IDF says it killed top Hamas financier, Israel strikes south Gaza

The head of a Gaza hospital has admitted to Israeli forces that the terror organization used his hospital to advance its military operations since the hospital is a "safe place."

Ahmad Kahlot, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, admitted in a bombshell interrogation with Israeli forces that Hamas used his hospital to hide high-ranking military activists.

"Because for them the hospital is a safe place," Kahlot said when asked why they hide in the hospital. "They won't be targeted when they are in the hospital."

Kahlot, who joined Hamas in 2010 and holds a rank equivalent to a brigadier general, explained that he knew 16 hospital staffers, including doctors, nurses, paramedics and clerks, were also members of Hamas’ military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.

"I know 16 people. The positions are doctor or nurse or paramedic or clerk," Kahlot said, wearing an Israeli jail uniform.

Kahlot explained that the medical facility turned military hub was also used to house up to 100 high-ranking terrorists.

"They are the seniors, military and civilian officials," Kahlot explained. "They had rooms which they hid in. They stayed there 10 days, and then they changed places to a different place, and then they left the hospital."

Fox News' Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.

Fox News correspondent Nate Foy appeared on "Special Report" Tuesday to discuss the latest information about the Israel-Hamas war.

Speaking from Jerusalem, Foy cited reports that Israel has allegedly made a temporary cease-fire offer to Hamas to bring back hostages.

"It's unclear exactly how many [hostages] in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, but so far, Hamas says it will only negotiate if it means an end to the war," Foy said.

The reporter also noted that recently-released hostage video from Hamas is "increasing" pressure on Israel.

"For a second night in a row, Hamas released a video showing two Israeli hostages alive, again, increasing the pressure on the Israeli government to do whatever is necessary to bring them home safely," he concluded.

Protestors loyal to the Houthi movement lift their rifles and chant slogans as they rally for supporting the movement's decision to target all Israeli ships or bound for Israeli ports, on December 09, 2023 in Sana'a, Yemen. (Photo by Mohammed Hamoud/Getty Images)

Houthi militants in Yemen say they will not stop attacking vessels in the Red Sea despite the formation of a U.S.-led task force to protect commercial shipping in the region. 

"Our war is a moral war, and therefore, no matter how many alliances America mobilizes, our military operations will not stop," Houthi ruling council member Mohammed Albukhaiti told The Washington Post Tuesday. 

Commercial vessels have for weeks been under attack by drones and ballistic missiles fired from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen. The Houthis say the attacks are in protest to Israel’s ongoing war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.  

Read the full article about Houthis by Bradford Betz

Houthi military spokesman, Brigadier Yahya Saree, delivers a statement on the recent attacks against two commercial vessels in the Red Sea during a march in solidarity with the people of Gaza in the capital Sanaa on December 15, 2023. (Photo by MOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels have increasingly become a threat to commercial global shipping and the region in which they operate as they continue to launch attacks in the Red Sea. 

The Houthis have escalated their attacks against vessels in or near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and have stated their support of Hamas, which is currently engaged in a war with Israel. 

The group has somewhat inserted itself into the war by firing drones and missiles at Israel, resulting in fears that the fighting could escalate into a regional conflict.  

Read the full article about Houthis by Louis Casiano

Palestinian Christian man seen at the entrance to the Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Family during the Easter Mass. (Photo by Mahmoud Issa/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) is pushing back against reports concerning two Christian women who were killed during fighting within the area of Gaza’s only Catholic Church over the weekend.  

The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem claimed in a Saturday press release that an IDF sniper had murdered two Christian women inside the Holy Family Parish in Gaza, where the majority of Christian families have taken refuge since the start of Israel’s war with Hamas. 

Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Pierbattista Pizzaballa wrote in a report, later republished by the Holy See, that a woman named Nahida Khalil Anton and her daughter, Samar Kamal Anton, were "shot and killed as they walked to the Sisters’ Convent." 

The IDF says reports on these incidents do match the conclusion of an initial review which found that the IDF troopers were targeting Hamas spotters in enemy lookouts. It said this incident occurred "in the area where the two women were reportedly killed." 

