gentle butt breeze, esq.

i want a god that stays dead, not plays dead

[Brian Tashman @briantashman]

Zohran did not attack "his Jewish constituents"

He criticized AIPAC, which self-identifies as a pro-Israel group and *not* as a Jewish group

ADL is putting words in his mouth in order to fabricate an anti-Semitism charge and censor speech critical of AIPAC

[Drop Site @DropSiteNews]

🎥 Gaza and the Disarmament Ultimatum

Jeremy Scahill told Al Jazeera that Israel has systematically violated the Gaza ceasefire framework while continuing assassinations and attacks on civilians. He explains Hamas never agreed to disarmament, only to terms ending the acute phase of the war. But the U.S.-backed “Board of Peace” is now conditioning the delivery of life essentials for Gaza’s civilian population and Israel’s compliance with the ceasefire on Palestinian disarmament.

Full clip below ⬇️

@SCClemons | @jeremyscahill

[Drop Site @DropSiteNews]

🎥 Lebanon, Hezbollah, and the Separate Negotiating Track

Jeremy Scahill tells Al Jazeera that Israel and the U.S. underestimated how firmly Iran would defend Lebanon as a red line in negotiations. While U.S. and Israel sought to move Lebanon onto an entirely separate negotiating track through President Joseph Aoun and the Lebanese Army, Iran and Hezbollah worked to tie Lebanon directly to the broader U.S.-Iran agreement, and as a result, separate the United States from Israel.

Full discussion on why Iran made an end to the war in Lebanon a core condition of the deal below. ⬇️

@SCClemons | @jeremyscahill

[Drop Site @DropSiteNews]

⭕️ NEW: Colombian President Gustavo Petro has alleged that Israel interfered in Colombia’s presidential election, citing alleged irregularities in the country’s vote counting process and calling for a full audit and recount.

🔸With preliminary results showing 49.3% for Abelardo de la Espriella and 49% for Gustavo Bolívar Cepeda, Petro noted that neither candidate can be declared president until the official scrutiny process is completed, which under Colombia’s electoral system determines the final result.

🔸He cited changes to the national registry’s server IP addresses, which he said indicate the electoral software may have been compromised. Petro claimed that “the only entity in the world capable” of carrying out the alleged cyber interference is “the state of Israel.”

▪️His remarks come just weeks after French authorities linked the Israeli firm BlackCore to digital interference campaigns targeting elections featuring leftist candidates in France, Scotland, New York City, Angola, and Togo. French investigators have not identified who commissioned the operations.

Petro alleged several additional irregularities in posts on X, including:
🔹 Lawyers being blocked from entering the main vote counting center in Bogotá.
🔹 Unsigned E14 polling forms being uploaded by election authorities.

He called for:
🔹 An independent forensic audit of the electoral software.
🔹 A recount of all polling stations.
🔹 Judicial oversight of the scrutiny process.

🔸Petro also urged Colombians to remain calm and called for national dialogue regardless of the final outcome.

[Drop Site @DropSiteNews]

President Trump today appeared to violate Clause 1 of the memorandum of understanding he signed with Iran at Versailles last week, which commits both sides to “refrain from the threat or use of force against each other.”

In a Fox News interview, he threatened to “take over the rest of the country” of Iran, warned Iran it “won’t have a country” if it closes the Strait of Hormuz, and said Iranian officials “won’t even make it back to your effing country” if they closed the strait.

The Strait of Hormuz nevertheless remains closed for a second day.

[The Hormuz Letter @HormuzLetter]

BREAKING: Iran says its negotiating delegation will not return to the Switzerland talks until Trump personally apologizes for his threats today and Israel fully withdraws from southern Lebanon, with Iran's delegation plane already repositioned to Zurich ready to fly back to Tehran, per Al-Mayadeen.

This comes after Trump told Fox shortly before his Truth Social post that if Iran closes the Strait of Hormuz "you won't have a country" and "you won't even make it BACK to your f**king country," as a direct assassination threat against the Iranian delegation.

[Drop Site @DropSiteNews]

⭕️ Sen. Chris Van Hollen said senior Biden administration officials responsible for U.S. policy on Gaza should not serve in a future Democratic administration unless they acknowledge they were wrong.

“What I’ve said, and I’ll say it again, is that any senior official who was responsible for those decisions who doesn’t very openly and plainly acknowledge how wrong they were and make it clear that lessons have been learned and that they would follow a very different approach… should not have a role in any future Democratic administration.”

The Senator added that Washington has a culture of “no accountability,” where officials behind indefensible decisions receive a “blank check.”

🎥 Sen. @ChrisVanHollen with @NOTUSreports

[jeremy scahill @jeremyscahill]

Trump's former head of counterterrorism: "we must restrict aid to Israel immediately & make it clear that we will not defend them should Iran opt to strike in response to Israel’s attacks in Lebanon."

[Ken Klippenstein @kenklippenstein]

JD Vance says "if everything is Jew hatred, then nothing is Jew hatred."

