The U.S. and Iran are headed into a new round of negotiations to address the standoff over Iran’s nuclear program. Will it avert a military confrontation that seems closer than ever?

Reports this week indicated that Israel was preparing military assets in anticipation of a direct strike against Iran. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has sent mixed signals about whether Iran would be allowed to maintain a uranium enrichment capacity for a civilian nuclear program—an issue Iran has said is a red line for any negotiation.

To discuss the ongoing talks and the longer history between the U.S. and Iran, Drop Site’s Murtaza Hussain is joined by Dr. Vali Nasr, Professor of International Affairs and Middle East Studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and author of the new book “Iran's Grand Strategy: A Political History.”

Listen above or on the Drop Site News channel on Apple, Spotify, RSS, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is currently in the midst of another campaign of sabotage to prevent a “ceasefire” agreement that would bring an end to Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinians of Gaza. All parties—from Hamas, to the regional mediators Qatar and Egypt, to the Trump administration—know that Netanyahu is entrenched in his position that Israel will not agree to any deal that does not allow Israel to continue a campaign it has characterized as a war of conquest against Gaza. Israeli officials have made no secret about their aim of erasing Gaza as a Palestinian territory and removing its 2.3 million residents. Hamas has said it will not release any more Israeli captives unless an agreement is reached that includes a full withdrawal of Israeli forces and a clear path to a long term ceasefire.

In the latest Drop Site News livestream, Jeremy Scahill and Ryan Grim discuss how Israel is using the veneer of agreeing to allow aid into the besieged territory to enable it to pursue its final solution in Gaza, with the full support and backing of the U.S. government. They also talk about the deal the U.S. made with Hamas to free Israeli soldier and U.S. citizen Edan Alexander. Hamas told Drop Site that Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff personally promised the group it would compel Israel to lift its full spectrum blockade on Gaza two days after Alexander was released. Witkoff, Hamas said, also told Hamas that President Donald Trump would publicly call for a ceasefire and serious negotiations to end the war. Hamas accused the U.S. of “throwing the deal in the trash.” As Israel intensifies its attacks against Gaza and the humanitarian situation growing more grave by the day, the central question is whether Trump—for his own reasons—will force Netanyahu to end the war or whether Trump will continue to facilitate Israel’s campaign of annihilation.

Israeli ministers this week approved plans to capture the entire Gaza Strip and remain entrenched there indefinitely. This comes as ceasefire talks remain deadlocked after Israel abandoned the original three-phase framework—which stipulated a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the declaration of a permanent ceasefire—and issued a series of new demands, including the complete demilitarization of the Gaza Strip, a red line for Hamas.

Drop Site’s Jeremy Scahill recently held a series of rare, in-depth interviews with senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan and other leading figures of Palestinian resistance groups about the state of the negotiations, disarmament, Egypt’s role as a mediator, Hamdan’s direct talks with Donald Trump’s envoy Adam Boehler, the group’s current view of what is often referred to as a “two state solution,” and much more.

Drop Site’s Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Murtaza Hussain speak with Scahill about what Hamas and other groups told him. Hussain also discusses recent developments in Yemen and how the U.S. appears to be targeting coordinates posted by social media analysts online.

Over the past 19 months of Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinians of Gaza, Western media outlets have done very little in depth reporting on the perspective of Hamas and other Palestinian resistance factions. These movements are often portrayed as irrational terrorists who want to kill for the sake of killing. When they are interviewed by Western outlets, it is either to quote a sentence or two responding to allegations made by Israel or the U.S. or to relitigate the events of October 7. 

The failure by Western media outlets to seek to understand the perspective of Hamas and other Palestinian groups is not just journalistic malpractice, but a fundamental disservice to the public understanding of one of the bloodiest campaigns of annihilation against a people in modern history.

Drop Site’s Jeremy Scahill recently conducted a series of interviews, both on and off the record, with several leaders of Hamas and other Palestinian factions. Late last week, Scahill sat down with Osama Hamdan, one of the most prominent voices representing Hamas over the past 19 months. Hamdan has held a variety of posts since he joined Hamas in 1992, a few years after the movement’s founding. He has served as Hamas’s representative in both Iran and Lebanon, as well as its chief of international relations. He was one of the top advisers to Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh who was assassinated by Israel last summer in Tehran. After October 7, Hamdan became a regular fixture on Arabic language media because of his regular press briefings in Lebanon.

Osama Hamdan was one of two Hamas officials who led direct talks with Donald Trump’s special envoy on hostages Adam Boehler earlier this year. In a wide-ranging exclusive interview with Drop Site, Hamdan discusses the current state of the ceasefire talks and Hamas’s proposal for a long term truce. He explains why Hamas will not lay down its weapons or surrender, and addresses the role of Arab governments during the genocide, as well as how Hamas views the Trump administration vs the Biden administration. He also responds to the recent attacks launched against Hamas by Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas—last week he called Hamas “sons of dogs,” and demanded the group hand over its weapons and release all Israeli captives. Hamdan also analyzes Israel’s campaign to fully annex the West Bank and he offers Hamas’s current view of what is often referred to as a “two state solution.”

Last week, an attack in the Indian-controlled Kashmir led to heightened tensions between Pakistan and India. Now, the two nuclear powers are on the brink of a major armed conflict.

