U.S. and Iran reach initial deal to end war, reopen Hormuz; Israel rejects Lebanon withdrawal; UK court upholds Palestine Action ban
U.S. and Iran announce a deal. Israel pushes back against Lebanon inclusion in U.S.-Iran deal. Tanker struck near Oman. Burial date announced for Khameinei. Israeli attacks persist across southern Lebanon on Monday. Strikes, forced displacement in Lebanon over the weekend. Israel kills five, including two children, in Gaza on Monday. Hamas submits unified Palestinian factions’ response to a second phase of Trump Gaza deal. Palestinian prisoner Imad Sarhan dies in Israeli Prison, 90th to die in Israeli detention since start of Gaza genocide. Sister of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiyah tells Drop Site he lost half his body weight in detention. Denver Venues Shut Down Hasan Piker Political Rallies, Dub Them “Neo-Nazi.” Washington, DC and Oklahoma host primaries Tuesday. Stanford students walk out of Google CEO commencement address. Appeals court upholds UK ban on Palestine Action. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announces expanded U.S. military strikes across Latin America. UN: Drone strikes kill over 1,000 civilians in Sudan in first five months of 2026. Taiwan launches public program to recruit Chinese intelligence sources. FIFA rejects Haiti World Cup jersey design over “political imagery.” FROM DROP SITE: Iran Enlisted “Senior Psychologists” to Help Craft Messages to Trump Ahead of Agreement Israel Searches for a Red Sea Foothold in Somaliland The Issue of Israel Is Ending Democracy In Michigan The “Free Press,” a news organization founded by Bari Weiss and now owned by David Ellison, reported recently that the Trump administration launched an investigation into Trita Parsi, one of America’s most prominent critics of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, with the aim to revoke his legal permanent residency, which he has held for some 15 years, and deport him. We stand with Trita Parsi and we hope you will too. Even if you don’t agree with what he says, we must defend his right to say it. 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Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif told the National Assembly in Islamabad: “After three months and 16 days of unparalleled trials, the immediate and permanent cessation of military operations has been announced across all fronts, including Iran, America and Lebanon.” The signing is set for Friday in Switzerland, with U.S. Vice President JD Vance saying he plans to attend and leaving open the possibility Trump could as well. President Donald Trump announced the deal in a post on Truth Social, saying, “The Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete. Congratulations to all! I hereby fully authorize the toll free opening of the Strait of Hormuz, and, simultaneously herewith, authorize the immediate removal of the United States Naval blockade. Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow!” Trump claimed on Monday that vessels were already beginning to move through the Strait of Hormuz, writing on Truth Social, “Ships are starting to move, many loaded up with Oil, out of the Strait of Hormuz. They are going along the Southern “Highway,” which is totally safe, secure, and pristine. There are other areas of travel, also!!!” Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, confirmed the deal on state television but said implementation would not begin until Friday’s signing, while Iranian state television cited the Supreme National Security Council saying the war “will end immediately and permanently beginning tonight” and that the U.S. naval blockade “will be terminated immediately and in full.” The MOU faces significant hurdles. It gives just 60 days to resolve Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium and its nuclear program—issues that took years to negotiate in the 2015 deal. The leaders of the E4—Britain, France, Germany, and Italy—announced Sunday they were prepared to lift sanctions on Iran contingent on verifiable steps toward curtailing its nuclear program, according to Reuters, while welcoming the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding. Lebanon included in deal, Israel pushes back The spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Esmaeil Baghaei, reiterated on Monday that Lebanon is a critical part of the MOU with the U.S. “Respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Lebanon is part of the interim agreement with the US,” Baghaei told reporters, according to Al Jazeera. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun welcomed the announcement of a U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding, saying he followed it “with interest” and that it includes a commitment to “stop military operations and escalation in the region, including Lebanon.” He said Lebanon “values what this memorandum contains in terms of respect for Lebanese specificity,” stressing that stability in Lebanon is “an integral part of any serious effort to entrench stability in the region.” Hezbollah also issued a statement welcoming the agreement, congratulating Iran on what it described as a “great achievement” of securing a “comprehensive ceasefire on all fronts, including Lebanon.” The group also said Lebanon should “make good use of this regional and international umbrella” to achieve sovereignty and “liberate its land within national unity.” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz insisted on Monday that Israeli troops won’t withdraw from land seized in Lebanon. “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I are pursuing a clear policy under which the [military] will remain in the security zones in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza for an unlimited period of time in order to protect the border and Israeli communities from there against jihadist elements,” Katz said in a statement. He added that the areas would be “cleared of local residents” and that “all terror infrastructure” will be destroyed. Katz said he had conveyed Israel’s position to US officials, and warned that “if Iran attacks Israel because of events in Lebanon, we will strike it with full force.