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Apr 28 9 tweets 5 min read Read on X
REPORT: Biden Officials Admit They Never Pressured Israel for Ceasefire, as Israeli Leaders Boast of Playing Washington

“God did the State of Israel a favor that Biden was the president during this period… We fought [in Gaza] for over a year and the administration never came to us and said, ‘ceasefire now.’ It never did. And that’s not to be taken for granted.”
—Former Israeli ambassador Michael Herzog:

A sweeping Israeli Channel 13 investigation has exposed the Biden administration’s complicity in Israel’s 19-month war on Gaza. Nine top Biden officials acknowledged avoiding real pressure on Israel—even as the death toll surpassed 30,000. Israeli leaders openly bragged they dragged out the war, playing for time until Donald Trump’s return.

Former National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Ambassador Tom Nides, and others defended their unwavering support for Israel—even as they admitted enabling a campaign one U.S. aide described as “killing and destroying for the sake of killing and destroying.”

Here’s what the investigation revealed: 🧵⬇️Image
1. “Killing and Destroying for the Sake of Killing and Destroying”

➤ Ilan Goldenberg, a senior national security aide, described the war’s aimlessness: “If they’re never going to do this, it doesn’t matter what the outcome is, Hamas is still going to control Gaza. You’re just killing and destroying for the sake of killing and destroying. But you’re not building an alternative.”
➤ U.S. officials pushed a post-war plan modeled on the anti-ISIS campaign, proposing that Arab states temporarily secure Gaza—but Netanyahu blocked it, refusing any role for the Palestinian Authority.
➤ Far-right Israeli ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich openly pushed for reoccupying Gaza and rebuilding settlements. Netanyahu refused to advance alternatives, keeping the door open to their demands.Image
2. “We Fought for Over a Year and the Administration Never Said ‘Ceasefire Now’”

➤ Israeli officials were blunt about the benefits of Biden’s passivity. Former ambassador Michael Herzog declared:
“God did the State of Israel a favor that Biden was the president during this period, because it could have been much worse. We fought [in Gaza] for over a year and the administration never came to us and said, ‘ceasefire now.’ It never did. And that’s not to be taken for granted.”
➤ Biden aides privately admitted Netanyahu was dragging out the war. “He’s undercutting it every step of the way,” said Goldenberg. “All the security people are coming out and saying it.”
➤ He also revealed there were internal discussions in Washington about Biden giving a speech to pressure Israel politically, possibly triggering new elections there—but Biden backed off.Image
3. U.S. Covered for Israeli War Crimes and Blocked Aid Report

➤ State Department adviser Stacy Gilbert resigned after being cut out of the process of drafting a legally required arms compliance report.
➤ The final version cleared Israel of violating U.S. law—despite overwhelming evidence of aid obstruction. Gilbert called it “shocking in its mendacity,” adding: “Everyone knows that is not true.”
➤ Even as settlers looted Gaza-bound trucks and Israel blocked humanitarian aid, Biden certified compliance—and kept weapons flowing.Image
4. Netanyahu Sabotaged Captives Release Talks to Prolong the War

➤ Biden officials revealed that Netanyahu deliberately tanked negotiations, fearing a deal would force him to end the war.
➤ American-Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin was scheduled for release the day he was executed. Amos Hochstein confirmed: “There’s no doubt… those hostages would be alive.”
➤ Netanyahu’s public campaign to retain control over Gaza’s Philadelphi Corridor was viewed by Biden officials as a smokescreen to kill the deal.Image
5. Biden Backed Israel Even After Netanyahu Publicly Undermined & Insulted Him

➤ Biden once told Netanyahu he was “full of shit,” and hung up the phone mid-call. But as Ambassador Tom Nides put it: “Biden saw [Netanyahu] as a manipulator, a magician… But he stood by him through the end.”