"It's just not the case that every criticism of Bibi Netanyahu's policy decisions leads to antisemitism or is antisemitic."

"I do think that sometimes advocates of Israel make, or pro-Israel people in the United States make two critical mistakes. On the one hand is not delineating between America's interests and Israeli interests, cuz they're not always the same. But the second is always conflating criticism of a particular government with Jew hatred; because if everything is Jew hatred, then nothing is Jew hatred."

[The Hormuz Letter @HormuzLetter]

BREAKING: Israel is conducting massive airstrikes across southern Lebanon this morning, with 16 people already killed, despite the US claiming attacks would stop due to the new ceasefire, violating the US-Iran MOU first clause once again, per Al Jazeera.

Iran says it will continue to reject negotiations unless attacks permanently stop, Israel permanently withdraws from southern Lebanon and the US implements other commitments, including frozen funds release and sanction relief.

[The Hormuz Letter @HormuzLetter]

BREAKING: Iran rejects Axios new claim that FM Araghchi is traveling to Switzerland Saturday for negotiations, saying no meeting or negotiations will take place and no delegation will attend now or in the future unless Article 13 of the MOU is fully implemented first, per Tasnim.

Article 13 requires the US to first implement an immediate end to all military operations in Lebanon including permanent Israeli withdrawal, issue Treasury waivers for Iranian oil and financial transactions, and release all frozen Iranian funds up to $100 billion. Unless the US fulfills these demands, all negotiations including nuclear remain cancelled.

[Drop Site @DropSiteNews]

🇵🇸📌 UN Relief Chief Tom Fletcher briefs the UN Security Council on the humanitarian situation in Gaza:

➤ “Gaza is no longer currently classified as being in famine, IPC Phase 5, though remains in severe crisis, IPC Phase 4.”

➤ “ [Conditions] reflect movement away from a catastrophic baseline – not the fulfillment of fundamental needs.”

➤ “Today, Palestinians in Gaza remain deprived of the basics that you would all demand for your own families: safety, shelter, clean water, healthcare, education.”

➤ “Despite reduced active fighting, civilians continue to be killed and maimed in daily airstrikes, shelling and gunfire. Since the ceasefire, nearly 1,000 Palestinians have been killed according to the Ministry of Health, including, our colleagues at UNICEF report, more than 250 children.”

➤ “This is what happens when children are described as collateral damage and potential terrorists, rather than humans and potential neighbors.”

➤ “Too many Palestinians are being squeezed into an ever-shrinking strip of land. Their lives are shaped by the indignity of constantly shifting yellow and orange lines that define where they can seek refuge.”

➤ “70% of the population needs proper shelter. Essential services are on the brink.”

➤ “WHO reports that no hospital is fully operational. UNICEF warns that, for 1.1 million children, water remains a daily uncertainty.”

➤ “Sanitation conditions continue to deteriorate. Doctors report a stark increase in rat-bite cases.”

➤ “Shortages of generators, engine oil, spare parts are forcing reliance on expensive alternatives, such as prolonged water trucking and complex medical evacuations.”

➤ “Humanitarians still face continued persistent, deliberate constraints. Our work is attacked through campaigns of disinformation and occasionally personal abuse… Humanitarian access continues to rely on one, at most two, operational crossings, when significantly greater capacity could easily be made available for the movement of aid and staff.”

➤ “Cumbersome approvals and customs procedures, combined with restrictions on so-called ‘dual use’ items, limit the entry of critical humanitarian supplies. For example, WHO notes that at times these have times included prosthetic limbs.”

➤ “These constraints, compounded by restrictions on essential UNRWA and NGOs services, are leaving too much vital support stalled outside Gaza, and our work undermined by shortages of fuel, spare parts, and armoured vehicles and other protective equipment for aid workers.”

➤ “These patterns should be considered alongside the rhetoric from some senior Israeli officials who place political conditions on humanitarian support, despite clear obligations under international humanitarian law. As the Secretary-General stated last week: ‘Humanitarian aid must never be used as a bargaining chip.’”

➤ “Six months into 2026, I must be candid about funding: less than a quarter of our appeal has been met. Behind these numbers are meals uncooked, water not delivered, nearly one million people left without adequate shelter.”

➤ “Civilians cannot wait for a more convenient diplomatic moment to receive the basics for survival. We cannot allow the summit of our ambition and our will to be a world where children have sufficient calories to survive and are spared constant bombing, yet remain hungry, bitten by rats, homeless and out of school. Thank you.”

[Drop Site @DropSiteNews]

⭕️ Doctors Without Borders (MSF) says Israeli attacks on Nabatiyeh in southern Lebanon have turned parts of the region into a “death trap,” with civilians trapped under bombardment and rescue teams unable to safely reach them.

MSF said 25 people killed and 37 wounded were brought to Najdeh Al-Shaabiyeh Hospital on June 19 alone, many suffering severe head trauma, heavy bleeding, shrapnel wounds, and injuries requiring amputations. The organization said some paramedics were among the wounded after being hit while carrying out rescue missions.

