Moaz Abu Taha, and Ahmed Abu Aziz. An initial strike on the fourth floor of the hospital that killed several people, including journalist Hossam El-Masry, was followed by a second strike minutes later that killed additional journalists, Civil Defense workers, and doctors who had rushed to the scene. 33-year-old Daqqa was a visual journalist who reported for multiple outlets from Nasser Hospital, including a recent AP story on doctors struggling to save children from starvation
- Israel’s assault on Gaza City killed at least 64 Palestinians on Sunday including 14 struck while seeking aid, as bombardment and demolitions continued to displace residents to the coast. Tanks are closing in on the city center after destroying more than 1,000 buildings since August 6, while Netanyahu vows to “take control” of Gaza City and Hamas rejects further displacement orders saying that “there is no safe place in any part of the Strip.”
- A Channel 12 report reveals that a high-level meeting Thursday between Netanyahu, the Army Chief of Staff, top security officials, and coalition leaders erupted in shouting over plans to seize Gaza City. Political leaders, including Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, pressed for a rapid operation using siege tactics, while Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir warned that forcibly displacing 1 million people would take time, with Netanyahu and Ron Dermer citing Trump’s demand for a swift, decisive outcome.
- Dr. Mohammed Abu Salmiya, director general of Al-Shifa Medical Complex, warned that only six hospitals in Gaza City are partially operating, with children in incubators and dialysis patients at risk of death if evacuation is enforced. He described worsening malnutrition and medicine shortages. He added that the Israeli occupation is using unknown gases, and cases of suffocation reach hospitals daily. Dr. Salmiya called for urgent international and Arab intervention to stop the genocide and humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
- Israel is reportedly planning for the damaged European Hospital in Khan Younis to act as a replacement for Gaza City hospitals as it prepares to seize the city, but Gaza’s Health Ministry says the facility is severely devastated and far from operational. With over 2,000 patients still trapped in Gaza City hospitals, officials warn that an invasion would trigger a “new massacre,” and rebuilding the European Hospital would take months and millions of dollars even under ideal conditions.
- Residents in Sheikh Radwan, Al-Jalaa, and Jabalia Al-Nazla, north of Gaza City, have been advised to cover their faces with water-soaked masks after Israeli forces detonated booby-trapped robots, releasing gases that caused severe breathing difficulties.
- Gaza faces a critical shelter crisis, with a 96% shortfall leaving southern governorates unable to accommodate 1.3 million displaced people. Despite Israel’s claims of aid deliveries, only around 10,000 of the 250,000 needed tents have arrived, and the UN warns that unrestricted access to shelter supplies is urgently required to prevent catastrophic displacement.
- Ansar Allah official Mohammed al-Bukhaiti vowed that Yemen’s support for Gaza will continue “regardless of the cost.” He said attacks on Yemen only deepen their resolve to target Israel, affirming the group’s unwavering stance on Palestine.
Ceasefire Negotiations and Israeli Politics
- After approving plans for a full military assault on Gaza City, Netanyahu is reportedly considering sending a delegation for renewed negotiations, though timing, location, and participants remain unclear, with options including a European capital or the UAE. Israeli officials emphasized that talks will focus only on captives and ending the war on Israel’s terms, affirming that negotiations will not slow the advance of Israeli forces. IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir claimed the military has already met key objectives against Hamas.
- Senior Hamas Official Mahmoud Mardawi told Al Jazeera Mucbasher that Hamas has cooperated with every proposal from the Trump administration, including the latest plan accepted by Qatari and Egyptian mediators, but has received no official response from Netanyahu. He urged the U.S. to pressure Israel, respect the approved proposals, and act urgently to end the bloodshed, starvation, and killings in Gaza. Another Senior Hamas Official Dr. Basem Naim said Israel has rejected all partial and comprehensive ceasefire offers, accusing Netanyahu’s government of stalling while escalating the Gaza conflict with U.S. support. He urged the international community—especially Arab and Islamic nations—to bypass the U.S. veto at the UN. Naim, officials for the State of Palestine, and Irish President Michael Higgins called for nations to unite in an intervention to break the siege on Gaza, get humanitarian aid into Gaza in sufficient amounts, and apply pressure to secure a ceasefire.