➤ In May 2024, Biden announced he was pausing a shipment of 2,000-lb bombs over concerns about their use in Gaza. Days later, Netanyahu accused the U.S. of freezing broader arms deliveries—reportedly pausing Biden’s plans to restore the paused shipment.Image
6. Saudi Deal Collapsed Because Israel Refused to Make Any Concessions

➤ Biden officials described how a U.S.-Saudi normalization deal—coupled with defense and economic pacts—was nearly complete. But it required Israel to accept a “political horizon” for Palestinians.
➤ Dan Shapiro, former deputy assistant secretary of defense, explained: “We always understood that the Israeli government depended on far-right ministers who would try to block that commitment… that might require an election or a coalition shuffle.”
➤ Former U.S. ambassador Jack Lew called Israel’s refusal to engage “kind of shocking.”
➤ Amos Hochstein said: “I don’t understand the decision not to grab that opportunity as the most important strategic move Israel can make.”
➤ Herzog claimed Netanyahu deliberately stalled, hoping Trump would return to office and take credit: “It was my understanding that Trump preferred for the deal to wait until he got into office so that he’d be the one to do it.”Image
Clarification: Negotiators were discussing adding American-Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin to the release list on the same day he was executed. He was not yet formally “scheduled” for release. Amos Hochstein said: “There’s no doubt… those hostages would be alive.”
The full investigation in Hebrew is available here:

13tv.co.il/item/news/hama…

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More from @DropSiteNews

Jun 2
New report for @DropSiteNews by @MariamBarghouti 🧵🔽

1/ After October 7, 2023, the Israeli prison system entered its deadliest period in history.

At least 70 Palestinian detainees have been confirmed killed through torture, systemic starvation, or the deliberate denial of medical care. Significant numbers have been forcibly disappeared, their whereabouts unknown.Image
2/ Wael Jaghoub, a leader in the Palestinian prisoners’ movement, spent 30 years in Israeli prisons. Released earlier this year, he was rearrested in May.

“Israel is intentionally starving detainees,” he told Drop Site. “Within months, detainees were losing 20 to 25 kilos.”Image
3/ Inside 19 prisons and military detention camps, beatings, starvation, denial of sunlight and water, and the spread of diseases like scabies have become standard practice.

“It’s hard to fully explain the torture, but it was exhaustive,” Mohammad Ibdah told Drop Site. “They used all methods that wouldn’t even cross your human mind.”Image
Read 6 tweets
Jun 1
BREAKING: Israeli forces today demolished the Noura Al-Kaabi Dialysis Center, part of the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza.

The center was a vital lifeline for kidney patients in northern Gaza with Dr. Marwan Sultan of the Indonesian Hospital saying more than 180 patients in northern Gaza depended on regular dialysis there three times a week.

The center had completely ceased operations after being destroyed earlier in the war, but relaunched in August 2024 following a reconstruction project supported by the Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS).

In April 2025, the World Health Organization reported that six out of seven dialysis centers in Gaza had already been destroyed. The demolition of the Noura Al-Kaabi Center now makes it all seven.

Today, only a handful of partially functioning hospitals are able to provide limited dialysis services for the over 1,000 kidney failure patients across Gaza requiring ongoing care. The chart attached shows their names, the number of working machines, and the weekly dialysis sessions.

Treatments have been drastically reduced, with patients receiving fewer and shorter sessions — sharply increasing the risk of severe complications and death.

According to Dr. Yousef Abu Rish of Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 400 kidney failure patients have died due to the destruction of dialysis machines and the collapse of treatment capacity.Image
Images from reconstruction project before the center re-launched in August 2024. Image
Image
A chart shared by the Ministry of Health in Gaza shows how kidney patients are now receiving treatment: Image
Image
Read 6 tweets
Jun 1
🚨 BREAKING at @DropSiteNews: 15 Killed, 50 Injured at GHF Aid Site Where Israel Had Previously Massacred 15 Rescue Workers

Israeli forces opened fire today near a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) aid distribution site in Tal al-Sultan, west of Rafah, killing at least 15 Palestinians and injuring more than 50 others, according to Al Jazeera Arabic.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) had announced the opening of the new distribution center earlier today — its fourth heavily militarized “Secure Distribution Site.”

Three sites have been set up in Rafah in southern Gaza, and one in central Gaza. None have been established in the north (including Gaza City), where, according to the IDF’s own estimates, around one million Palestinians still reside. (Times of Israel)

In a statement published on Facebook just hours ago, the GHF said that on Saturday, June 1, “it will have only one active distribution site, which is the Tel al-Sultan site…. located west of Rafah, near the Sultan roundabout. All other sites will be closed.”