Read the full article about the IDF by Bradford Betz

Retired four-star general Joseph L. Votel was interviewed on "Your World" Tuesday about the recent Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, as the Israel-Hamas war continues.

Votel told host Neil Cavuto that the U.S. "needs to be leveraging all of our elements of power here."

"We need to hold Iran and the Houthis accountable in the court of public opinion on this," the retired general explained. "We need to be leveraging our diplomatic and political channels and we need to be leveraging our economic tools."

"And in all of this, certainly the military can do a lot, but we really need to be leveraging everything to to compel this behavior to stop," he added.

A soldier in an armored personnel carrier with the image of the Cypriot flag during the annual military parade to mark the Independence Day of Cyprus in the divided capital of Nicosia on October 1st, 2022. (Photo by Danil Shamkin/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Cyprus has disrupted an alleged Iranian plot to target Israeli businessmen with the arrest of two Iranian asylum-seekers who were in contact with another Iranian associated with the Revolutionary Guard, a Cypriot official said Tuesday.

The official told The Associated Press the two Iranian men have been in police custody since Nov. 3 and procedures were underway to deport them.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he’s not allowed to speak publicly about national security matters, said the suspects’ detention was the culmination of a joint operation with Israel’s Mossad security service.

Read the full article about Cyprus by the Associated Press

Writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali appeared on "America Reports" Tuesday to discuss the rise of antisemitism at American universities amid the Israel Hamas war.

"There are two forces that are competing for the hearts and minds of young people on university campuses, but now even from K-12," Ali explained. "And one force is the radical Islamist movements that we know from ISIS and Al-Qaeda, but [they] have modified their way of operating."

"Instead of throwing bombs and instead of engaging in violence... they try to focus on manipulating and in terms of trying to convert people," she added.

The activist argued that the second force is critical race theory, which is "hell-bent on trying to inform and indoctrinate young people into accepting that the state of Israel is a colonizer."

"And I think that these two forces, the woke and the Islamists, they have joined together," Ali explained. "And you are seeing this now come out of the classrooms and into the open after the October 7 attacks."

Iranian defence missiles and unmanned air vehicles are displayed an event marking the 44th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, at the Azadi (Freedom) square in Tehran, Iran, on February 11, 2023. (Photo by Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

The United States on Tuesday imposed a new round of sanctions against 10 entities and four individuals for their involvement in procuring materials for the production of drones in Iran.

The sanctions target a network spanning Iran, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Indonesia led by Hossein Hatefi Ardakani, according to the U.S. State and Treasury Department. Ardakani and Gary Lam, who worked for a Chinese company, and their co-conspirators were named as defendants in a Justice Department press release. 

The U.S. said these individuals and entities were involved in the procurement of sensitive goods, including U.S.-origin electronic components, for one-way attack drones produced by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force Self Sufficiency Jihad Organization and its drone program.

Read the full article about sanctions against Iran by Bradford Betz

Yemeni coastguard members loyal to the internationally-recognised government ride in a speedboat cruising in the Red Sea off of the government-held town of Mokha in the western Taiz province, close to the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait, on December 12, 2023. (Photo by KHALED ZIAD/AFP via Getty Images)

The U.S. Department of State released a joint statement condemning the recent Houthi attacks in the Red Sea on Tuesday.

The statement, which was also signed by NATO, the European Union and other countries, called the attacks "appalling."

"The undersigned condemn Houthi interference with navigational rights and freedoms in the waters around the Arabian Peninsula, particularly the Red Sea," the statement read. "The numerous attacks originating from Houthi-controlled territories in Yemen, including the December 3 attacks against three commercial vessels in the Southern Red Sea connected to 14 nations, threaten international commerce and maritime security."

"The undersigned further encourage all states to refrain from facilitation or encouragement of the Houthis," the letter added. "There is no justification for these attacks, which affect many countries beyond the flags these ships sail under."

Fox News Digital's Gillian Turner contributed to this report.

An Israeli solder prays near border of Gaza on December 19, 2023 in southern Israel. (Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images)

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari gave a briefing Tuesday on the latest developments with the Israel-Hamas war.

