Ta-Nehisi Coates on Kamala Harris’ 2024 Presidential campaign: “And yet… why are we here? Are we here to just act like white men have acted everytime before?” “The struggle means to me not just that we would get the boot of our necks, but that we would destroy the boot, that this would not happen to other people.”

🔴 The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club announced that Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir renewed an order barring families from visiting Palestinian prisoners, warning that their complete isolation enables torture, starvation and “slow killing” away from outside scrutiny. The renewal came shortly after Israel’s Supreme Court ruled the continued ban on International Committee of the Red Cross visits unlawful. The group said authorities have nevertheless continued blocking both Red Cross and family visits, allowing prison abuses to continue without oversight or accountability. 🎥 Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir released a new video filmed inside an Israeli prison cell, taunting Palestinians.

⚡️NEW | Israel’s abuse of imprisoned Palestinian doctors is frightening families away from legal appeals, lawyer visits, and public campaigns, a Drop Site News investigation published with Egab finds. Full report from Ismail Nofal in Gaza is linked below. Key details in the thread 🧵⬇️

⚡️NEW from @DropSiteNews: Israel Is Paying Millions to Train AI Chatbots How to Talk About Gaza. It's Working. Former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale is overseeing an operation posting hundreds of blog posts on behalf of Israel, with the goal of infiltrating artificial intelligence. Story by @nick_clevelands

🇵🇷 “For 128 years of U.S. rule, Puerto Rico has been a colony” Darializa Avila Chevalier, the Democratic nominee for Congress in New York’s 13th District, marked the 128th anniversary of the July 25, 1898 U.S. invasion of Puerto Rico by calling for an end to American colonial rule and declaring her support for the island’s independence. U.S. troops landed at Guánica during the Spanish-American War, and Spain ceded the island under the Treaty of Paris without any input from Puerto Ricans. In 1900 the Foraker Act established that Puerto Rico “belongs to the United States, but is not the United States, nor a part of the United States,” a formula that has defined its status ever since. Congress imposed U.S. citizenship in 1917, months before Puerto Ricans were drafted into World War I, yet residents still cannot vote for president and have no voting representation in Congress. Avila Chevalier pointed to widespread poverty, recurring blackouts, the federal response to Hurricane Maria and the unelected fiscal oversight board known as La Junta, which was imposed by Congress in 2016 to restructure the island’s debt and holds power over its budget above the elected government. “I also support independence for the Puerto Rican people,” she said. “Because after 128 years, it’s the least the people on the island deserve.” 🎥 @DarializaforNY (via Instagram)

💢 Iran releases satellite imagery of Gulf strikes Iranian state media published high-resolution satellite imagery it says documents missile and drone strikes on U.S. targets across the Gulf and beyond. Open-source monitors verified some of the images: 🔹 Bahrain 🇧🇭 : Imagery shows the power substation at a Batelco data center struck, though the data center itself remained intact, Egypt’s Intel Observer said. Iran claims the site is a U.S. military command-and-control and AI processing hub. 🔹 Jordan 🇯🇴 : Imagery shows an aircraft hangar destroyed at Muwaffaq al-Salti Air Base, likely sheltering U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drones, the monitor said. 🔹 Iraq 🇮🇶 : Separate Sentinel-2 imagery from July 19 shows a Patriot air-defense site targeted at the U.S. base in Erbil, with burn marks near helicopter parking, MenchOsint reported. 🔹 Kuwait 🇰🇼 : MenchOsint geolocated a U.S. ATACMS launch site near the Iraqi border where a launcher was hit by an Iranian Shahed-136 drone on July 17, with Sentinel-2 imagery revealing burn marks and secondary explosions. Qatar 🇶🇦 : Iran presented imagery of a damaged warehouse at Al Udeid Air Base as a recent hit on a CENTCOM logistics depot. Egypt’s Intel Observer said the damage actually dates to Iranian strikes in early March and is visible in older Sentinel-2 imagery