The statement continues: “We invite only the residents of the Al-Barouk neighborhood to come to the site starting at 5:00 AM.

The safe passage leading to the Tel al-Sultan site will be via Al-Rashid Street. The Israeli Defense Forces will be present in the area to secure the passage.

It is forbidden to use the passage before 5:00 AM, as we have been informed by the army that it will be active in the area before and after the designated safe hours.

We remind all residents to stay on the road — leaving the road poses a great danger.

We remind everyone to be patient and note that only one box is allowed per family.

If anyone tries to take more than one box or steal boxes from others, the site will be closed. If people try to storm the site, it will also be closed.”

This new site was established in the same neighborhood where Israeli forces killed 15 Palestinian paramedics and emergency workers in late March, bulldozing their bodies and ambulances into a mass grave while they were on a rescue mission.

Jonathan Whittall (@_jwhittall), Head of Office a.i. for UN OCHA oPt, who had accompanied Palestinian Red Crescent teams on a mission to retrieve the bodies of some of the paramedics, described it a “grotesque symbol of how life, and that which sustains it, is being both erased and controlled in Gaza.”

Drop Site will be following this breaking story and sharing updates as they come in. More context on Gaza’s engineered humanitarian collapse in the thread below. 🧵⬇️
Image
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I. Surviving the “Gaza Inhumanitarian Foundation”

GHF claims the new center distributed 28,800 food parcels today, amounting to more than 1.6 million meals. It also claims to have delivered a total of 3.8 million meals since launching operations on May 26, 2025. No independent organizations have been able to verify GHF’s claims and locals say those numbers are simply not true.

But even going by GHF’s own count, the U.S.-Israeli replacement for established UN and NGO channels has provided less than two meals per person over the course of a week to each of the two million Palestinians in Gaza. 80 days after the United States and Israel began starving them under a total siege.

Amjad Shawa, Director of the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network, told Al Jazeera that no GHF parcels have made their way to Gaza City or the northern governorate. On Al Jazeera’s broadcast earlier today, Shawa derisively referred to GHF as the “Gaza Inhumanitarian Foundation” and said the organization is “misleading the international community” about its numbers.” The parcels, Shawa said, are only enough for a family of five for 2–3 days — not 5.5 days, as GHF has claimed publicly.

Al Jazeera, citing local sources, reported that at least two Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded this morning while trying to access aid at the GHF site in Rafah. One man, speaking to Sahat English, described the violence at the GHF distribution hub:

“The same people who distributed aid opened fire on us. A bite of food soaked in blood. It’s either you die or your child dies.”

Another man said he managed only to “scrape together leftovers off the ground” to feed his family. “The strong take everything and the weak are left with nothing,” he added.

A woman, describing the crowd of an estimated 50,000 people, said it felt “like judgment day — chaos everywhere,” and added that “there’s no flour, no rice, no aid, no organization.”

For many, the process was one of humiliation and desperation — not humanitarian relief, with the scale of deprivation clear on the ground.

Twelve-year-old Rahaf Abu Arar returned empty-handed after being crushed in the crowd at a GHF aid site. Her 19-year-old brother was killed in an Israeli bombing earlier in the genocide, and her 3-month-old baby brother, she said, died recently of malnutrition.

“I’m the oldest now. I provide for the household. I came back with nothing but cartons,” she told journalist Samer Alboji. “We came today because of extreme hunger.”

Recipients of GHF parcels have reported that the boxes contain dry goods such as rice, flour, canned beans, pasta, olive oil, biscuits, and sugar — but no clean water and no fuel to cook with.

A very limited amount of aid has entered through established channels (more on that below). But, Eri Kaneko, spokesperson for the U.N. humanitarian affairs office, told Reuters that COGAT (the Israeli Ministry of Defense body that handles all Israeli control over humanitarian access, aid deliveries, and civilian affairs in Gaza) has severely restricted the entry of food:

“Israeli authorities have not allowed us to bring in a single ready-to-eat meal. The only food permitted has been flour for bakeries. Even if allowed in unlimited quantities, which it hasn’t been, it wouldn’t amount to a complete diet for anyone.”

