Israeli forces were conducting airstrikes in northern Gaza Friday morning as the Israel-Hamas war enters its 34th day, according to Fox News' Trey Yingst.
Yingst shared that three hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip are reportedly surrounded by Israel Defense Forces troops while an undisclosed number of civilians are inside being treated. The hospitals are believed to be where Hamas militants are hiding.
On Thursday, approximately 80,000 people left northern Gaza through the evacuation corridors as Israel works to limit civilian casualties, according to Yingst via the IDF.
Overnight, the IDF said it killed a handful of Hamas' Nukbha terrorists, including two commanders, who participated in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Ahmed Musa, company commander, and Omar Al-Hindi, platoon commander, were the two leaders killed in western Jabalya, based on IDF and Israel Securities Authority intelligence.
Musa was one of the commanders over Hamas' invasion into Zikim Base, Kibbutz Zikim and the Yiftach Post, the IDF said. He was also accused of leading attacks against IDF troops in western Jabalya within the past 24 hours.
Mohammed Kahlout, head of the Sniper Array of Hamas' Northern Brigade, was also killed overnight, based on IDF and ISA intelligence, in addition to approximately 19 Hamas operatives who planned to attack Israeli forces.
The IDF also reported that 37 of its soldiers have been killed since the ground portion of the fight against Hamas began, according to Yingst.
The Israel Defense Forces said it is conducting strikes in response to anti-tank missiles launched from Lebanon toward a northern Israel military post near the area of Manara.
"IDF artillery is currently striking the source of the fire," the force posted on its website just after noon local time.
Chicago elected official Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez, chairwoman of the city council's Committee on Health and Human Relations, defended her use of the phrase "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free," on social media Thursday morning.
Rodriguez-Sanchez made the initial comment with the phrase on X, sparking backlash as the controversial slogan has been described as antisemitic. She posted again about two hours later to defend her remarks.
"Ppl angry abt a slogan that speaks to the liberation of colonized ppl while they watch Israel commit genocide, bomb civilians, leaving ppl of all ages from babies to elderly dismembered is some intense gaslighting. Over 10K killed & many more lost under rubble. Go find your soul," she said in the follow-up post.
The phrase "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" has been chanted by pro-Palestinian supporters, but has been used more frequently since Hamas terrorists killed 1,400 people during its Oct. 7 attack in Israel.
Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., said the phrase is "a call for the end of Israel as a Jewish State."
"That these words appear in the founding charter of Hamas tells you everything you need to know about its meaning," Torres wrote on X.
Fox News Digital's Adam Sabes contributed to this report.
{{#rendered}}An organization in Syria accused of launching an unmanned aerial vehicle toward Eilat, Israel, was struck by the Israeli Air Force on Friday.
Israel Defense Forces said the strike came after the Syrian UAV hit a school in Eilat on Thursday.
The name of the Syrian organization was not released.
The IDF said it "holds the Syrian regime fully responsible" for all terrorist activities coming from the country, adding that its forces "will respond to every aggression against Israel."
Sens. James Lankford, R-Okla., and Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., headed a letter to the United Nations Thursday urging it to recognize Hamas as a terrorist organization and impose sanctions.
Lankford and Rosen, who are co-chairs and co-founders of the Abraham Accords Caucus and Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism, said the Oct. 7 attack on Israel demonstrated Hamas is no different than other terrorist groups recognized and sanctioned by the UN.
“Recent events have demonstrated that Hamas’ actions, tactics, and stated goals are in many ways indistinguishable from Al Qaeda, ISIS, and other terrorist organizations the United Nations has sanctioned," the senators said.
The letter stated that the Department of Treasury has designated Hamas as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and added that the group has been labeled Specially Designated Global Terrorists since October 2001.
"Numerous other countries and international entities rightfully have designated Hamas as a terrorist organization, including Australia, Canada, the European Union, Japan, Israel, the Organization of American States, Paraguay, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Switzerland is also actively exploring legal avenues to designate Hamas as a terrorist entity,” the senators concluded.
Thirty-two other senators, Republicans and Democrats, signed onto the letter addressed to Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield.
During a town hall, Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie told New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu he's planning a trip to Israel.
"And so tomorrow night, I am leaving to go to Israel because I want to see it for myself, because I don't think you can try to be president of the United states and be afraid to go and see what's happening on the ground," Christie said.