💢 REPORT: A new Drop Site News investigation reveals that a little-known nonprofit launched with Israeli government support is building a nationwide network of state lawmakers to share pro-Israel model legislation. Documents obtained under Florida’s Sunshine Law show the State Legislator Israel Caucus (SLIC) aims to serve as a repository for bills on issues including “Judea and Samaria” and other Israel-related policies. The group’s founder says about 75 lawmakers from 35 states have joined and acknowledged that Israel funded its launch event in Washington. The investigation also examines the organization’s ties to Israeli officials, meetings with Sen. John Fetterman and Trump administration official Leo Terrell, and broader questions about foreign influence and transparency under U.S. law. 🔗 Read the new investigation from @matthew_petti for Drop Site News below ⬇️

🔺 Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned Washington after two days of renewed US strikes: “America still hasn’t learned that bullying and breaking promises are no longer cost-free. Let me put it plainly: if you strike, you’ll get hit.” “The Strait of Hormuz will only open with ‘Iranian arrangements,’ not American threats,” he added. Ghalibaf, one of Iran’s two lead negotiators, spoke as the MOU neared collapse: after Iranian strikes on three tankers that defied its designated routes, the US hit more than 80 targets, revoked Iran’s oil sanctions waiver, a move Tehran calls a “blatant violation” of the deal, and struck again Wednesday as Iran targeted US bases in Bahrain and Kuwait.

💢 REPORT | The U.S. has launched another round of strikes on Iran on Wednesday after President Trump declared the ceasefire “over,” accusing Tehran of attacking commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. According to U.S. Central Command, the strikes targeted sites intended to “further degrade” Iran’s ability to threaten shipping through the strait. Iranian media reported explosions or strikes in Bandar Abbas, Qeshm Island, Sirik, Bushehr, Chabahar and Konarak, while other reports also identified Abu Musa Island and Lavan Island as targets. The escalation follows Tuesday’s exchange of attacks, in which the U.S. struck Iranian air defenses, radar systems and more than 60 IRGC naval boats after three merchant vessels were hit in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran then launched missiles and drones at U.S. military bases in Bahrain and Kuwait. Trump also renewed threats to strike Iran’s civilian infrastructure, including power and desalination plants, while saying the U.S. could “probably hit them hard again tonight,” referring to Iranian sites generally. Negotiations are officially continuing, but Trump said he believes they are “wasting their time.”

⚡️ NEW from Drop Site: The Crimson Thread: The Israeli Military Barrier Cutting Off Palestine’s Breadbasket The first 22 kilometers of a planned 500-kilometer Israeli military barrier are cutting off Palestinians from a large swathe of some of the most fertile agricultural land in the occupied West Bank. Story by @maysamustafa

🚨NEW: Drop Site journalist Ryan Grim has authenticated behind-the-scenes messages showing Politico omitted an important detail from its reporting on how the night began that led to the rape allegations against Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner. Before publication, a Politico reporter told the Platner campaign that Jenny Racicot, on the night in question, had been “texting [Platner] about needing her glute massaged.” The reporter added, “That detail didn’t make our story.” Racicot told Jake Tapper during her CNN interview that Platner had “taken something that I said as an invitation” before she subsequently texted him not to come over. Tapper did not follow up to ask what the content of the message was, and did not respond to a request for comment from Drop Site. Politico, in a statement to Drop Site, did not dispute that the outlet was aware of the “glute masssage” text, and said that it would update its reporting if further information arose. According to a spokesperson: “This story is based on extensive reporting and interviews and reflects our editorial standards. In interviews with us and in accounts she gave to other outlets, Jenny Racicot said that she told Graham Platner not to come to her home and that he nevertheless showed up there uninvited. POLITICO gave Platner and his campaign ample opportunity to respond to our reporting and to provide any information or documentation they believed contradicted it. If presented with information that materially challenges our reporting, we will report it.” Platner is expected to drop out today. 🎥 @ryangrim | @esaagar via Breaking Points

🚨 NEW: Israel has responded to a High Court petition over the detention of Gaza physician Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, saying he has been examined several times since being transferred to the underground Rakefet detention facility. Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) said the state failed to explain why the examinations were necessary, what they found, or respond to allegations from his lawyer that he suffered severe injuries and repeated loss of consciousness. PHRI said the response raises new questions about Abu Safiya’s condition. Israel also asked the court to dismiss, without a hearing, PHRI’s petition seeking the release of 14 Gaza doctors, including Dr. Abu Safiya, held without charge. PHRI said the response fails to address their continued detention.

