Israel considering flooding Gaza tunnels to drive Hamas fighters out of hiding: report

Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder said on Tuesday that the Department of Defense is in contact with its Israeli counterparts on a “near daily basis.”

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin actively discusses how the U.S. can assist Israel’s security amid the war, Ryder said.

“I’m not going to get into the specifics other than to say, again, we consult closely with Israel Secretary Austin speaks his counterpart on a near daily basis,” Ryder explained.

“And part of those discussions includes the kind of security assistance Israel needs to prevent a future terrorist attack in the future,” he added.

Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., laced into Harvard University President Dr. Claudine Gay during a House committee hearing on the rise of antisemitism on college campuses on Tuesday, challenging that the Ivy League school’s leader answer for students chanting for violence against Israel.

“Harvard students calling for the mass murder of African-Americans is not protected free speech at Harvard, correct?” Stefanik asked, leading to her point.

The New York Republican demanded that Gay respond to the “yes or no question,” before asking the Harvard president if she was familiar with the term “intifada.” Stefanik cited multiple instances of Harvard students chanting, “There is only one solution. Intifada, Revolution,” and, “globalize the intifada,” since Hamas’ October 7 massacre and Israel’s counteroffensive in Gaza that followed. 

Read the full article about Elise Stefanik by Danielle Wallace

EXCLUSIVE: A top conservative group affiliated with the Heritage Foundation is pushing Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to keep President Biden’s $106 billion supplemental aid request from coming to the House floor. 

“Please do not undermine the gains that have been made on behalf of the American people by substituting one corrupt, unaffordable end-of-year deal for another. Hold firm to the convictions you and I and the American people share in common,” Heritage Action President Dr. Kevin Roberts wrote to Johnson.

He was particularly critical of the roughly $61 billion requested for Ukraine, a topic that has become a lightning rod within the GOP.

The package would include funding for Israel, Ukraine, the U.S. border, and humanitarian efforts, among other items. Republicans in both the House and Senate have warned that such a package would fail on its own.

FBI Director Christopher Wray testified Tuesday that the terror threat facing the United States has reached unprecedented levels since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., asked Wray to describe the current “threat matrix” facing the United States at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.

“What I would say that is unique about the environment that we’re in right now in my career is that while there may have been times over the years where individual threats could have been higher here or there than where they may be right now, I’ve never seen a time where all the threats or so many of the threats are all elevated, all at exactly the same time,” the FBI director replied. 

“So, blinking red lights analogy about 9/11 — all the lights were blinking red before 9/11, apparently,” Graham continued. “Obviously, all of us missed it. Would you say there’s multiple blinking red lights out there?” he asked. 

“I see blinking red lights everywhere,” Wray answered. 

The presidents of Harvard, MIT and UPenn
are being confronted Tuesday during a House committee hearing dedicated to confronting the surge in antisemitism seen on American college campuses in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war, as Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., pressed the trio about the “race-based ideology of the radical left” she said their institutions are supporting. 

In her opening statement, Foxx, chair of the House Education and Workforce Committee, held a moment of silence “to recognize all the Israelis and others who have been killed, injured, or taken hostage by Hamas terrorists.” 

Addressing the witnesses, Harvard University President Dr. Claudine Gay, University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill and Massachusetts Institute of Technology President Dr. Sally Kornbluth, Foxx said that “each of you will have a chance to answer to and atone for the many specific instances of vitriolic, hate-filled antisemitism on your respective campuses that have denied students the safe learning environment they are due.” 

“As you confront our questions in this hearing, remember that you are not speaking to us, but to the students on your campus who have been threatened and assaulted and who look to you to protect them,” Foxx said. “

Foxx played a video of many pro-Palestinian
protesters at college campuses shouting “intifada,” an Arabic word for uprising that is used to describe past Palestinian campaigns against Israel.

Images have emerged Tuesday of a damaged residential building in the southern Israeli city
of Ashkelon following a strike by a rocket that was fired from the Gaza Strip.

Two women in their 60s were injured in the blast, according to The Jerusalem Post.

The Israel Defense Forces also said Tuesday that sirens were activated in Tel Aviv and northern Israel, warning of potential rocket strikes.

The Lebanese Army wrote on X Tuesday that shelling from the Israeli military has killed one of its soldiers, in what is being reported as the first death of a Lebanese soldier in the Israel-Hamas war.

Israel has been engaging in back-and-forth border skirmishes against the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah since the beginning of the war.