Christie said he was going to meet with the families of the kidnapped victims, along with he Israeli Defense Force soldiers and government officials in Israel.
"I want to see this for myself, because if I'm going to continue to be a strong advocate for doing everything we need to do to defend Israel, I got to see it for myself," Christie said. "And if you really want to lead, you need to go over and show the people of Israel that one person running for president of United States cares enough to get on an airplane and get over there and do what needs to be done to find out how we fix this problem."
{{#rendered}}Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh announced on Thursday that there have been 56 injuries total to U.S. service members since October 17th from the attacks in Iraq and Syria.
Singh says this includes 25 cases of traumatic brain injury (TBI).
According to Singh, all have returned to duty including the two service members who were being treated at Landstuhl, Germany for their TBI's.
On Wednesday, U.S. Forces conducted a self-defense airstrike on a Syrian weapons storage facility.
Officials say this was in response to a series of recent attacks targeting American personnel in Iraq and Syria.
"The President has no higher priority than the safety of U.S. personnel, and he directed today's action to make clear that the United States will defend itself, its personnel, and its interests," Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said Wednesday.
Fox News Digital Reporter Louis Casiano contributed to this story.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an exclusive interview with Fox News Chief Political Anchor Bret Baier insisted a cease-fire is not an option even though operations in Gaza have taken "longer" than planned.
"One thing we haven't agreed to is a cease-fire," Netanyahu said during the interview that aired Thursday on "Special Report with Bret Baier."
"A cease-fire with Hamas means surrender to Hamas, surrender to terror and the victory of the Iran's axis of terror, so there won't be a cease-fire without the release of Israeli hostages," he insisted.
When asked about the pushback from protests in the U.S. and around the world, Netanyahu praised congress for censuring Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.
"Well, the river to the sea, from the river to the sea means there's no Israel, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean, which is a tiny area, by the way, that encompasses Israel. There is no Israel. And so what this congresswoman is calling for is Palestine and genocide, the elimination of the Jewish state, the one and only Jewish state of the Jewish people," Netanyahu said.
"That's absurd. And I salute the Congress for censoring [sic] her. But it's beyond that. I think the protest that you're seeing, I'm sure it includes some naïve people, but there are a lot of people who know exactly what they're saying," said Netanyahu.
{{#rendered}}Herzi Halevi, the Chief of the General Staff and Ronen Bar, the Head of the Israel Security Agency (ISA), have entered into the heart of the Gaza Strip, together with combat units, to conduct a situational assessment in the field.
"The main source of strength in this war, which I feel all the time, is our cooperation. I look around and see the IDF, in every corner, everyone is doing everything that they can so that you will be as strong as possible,” said Halevi. “There is nothing that they will not do to help you work well. Keep moving forward, in a thorough way, you set the pace. We are behind you!"
Bar also commented on the assessment and gave his full support to the IDF."There is great and unprecedented awe both amongst the public, the political echelon, and inside Hamas. This continues to improve. As a representative of the ISA I can tell you that during the war, we work for the IDF,” Bar said.
Pro-Hamas sympathizers vandalized the office of Rep. Monica De La Cruz, R-Texas. De La Cruz has expressed support for Israel amid its military response to the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas terrorists that killed 1,400 Israelis.
Many pro-Palestinian supporters have criticized Israel for its bombardment of Gaza, which has resulted in thousands of deaths.
"The pro-Hamas activists who have vandalized my office may disregard the importance of standing with our Jewish brothers and sisters during their darkest hour, but I do not," she said.
"My support for Israel and the Jewish community is, always has been, and always will be unwavering. I make no apologies for standing firmly against anti-Semitism. These vandals will not intimidate or silence me."
Fox News Digital Reporter Louis Casiano contributed to this story.
In his exclusive interview with Fox News' Bret Baier, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says they have a clear plan of what they are working to achieve with the war against Hamas terrorists.
"I think It's clear what Gaza's future has to look like. Hamas will be gone, we have to destroy Hamas, not only for our sake, but for the sake of everyone. For the sake of civilization, for the sake of Palestians and Israelis alike.
Netanyahu says that they have to see Gaza de-militarized, de-radicalized, and rebuilt.
"All of that can be achieved. We don't seek to conquer Gaza, we don't seek to occupy Gaza, we don't seek to govern Gaza. In the foreseeable future, we have to make sure that this doesn't happen again," Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu says what he expects to see out of all this is a rebuilt Gaza, for the people of Gaza.