GHF notes that each of its food parcels contains 1,750 calories — which is well below the World Health Organization’s standard of 2,100 calories per person per day.

On Friday, only one of GHF’s four aid sites in Gaza opened for distribution. It operated for less than an hour before GHF announced on Facebook that it had closed because all its supplies had been “fully distributed.”
II. Manufactured Chaos: Lootings and UN Access Restricted

The UN says continued Israeli attacks and the lack of safe routes have made it nearly impossible to move aid into Gaza. On Friday, only five truckloads of cargo were picked up on the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom crossing, while 60 trucks were forced to turn back due to intense Israeli hostilities.
The UN confirmed that for three consecutive days prior, Israeli forces denied all UN requests to collect aid from Kerem Shalom.

About 700 truckloads of aid are stuck on the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom crossing, unable to reach warehouses or civilians in need.

COGAT deflected blame onto the U.N. for failing to collect them, but the U.N. notes Israeli forces have repeatedly denied all access requests — without explanation.

The UN also says Israeli authorities have failed to offer any safer alternative routes, instead forcing convoys to use unsecured roads where insecurity and looting are rampant.

“They are not making it easy for us to deliver humanitarian goods,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said. He dismissed Israeli accusations that the UN was not doing its job.

On Saturday, the World Food Programme (WFP) reported that 77 trucks carrying aid — primarily flour — were looted by desperate civilians in southern and central Gaza. Witnesses told the Associated Press that a UN convoy was stopped at a makeshift roadblock and offloaded by thousands of civilians, some even using forklifts to unload pallets.

Five trucks carrying medical aid managed to reach the warehouses of a field hospital this week— but shortly after, “a group of armed individuals stormed the warehouses… looting large quantities of medical equipment, supplies, medicines, and nutritional supplements that were intended for malnourished children,” Dujarric said.

Dujarric said Israel is forcing convoys to use unsecured roads through Israeli-controlled eastern Rafah and Khan Younis, where armed gangs are active. The UN documented four separate looting incidents in three days at the end of May, not including the mass looting Saturday, according to a document reviewed by the AP.

Corinne Fleischer, the U.N. World Food Programme’s regional director, noted that “to prevent chaos, aid must flow in steadily.” She added: “When people know food is coming, desperation turns to calm.”
Read 6 tweets
May 29
Sarajevo | Gaza Tribunal
Public Assembly – Day 3 Highlights 🧵

Day 3 in Sarajevo featured testimony on genocide, dehumanization, cultural erasure, and resistance—presented by scholars, legal experts, and activists including Ilan Pappé, Omar Barghouti, Raz Segal, Maya Wind, Sami Al-Arian, Ussama and Sari Makdisi, @AssalRad, and others.

Here’s a thread of key moments and testimony from the day, starting with Dr. Ilan Pappé, Israeli historian and author of The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, who addressed Europe’s complicity, and potential power, in halting Israel’s genocidal campaign.

🎤 Ilan Pappé: “Even if American policy doesn't change tomorrow, a dramatic change in the position of the EU and of Britain can bring an immediate stop to the genocide in Gaza. It's not going to bring the liberation of Palestine… but if we are looking for urgent measure to stop the killing, the massive killing... Europe can play a far more active and decisive role.”

———

The Gaza Tribunal is a civil society-led people’s tribunal to investigate and document Israel’s genocide in Gaza, modeled after tribunals like the Russell Tribunal on Vietnam and Palestine. It aims to hold states accountable where international institutions have failed.
“The Palestinians became invisible to the Europeans… Their suffering is very well known, but it’s not leading to any serious contemplation.”

“Without rethinking the Zionist project as a whole, Europe will not take a tough action against Israel.”

“I don’t remember a time in history when Western European politicians were of such low caliber—totally self-centered, totally committed to one mission in life: to be re-elected.”

Dr. Ilan Pappé argues that Europe is not a bystander to Israel’s war on Gaza—it is a pillar upholding it. He says Israel must be seen as part of the Western European political order, not outside of it, and judged by the same standards. And Palestinians remain invisible in Europe, not because their suffering is hidden, but because elites refuse to confront Zionism itself.
Turkish philosopher, Ayhan Çitil:

“So I believe that there is another war that is already going on and should go on… This war started with Gaza, and it will not end until we change the world order for a better one.

