Become a paid subscriber to gain access to our private Discord server, subscriber-only AMAs, chats, and invites to events. Hamas and U.S. Reach Gaza Ceasefire “Understanding”—Israel Rejects It, U.S. Envoy Publicly Blames HamasDrop Site has been shown the full text of the document. Here are the details.
The below report was compiled by Jeremy Scahill, Jawa Ahmad, and Herman Gill. For the latest, breaking updates, follow Drop Site News on X. Overnight, Hamas and U.S. officials reached a verbal “understanding” on the framework of a Gaza ceasefire, sources involved with the negotiations told Drop Site’s Jeremy Scahill. Drop Site has been shown the full text of the document outlining the terms to which Hamas agreed. Some of these details have also been confirmed by sources interviewed by Al Jazeera and Al-Mayadeen. Scahill reports that the understanding was communicated to Hamas through Palestinian-American intermediary Bishara Bahbah in coordination with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff. Hamas accepted the terms in the document and was told the U.S. believed the framework could work—pending Israeli approval. A senior source from Hamas told Scahill: "We have accepted the Witkoff proposal, 60 day temporary cease fire for releasing 10 living Israeli prisoners (5 at the beginning and 5 [at the end]), President Trump will personally announce the agreement." But before the deal could advance, Israeli officials rushed to the media to kill it. Soon after, Witkoff publicly accused Hamas of misrepresenting the proposal—directly contradicting what sources told Drop Site had been agreed to in private discussions. The negotiations are ongoing. What Hamas Believed It Had SecuredThe 13-point document shown to Drop Site, based on Hamas’s direct talks with the U.S. through intermediary Bishara Bahbah, included the following:
Hamas initially proposed a 90-day ceasefire, then said it would accept a 70-day version to align with the U.S. position. Israel wanted a shorter window. Hamas subsequently told Scahill it had agreed to an intial 60 day truce. Sources told Drop Site that Qatar, particularly in the wake of Edan Alexander’s release, applied pressure on Trump to secure this agreement. As Drop Site previously reported, Witkoff promised Hamas that aid would resume to Gaza two days after Alexander’s release and Trump would call for a ceasefire and negotiations to end the war. Neither of those happened. Trump, according to sources, has been telling regional leaders that he had given Israel two months to accomplish its objectives after Israel abandoned the January ceasefire deal, and now is the time to bring the war to an end. Subscribe to read all Drop Site’s reporting. U.S. Gives Proposal to Israel—Israel Publicly Kills ItAccording to Ynet and the Jerusalem Post, the proposal was delivered to Israel late Sunday by U.S. officials. "The eagerness with which it was killed in Israel indicated a deep fear that Washington would accept it and even try to impose it," YNet reported. Israeli officials reacted with alarm: ➤ One Israeli official told Ynet: “Accepting it is in effect surrender to Hamas.” ➤ Another claimed: “We don’t know what the Americans will say.” The draft—formulated by Bahbah in direct talks with Hamas—was immediately declared unacceptable by Israel. The rejection came before any public U.S. comment. U.S. Reversal: Witkoff Blames HamasShortly after Israeli officials told local media they had rejected the deal, Witkoff told Axios’s Barak Ravid, “What I have seen from Hamas is disappointing and completely unacceptable.” This contradicted what Hamas had been led to believe during talks with U.S. mediators. According to Scahill, Hamas was told the proposal met U.S. requirements and that the next step was for Witkoff and others to work on securing Israeli approval. Witkoff’s statement gave Israel diplomatic cover to walk away. Channel 12 reported that during discussions, Hamas believed it had secured American guarantees for a permanent end to the war. But Israeli officials now insist there was no such commitment. According to the outlet: “Israel insists that the Trump administration stands by them on this matter, and that the American commitment is only to the actual conduct of negotiations to end the war—with no guarantees of results.” This directly contradicts what Hamas understood from U.S. intermediaries. Trump is expected to personally guarantee any final deal, including humanitarian aid and a troop withdrawal, according to Al Jazeera. There is no doubt that the only factor that matters is whether Trump will force a ceasefire on Israel. As history has shown, Netanyahu