{{#rendered}}During his exclusive interview with Fox News' Bret Baier, when asked about President Joe Biden’s comments on the war in the Middle East
“It’s taking a little longer than I hoped,” Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu didn’t disagree with President Biden’s comment.
“I think we share a common goal and I very much appreciate the support that President Biden has shown, the administration has shown, and frankly, the American people have shown and both powers of the aisle have shown,” said Netanyahu. ‘That’s very important. The American support and President Biden’s support is deeply, deeply appreciated."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu explained the reasoning behind sending troops into Gaza and calls for humanitarian pauses from other world leaders in an interview with Bret Baier.
"We don't want to seek to govern Gaza. We don't seek to occupy, but we seek to give it and us a better future in the entire Middle East. And that requires defeating Hamas. I've set goals. I didn't set a timetable because, you know, it can take more time," said Netanyahu.
When asked about the United States and how firm the push has been by President Biden and his administration for the humanitarian pauses, Netanyahu says he has not agreed with everything.
"Well, one thing we haven't agreed to is a cease fire. A cease fire with Hamas means surrender to Hamas, surrender to terror and the victory of Iran's axis of terror. So there won't be a cease fire without the release of Israeli hostages," said Netanyahu.
Netanyahu further addressed the pause pushed by the Biden administration to allow for hostages to safely exit Gaza.
"The fighting continues against the Hamas enemy, the Hamas terrorists, but in specific locations for a given period, a few hours here, a few hours there, we want to facilitate a safe passage of civilians away from the zone of fighting. And we're doing that," said Netanyahu.
FOX News Channel’s chief political anchor Bret Baier will present an exclusive interview with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Special Report (weekdays, 6 PM/ET) on Thursday, November 9th. The pre-taped interview will cover the latest on the Israel-Hamas war, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s relationship with President Biden, the potential of ceasefire and global pressure on Israel, among other topics.
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Fox News' Bret Baier in a "Special Report" exclusive interview about the pauses in fighting planned to help civilians in Gaza.
When asked if he was surprised by by all the pushback happening across the world, Netanyahu did not hold back.
"Well, the river to the sea, from the river to the sea means there's no Israel, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean, which is a tiny area, by the way, that encompasses Israel. There is no Israel. And so what this congresswoman is calling for is Palestine and genocide, the elimination of the Jewish state, the one and only Jewish state of the Jewish people," said Netanyahu. "That's absurd. And I salute the Congress for censuring her. But it's beyond that. I think the protest that you're seeing, I'm sure it includes some naive people, but there are a lot of people who know exactly what they're saying."
FOX News Channel’s chief political anchor Bret Baier will present an exclusive interview with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Special Report (weekdays, 6 PM/ET) on Thursday, November 9th. The pre-taped interview will cover the latest on the Israel-Hamas war, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s relationship with President Biden, the potential of ceasefire and global pressure on Israel, among other topics.
{{#rendered}}Two Ivy League students have called out their colleges and are demanding them to stop accepting the hate speech they say is running rampant on their campuses.
"The past few weeks have been incredibly difficult. It started with, you know, the usual, the chants and the terrorist sympathies," Talia Dror a junior at Cornell University told Fox News.
Dror says those chants have now become death threats.
"Jewish students were truly afraid to go on campus. Students began using pepper spray to defend themselves, not being able to go to classes. People started doing classes from Zoom. I mean, it's absurd that Jewish students right now feel like they can't be part of the campus community," said Dror.
Gabriel Diamond, a senior at Yale University echoed Draw's concerns on college campuses across the U.S.
"Everywhere on campus, there are signs that say Israel is committing genocide and it says 'from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free', calling for the elimination of the Jewish state," said Diamond. "Students are, in some cases, afraid to go to classes. And overall, there's a really, really bad sense in the air that these campuses are not safe spaces."
Dror added what's even worse is that it's not just students spear heading the hate -- it's also coming from professors.
"When you have professors using their captive audience, professors telling their students these biased narratives and shouting out all of these buzzwords without giving any of the context, they are indoctrinating their students," says Draw. "Why are we having these professors in our Ivy League institutions? This is absurd. We are having anti-Semites in our classrooms indoctrinating our students. And not only that, we're paying a fortune for it."