During the press conference, Hagari said that the Israeli military is "deepening the fight against Hamas's strongholds."

"Our forces are fighting above and below ground. Since the beginning of the ground operation in the Gaza Strip, IDF forces have discovered approximately 1,500 terrorist tunnel shafts and tunnel routes of Hamas," Hagari explained.

"It's important to explain that this underground infrastructure is one of the main elements in Hamas's terror operations," the spokesman added. "Dismantling Hamas's underground strongholds in the north, center, and south is a significant step in dismantling Hamas, and it takes time, and our forces are working to carry this out."

Fox News Digital's Dana Karni contributed to this report.

Jerry Seinfeld and Jessica Seinfeld attend the 2023 Good+Foundation “A Very Good+ Night of Comedy” Benefit at Carnegie Hall on October 18, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Good+Foundation)

Jewish-American comedian Jerry Seinfeld is doubling down on his support for Israel by traveling to the Holy Land to show solidarity with hostages taken by Hamas.

Seinfeld, 69, arrived in Israel with his family on Monday and reportedly had an "emotional" meeting with the freed hostages and representatives of families whose loved ones are still held captive in Gaza, according to Israeli news outlet Haaretz.

According to Channel 13 TV News in Israel, the meeting took place at the Hostages and Missing Persons Forum's headquarters in Tel Aviv, and lasted two hours longer than expected. Seinfeld, in a video the outlet posted to X, appeared to don a dog tag that symbolized the hostages' struggles with the words, "Bring Them Home."

Read the full article about Jerry Seinfeld by Taylor Penley

Smoke rises over northern Gaza, as viewed from the Israeli side of the border on December 19, 2023 in southern Israel. (Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images)

The Israel Defense Forces announced on Tuesday that one of its units is "conducting operational activities" within Hamas' tunnel network.

The IDF said that special forces unit soldiers identified hundreds of tunnels and destroyed them "using various techniques."

"Led by the Southern Command, the combat in underground tunnels is a complex form of warfare, involving the discovery of combat facilities and terrorist command centers," the Israeli military's statement read.

The IDF also acknowledged that Hamas terrorists employ underground warfare as a combat strategy.

"Since the beginning of the ground operation in the Gaza Strip, IDF troops have identified about 1,500 tunnel shafts and underground passages belonging to Hamas," the press release explained. "Most of these subterranean structures have been found beneath schools, hospitals, mosques, UN facilities and civilian institutions."

"Hamas uses the civilian population as a human shield, a fact that becomes evident in the locations of these underground facilities in the Gaza Strip," the statement added.

Former Bush foreign policy adviser Dan Senor joined "America's Newsroom" on Tuesday to discuss the latest Houthi attacks amid the Israel-Hamas war.

During his interview, Senor emphasized that Yemeni Houthis, which have been attacking international vessels in the Red Sea, are backed by Tehran.

"Make no mistake, the Houthi rebels... are a proxy of Iran, just like Hezbollah is a proxy of Iran, just like Hamas is a proxy of Iran," he explained. "And Iran is working closely with Moscow and Beijing."

"So you start to see the global dimension. We sit there watching the war in Gaza and say, 'Oh, it's Israel, the Palestinians at it again," Senor added. "No, it is a manifestation of a much bigger regional and potentially global conflict."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) chairs a Cabinet meeting at the Kirya, which houses the Israeli Ministry of Defence, in Tel Aviv on December 17, 2023. (Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara recently met with family members of hostages still held in Gaza, the official's office announced.

In a statement on Tuesday, the prime minister's office said that the Netanyahus "listened very attentively to the hardship and pain of the hostages' families."

"We are committed, I am personally committed, to the release of all the hostages," Netanyahu said. "Rescuing them is our top task."

"Just now I sent the head of the Mossad to Europe twice to promote a process for the release of our hostages," he added. "I will spare no effort on the matter and the requirement is to bring everyone."

The prime minister also emphasized that Israel "won't stop" its war against Hamas until all hostages are brought home.

"Will I succeed? I can give you one guarantee - we don't stop," Netanyahu said.

