| Drop Site Daily: August 4, 2026A mass funeral is held for over 100 members of the Abu Sharia and Al-Hasayna families, whose remains were recently recovered after an Israeli attack earlier in the genocide, on August 4, 2026 in Gaza City, Gaza. Photo by Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images. Tuesday, August 4, 2026 – Fire, explosions reported at U.S. base in Kuwait. Cargo vessel hit near Oman. President Donald Trump maintains Iran wants talks with the U.S. U.S. military crowdsourcing “creative” ways to punish Iran. Reuters: U.S. has used up “virtually all” its long-range precision missiles. Ships continue to move through the Strait of Hormuz. Saudi ships avoid Bab Al-Mandab. Ansarallah claims drone strike on Saudi airport. Israel resumes attacks on Gaza. Israeli forces demolish a school, bulldoze land as settlers attack West Bank communities. More than 100 bodies recovered from 2023 Israeli strike laid to rest in Gaza. Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey issue condemnation of Israeli ceasefire violations. Board of Peace claims Israel is set to withdraw only after Hamas disarms, contradicting its own roadmap. Hamas official discusses arms policy. Israel detained 630 Palestinians in West Bank during July, prisoner group says. Hamas Political Chairman Khalil Al-Hayya talks with Turkish, Iranian leaders. Lebanon and Israel resume talks in Rome. Primaries in Michigan, Missouri, Washington state, Kansas, and Virginia. Immigrant dies at Newark ICE facility. DOJ increasingly uses Civil War-era conspiracy law to charge ICE protesters, NPR finds. Twenty-five states sue Trump administration over new Section 301 tariffs. Federal judge strikes down New York’s ban on masked ICE agents. FCC commissioners receive luxury gifts from Paramount ahead of merger. AIPAC moves into the California special election. DRC Ebola death toll surpasses 1,700 as WHO accelerates vaccine, treatment trials. More than 150 migrants rescued from English Channel after boat fire. Russian, Ukrainian attacks kill at least 27. Sudan’s army vows to defeat the RSF by year’s end. Cross-border shelling kills dozens of refugees near the Sudan-Ethiopia border. China accuses Philippines of “political provocation” over cultural programs. This is Drop Site Daily, our free news recap We send it Monday – Friday
IranFire, explosions reported at U.S. base in Kuwait: A large fire broke out at a U.S. base in Kuwait on Monday evening, where several explosions were heard, Iranian outlets reported, though no casualties or damage were reported. Cargo vessel hit near Oman: A cargo vessel was struck by an unidentified projectile near Oman on Monday, the UKMTO reported. Trump maintains Iran wants talks with U.S.: President Donald Trump accused Iran on Monday of secretly seeking talks despite their public denials of Trump’s statements. He also claimed that the U.S. currently controls the Strait of Hormuz through a naval blockade, and said that either a “deal” or “total surrender” would end its naval siege. Later on Monday, addressing reporters in the White House, Trump said negotiations were “going on right now,” and claimed that Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, and “many others” were involved in the talks. He called the talks “the last chance to sign a good document,” and threatened Iran with “decapitation” if an agreement is not reached. After noting that the talks were “not very complex” and would “go quickly,” Trump claimed that Hormuz could be reopened by “tomorrow” and that during a “phase 2” they would discuss “nuclear capacity.” “That will take a little while,” he said. His remarks were echoed by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who said Tuesday a deal to reopen the strait could be reached “today or tomorrow.” Qatar said Tuesday that efforts to reach a diplomatic solution between the United States and Iran are continuing, but stressed that no direct talks are currently scheduled. The foreign ministry spokesperson said mediators are working with “all parties” on a “short-term solution” to revive negotiations. Trump accused Chevron and Exxon Mobil of price gouging, saying they made “too much money” during the U.S.’s war on Iran and demanding that both companies cut prices and return gains to consumers.
U.S. military crowdsourcing “creative” ways to punish Iran: U.S. Central Command emailed a broad group of military intelligence analysts seeking “creative and unconventional” ways to pressure and punish Iran as Washington reassesses a strategy that has failed to force Tehran into a deal, CNN reported on Monday. The “crowdsourcing” comes from Trump’s limited paths to victory, the outlet reported, with U.S. intelligence agencies believing that airstrikes alone are unlikely to change Iran’s position, and that destroying deeply buried nuclear sites could require Trump to deploy ground troops.
Reuters: U.S. has used up “virtually all” its long-range precision missiles: The U.S. military has used up most of its stockpiles of highly accurate long-range missiles in its war with Iran, according to Reuters. The missiles are primarily surface-to-surface weapons, known as Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) and Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM), which cost over $1 million each. The U.S. has used “virtually all” of these weapons, two sources familiar with the data told Reuters.