Diamond and Dror say overall, it's a tough time on campus, a hostile environment, and many students do not feel safe right now.
"It's time that universities really step up to the challenge and that they take action, not just issue statements, because it's long past time for doing that and that we restore our campuses to a sense of civility and decency," said Diamond.
The Islamic Jihad released two hostage videos showing an elderly Israeli woman and a young boy both kidnaped and taken into Gaza on Oct. 7 where they've been held ever since.
Richard Hecht, the lieutenant colonel and a spokesman for the Israeli military said this is psychological terrorism.
“Hamas and Islamic Jihad are trying to basically bend the arm of Israel into getting a cease fire. But we understand that it will be incredibly difficult because Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says they're going to push forward with operations inside Gaza until they destroy Hamas leadership and get rid of all of the weapons inside the strip.”
On the West Bank, the Israelis were seen operating in the city of Jenin and claim they have killed ten militants in different cells that are currently fighting inside the West Bank.
When it comes to the hostages, there is some progress taking place in Doha as Qatari negotiators are meeting with the head of Mossad and also CIA director William Burns.
An official with knowledge of that visit says the talks have been progressing well toward a deal.
As the operations continue on the ground and the fighting inside Gaza escalates, Israel is facing other fronts, and that includes a drone attack and a ballistic missile attack today from Yemen.
The Israelis say the arrow defense system was able to intercept one of those missiles that was trying to target the southern city of Bin Laden.
In his recent briefing, Israel Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel will not back down.
"We will not stop the fighting until we bring the hostages back. We will do what ever it takes," said Gallant. "As a father I want to ask the world, "I see those kids as my kids, I will not stop the fighting and I will not stop looking for them until I find them," Gallant emphasized.
Gallant added that the IDF started using new tactics for dealing with Hamas' tunnels and said those efforts will improve in the coming days.
"We are fighting against evil , we are fighting against an enemy who tries to harm us. We want all Palestinian out of Gaza. This is important in order for us to have freedom of action, we do not want to harm them," said Gallant.
Gallant said that Israel shares the same goal as America: to eliminate Hamas.
"This phenomenon should stop from exist here and anywhere else. As much as the pressure on Hamas increase, the better the chances we will succeed to release hostages and bring them back home," said Gallant.
{{#rendered}}Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is accusing the West Thursday of being "too weak to even call for a cease-fire" in the Israel-Hamas war, a report says.
Erdogan, who previously has called Israel a "war criminal" for its military actions against Hamas, made the comment during a meeting of the 10-member Economic Cooperation Organization in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, according to The Associated Press.
Erdogan said Western nations and organizations are observing these "massacres by Israel" from afar but are "too weak to even call for a cease-fire, let alone criticize child murderers."
"If we, the Economic Cooperation Organization, as Muslims, are not going to raise our voices today... when will we raise our voices?" he added.
The Economic Cooperation Organization consists of Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Erdogan ripped the West on the same day the White House announced the Israeli military has agreed to honor four-hour daily pauses in fighting to allow humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the new Israeli policy began "today."
Fox News' Greg Norman contributed to this report
The Pentagon say U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria have faced four attacks in the hours after the U.S. carried out a retaliatory airstrike on a weapons depot in Syria.
The four new incidents bring the total for attacks on U.S. forces since October 17 to 46, the U.S. military says. Three of the attacks occurred in Syria, with two involving rockets and another being a drone attack. The attack in Iraq used drones, the Pentagon says.
The U.S. reported three minor injuries in one of the Syria attacks, but the other three attacks caused no injuries and no damage to infrastructure. The three servicemembers injured have already returned to duty.
The U.S. sough to deter Iran from entering Israel's war on Hamas, deploying considerable assets to the region. Critics argue the dozens of attacks indicate that the operation is failing, however.
Fox News' Liz Friden contributed to this report
Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., held a press conference demanding a cease-fire in Gaza on Thursday, saying "humanitarian pauses" are not enough.
Bush railed against Israel for allegedly commiting "ethnic cleansing" against Palestinians in Gaza.
"The idea that we get a break for 4 hours, a break so that we can have food--I saw someone spoke about it and they said, "thank you for giving us raisins for a few hours." And then do we go back to bombing?" Bush said. "I never personally called for humanitarian pause, and I'm not going to call for a humanitarian pause, and I don't want to see even though that is what's happening. A four hour a day humanitarian pause because what we need is to stop the bombing. What we need is what does that what is that mental anguish when you know? Well, we get a break for 4 hours, but as soon as that 4 hours is over, then what? How dare we treat humans in that way?"