Qatar's prime minister met with the heads of Israel's Mossad spy agency and the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Warsaw on Monday for resumed hostage negotiations. 

While the resumed talks showed positive signs, there is no expectation of an imminent cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas, Reuters reported citing sources briefed on the diplomatic efforts.

The leaders met in Poland’s capital to discuss a potential new deal to secure the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza in exchange for a potential release of Palestinians in Israeli prisons and a humanitarian pause in the fighting.

"The talks were positive with negotiators exploring and discussing different proposals in an attempt to progress on negotiations," the source said. "An agreement is not expected imminently however."

The office of Israel's prime minister and the CIA declined to comment to Reuters.

Qatar is serving as a mediator between Israel and Hamas. The Arab nation has said it is working to restore a humanitarian cease-fire agreement that ended last month.

During the previous week-long truce, Hamas released more than 100 hostages in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. 

Reuters contributed to this report.

Sgt. First Class (res.) Maoz Fenigstein, 25, was killed in action on the Gaza Strip on December 19, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces)

The Israel Defense Forces on Tuesday announced the death of another soldier who was killed in the Gaza Strip, bringing the total number of slain troops in the Israel-Hamas war to 132, the Times of Israel reported. 

The soldier was identified as Sgt. First Class (res.) Maoz Fenigstein, 25, of the 551st Brigade's 7008th Battalion, from Susya. His family was notified. 

"The IDF shares the family's grief," the military said in a statement.

The Israeli military has suffered more casualties as its ground operations in the Gaza Strip continue. The war in Gaza began on Oct. 7, after Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel's south and massacred more than 1,200 people, mostly civilians. Israel has vowed to eradicate the terrorist group's governing and military capabilities in response.

The Hamas-led Gaza Health Ministry claims that nearly 20,000 Palestinians have since been killed by Israeli military operations, however that number cannot be independently verified. Hamas does not distinguish between civilian and military casualties. 

International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) President Mirjana Spoljaric Egger attends a briefing in Geneva, Switzerland, December 14, 2022. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

The leader of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Tuesday decried the Israel-Hamas war as a "moral failure" of the world and urged both sides to agree to a cease-fire.

"I have been speaking of moral failure because every day this continues is a day more where the international community hasn't proven capable of ending such high levels of suffering and this will have an impact on generations not only in Gaza," ICRC president Mirjana Spoljaric told journalists in Geneva following trips to the Gaza Strip and Israel.

"There's nothing without an agreement by the two sides, so we urge them to keep negotiating..." she said, referring to the release of Israeli hostages taken to Gaza by Hamas terrorists during their deadly rampage in southern Israel on Oct. 7.

"The releases in themselves are highly complex, highly sensitive missions."

A temporary cease-fire mediated by Qatar and Egypt lasted one week and resulted in the release of 110 hostages held in Gaza in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.

Israel said Hamas broke the terms of the agreement on Dec. 1 by refusing to release additional female hostages, resulting in the resumption of fighting.

On Tuesday, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said his country was ready for another truce to resume hostage releases. 

Reuters contributed to this update.

Ambassadors to the UN observer a minute of silence for Kuwait's emir Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad Al-Sabah prior a UN Security Council meeting at UN headquarters in New York on December 19, 2023. (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images)

The United Nations Security Council is expected to vote Tuesday on an Arab-sponsored resolution calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war.

A vote on the resolution was previously scheduled for 5 p.m. Monday, but was delayed to try to avoid another veto by the United States. Diplomats are seeking to sway the U.S. to either vote "yes" or to abstain so the resolution will pass. 

The draft resolution on the table Monday morning called for an “urgent and sustainable cessation of hostilities,” to allow unhindered access to deliver humanitarian aid to the massive number of civilians in need of food, water and medicine.

But this language is expected to be watered down to a “suspension” of hostilities or similar language to get U.S. support, the diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity because discussions have been private.

A Security Council resolution is legally binding, but parties may yet ignore the council's demands for action.