MSF reported that many residents had returned to towns across Nabatiyeh just a day earlier, hoping it was finally safe to search through the rubble of their homes. Instead, they once again came under attack.

The organization said ambulance and search-and-rescue crews have repeatedly been placed at risk by Israeli fire, preventing them from reaching wounded civilians and those believed trapped beneath collapsed buildings.

“People are caught under heavy shelling, while rescue teams are unable to safely reach them,” said MSF emergency coordinator Pierre Boulet-Desbareau. “Civilians and first responders must be protected.”

[Drop Site @DropSiteNews]

🚨New: Israeli attacks have continued across southern Lebanon overnight and into Saturday morning, with at least 5 people killed in heavy airstrikes and drone strikes across the Nabatieh and Jezzine districts.

🔹 Three people were reportedly killed when Israeli warplanes carried out two successive waves of airstrikes on the town of Arabsalim, east of the city of Nabatieh in southern Lebanon, at around 6:30 a.m.

🔹 One person was killed in a drone strike on Deir al-Zahrani, a town just south of Nabatieh.

🔹 Another was killed when an Israeli drone targeted a motorcycle at the eastern entrance to Doueir, a neighboring town in the Nabatieh district.

🔹 Israeli warplanes also struck Nabatieh al-Fawqa, Nmeiriyeh, Choukine, Habboush, Kfarjouz, Zebdine, Sajd, and Mazraat al-Mahmoudiyeh, all towns and villages in or around the Nabatieh area of southern Lebanon. Additional airstrikes hit the Sujud and Rayhan heights in the Jezzine district, north of Nabatieh.

🔹 Multiple homes and residential buildings were destroyed, including several homes in Nmeiriyeh and two residential buildings in Kfarjouz, a suburb on the outskirts of Nabatieh city.

🔹 Israeli artillery also shelled Nabatieh and its outskirts at dawn, while drone strikes also targeted Kfarreman, immediately east of Nabatieh, and the Al-Rahibat neighborhood inside Nabatieh city itself.

[Drop Site @DropSiteNews]

🇺🇳 A UN hearing erupted into a public shouting match after Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, demanded the resignation of senior UN official Pramila Patten over a report that blacklisted Israel for conflict-related sexual violence.

When another UN official, Vanessa Frazier, objected and said the findings were based on “verified evidence,” Danon interrupted her, saying: “You will be quiet now.”

The clash comes after almost 1,000 days of Israel blocking independent Red Cross visits to ~10,000 Palestinian detainees and amid mounting scrutiny from UN investigators and human rights groups over systematic sexual violence and torture, among other abuses, carried out by Israeli security forces against Palestinian detainees and children.

Watch the clip ⬇️

[Drop Site @DropSiteNews]

🚨 Despite a ceasefire reportedly taking effect at 4 p.m. local Friday, Israeli attacks continued across southern Lebanon, with local journalists reporting the death toll from Friday’s attacks had risen to 55.

After the ceasefire deadline, Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported continued Israeli artillery shelling of Nabatieh al-Fawqa and Kfar Tibnit, as well as the demolition of several homes in Kounine in the Bint Jbeil district.

Separately, journalist Hadi Hoteit reported continued Israeli strikes on Ali al-Taher hill and upper Nabatieh, including use of white phosphorus munitions, while flares were fired toward the Maydaneh plain near Kfar Rumman.

Earlier Friday, NNA reported that two people were killed in an Israeli drone strike targeting a motorcycle on the Zebdine-Nabatieh road.

The ceasefire, brokered by the U.S., Qatar, and Iran, was intended to halt the latest escalation by Israel. Instead, Israeli attacks resumed almost immediately after it took effect.

[Nada Maucourant Atallah @MaucourantNada]

Very sad to learn that Mona Khalil died after weeks in the ICU following an Israeli strike that levelled her home in Mansouri. She was a very well-known environmental activist and dedicated her life to saving endangered turtles. She stayed in the south despite Israeli strikes because of her love for the land.

She was a civilian, a renowned figure but Israel targeted her house.

CNN profiled her in 2017 here: https://t.co/ZaMRnuS4zf

“I live every day to the fullest and don’t worry about tomorrow,” she told the newspaper.

[Clash Report @clashreport]

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi:

The genocidal death cult headquartered in Tel Aviv is a threat to all of humanity. It threatens all humans. Its only interest is permanent war.

[Drop Site @DropSiteNews]

🇮🇷 Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi pointed to a post by Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who declared “all of Lebanon must burn” after some Israeli soldiers were killed and injured while trying to seize more territory during a ceasefire.

Araghchi said it was “not a rant by a random genocidal lunatic” but a public post by a sitting senior Israeli minister. “The genocidal death cult headquartered in Tel Aviv is a threat to all of humanity,” he wrote. “Its only interest is permanent war.”

[Clash Report @clashreport]

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Lebanon:

The entire first line of Lebanese villages has been destroyed.

We are destroying all the houses. The residents will never see them standing before their eyes again.