International Glance
Senior U.S. military officials have informed the leadership of a key U.S. ally in the Middle East that President Donald Trump could authorize a U.S. attack on Iran this weekend, multiple sources have confirmed to Drop Site News. Strikes could commence as early as Sunday, the ally was informed, if the U.S. decides to move forward.
“This isn’t about the nukes or the missile program. This is about regime change,” said a former senior U.S. intelligence official who consults for Arab governments and is an informal advisor to the Trump administration on Middle East policy. He told Drop Site that U.S. war planners envision attacks that target nuclear, ballistic, and other military sites around Iran, but will also aim to decapitate the Iranian government, and in particular the leadership and capabilities of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The IRGC is a branch of the Iranian armed forces created after the country’s 1979 revolution whose leadership now plays a major role in the country’s politics and economy.
The thinking in the Trump administration, according to the source, is that a successful strike on Iranian leadership would be followed by Iranians returning to the streets to protest, leading to the overthrow of the government. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “is hoping for an attack,” the former senior intelligence official said, “and assuring Trump that Israel can help put in place a new government that is friendly with the West.”
Dropsite News: U.S. Military Tells Key Middle East Ally to Prepare for Attack on Iran
Israel reopening Gaza’s border crossing with Egypt on Sunday after long closure
Israel said Friday that it will reopen the pedestrian border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt over the weekend, marking an important step forward for U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza ceasefire plan.
COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of coordinating aid to Gaza, said in a statement that starting on Sunday a “limited movement of people only” would be allowed through the Rafah crossing, Gaza’s main gateway to the outside world.
The announcement followed statements from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ali Shaath, newly appointed to head the Palestinian administrative committee governing Gaza’s daily affairs, that it would likely open soon.
While COGAT said the passage will open in both directions on Sunday, Shaath said the first day will be a trial for operations and that travel both ways will start Monday.
Russian Missile Hits US Business in Kharkiv, Zelensky Warns of Shift to Logistics Strikes
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia did not strike energy facilities overnight but that Ukraine is seeing a shift toward attacks on logistics infrastructure.
Zelensky reported he held a special coordination meeting on the situation and restoration efforts.
“Last night, there were no strikes on energy facilities, but yesterday afternoon, there were strikes on energy infrastructure in several regions. We are now recording the reorientation of the Russian army to strikes on logistics,” he said on Telegram.
He added that Russian drone strikes on residential buildings in cities continue.
“A ballistic missile was also used against the Kharkiv region – warehouses of ordinary civilian production were damaged, and this is an American company,” Zelensky said.
Human rights group warns New York officials against investing public funds in Israeli bonds
A human rights group has warned New York state and local officials that investment of public funds in bonds issued by Israel violates both international law and fiduciary duties and may expose officials and beneficiaries alike to “substantial legal, ethical and financial risks”.
The warning, from the human rights group Dawn, was sent on Friday along with a 26-page memo to the New York governor, Kathy Hochul; the state’s attorney general, Letitia James; New York City’s mayor, Zohran Mamdani; and the state and city comptrollers, Tom DiNapoli and Mark Levine, respectively. It calls on them to immediately cease new purchases and divest any current holdings in Israeli bonds, arguing the investments violate “legal obligations not to aid and abet Israeli crimes and their fiduciary duties to taxpayers”, Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of Dawn, said in a statement.
The letter, which threatens litigation, comes as calls for divestment from Israel have grown in the US following the war in Gaza, and as some elected officials have moved away from once-reflexive support of Israel.
Rosebank oil field 'could breach international law' over West Bank link
They say profits would flow in part to the Israeli oil and gas company Delek Group, which the UN human rights commissioner accuses of "supporting the maintenance and existence" of illegal settlements in the West Bank.
Legal advice commissioned by the environmental group Uplift, says the link with Delek means the UK government risks breaching the Geneva Conventions if it gives drilling at Rosebank the green light.
Delek did not respond to a request for comment.
The UK government said it could not comment on individual projects.
Uplift's legal advice refers to potential breaches of Article 49 and Article 53 of the Geneva Conventions, which relate to occupation, deportation and the destruction of property.
It also alleges that Delek's activities could be regarded as "ancillary" to war crimes and crimes against humanity under Section 51 of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Act 2001.
Middle East Today: West Bank Violence Warning, Gaza Water Emergency, And Growing Humanitarian Pressure
UN Warns Settler Violence Is Undermining Palestinian Presence In West Bank:
The UN Human Rights Office has warned that increasing settler violence is weakening Palestinian presence in key areas across the occupied West Bank. The office reported multiple serious attacks within a short period and warned that patterns of intimidation, land pressure, and displacement risk permanently altering demographic realities in strategic locations.
The UN stressed that the forced transfer of Palestinians within occupied territory may constitute a war crime and could also meet the threshold of a crime against humanity under international law. The office called on Israel to halt settlement expansion and end policies it says contribute to displacement and instability across the territory.
Gaza Water Emergency Intensifies After Major Pipeline Damage:
Palestinians crowded into Gaza tents struggle to see a better future even as ceasefire moves forward
A key border crossing is set to reopen, the ceasefire is moving forward and the United States is imagining a gleaming new Gaza, but Palestinians in the devastated enclave are still struggling to simply survive.
Residents of the Gaza Strip described desperate conditions this week, but also expressed hope that the reopening of the Rafah crossing with Egypt and phase two of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal will bring some relief after more than two years of death and destruction.
We "hope that this will be good for us because we are living in a very bad situation," Samir Abu Daqa, from Khan Younis in southern Gaza, said as he stood in front of a makeshift tent with his five young children.
"We want reconstruction, we want a life, we want schools, we want medical treatment, we want hospitals," said Abu Daqa, 51, who said he previously worked in a cafeteria but was injured during the war and left unable to work.
After months of stagnation, a breakthrough was made this week in efforts to push ahead with the ceasefire deal that was brokered in part by President Donald Trump.
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