- Benny Gantz, leader of Israel’s centrist National Unity party, called on Netanyahu, Yair Lapid, and Avigdor Liberman to form a temporary six-month “hostage-redemption government” aimed at securing the release of Israeli captives in Gaza and passing a draft law on ultra-Orthodox enlistment before dissolving for elections. Gantz has suggested rejoining the government to facilitate a ceasefire and captive-release deal, while Israel plans to consider a phased ceasefire proposal ahead of its next elections in October 2026.
- Holding up photos of Israeli captives in Gaza, protesters in Israel confronted National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir as he escorted his armed son to synagogue: “Look at them! You’re a criminal! A murderer of captives!” He snapped back: “He’s protecting you, draft-dodger!”
West Bank
- IDF Central Command head Avi Bluth ordered raids on the Palestinian village of Al-Mughayyir. Over four days, Israeli forces raided homes, issued threats, destroyed property, and uprooted roughly 3,000 olive trees across 0.27 km² of agricultural land, leaving the village with severe symbolic and economic damage.
U.S. News
- On Friday, the Trump administration ousted Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) Chief Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse, citing a “loss of confidence” after a leaked assessment showed U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites only caused temporary delays, not the complete destruction that Trump claimed. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also dismissed Vice Adm. Nancy Lacore and Rear Adm. Milton Sands, prompting lawmakers to warn that the purge politicizes intelligence, while Christine Bordine was named acting DIA director.
- The U.S. State Department, which recently blocked critically wounded Palestinian children from receiving treatment in American hospitals, questioned the IPC’s famine declaration for Gaza, suggesting the organization may have changed its definition of famine. The IPC has not changed its longstanding definitions or standards. A State Department spokesperson also accused Hamas of promoting a “false narrative” of deliberate mass starvation.
- 92-year old U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley has not ruled out seeking a ninth term in 2028, telling a journalist that the question should be asked in two years. In the event that he steps down , the move could reshape Iowa’s 2028 Senate race, potentially opening multiple GOP primaries, while Grassley continues to maintain visibility through his selective “Capitol Hill Report” press calls and public affairs programs.
- Kilmar Abrego Garcia was released from Putnam County Jail on Friday night, reuniting with his family for the first time in over 160 days after being taken into ICE custody and sent to CECOT in El Salvador. Garcia was again taken into ICE custody on Monday after an immigration check-in, according to his lawyer. Immigrant officials in the Trump administration said over the weekend that they intend to deport him to Uganda. “Today, ICE law enforcement arrested Kilmar Abrego Garcia and are processing him for deportation,” United States Secretary of Homeland Security Krisi Noem said on X Monday morning.
- On Sunday, President Trump threatened to send the military into Baltimore to “quickly clean up” crime, citing the D.C. National Guard deployment as a precedent, while also warning he might pull federal funding for Maryland infrastructure projects like the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Maryland officials—including Governor Wes Moore, lawmakers, and local leaders—condemned Trump’s threats as illegal, politically motivated, and counterproductive, noting that Baltimore’s crime rates have already declined and emphasizing the need for collaboration rather than military overreach.
- US Senator Jeanne Shaheen condemned Israel for starving Gaza, saying that civilians are dying “because they are systematically being starved to death, because Israel is refusing to allow in the humanitarian aid that people need to keep alive.” She added that the man-made famine in Gaza is a “shameful black mark on humanity.” Speaking from Amman, she criticized Netanyahu’s government for obstructing aid deliveries and admitted that the U.S. Congress has failed to act sufficiently to address the crisis.