The deadly attack on April 22 in the disputed region of Kashmir, which killed 26 Indian citizens, was quickly attributed by the Indian government to its rivals in Pakistan. In response, both countries have engaged in a mass mobilization of troops on both sides of the border, as the two nuclear-armed countries trade threats. Now, some are worried that the heightened tensions could lead to a serious armed confrontation.

India and Pakistan have shared a tumultuous history ever since their founding following the collapse of the old British Raj. Today, both nations are engaged in a fierce proxy war, not just in Kashmir, but also in the embattled Pakistani province of Balochistan. The risk of a major war, including nuclear escalation, is small but significant, as tempers continue to flare and demands for vengeance grow following the most recent attack.

To discuss the present situation and recent history, Drop Site’s Murtaza Hussain is joined by Ahsan Butt, an Associate Professor at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University and expert on nationalism and political conflict in South Asia.

Listen above or on the Drop Site News channel on Apple, Spotify, RSS, or wherever you get your podcasts.

As Israel continues its unrelenting air strikes against the Palestinians of Gaza, the images emerging from the enclave are horrifying. It has been nearly two months since Israel imposed a full spectrum blockage on Gaza and no food, medicine, or other supplies have entered. The World Food Program announced last weekend that it “has depleted all its food stocks for families in Gaza.”

While tens of thousands face starvation, Israel has rejected a proposal put forward by Hamas for a long term five-to-seven year truce. The movement has publicly stated that it will relinquish governance of Gaza, release all Israeli captives, and support the establishment of an independent Palestinian committee to take control of Gaza. Israel, however, has said it will only consider a short-term ceasefire and has demanded the demilitarization of the entire Gaza Strip. Hamas has said this is “a million red lines,” and that disarmament of Palestinians would equate abandoning the right to self defense and self determination.

Drop Site’s Jeremy Scahill speaks with journalist Mohammad Alsaafin, an Executive Producer at Al Jazeera’s AJ+. Alsaafin, who is originally from Gaza, analyzes the current status of the ceasefire talks and the role of Egypt, Qatar and the Trump administration. They also discuss the lives and legacies of Yahya Sinwar, the late political leader of Hamas, and Mohammed Deif, the commander of its armed wing, Al Qassam Brigades.

In an extraordinary legal application submitted last week in London, Hamas argued that the British government should remove its designation of the group as a proscribed terror organization and recognize its legitimate role as a Palestinian resistance movement engaged in a struggle for self-determination and liberation. In a legal brief submitted to the British Home Secretary, senior Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzouk rejected allegations that the movement is an anti-semitic terror organization, asserted that Hamas poses no threat to Western nations, and argued that the political organization has never engaged in an armed operation outside the boundaries of historic Palestine.

Hamas enlisted a team of British lawyers to represent its appeal to the British Home Secretary and to challenge the movement’s terror designation. In the new episode of Drop Site Newsroom, Jeremy Scahill speaks with barrister Franck Magennis, one of the lawyers arguing the case on behalf of Hamas. Magennis is also involved with the legal effort to bring war crimes charges against ten British citizens who served in the Israeli military in Gaza. A 240-page dossier the attorneys delivered to Scotland Yard’s war crimes unit alleges the Brits participated in targeted killing of civilians and aid workers and indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas, including hospitals and other war crimes.

President Donald Trump once said that “trade wars are good, and easy to win.” Now he seems intent on testing that thesis, erecting some of the most massive trade barriers in recent world history. The tariffs are already reshaping the global economy. But they will have the most strongest impact on the U.S. relationship with China, which now faces the most extreme tariff barriers of any country—a true declaration of economic war against Beijing. Drop Site’s Murtaza Hussain is joined by Esfandyar Batmanghelidj, founder of the think tank the Bourse and Bazaar Foundation, to discuss.

Investigative journalists Jeremy Scahill and Ryan Grim are joined by Palestinian journalist Abubaker Abed to discuss the devastating events unfolding in Gaza since the resumption of Israel’s genocide. With a focus on the toll this crisis is taking on children and families, they unpack the situation on the ground, the humanitarian emergency, and the role of the media in shaping public perception.

Since taking power on January 20, the Trump administration has engaged in an all-out assault on First Amendment rights and due process. It is attacking judges in the U.S. that have issued rulings that cite serious constitutional concerns. It has embarked on a sweeping campaign to force colleges and universities to hand over private records of students that have engaged in protests against the U.S.-facilitated Israeli war against the Palestinians of Gaza. It announced a sweeping program to deport students because of their activism, including those with Legal Permanent Residency status, or Green Cards—as in the case of Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil.

The position of this administration is that the First Amendment does not really apply to criticism of Israel or of zionism. Trump’s administration is trying to circumvent the Constitution and to criminalize clearly protected speech in the service of a genocidal government whose weapons and political support overwhelmingly come from the U.S.

The tactics the Trump administration is employing are firmly in line with a longstanding German policy of putting support for Israel, no matter how heinous its crimes, above the basic free speech rights of its citizens. At the heart of Germany’s policies is a doctrine referred to as Staatsräson, or Reason of State. In Germany it is official policy that the defense of the Israeli state is a non-negotiable principle of the nation.

In a wide-ranging discussion, Alexander Gorski, a Berlin-based criminal defense and migration lawyer, speaks with Jeremy Scahill about out how Germany has weaponized the concept of antisemitism to stifle dissent and to suppress speech. Gorski, who is representing defendants in high-profile deportation cases in Germany, is a partner with the European Legal Support Center.