The Lebanese Army wrote that an “army military center in the Nabi Aweida — Al-Adaysah area was bombed by the Israeli enemy, which led to the martyrdom of a soldier and the injury of 3 others, who were transferred to a hospital for treatment.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for comment.

Fox News’ Ben Evansky contributed to this report.

The leader of Qatar – which has played a key role in negotiating a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas – has accused Israel on Tuesday of committing “crimes of genocide” in Gaza. 

Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani said in Doha Tuesday that “all religious, ethical and humanitarian values have been violated in occupied Palestine through crimes the occupation forces are committing against humanity,” according to the Associated Press. 

He added that self-defense “doesn’t permit the crimes of genocide that Israel is committing.” 

Israel and the U.S. say the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas has been using civilians as human shields in the Gaza Strip, which is adding to the death toll there. 

As of Tuesday, more than 15,000 people have been killed in Gaza during Israel’s campaign to eliminate Hamas, the AP reported, citing a military official. 

Hamas began the war on Oct. 7 by launching a surprise attack on Israel and has refused calls to release more hostages. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

An Israel Defense Forces
commander said Tuesday that Israel’s military is currently “in the most intense day since the beginning of the ground operation — in terms of terrorists killed, the number of firefights, and the use of firepower from the land and air.” 

Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman, who leads the Southern Command, said in a statement that “We are in the heart of Jabalya, in the heart of Shuja’iyya, and now also in the heart of Khan Younis.” 

“We intend to continue to strike and secure our accomplishments,” he added. 

The IDF also said since the end of a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas last week, “Israeli Air Force aircraft have carried out two rounds of strikes involving dozens of aircraft from all the combat squadrons.  

“Hundreds of munitions were utilized during strikes on tunnels, operational shafts, and anti-tank missile launch positions in order to support the movement of IDF infantry soldiers on the ground,” it added. 

Fox News’ Ben Evansky contributed to this report.

The State Department says the U.S. suspects one reason Hamas is refusing to release its remaining female hostages is to prevent them from revealing the horrors they experienced in captivity.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller says that Hamas’ refusal to release the women led to the collapse of the cease-fire on Friday.

“It seems that one of the reasons they don’t want to turn women over that they’ve been holding hostage — and the reason this pause fell apart — is that they don’t want these women to be able to talk about what happened to them during their time in custody,” Miller said during a Monday press briefing.

The statement comes amid heightened tensions regarding Hamas’ brutal treatment of women during and after its Oct. 7 massacre. Israel has documented extensive instances of rape and sexual assault and has called on the United Nations to take action.

The hostages who have been freed by Hamas from the Gaza Strip were given tranquilizer pills before being transferred to Israel in a bid to make them appear happier following their treatment in captivity, a report says. 

Dr. Hagar Mizrahi, the head of the Ministry of Health’s medical division, told the Israeli government about the alleged druggings on Tuesday, according to The Times of Israel. 

The newspaper reports that Mizrahi named the drug Clonazepam, which is known outside of Israel as Klonopin and Rivotril. 

The National Institutes of Health describes Clonazepam as being “used to relieve panic attacks,” amongst other purposes. 

The hostages, who spent more than 50 days in captivity, were first handed over to the International Red Cross before being transferred to Israel. 

The Israel Defense Forces say sirens are sounding in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, warning of incoming rocket fire.

Meanwhile, a building in the city of Ashkelon has been hit Tuesday with a barrage of rockets fired from Gaza, the Jerusalem Post is reporting, citing Israeli media.

A woman in her 60s reportedly was among the wounded in that incident.

The families of hostages still being held by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip say they will meet Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 

The families have sought to meet with Netanyahu and his wartime Cabinet since a truce deal between Israel and Hamas that saw the release of 105 hostages expired last Friday, according to The Associated Press. 

The families say they want to hear from Netanyahu that he has their relatives’ fate in mind as Israel moves ahead in its war against Hamas. 

Israel said this morning that 137 hostages are believed to remain in Gaza, including 17 women and children. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Turkey’s state-run news agency reported Tuesday that the country’s intelligence officials have warned their Israeli counterparts
of “serious consequences” if they attempt to target Hamas members on its territory. 

The warning comes after the leader of Israel’s domestic security agency, Shin Bet, said his organization is prepared to destroy Hamas “in every place.”