Israeli PM Netanyahu went on CNN today to explain away settler violence in the occupied West Bank. His claims, against the documented record: 1️⃣ “It’s about 150 or so juvenile delinquents.” The UN has documented more than 1,000 settler attacks causing casualties or property damage this year alone, across 230+ communities, six per day, the highest pace ever recorded. 2️⃣ “They’re not from the settler community.” Amnesty found settlement outposts operate as instruments of a state-backed campaign that has fully or partially displaced 117 Palestinian communities since 2023. US-sanctioned settler Yinon Levi, filmed shooting activist Awda al-Hathaleen dead, founded one. 3️⃣ “We do stop them.” Levi was released the morning after his arrest and got three days of house arrest; a year on, he is still not indicted. Yesh Din has documented for two decades that the vast majority of investigations close without charges. 4️⃣ “Our courts are very lenient. I don’t know why.” Netanyahu’s own government has approved or legalized 103 settlements since 2022, retroactively blessing outposts built through violence, and his national security minister distributed guns to settlers. 5️⃣ “It’s not the government of Israel.” Settlement is a project of the Israeli state. The military backs the attacks on the ground: journalist Jasper Nathaniel, has documented the institutional machinery behind settler violence, and filmed IDF soldiers supporting settlers in their assaults on Palestinians. Asked to commit to look into the killing of Saif Musallet, the Palestinian American beaten to death last year by Jewish settlers: “I’m not sure that. I’ll look into it.”

BREAKING: U.S. Central Command says it has begun a series of strikes on Iran, saying the attacks are in response to Iranian strikes on three commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, which it called a violation of the ceasefire. Iran said it manages the strait under the MOU, and any attempts to transit outside of Iranian control are a violation of the signed agreement.

🛢️ OPEC+, the alliance of the 12-member OPEC oil group and 10 partner producers led by Russia, agreed to increase oil production by another 188,000 barrels per day starting in August. The move continues its gradual rollback of voluntary output cuts and marks the fifth straight monthly production increase.

🇨🇩 A drone strike blamed on the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels killed at least 18 civilians, including women and children, in the village of Mulima in South Kivu’s Fizi territory on Friday, local officials said. Fizi administrator Samy Badibanga said health facilities, schools, and livestock were destroyed across several villages, driving a new wave of displacement. Officials blamed M23 and its allies and condemned repeated Rwandan violations of Congolese airspace. The killings underscore how the fighting has never stopped, more than a year after Trump brokered a US peace deal between Congo and Rwanda that handed American firms preferential access to the region’s cobalt, lithium, and coltan. At the signing, Trump said, “Everybody’s going to make a lot of money.” Hundreds have been killed since. 🗞️Reported by Drop Site’s Africa correspondent Godfrey Olukya

🇱🇧 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a high-level security meeting on Sunday to approve withdrawal points for a pilot withdrawal from two villages in southern Lebanon under the U.S.-mediated framework agreement, according to Israel’s Channel 13. One of the villages, Froun, has never been occupied by Israel throughout the war. KAN also reported that Israeli and Lebanese military officers have begun U.S.-mediated talks on implementing the plan. The reported first phase would involve a gradual withdrawal, with Israeli officials reiterating that redeployment depends on the Lebanese Army taking control of the areas under international monitoring. Source: Channel 13 and KAN via Anadolu

🇸🇩 The RSF struck the city of Dilling in South Kordofan with a drone Sunday, killing three civilians per local monitors, and also attacked six villages in Umbaro locality in North Darfur, with civilian deaths, injuries, and mass displacement reported by @sudan_war. Monitors also reported SAF drone strikes and shelling in Kurmuk, Blue Nile, and an attempted RSF drone strike on Omdurman. Drones have caused more than 80 percent of civilian deaths in Sudan in 2026, killing hundreds of people, according to UN human rights chief Volker Türk, who warned Friday of imminent atrocity risks across Kordofan. Dilling, whose nearly two-year RSF siege the army broke in February, has been struck repeatedly since; a March shelling attack there killed at least 14 people, including children, per the Sudan Doctors Network. 🗺️ See map below by @BSonblast