The U.S. previously vetoed a Security Council cease-fire resolution that was widely supported by all council members and dozens of other member nations. Robert Wood, the U.S. deputy ambassador to the U.N., maintained the U.S. wanted to see peace between Israelis and Palestinians but was critical of how the resolution would go about it.

"It would simply leave Hamas in place, able to regroup and repeat what it did on Oct. 7. Colleagues, a senior Hamas official recently stated the group intends to repeat the vile acts of Oct. 7, quote, again and again and again, unquote. And yet this resolution essentially says Israel should just tolerate this, that it should allow this terror to go unchecked," Wood said earlier this month. 

"Although the United States strongly supports a durable peace in which both Israelis and Palestinians can live in peace and security, we do not support this resolution's call for an unsustainable cease-fire that will only plant the seeds for the next war," he added. 

Fox News Digital's Elizabeth Elkind and the Associated Press contributed to this update.

Palestinians inspect damages following an Israeli raid at Kamal Adwan hospital, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in the northern Gaza Strip December 16, 2023. REUTERS/Fadi Alwhidifa

United Nations officials have expressed outrage over Israeli raids on hospitals in Gaza, where injured Palestinians are being treated without necessary supplies and children have been killed by shelling.

Gaza hospitals, which Israel has accused of sheltering Hamas military facilities, are mostly inoperable because of damage from airstrikes, Israeli raids and lack of fuel and staff, Reuters reports. Those that remain in operation are overwhelmed by the number of injured and sick arriving.

"I'm furious that children who are recovering from amputations in hospitals are then killed in those hospitals," said James Elder, spokesperson for the U.N. children's agency.

Elder said that Nasser hospital, the largest remaining operational facility in Gaza, had been shelled twice in the past 48 hours. He said one of the victims was a 13-year-old amputee named Dina who survived a strike on her home that killed her family.

"So where do children and families go? They're not safe in hospitals, they're not safe in shelters, and they're certainly not safe in so-called safe zones," he said.

World Health Organization spokeswoman Margaret Harris added that the situation in Gaza hospitals is "unconscionable." 

"The very basics, they do not have them. One of my colleagues described people lying on the floor in severe pain, in agony, but they weren't asking for pain relief. They were asking for water," she said. "It's beyond belief that the world is allowing this to continue."

Reuters contributed to this report.

A group of U.S. lawmakers who are veterans urged President Biden on Monday to use "all our leverage" to push Israel to change its military strategy and limit civilian casualties in Gaza.

“The mounting civilian death toll and humanitarian crisis are unacceptable and not in line with American interests; nor do they advance the cause of security for our ally Israel,” six lawmakers, all Democratic representatives, said in an open letter to Biden.

The six are Jason Crow, a Bronze Star recipient and former Army Ranger; Mikie Sherrill, a former Navy pilot; Chrissy Houlahan, a former Air Force officer; Seth Moulton, a former Marine; and Elissa Slotkin and Abigail Spanberger, former CIA officers.

Democrats are mounting pressure on Biden to take a tougher stance with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli military's strategy as Palestinian casualties mount in Gaza. Israel and U.S. officials have said Hamas places military targets in and around civilian structures, using people as human shields. 

The lawmakers who sent the letter are members of the House Armed Services, Intelligence and Foreign Affairs committees. 

“Some of us also spent years fighting America’s war on terror. We know from personal and often painful experience that you can’t destroy a terror ideology with military force alone,” the lawmakers wrote. “Accordingly, we urge you to continue to use all our leverage to achieve an immediate and significant shift of military strategy and tactics in Gaza.”

The Associated Press contributed to this update.

The father of one of the three Israeli hostages mistakenly killed by the IDF in Gaza grieved and lashed out at Israel's leaders on Tuesday.

Avi Shamriz' son, Alon, was killed along with two other Israeli hostages after they apparently escaped from Hamas custody and attempted to surrender to Israeli forces. IDF forces mistook them for Hamas terrorists and opened fire.

"I’m going to say this [to] the government. You murdered my son twice," the distraught father told NBC News. "You let Hamas take my son on Oct. 7, and you killed my son on Dec. 14."