The White House says Israel agreed to a 4-hour daily pause in fighting to allow humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza on Thursday. Nevertheless, both Israel and the U.S. continue to dismiss the idea of a full cease-fire.
{{#rendered}}CNN’s Van Jones praised the Republican Party for sticking up for "Jewish kids" on college campuses amid the rash of antisemitism that cropped up after Hamas’ attack on Israel last month.
During his commentary on the third GOP presidential primary debate on Wednesday night, the CNN political contributor remarked that Republicans "forcefully" defended Jewish students while claiming that Democrats found themselves in "disarray" over the issue.
Jones made the comments after complimenting former South Carolina governor and 2024 presidential candidate Nikki Haley’s performance on the debate stage that evening.
He began, "I thought Nikki Haley gave a masterclass on foreign policy. I thought she gave a masterclass on abortion. If you just took those two clips, you could teach a course on political communication, conversation. She’s a force. She’s a force."
He began, "I thought Nikki Haley gave a masterclass on foreign policy. I thought she gave a masterclass on abortion. If you just took those two clips, you could teach a course on political communication, conversation. She’s a force. She’s a force."
The commentator noted that members of the GOP "came very, very forcefully, saying Jewish kids shouldn’t be scared to leave their dorm rooms in this country."
"I thought that was an important development in the conversation overall," he added.
Fox News' Gabriel Hays contributed to this report
The House Republican campaign arm is accusing Democrats of fueling "Jewish hate" and antisemitism in a new ad in the wake of the Hamas attack on Israel and subsequent protests in the U.S.
"Extreme House Democrats’ words promoted hate," the new ad by the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) says.
The video includes quotes from ‘Sqaud’ Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., in addition to top progressive Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., about the Israel conflict, which began after a brutal terrorist attack by Hamas early last month.
Those Democrats, and others, have been supportive of Palestinians and critical of Israel’s military response and have called for a ceasefire. The video shows Omar standing by remarks in which she accuses Israel of committing "acts of terror."
Meanwhile, the video references a statement by Jayapal in which she said Israel is a "racist state." She later issued a lengthy statement clarifying those remarks, saying she doesn’t believe "the idea of Israel as a nation is racist" but that the country’s "extreme right-wing government" has engaged in racist policies.
Separately it quotes Tlaib saying that progressives cannot back Israel’s "apartheid government."
Fox News' Adam Shaw contributed to this report
Freshman Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., admitted that he should not have voted against a resolution condemning support for Hamas on college and university campuses.
"After days of reflection, multiple conversations with my constituents and local leaders, and a difficult, but important listening session with students at UCF Hillel’s chapter — I have come to realize that I should have voted differently on H.Res. 798, to send a clear message that I stand against antisemitism," Frost said in a statement earlier this week.
The resolution, a symbolic piece of legislation, criticized "the support of Hamas, Hezbollah, and other terrorist organizations at institutions of higher education, which may lead to the creation of a hostile environment for Jewish students, faculty and staff."
It overwhelmingly passed in a bipartisan 396-to-23 vote last week. Only 22 Democrats, including Frost, and one Republican voted against it.
Frost said he was wary of "a few of the falsehoods" he said were in the Republican resolution and that he was hoping to be able to "vote on the Senate resolution condemning antisemitism, that passed unanimously, but didn’t include those falsehoods."
"I truly worried that this would open the door for Republicans to infringe on the free speech of students and young people. Which is why I chose to support and co-sponsor the House version of that same Senate resolution," Frost said.
Fox News' Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report
{{#rendered}}The Hamas terror group told The New York Times that it hopes the war with Israel will "become permanent on all the borders" and the Oct. 7 massacre "succeeded in putting the Palestinian issue back on the table, and now no one in the region is experiencing calm."
A Times report headlined, "Behind Hamas’s Bloody Gambit to Create a ‘Permanent’ State of War," featured a subhead that "Hamas leaders say they waged their Oct. 7 attack on Israel because they believed the Palestinian cause was slipping away, and that only violence could revive it."