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly told President Donald Trump on Sunday that Israel does not consider itself bound by the Lebanon-related provisions of the emerging U.S.-Iran agreement and will not withdraw from positions it currently occupies inside Lebanese territory, with Israeli forces to continue military operations against Hezbollah regardless of any Washington-Tehran understandings, according to reports in Yedioth Ahronoth and Maariv. Three senior Iranian officials vowed retaliation against Israel after Beirut strike: The U.S.-Iran agreement appeared at risk on early Sunday after Israel bombed the southern suburbs of Beirut. The strike, which hit an apartment building in Dahiyeh, killed three people—a father, mother, and their daughter—and wounded 16, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said. Three of Iran’s most senior officials warned of a forceful response, with parliament speaker and lead negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf writing that Israel would never “isolate and pick off any part of the Axis of Resistance” and adding an idiomatic warning translating to “you made your move, and we’ll answer in kind.” Supreme National Security Council secretary Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr declared that “the response of the warriors of Islam is forthcoming,” calling Lebanon “our lifeblood” and warning that any crossing of Iran’s red lines “will not be tolerated,” while Supreme Leader adviser and former acting president Mohammad Mokhber called the pattern of American diplomacy paired with Israeli strikes “repetitive and unacceptable,” writing that “in defending Lebanon, we will show no courtesies to anyone.” Trump publicly scolds Netanyahu over Lebanon strike: President Donald Trump said on Sunday that an Israeli strike on Lebanon the day the Iran deal was announced “should not have happened, particularly on a special day when we are so close to a Peace Deal with Iran.” Trump reportedly told Axios he confronted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly—“Why did Bibi have to do a fucking attack? I was so pissed off. He has no fucking judgement. I let him know that.” Trump al told Fox News he asked Netanyahu “what the f*ck are you doing?” before ordering no further strikes and saying he would ask Iran not to retaliate. Tanker struck near Oman: A tanker was struck by an “unknown projectile” near the Strait of Hormuz, about six nautical miles east of Oman, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre reported on Saturday. No injuries or environmental damage were reported, and the tanker continued onto its next port of call. Burial date announced for Khameinei: Former Supreme Leader Ali Khameinei will be buried on July 9th in the northeastern city of Mashhad, Iranian State Television announced on Saturday, following six days of ceremonies beginning on the 4th. He was killed by an Israeli strike on his residence on February 28. Lebanon Killed and wounded: At least 3,783 people have been killed, and 11,699 wounded, in Israeli attacks on Lebanon since March 2, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. Israeli attacks persist across southern Lebanon on Monday: An Israeli drone struck a vehicle in Kfartebnit, killing one person, according to the state’s National News Agency (NNA). Press TV journalist Hadi Hoteit was wounded in Kfartebnit, southern Lebanon, after Israeli shelling struck nearby, according to NNA. He is undergoing surgery for shrapnel in his foot at a hospital in Nabatieh. Israeli artillery also shelled the towns of Nabatieh al-Fawqa. The Israeli army carried out demolition operations in the southern Lebanese town of Khiam. Israel conducts strikes, orders displacement in Lebanon over the weekend: An Israeli strike on Douweir killed a Lebanese chef in the southern village of Douweir on Sunday, Press TV correspondent Hadi Hoteit reported . The Israeli military continued its controlled detonation of homes in the southern Lebanese towns of Haddatha, Khiam, Markaba, and Kfar Tebnit on Sunday. The Israeli military also ordered the forced displacement of 24 villages across southern Lebanon on Saturday, ordering residents in the Nabatieh, Jezzine, and Sidon districts to flee north of the Zahrani River in anticipation of strikes. A Lebanese soldier was seriously wounded by an Israeli strike in Nabatieh, according to a statement from the country’s military. The statement said that the same soldier was targeted near Al-Najda Hospital before being struck on his motorcycle, in what it described as another of Israel’s “double-tap” strikes in the country. An Israeli missile strike on Saturday killed Ali Badih Hussein, the current Mukhtar (elected village head) of Rihane, a village in southern Lebanon, according to L’Orient Today. A former Mukhtar of Riahane, Ismail Abdullah, was killed in a separate attack on Saturday, as he watered plants outside of his home. Hezbollah responds, hits northern Israel: Two suspected Hezbollah drones struck an Israeli military zone in the Western Galilee near the Lebanese border early Sunday with no injuries reported, the Israeli military reported. Hezbollah also claimed a wave of operations against Israeli forces across southern Lebanon on Sunday, including rocket barrages and FPV attacks on Israeli military positions and armored vehicles. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich responded by calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to invoke the Dahiya doctrine—Israel’s strategy of using disproportionate force against civilian infrastructure, named for the Beirut suburb Israel leveled in 2006—writing that Netanyahu should “demolish buildings in Dahiya today.” Palestine Killed and wounded: Over the last 24 hours, seven Palestinians were killed—six in new attacks and one recovered from under the rubble—and six were injured in Israeli attacks across Gaza. The total recorded death toll since October 7, 2023 has risen to 73,003 killed, with 173,252 injured. Since October 11, the first full day of the so-called ceasefire, Israel has killed at least 992 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded 3,144, while 784 bodies have been recovered from under the rubble, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Israel kills five, including two children, on Monday: At least five Palestinians, including two children,