“In every place, in Gaza, in the West Bank, in Lebanon, in Turkey, in Qatar, everywhere,” Ronen Bar said in comments aired Sunday night by Israel’s public broadcaster Kan 11, according to the Associated Press. “It’ll take a few years but we will be there to do it.”

The Anadolu Agency, quoting unnamed Turkish intelligence officials, said “necessary warnings were made” to Israeli officials who were told their actions would “have serious consequences.” 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Israel’s military said Tuesday that 137 hostages remain held by Hamas terrorist
s inside the Gaza Strip.

“We have a moral obligation to continue to do everything to bring everyone home,” the Israel Defense Forces wrote on X.

Seventeen of those hostages are women and children, according to the IDF.

White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said on ‘Fox News Sunday’ that the U.S. believes around 9 Americans are among the hostages still in captivity.

Yesterday, Mark Regev, a senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told Fox News that “we have to fear” for the safety of those Americans, adding that “I can’t be confident that anyone is alive, unfortunately.” 

The Israeli Air Force said Tuesday that its fighter jets have attacked Hezbollah targets in Lebanon following a series of launches that entered its territory. 

“A short time ago, fighter jets of the Air Force attacked a series of targets of the terrorist organization Hezbollah in Lebanese territory. Among the targets attacked: terrorist infrastructures, positions and military sites where weapons were stored and from which terrorists of the terrorist organization operated,” it said in a post on X.

“In addition, earlier today several launches were identified that crossed the territory of Lebanon towards various areas in the north of the country and fell in open areas,” the Israeli Air Force added.

Israel is considering a plan to pump seawater into the extensive tunnel system underneath the Gaza Strip to drive Hamas militants out of their hiding places, a report says. 

Israel’s military last month finished installing at least five large seawater pumps – which can draw water from the Mediterranean Sea — near the coastal Al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, according to The Wall Street Journal. 

American officials told the newspaper that Israel first informed the U.S. of the plan in early November, drawing a mixed reaction as there are concerns about how pumping seawater may damage the environment. 

“We are not sure how successful pumping will be since nobody knows the details of the tunnels and the ground around them,” one source told The Wall Street Journal. “It’s impossible to know if that will be effective because we don’t know how seawater will drain in tunnels no one has been in before.” 

Jon Alterman, senior vice president at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, also said “It’s hard to tell what pumping seawater will do to the existing water and sewage infrastructure. It is hard to tell what it will do to groundwater reserves. And it’s hard to tell the impact on the stability of nearby buildings.” 

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton criticized Hamas supporters on Monday for overlooking the terrorist group’s sex crimes against Israeli women.

Speaking at a United Nations meeting via remote video, Clinton called it “outrageous” to ignore the reports of sexual assaults.

“Organizations, governments and individuals who are committed to a better future for women and girls have a responsibility to condemn all violence against women,” Clinton said. “It is outrageous just that some who claim to stand for justice are closing their eyes and their hearts to the victims of Hamas.”

The former U.S. official noted that “women on both sides of the current conflict in the Middle East have long worked for a just and lasting peace.”

“I have grieved with Israeli women who have lost loved ones to terrorist attacks, but refuse to believe that peace is impossible,” Clinton continued. “I have talked and listened to Palestinian women who have suffered greatly from the conflicts of the past decades, yet dream of a peaceful future and a state of their own.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre refused Monday to condemn comments from a top progressive lawmaker who called for “balance” when condemning Hamas’ use of sexual violence against Israeli women.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said “we have to be balanced about bringing in the outrages against Palestinian” when asked specifically about mass rape committed by Palestinian militants, during an interview Sunday with CNN. When asked about Jayapal’s comments, Jean-Pierre reiterated that using rape as a weapon of war was “reprehensible,” but stopped short of condemning the congresswoman.

“I can only speak for the president — that’s who I can speak for,” Jean-Pierre told Fox News correspondent Jacqui Heinrich during the daily White House press briefing Monday. “We’ve been clear that what Hamas did is absolutely reprehensible, full stop. We’re going to continue to be clear about that.”

“We think rape and the use of rape — being used as a weapon — that is also reprehensible and that’s full stop and I’ll just leave it there,” she continued. “That’s speaking for the president of the United States and I think I’ve been very clear on that.”

After Jean-Pierre was pressed about Jayapal’s comments in particular, she again declined to address the congresswoman’s remarks directly.

“I just commented on it. I just laid out what we believe is unacceptable,” she added.

Fox News’ Thomas Catenacci contributed to this report.