The aim of this war is to develop a new intellectual and moral framework to work out a new and better world order where no such genocide ever happen again, and if anyone dares commit such crimes, moral and political actors like us take the initiative to stop them as soon as possible.
Read 10 tweets
May 27
Sarajevo Gaza Tribunal
Public Assembly Day 1 – Highlights

The Gaza Tribunal, a civil society-led “people’s tribunal,” opened its first public session in Sarajevo on May 26, 2025. It seeks to document Israeli war crimes in Gaza and address the failures of international institutions to deliver justice.

The event began with remarks from Richard Falk, former UN Special Rapporteur and professor emeritus of international law at Princeton.

Falk said:
“It has become obvious that the UN lacks the capacity to override the genocidal support provided by the United States. The @gazatribunal draws on the legacy of the Russell Tribunal and the Iraq War Tribunal.”
Falk called the tribunal “a response to the failure of organized international society to enforce international law and hold perpetrators accountable.”

The UN has been blocked by the complicity of North American and European democracies,” he added.
Professor Penny Green at the Gaza Tribunal: “We are at a crossroads today. The media will tell you this is a humanitarian crisis. It is not; it is a crisis made by monsters.”

Green is the Professor of Law and Globalization at Queen Mary University, London and a leading expert on state crime, Penny Green addressed the opening session of the Gaza Tribunal in Sarajevo, where she serves on the Steering Committee.
Read 11 tweets
May 26
🚨Hamas and U.S. Reach Gaza Ceasefire “Understanding”—Israel Rejects It, U.S. Envoy Publicly Blames Hamas

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 @JeremyScahill. 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 Drop Site’s Jeremy 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.

Here are the details: 🧵⬇️Image
1. What Hamas Believed It Had Secured

The 13-point document shown to Drop Site, based on Hamas’s direct talks with the U.S. through intermediary Bishara Bahbah, included the following:

➤⁠ A 70-day ceasefire.

➤⁠ The release of 10 living Israeli captives in two batches, half on the first day and the other on the last day. Hamas would also release the bodies of 16 deceased captives. Hamas said it needed a two-week window to locate all burial sites.

➤⁠ A personal, public guarantee from Trump, committing to the ceasefire and the pull back of Israeli forces to their March 2 positions.

➤⁠ The resumption of unrestricted aid, including food, fuel, medicine, housing materials and construction equipment.

➤⁠ A cessation of all Israeli military operations, including surveillance activities. A cessation of all armed activities by Palestinian resistance groups.

➤⁠ Witkoff would personally, as a guarantor, sign a ceasefire deal in Doha and shake hands with Hamas’s lead negotiator, Dr. Khalil Al-Hayya.

➤⁠ Witkoff would head the U.S. delegation, which would also include Adam Boehler and Bahbah.

➤⁠ Trump would publicly thank all parties, including Hamas, reaffirming his commitment to the ceasefire and a lasting resolution between Israel and Palestine.

➤⁠ Upon signing of the ceasefire, an independent, technocratic committee of Palestinians would immediately take charge of Gaza’s governance, and reconstruction efforts would commence.

➤⁠ The U.S. and regional mediators would guarantee continued ceasefire negotiations and aid entry after 70 days, until a permanent ceasefire is reached.

➤⁠ As long as negotiations continue, the U.S. would remain committed to a ceasefire and facilitating aid entry until a permanent peace agreement is reached.

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.Image
2. U.S. Gives Proposal to Israel—Israel Publicly Kills It

According to Ynet and the Jerusalem Post, the proposal was delivered to Israel late Sunday without prior coordination. Israeli officials reacted with alarm:

➤ “The eagerness with which it was killed in Israel indicated a deep fear that Washington would accept it and even try to impose it.”

➤ One Israeli official told Ynet: “Accepting it is in effect surrender to Hamas.”

➤ Another admitted: “We don’t know what the Americans will say.”

The draft—formulated by Bahbah in direct talks with Hamas—was immediately declared unacceptable by Jerusalem. The rejection came before any public U.S. comment.
Read 6 tweets

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