The terror group achieved violence, killing at least 1,400 civilians including women, children and the elderly while kidnapping hundreds of civilian hostages. Israel has responded with force, and the Times reported that "carnage is not the regrettable outcome of a big miscalculation" but instead a "necessary cost of a great accomplishment — the shattering of the status quo and the opening of a new, more volatile chapter in their fight against Israel."
The Times spoke with Khalil al-Hayya, a member of Hamas’s top leadership body, who told the paper that the terror group "succeeded in putting the Palestinian issue back on the table, and now no one in the region is experiencing calm."
Fox News' Brian Flood contributed to this report
Actress Gal Gadot's private screening of disturbing film detailing the crimes in Hamas' October 7 terrorist attack in Israel caused brawls outside the venue on Wednesday.
Pro- and anti-Israel demonstrators clashed outside the screening, which was held at Los Angeles' Museum of Tolerance. The audience at Gadot's private screening included multiple Hollywood executives.
The film, which has been shared with the press in Israel and in New York City, is roughly 47 minutes long. It is a compilation of footage from security cameras, cellphones and Hamas' own recordings showing the brutal atrocities committed on October 7.
The Israeli military has agreed to honor 4-hour daily pauses in fighting to allow humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza, the White house said Thursday.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby announced the move on Thursday. He said the new Israeli policy began "today."
"We understand that Israel will begin to implement 4-hour pauses in areas of northern Gaza each day, with an announcement to be made three hours beforehand," Kirby said. "There will be no military operations in these areas for the duration of these pauses."
The agreement comes after the directors of both the CIA and Mossad met in Qatar for negotiations surrounding such pauses. CIA Director William Burns and Mossad Director David Barnea were in talks with the Qataris for multiple days, an official with knowledge of the visit told Fox News.
Fox News' Trey Yingst contributed to this report
{{#rendered}}Pentagon officials confirmed that a "multi-rocket attack" targeted U.S. and coalition forces near the U.S. embassy complex in Baghdad, Iraq on Thursday.
Military officials say the attack occurred on Wednesday and no injuries or damage to infrastructure has been reported. It was the 42nd attack on U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria since Oct. 17.
Iran-backed terrorist groups have ramped up aggression toward U.S. forces in the region amid Israel's ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza. The U.S. has transfered considerable assets to the region in an effort to deter Iran and its terror proxies from joining the conflict.x new
Fox News' Liz Friden contributed to this report
Israeli Defense Forces say a brigade of Israeli soldiers killed 50 Hamas terrorists during an operation in the heart of Gaza City on Thursday.
IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari says the Israeli division has been operating in Gaza city for several days. The city is the both the heart of the Gaza Strip and a key command structure for Hamas.
"Division 162 has been operating in recent days in the center of Gaza City in the area of the security quarter of the Hamas organization," Hagari said in a statement. "Givati Brigade combat team forces eliminated over 50 terrorists."
In addition to the 50 terrorists, Israel says "intelligence documents were found and a number of significant tunnel shafts, factories for the production of anti-tank missiles, and anti-aircraft launchers were destroyed."
The IDF says Gaza City played host to Hamas' central intelligence headquarters as well as its air defense headquarters.
A Detroit-area couple trapped in Gaza like hundreds of other U.S. citizens described the roar of bombs and the fear of not making it home after the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.
Unable to leave, Zakaria and Laila Alarayshi hunkered down.
"I was crying," Zakaria Alarayshi, 62, told reporters Wednesday at the Arab American Civil Rights League offices in Dearborn, Michigan. "Everyone was scared. Bombs everywhere. When I go to sleep, we cannot sleep. Maybe I’ll sleep in a chair for 30 minutes a day."
He feared the bombs eventually would find them.
"If I’m going to die, OK, I don’t care. Die, die," he said.
The Alarayshis were among the U.S. residents who were able to evacuate from Gaza following the Oct. 7 Hamas militant group surprise attack on southern Israel and the subsequent Israeli bombing campaign and ground invasion.
Some 500 to 600 U.S. citizens had been trapped in Gaza since the start of the war, according to the White House. President Joe Biden said 74 Americans with dual citizenship were evacuated on Nov. 2.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
{{#rendered}}Iranian hacking groups launched cyber attacks against key Israeli companies in the wake of the October 7 massacre by Hamas last month, according to a new report.
Hackers linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targeted Israeli companies with ties to transporation, logistics and technology, according to a Thursday report from the Messenger. The hacks have largely taken the form of site outages, but they have also attempted to wipe data from Israeli computers.