will do everything in his power to sabotage an agreement. Trump told reporters last night: “We want to see if we can stop this whole situation as soon as possible.” But so far, his envoy is standing with Israel. Also on Drop Site News today: The Massacre of Nine Children of the Al-Najjar Family“I turned on my camera and began recording. I didn’t know yet that the fire was burning the bodies of my neighbors’ children.” Story by Donya Abu Sitta KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA STRIP—On the afternoon of May 23, I heard the sound of intense bombing in the near distance and went out onto the balcony. A large plume of thick, black smoke was curling slowly upwards, lingering in the air for more than 15 minutes. My brothers joined me on the balcony to assess where the missile had hit. There were two strikes on what looked like the Qizan al-Najjar neighborhood—where we grew up.. “It’s the Faris gas station,” my older brother, Hassan said. I turned on my camera and began recording. I didn’t know yet that the fire was burning the bodies of my neighbors’ children. A few minutes later, my sister called out from the next room. "This is Dr. Hamdi Al-Najjar's house—the one opposite the station—and there are martyrs in it." I quickly grabbed my phone to check the news and the WhatsApp group of the neighborhood residents. I got the same horrifying confirmation. Speaking with relatives later, I found out what happened. Hamdi, a pharmacist, had left his home to drop off his wife, Alaa, at Nasser hospital, where she worked as a pediatrician, tirelessly trying to save the children of others. On his way back, a neighbor informed him that his pharmacy behind his house had been targeted in an airstrike. Panicked, he rushed back to take his ten children out of the house. When he got there, the home took a direct hit. "With the second missile, the whole house collapsed, and the children were thrown into the neighbors' house from the force of the blast,” said Tahani Al-Najjar, the children’s 16-year-old cousin. "My uncle Hamdi remained conscious and called the journalist Hani Al-Sha'er, asking him to send an ambulance to rescue them and the civil defense to extinguish the fire." Another uncle, Ali, who was displaced in the middle of Khan Younis, also received a call informing him that his brother’s house had been targeted. He immediately rushed to the scene and arrived before any emergency workers. Ali’s newphew, Adam, was the only child who survived, but he was critically wounded. Ali rescued him and took him to the hospital. Meanwhile, their mother, Alaa, had heard the news and rushed home. By the time she arrived, her husband, Hamdi, had been taken to hospital with severe injuries, while the charred, dismembered bodies of her children were being lifted out of the rubble. Three children had already been retrieved and she watched, weeping in distress, as four more were carried out. When her daughter, Rivan, was pulled out, she begged rescuers to let her hold her body. In total, the bodies of seven of her children were retrieved: Rakan, Ruslan, Jubran, Eve, Rivan, Luqman, and Sidra. The eldest, 12-year-old Yahya, and the youngest, six-month-old Sayden, are still missing. "We coordinated with the civil defense and searched for them everywhere, but we couldn't find their bodies," Ali said. Nine of Alaa’s ten children had been killed. Tahani remembers meeting her cousins and playing together on the swing or singing, especially with Eve, Yahya, and Adam. They had wanted to become doctors when they grew up, just like their parents. "Eve would always tell me she loves me a lot whenever she saw me," Tahani said. They were all exceptional and excelling in their studies. Yahya and Adam had fully memorized the Quran, while Ruslan was in the final parts. Hamdi would sometimes ask Tahani to test their memorization, and they would joke and play together. The family of 12 has now become a family of three, two of whom are in the ICU. The bombing does not stop. Families are being wiped out. The tragedies are unimaginable. The killing is relentless. Become a Drop Site News Paid SubscriberDrop Site News is reader-supported. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber today. A paid subscription gets you:✔️ 15% off Drop Site store ✔️ Access to our Discord, subscriber-only AMAs, chats, and invites to events, both virtual and IRL ✔️ Post comments and join the community ✔️ The knowledge you are supporting independent media making the lives of the powerful miserable You can also now find us on podcast platforms and on Facebook, Twitter, Bluesky, Telegram, and YouTube. © 2025 Drop Site News, Inc. |