International News
- Israeli warplanes struck Sanaa with about 30 munitions on Sunday, hitting the presidential palace, power plants, a fuel site, and a gas station, killing 6 and wounding 86, while shaking homes and shattering windows, according to Yemen’s Health Ministry. Israel claimed it targeted Houthi “military infrastructure.” Ansar Allah (the Houthis) condemned the attacks as indiscriminate, vowed continued operations in solidarity with Gaza, and framed the strikes as evidence of Israel’s brutality.
- Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz threatened Yemen with a “plague of the firstborn,” invoking Biblical imagery, following airstrikes on Sana’a that targeted power plants and civilians. Katz framed Israel’s next actions as mass, indiscriminate punishment, extending the same genocidal rhetoric used in Gaza to Yemen.
- Trump’s Special Envoy for Syria, Tom Barrack, met with Netanyahu in Jerusalem after talks with Israeli officials, including with Ron Dermer and Israel Katz. Barrack reportedly pressed Israel to curb airstrikes in Lebanon and advance U.S.-mediated negotiations in southern Syria while urging Israel to accept a roadmap in which Hezbollah would disarm by the end of the year in exchange for a halt to Israeli operations and withdrawal from southern Lebanon. Lebanon’s cabinet supports the plan, though Hezbollah rejects disarmament.
- Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejected direct talks with Washington, calling the standoff “unsolvable,” and framed U.S. actions—including strikes on nuclear sites during June’s war with Israel—as proof of American hostility. His remarks, urging unity behind President Pezeshkian, come as European powers weigh triggering UN sanctions before an October deadline, with Tehran signaling it will negotiate with Europe but not the US.
- A new report finds that Haiti’s business elites have seized unprecedented control of the state, with both the presidency and prime minister’s office now under private sector influence. Meanwhile, Haiti’s business elite faces rising international scrutiny over corruption and gang financing, even as they pour money into lobbying Washington to recast themselves as credible leaders.
- In a recent discussion with Pakistani Americans, the American Special Presidential Envoy for Special Missions Richard Grenell once again urged the release of imprisoned Pakistani former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
- Myanmar’s military junta claimed that anti-coup groups bombed and destroyed the historic Gokteik Bridge, once the world’s highest railway trestle, amid ongoing civil war. The Ta’ang National Liberation Army denied responsibility, saying the junta’s own drone strikes caused the damage, as heavy fighting continues in nearby towns of Nawnghkio and Kyaukme.
- Pakistani FM Ishaq Dar wrapped up a landmark 36-hour visit to Bangladesh—the first in over a decade—meeting top officials and civil society leaders to advance bilateral ties. The trip concluded with six agreements spanning visas, trade, media, cultural exchange, and institutional cooperation, which Dar hailed as a reaffirmation of both countries’ resolve to deepen relations.
- Over 10,000 people rallied in Copenhagen on Sunday demanding an end to Israel’s actions in Gaza and calling on Denmark to recognize Palestine, with families, activists, and over 100 supporting groups—including prominent activist Greta Thunberg—filling the square outside parliament. Despite widespread protest, Denmark’s government has condemned Israel’s war on Gaza in statements but ruled out recognizing Palestine in the near term.
- Due to his past criticism of Israel and support for boycott efforts, Israel has blocked Barcelona’s Mayor Jaume Collboni from entering the country, revoking his visa hours before his scheduled flight to Tel Aviv. Collboni condemned the ban as a “hostile act” against a delegation seeking dialogue with Palestinian leaders, while Spain’s Foreign Ministry lodged a formal protest, highlighting it as part of a broader pattern of Israel barring European politicians.
- Around 25,000 people rallied in Perth on Sunday as part of one of Australia’s largest nationwide pro-Palestine demonstrations, with organizers estimating 300,000 participants across the country, including over 100,000 in Sydney. Protesters called for sanctions on Israel, an end to the Gaza blockade, and accountability for ongoing civilian deaths from famine and bombardment.
- The United Methodist Church (UMC) will divest from Israeli bonds and from other governments maintaining illegal military occupations, making it the first church in the world to make such a pledge.
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