The hacking efforts have yet to yield any major successes for Iran, but it is yet another threat posted by the Middle East power.
The U.S. has sought to deter Iran and its proxy terrorist organizations from joining Israel's war against Hamas, deploying an array of assets to the Eastern Mediterranean and Iraq and Syria.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton rejected calls for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war on "The View" Wednesday, instead throwing her support behind "humanitarian pauses."
"Remember, there was a ceasefire on Oct. 6 that Hamas broke by their barbaric assault on peaceful civilians and their kidnapping, their killing, their beheading, their terrible, inhumane savagery," Clinton said.
"It did not hold because Hamas chose to break it," she added.
"Hamas is a terrorist organization," she said, adding that Hamas has "consistently broken cease-fires over a number of years."
Also important, Clinton emphasized, was that "Israel should conduct itself by the laws of war and do everything it can to prevent and limit civilian casualties."
Clinton also argued that a cease-fire would not uphold the laws of war.
"But a cease-fire done prematurely benefits those who do not abide by any laws, by any rules, by any human character value about the value of life," she said.
Fox News' Jeffrey Clark contributed to this report
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz marked the 85th anniversary of Kristallnacht on Thursday, pledging to protect Jews against the current surge in antisemitism.
Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass, was the anti-Jewish pogrom that preceeded the Holocaust in Germany. Scholz stated in a speech that the time to make good on the promise of "Never Again" is now, according to the Agence France-Presse.
"This is about keeping the promise given again and again in the decades since 1945," Scholz said.
He then went on to address the rising antisemitism in Germany and the world, saying "It outrages and shames me deeply."
{{#rendered}}The U.S. military says it destroyed an Iran-linked weapons depot with an airstrike in Syria on Thursday.
The Pentagon says Iran-backed terrorist organizations in the region had used the depot to carry out attacks on U.S. bases in Syria. Since October 17th, U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria have been attacked 42 times.
The U.S. has sought to deter Iran and its terrist proxies from joinging Israel's war against Hamas.
Houthi rebels in Yemen shot down a U.S. MQ-9 reaper drone in Yemen on Wednesday, the Pentagon says.
The U.S. military has carried out multiple airstrikes in Syria in retaliation against drone attacks on U.S. bases as well as attacks on Israel. The drone is believed to have been on an intelligence-gathering mission when it was shot down.
Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have harried Israel's war against Hamas alongside Hezbollah.
The U.S. has warned Iran and its proxy terrorist groups not to intervene in the conflict.
Israel says it does not plan to "reoccupy" Gaza nor control it for long following the end of its war against Hamas.
A senior Israeli official made the comments to reporters on Tuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"We assess that our current operations are effective and successful, and we'll continue to push," the Israeli official said. "It's not unlimited or forever."
"It's not Israel's intention to reoccupy Gaza or control it for a long time. The idea behind Israel going in militarily is to destroy Hamas' ability to threaten us," the official added. "We understand that will take time and that, even if we complete this phase of our military operation, we'll still have to take some action against their remaining military infrastructure."
The statement comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu raised eyebrows earlier thiis week by stating that Israel would control Gaza's security for an "indefinite period" following the war.
President Biden had previously warned that a full reoccupation of Gaza would be a "mistake."
Reuters contributed to this report
{{#rendered}}The Israel Defense Forces said Thursday soldiers found a Hamas-operated weapons production and storage facility inside a residential building next to a child's bedroom.
The facility was used to produce and store unmanned aerial vehicles and weapons, the IDF said, and was located inside a residential building near schools in the center of the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in northern Gaza.
Explosives and operational plans were found right next to a bedroom that belonged to children, according to the force.
Fox News Digital's Yael Rotem-Kuriel contributed to this report.
Ibrahim Abu-Maghsib, the head of Hamas' anti-tank missile unit in the Central Camps Brigade, was killed in a fighter jet strike Thursday, Israeli officials announced.
The terrorist is accused of directing and carrying out "many anti-tank attacks" against Israeli citizens and military members, the Israel Defense Forces said.
Intelligence with the IDF and the Israel Securities Authority determined Abu-Maghsib was killed in the strike.
The Israeli Navy also struck Hamas anti-tank missile launching posts used to attack IDF troops operating in the Gaza Strip as part of the assistance offered to forces on the ground.
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