Shamriz' message comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces mounting pressure to engage in another round of hostage negotiations with Hamas. Israel believes there are over 100 hostages still in Hamas custody, though it is unclear how many of them remain alive.

Senior members of Netanyahu's government have accepted blame for the lack of vigilance that allowed the Oct. 7 massacre to occur. His administration argues that the war in Gaza must continue, lest Hamas make good on its promises to repeat its atrocities.

"They are not thinking about the hostages. They are not thinking about us," Shamriz said of Netanyahu's government. "They are thinking only of themselves.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has warned that the war against Hamas is likely to last many more months. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visited Israel on Monday to urge Israel to scale back its war after the end of December.

The United States on Tuesday began a multinational operation to secure shipping in the Red Sea amid Houthi attacks.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who is visiting the U.S. Navy's headquarters in Bahrain, said the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain were among nations involved in the Red Sea security operation.

The Houthis, a Yemeni rebel group backed by Iran, have in the last month fired drones and missiles at international vessels sailing through the Red Sea, in attacks they say are a response to the Israel-Hamas war. The attacks have become so frequent global trade is suffering, prompting shipping companies to reroute their vessels away from the Red Sea at great expense.

"This is an international challenge that demands collective action," Austin said in a statement, announcing the initiative as "Operation Prosperity Guardian".

He called on other countries to joint the U.S. and shoot down Houthi missiles and drones. 

Reuters contributed to this update.

FILE - Meta's logo is seen on a sign at the company's headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., Nov. 9, 2022. A quasi-independent review board is recommending that Facebook parent company Meta overturn two decisions it made this fall to remove posts “informing the world about human suffering on both sides” of the Israel-Hamas war. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez, File)

The Oversight Board tasked with reviewing Meta's content moderation on Facebook is recommending that the company reverse two decisions to remove videos "informing the world about human suffering on both sides" of the Israel-Hamas war. 

The posts included a video showing the aftermath of the bombing at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City and another showing the kidnapping of an Israeli hostage. Meta had already reinstated the posts prior to the board's ruling.

Even so, the board said it disagrees with Meta's decision to bar the posts in question from being recommended by Facebook and Instagram, “even in cases where it had determined posts intended to raise awareness.” And it said Meta's use of automated tools to remove “potentially harmful” content increased the likelihood of taking down “valuable posts” that not only raise awareness about the conflict but may contain evidence of human rights violations. It urged the company to preserve such content.

The Oversight Board, established three years ago by Meta, issued its decisions Tuesday in what it said was its first expedited ruling — taking 12 days rather than the usual 90.

Meta praised the board's decision.

“Both expression and safety are important to us and the people who use our services. The board overturned Meta’s original decision to take this content down but approved of the subsequent decision to restore the content with a warning screen. Meta previously reinstated this content so no further action will be taken on it,” the company said. “There will be no further updates to this case, as the board did not make any recommendations as part of their decision.”

Some ships traveling through the Red Sea are now turning off their tracking systems to avoid being attacked by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels, a report says. 

The evasive maneuvers come as shippers, including Hapag Lloyd, MSC, Maersk, as well as BP and the oil tanker group Frontline, have announced that they will be rerouting their vessels from the area and sending them around South Africa instead. 

The news agency, citing data from the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), reports that four MSC container ships in the Red Sea have had their transponders shut off since Sunday. The company on Saturday announced its intentions to avoid the area. 

Other ships are trying to obscure their whereabouts by pinging their locations as being somewhere else when approaching the Yemen coastline, Ioannis Papadimitriou, a senior freight analyst at Vortexa – a ship tracking company – told Reuters.

Some ships reportedly have armed guards on board. At least 11 cargo vessels that passed through the Suez Canal are currently anchored in the Red Sea between Sudan and Saudi Arabia, Reuters also reported, citing LSEG data. 

 Fox Business' Greg Norman and Reuters contributed to this update.

The Israel Defense Forces conducted an overnight raid at Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, according to the church that runs the hospital.

The facility was the scene of an explosion early in the war that killed dozens of Palestinians, and which an Associated Press investigation later determined was likely caused by a misfired Palestinian rocket.