YemenSaudi ships avoid Bab Al-Mandab: Six Saudi-flagged tankers were detected on Monday evening rerouting around the Cape of Good Hope rather than transiting the Red Sea, as shipping adjusts to Ansarallah’s maritime blockade targeting Saudi-linked vessels. Ansarallah claims drone strike on Saudi airport: Ansarallah said it carried out a drone strike on a “sensitive” Saudi target at Najran Airport, claiming the attack achieved a “precise hit.” In a statement Tuesday, the group said the strike was in response to alleged Saudi drone incursions into Yemeni airspace over the governorates of Saada and Hajjah, warning that “any violation of our airspace will not go unanswered or unpunished.”
PalestineKilled and wounded in Gaza: Over the past 24 hours, two Palestinians were killed and 10 were injured in Israeli attacks across Gaza, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. The total recorded death toll since October 7, 2023 has risen to 73,377 killed, with 174,230 injured. Since October 11, the first full day of the so-called ceasefire, Israel has killed at least 1,252 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded 4,120, while 804 bodies have been recovered from under the rubble.
Israel resumes attacks on Gaza: Israeli strikes resumed in Gaza on Monday evening, after a 30 hour pause. An Israeli aircraft struck a vehicle on Gaza City’s coastal Rashid Street, killing at least two Palestinians and wounding several others. Eyad Amawi, Gaza’s relief coordinator, told Drop Site the strike came immediately after a “Board of Peace” delegation concluded its visit to Israel.
Israeli forces demolish a school, bulldoze land as settlers attack West Bank communities: Bethlehem: Israeli forces bulldozed Palestinian agricultural land in the village of Beit Iskaria on Tuesday, in what local officials said was an effort to expand the Gush Etzion settlement bloc, WAFA reported. The attack also damaged the village’s drinking water network. Hebron: Israeli forces demolished two classrooms and a sanitary unit at Shaab Al-Batm Mixed Basic School in Masafer Yatta. Nablus: Israeli settlers attacked communities south of Nablus, setting fire to three vehicles between the villages of Jalud and Talfit and attempting to torch a building before residents intervened. Tulkarm: Israeli forces raided the home of Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission head Moayad Shaaban in the Dhnaba suburb, interrogated, and threatened that if he continued to call for the formation of popular protection committees, they would raid his home again. East Jerusalem: Israeli authorities demolished properties in the neighborhood of Al-Tur after the owners had previously carried out self-demolitions under Israeli pressure. During the operation, Israeli forces assaulted property owners and other residents, seriously injuring one man in the eye.
More than 100 bodies recovered from 2023 Israeli strike laid to rest in Gaza: Palestinians held a mass funeral Tuesday for 112 bodies recovered over the weekend from the site of a November 2023 Israeli airstrike in Gaza City’s Sabra neighborhood, one of the deadliest attacks of the war. Gaza’s Civil Defense said the remains included 40 children, while 157 bodies are still believed to be trapped beneath the rubble of the strike, which killed more than 300 people. Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey issue condemnation of Israeli ceasefire violations: After 4,059 Israeli ceasefire violations documented by the Palestinian side, the mediators of the Gaza ceasefire—Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey—issued their first joint condemnation of Israel’s continuing attacks on Gaza on Monday. The three countries condemned Israel’s targeting of healthcare facilities and medical infrastructure, and the killing of civilians, including women and children, calling the attacks “a flagrant violation of international law and international humanitarian law.” A Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson told reporters Tuesday that “it is clear to the international community who is obstructing the implementation of the agreement,” and that the recent intensification of Israeli strikes was an attempt by Israel to “obstruct peaceful solutions” to the conflict.
BoP claims Israel is set to withdraw only after Hamas disarms, contradicting its own roadmap: The U.S.-led “Board of Peace” put out a statement on Monday after a meeting between its envoy, Nickolay Mladenov, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that Israeli withdrawal from Gaza would come only after Hamas fully disarms. The statement said that Israeli forces would withdraw “beyond the Yellow Line…once decommissioning is complete,” and that this applied to “light weapons, heavy weapons, and the tunnels alike.” A roadmap previously published by the board, however, said that the disarmament process would begin only after a phased Israeli withdrawal from the Strip, as well as the decommissioning of Israeli-backed militias. The roadmap also limited disarmament to “heavy weapons, military production sites, depots of weapons, and tunnels,” but did not include “light weapons.” Separately, documents leaked on Monday showed that the BoP is advancing plans for more than 60 infrastructure, economic, and “security” projects across the Gaza Strip, scheduled to launch between August 2026 and January 2027, according to Israel’s public broadcaster Kan. Kan also reported that the board pledged to Israel that it would seek countries to receive students and patients from Gaza, in exchange for Israel dropping its displacement plan. Israel had recently renamed the forced displacement plan a “freedom of movement” plan, in an effort to make it more acceptable to foreign governments.