IDF soldiers destroyed a wall at the hospital's front entrance and detained most of the hospital staff, said Don BInder, a pastor at St. George's Anglican Cathedral, which operates the hospitals. In a Facebook post, Binder said the raid left just two doctors, four nurses and two janitors to tend to over 100 seriously wounded patients, with no running water or electricity.

“It has been a great mercy for the many wounded in Gaza City that we were able to keep our Ahli Anglican Hospital open for so long,” Binder wrote late Monday. “That ended today.”

The IDF did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

The Israeli military has claimed other hospitals in Gaza have been used as terror bases by Hamas, sharing video of weapons recovered at those sites and tunnels underneath the facilities. Hospital staff have denied the Israeli accusations. 

The Associated Press contributed to this update.

Palestinians search for survivors after the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip outside a morgue in Rafah, Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Hatem Ali)

Israeli forces continued to bombard Gaza on Tuesday, hitting the southern part of the country with airstrikes that killed at least 28 Palestinians.

A strike on a home in Rafah where displaced people were sheltering killed at least 25 people, including a 2-year-old boy and his newborn sister, and another strike killed at least three people, according to Associated Press journalists who saw the bodies arrive at two local hospitals early Tuesday.

Rafah, which is in the southern part of Gaza where Israel has told Palestinians to seek shelter, has been repeatedly bombarded in recent days, as Israel has struck what it says are militant targets across the territory, often killing large numbers of civilians.

The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza claims nearly 20,000 Palestinians have been killed, and 1.9 million displaced, since the start of the war on Oct. 7 — the day Hamas led a terrorist attack on Israel and slaughtered 1,200 Israelis. 

The Associated Press contributed to this update.

Gun ownership in California’s Jewish community is spiking as Jews take self-defense into their own hands while the war in Israel continues raging, according to a rabbi who trains the community on gun safety.

"Magen Am’s mission is to train and empower the community to deter and respond to security threats. We're trying to give everybody the tool to be empowered to protect themselves," Los Angeles-based Rabbi Yossi Eilfort said in a video produced by the NRA exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital.

Eilfort is an NRA instructor and founder of Magen Am USA, the only Jewish, nonprofit organization licensed on the West Coast to provide armed security services.

Magen Am, which operates in LA as well as Phoenix, trains volunteers and community members in extensive classes on gun safety, hand-to-hand self-defense, de-escalation, verbal tactics and the use of intermediate weapons such as Tasers or batons.

The video features a few women who Eilfort and Magen Am have trained on gun safety, as well as security personnel who work with the company to strengthen protection around Jewish institutions, such as schools and synagogues.

"Magen Am means ‘nation’s shield.’ I like to say we're like a shield. Were about 30-30-30: Where one-third is hired professionals dealing with institutional security; one-third dealing with community training; and then one-third is working with government law enforcement," Eilfort, who is also a former MMA fighter, explained in the video of how Magen Am operates.

War broke out in Israel on Oct. 7 when the terrorist group Hamas launched attacks on the nation, which sparked protests and antisemitic rhetoric stateside as supporters of Palestine took to the streets of cities such as New York and Los Angeles.

"I feel like a target. Explosives have been thrown at the synagogue right behind my house," one woman trained by Magen Am said in the video.

Fox News Digital's Emma Colton contributed to this update.

The Israeli Defense Forces announced Tuesday morning that it has killed a prominent financier who helped funnel tens of millions of dollars to fund Hamas' military forces, salaries and war activities.

"In a targeted operation in the middle of Rafah in the Gaza Strip, Subhi Ferwana was eliminated by an IAF fighter jet directed by IDF and ISA intelligence," the IDF said. 

Subhi Ferwana, alongside his brother, "funneled tens of millions through his company 'Hamsat' to fund Hamas' military forces, terrorists' salaries and war activities," the IDF wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

"Ferwana transferred funds to Hamas’ military wing during the war and was aware that these funds would be vital for continuing the wing’s ability to fight," the IDF continued. "The funds were used - among other things - for intensification of military forces, the payment of terrorists’ salaries during the war, and to finance Hamas' war activities."