Hamas official discusses arms policy: During a Monday evening appearance on Piers Morgan Live, Ghazi Hamad, a senior Hamas official, said that Hamas’ planned decommissioning of weapons was an “exceptional phase” accepted out of necessity, and that the group has not changed its goal of ending Israel’s occupation of the Strip, to which it might employ “different techniques, different tools, different methods.” Israel detained 630 Palestinians in West Bank during July, prisoner group says: These detentions across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, brought the total number of arrests since the start of the Gaza war to more than 25,000, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society. More than 9,400 Palestinians are currently held in Israeli prisons, including around 370 children, 92 women, and 3,198 administrative detainees, held without charge.
Al-Hayya talks with Turkish, Iranian leaders: Hamas political chief Khalil Al-Hayya met Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalın on Monday to discuss Gaza ceasefire negotiations, Israel’s ongoing attacks, and developments in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, Shehab News reported. Hamas said Kalın praised the movement and the Palestinian factions’ position in the negotiations, called for implementation of what was agreed, and said Turkey would continue supporting Palestinians’ right to live with dignity. Al-Hayya also held a phone call with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. Pezeshkian told Al-Hayya that Iran “stands with [Hamas] and supports [it] in all the measures you take,” according to a Hamas readout, despite the ongoing U.S. attacks on Iran.
LebanonU.S. NewsAt long last, the Michigan primary: Polls close throughout most of Michigan at 8 p.m. ET today, and results in the closely watched race between Abdul El-Sayed and Rep. Haley Stevens will be coming in quickly. In Missouri, Cori Bush is locked in a rematch with Rep. Wesley Bell, who knocked her out of Congress with a then-record-setting amount of money from AIPAC. At 7:30 pm ET, Ryan Grim is going live with Krystal Ball on both the Drop Site and Breaking Points YouTube pages, and we’ll track the results of critical races in Michigan, Washington, Missouri, and Virginia. A key list of races we’re watching in Michigan, where over a dozen anti-establishment candidates are hoping to sweep, is available here.
Immigrant dies at Newark ICE facility: Edwin Lopez-Cornejo, a 41-year-old Salvadoran immigrant, died Saturday at University Hospital in Newark after a medical emergency at the Delaney Hall detention center, federal officials confirmed Monday, marking the second death at the facility in eight months. Lopez-Cornejo’s mother, Maria Cornejo, said her son, who had been prescribed medication for diabetes, told her Friday that he had lost feeling in his face and hand.
DOJ increasingly uses Civil War-era conspiracy law to charge ICE protesters, NPR finds: The Justice Department has charged more than three dozen people in at least 10 cases since President Donald Trump took office last year under a Civil War-era statute barring conspiracy to impede federal officers, according to an NPR review of court records. Those charged under the statute include Minneapolis special education teacher Treasure Thoreson, who was arrested in June over alleged blockades outside ICE’s Whipple Federal Building headquarters, and three Spokane, Washington protesters convicted in May after being accused of blocking a van transporting detainees, a case that led the district’s then-U.S. attorney, Richard Barker, to resign rather than sign the indictment.
Twenty-five states sue Trump administration over new Section 301 tariffs on 60 economies: A coalition of 25 states led by California filed a lawsuit Monday in the U.S. Court of International Trade, alleging the Trump administration exceeded its authority in imposing tariffs of 10% to 12.5% on 60 economies under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. The states argue that these tariffs are a thinly concealed effort to replace levies struck down by the Supreme Court in February, and that the investigation by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that justified the tariffs was rushed, resulting in overly broad hikes. This is the third time California has sued the administration over its tariff policy.
Federal judge strikes down New York’s ban on masked ICE agents: U.S. District Judge Mae A. D’Agostino struck down New York’s law barring federal officers from wearing masks, ruling Monday that the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause bars the state from regulating federal law enforcement activities, while upholding a separate New York law that prohibits local and state police from cooperating with ICE through 287(g) agreements. The Trump administration has successfully challenged similar mask bans in California and is contesting related laws in Connecticut, New Jersey, Virginia, and Philadelphia.
FCC commissioners receive luxury gifts from Paramount ahead of merger: FCC Chair Brendan Carr and Commissioner Olivia Trusty accepted luxury Kennedy Center honors gala tickets from Paramount, with Carr’s accepting gifts from CBS or its parent company worth over $75,000 since he took office in 2017 and watching the 2025 Gala in Ellison’s private skybox, ProPublica reports. Two complaints by watchdog groups demand investigations into whether they violated federal gift rules and ask that Carr be disqualified from the commission’s pending decision on the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger. Both Carr and Trusty previously voted to approve Paramount’s merger with Skydance, which Carr claimed “advanced the public interest.”
AIPAC moves into the California special election: Pro-Israel money is pouring into Eric Swalwell‘s old district, trying to lift Melissa Hernandez over Aisha Wahab, using all these same tired vehicles to cloak the money Through United Democracy Project, AIPAC is now actively spending in California’s 14th district., with a minimum $600k booked. The special election to replace Swalwell is on August 18.
Other International NewsDRC Ebola death toll surpasses 1,700 as WHO accelerates vaccine, treatment trials: The death toll from the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Ebola outbreak has risen to 1,707 out of 3,802 recorded cases since it was declared May 15, making it the second-largest and fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record. The World Health Organization said that trials of experimental treatments and vaccines for the rare Bundibugyo strain, for which there are no approved medicines, are advancing faster than in past outbreaks due to years of advance planning. The response to the outbreak has been hampered by armed group violence, attacks on health facilities, and a funding shortfall, with more than 100 healthcare workers infected and staff in some areas striking over unpaid wages.
More than 150 migrants rescued from English Channel after boat fire: More than 150 migrants were rescued Tuesday after their boat caught fire while crossing the English Channel from France, according to Al Jazeera. Russian, Ukrainian attacks kill at least 27: At least 16 people were killed in Russia and 11 in Ukraine as the two countries continued exchanging attacks Monday and Tuesday, according to local officials on each side, Al Jazeera reported. In Russia’s Krasnodar region, a Ukrainian drone strike killed seven people, including three children, in Arkhipo-Osipovka, and wounded 40 others. A Ukrainian drone strike in the border region of Belgorod killed four people, and a separate attack on Moscow killed five. Ukrainian strikes in Russian-occupied Crimea killed four people. In Ukraine, a Russian attack on a petrol station in the Dnipropetrovsk killed three, including an emergency worker and his eight-year-old son. A separate Russian attack on Zaporizhzhia killed eight people, including two children.
Sudan’s army vows to defeat the RSF by year’s end: Sudanese army chief of staff Yasser al-Atta said the military (SAF) is advancing on all fronts and aims to eliminate the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) before the end of the year, Anadolu reported on Monday. “Before the end of this year, there will not be a single Janjaweed fighter” or “foreign fighter,” al-Atta told a gathering of soldiers, al-Atta said, referring to the RSF’s antecedent group and the group responsible for the nearly two-decade long genocide in Darfur. Al-Atta claimed that the SAF was “advancing in all directions… as happened during the recapture of Khartoum state.” His remarks followed what the army said was a rapid operation to seize Bara and other positions along the road linking Omdurman with El-Obeid in North Kordofan. The Kordofan region has seen continued SAF-RSF fighting since October 2025, when the RSF seized the Darfur capital of El-Fasher.
Cross-border shelling kills dozens of refugees near the Sudan-Ethiopia border: Deadly shelling triggered by renewed fighting between Ethiopian federal troops and Tigray regional forces struck refugee camps along the Sudan-Ethiopia border, according to a statement Monday by Sudan’s Interior Ministry. The ministry said the confrontations, which started over the weekend, caused artillery to land directly within refugee settlements, resulting in multiple fatalities and injuries. Officials did not release an exact death toll, but a Red Cross official in Sudan, Abel Binyam, told Drop Site’s Godfrey Olukya that he saw “over 50” dead bodies. The clashes, near Shererina in western Tigray, were the second major outbreak between the two sides since the 2022 African Union-mediated peace pact signed in South Africa. Both accused the other of starting the fighting, which had largely subsided by Sunday. Hundreds of Tigrayans, including wounded fighters, have fled into Sudan, and Tigray’s leadership has urged its people to prepare “to fight for Tigray’s national survival.”
China accuses Philippines of “political provocation” over cultural programs: The Chinese government accused the Philippines of an “extremely serious political provocation” after the Philippine Defense Department called for greater oversight of foreign state-backed academic and cultural exchange programs, citing Chinese laws requiring citizens and organizations to cooperate with state intelligence agencies.
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