Iran appears to strike ship off Indian coast with unmanned aerial vehicle, US official says

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Tennis legend Martina Navratilova appeared to be disgusted with a video that appeared to show a girl telling a rabbi to "kill yourself" if they had a problem with "free Palestine."

The altercation took place in Times Square in New York City. The girl in the video says she’s 11 years old and lives in Canada. The girl or the supposed family members that she was with didn’t appear to have any remorse over what she told Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, who took the video and posted it on X.

Navratilova was among those who remarked on the clip.

"Pretty sad. And the mother is laughing. Pathetic," Navratilova wrote.

Boteach provided context for the video in a post on X.

"An ‘11-year-old’ Muslim girl with her family walked over to me in Times Square and told me to kill myself because I’m a Jew. I am not making this up. You must watch this," he wrote. "They then had their small child kick me to humiliate me [while] their daughter continued to say that I should kill myself. Identify who these people are."

"Also, other passersby yelled at me that she’s white, and I should kill myself as a Jew. All of this happened right in the middle of New York City the night before Christmas. [Antisemitism] is becoming unbelievably dangerous and deadly in the United States and around the world. We must fight this disease."

Fox News' Ryan Gaydos contributed to this report.

U.S. President Joe Biden, left, pauses during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, to discuss the war between Israel and Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel. Miriam Alster/Pool via REUTERS

President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke about Israel military campaign in Gaza on Sunday, the White House said. 

Both leaders discussed the need to ensure the release of the remaining hostages being held by Hamas, a White House statement said.

“The President emphasized the critical need to protect the civilian population including those supporting the humanitarian aid operation, and the importance of allowing civilians to move safely away from areas of ongoing fighting,” it said.

Biden and Netanyahu agreed to remain in “regular consultation” through their national security teams.   

A flare falls over Gaza on Sunday, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, as seen from southern Israel. REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura

The Israeli military is investigating claims that an airstrike hit a refugee camp in Gaza and killed at least 70 people Sunday.

The strike hit the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, the Palestinian health ministry said, Reuters reported.

Hamas, which runs Gaza, issued a statement calling the air strike "a horrific massacre" and said it was "a new war crime."

"Despite the challenges posed by Hamas terrorists operating within civilian areas in Gaza, the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) is committed to international law including taking feasible steps to minimize harm to civilians," an Israeli army spokesperson said in a statement.

Sara Netanyahu attends a hearing at the Magistrate's Court in Rishon Lezion, Israel. ABIR SULTAN/Pool via REUTERS

Sara Netanyahu, wife of Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu , is asking Pope Francis to intervene and use his influence to demand the release of hostages being held captive by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. 

In letter to the pope dated Sunday, Netanyahu said she was writing Francis not only as the wife of Israel’s prime minister, “but also as a mother and as a woman.” 

“Your holiness, I ask for your personal intervention in this matter,” she wrote. “Please use your influence to demand the unconditional release (of) all the hostages without delay.” 

Netanyahu said Hamas committed two war crimes by targeting civilians in Israel during its unprecedented Oct. 7 attack and hiding behind Gazans amid the Israeli response. 

“But it also committed a third crime – kidnapping innocent hostages,” she wrote. “78 days after the atrocities, Hamas is still holding 129 men, women and children hostage.” 

Netanyahu cited Noa Argamani, 25, who was kidnapped by Hamas from a music festival. Argamani’s mother is battling stage four cancer and appealed to Hamas in a video message last month to release her daughter so they can see each other one last time before she dies. 

“I don’t know how much time I have left. I wish for the chance to see my Noa at home,” Argamani said. “Noa, I want to tell you if I don’t see you, please know we did everything we could to get you released. The whole world loves you.” 

Netanyahu also urged Francis to demand the Red Cross visit the hostages and deliver vital aid, including medicine. 

“So far, the Red Cross has failed to insist on these deliverables,” she said. “You(r) intervention could tilt the balance and save precious lives.”    

Israeli Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz attends a press conference in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Oct. 28. (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP, File)

Israeli War Cabinet Minster Benny Gantz said Israel was fighting for its “existence” amid its war with Hamas in a Christmas message on Sunday. 

In a post on X, Gantz said Christians in Israel and around the world share an “unbreakable bond” and a friendship “that has been a bright light in the darkness.”   

“We promise to continue protecting this Holy Land that we all cherish, the religious freedom to worship freely in it, and the people that make this sacred place so special,” he wrote on X. 

The message came amid a violent day in Gaza that has seen more than a dozen Israeli troops killed and dozens of Gazans also dead, according to Hamas’ health ministry. 

The Pentagon building is seen in Arlington, Virginia, U.S, April 6, 2023. REUTERS/Tom Brenner/File Photo

A Japanese-owned, Netherlands-operated chemical tanker was struck by a drone fired from Iran on Saturday in the Indian Ocean, a U.S. defense official told Fox News. 

The MT Chem Pluto was struck around 10 a.m. local time around 200 nautical miles from the Indian coast.

There were no casualties and a fire on board was extinguished. No U.S. Navy vessels were in the area at the time of the one-way drone attack.

U.S. Naval Forces Central Command remained in communication with the vessel as it continues toward a destination in India. 

The attack was the seventh Iranian engagement on commercial shipping vessels since 2021.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis have attacked multiple ships on the Red Sea since Israel went to war with Hamas on Oct. 7.  

Smoke rises after Israeli air strikes on the outskirts of Khiam, a town near the Lebanese-Israeli border, seen from the town of Marjayoun, south Lebanon, on Dec. 21. Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group has been exchanging fire with Israeli troops along the tense frontier, which seen violent exchanges since Oct. 8 a day after the Palestinian militant Hamas group attacked southern Israel. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Israeli forces on Sunday attacked a terror cell near Israel's border with Lebanon.

A short time later, two missiles were launched from Lebanon into Israel, the Israel Defense Forces said.

The IDF struck back at the site where the missiles were launched, it said.

Earlier a terrorist position was shelled by IDF tanks, authorities said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a Christmas message Sunday to allies of the Jewish state while noting that his country is “facing monsters” who attacked children and families on Oct. 7. 

“Christmas is supposed to be a time of good will to all men and peace on Earth. Well, we don't have peace on Earth. Not in our part anyway and we certainly don't see good will to all men,” he said in a video message. 

“We’re facing monsters. Monster who murdered children in front of their parents and parents in front of their children. Who raped and beheaded women. Who burnt babies alive,” Netanyahu added.   

“The prime minister said the war with Hamas was not only a battle of Israel against the terrorist group but a “battle of civilization against barbarism.”      

Israel's President Isaac Herzog speaks during an interview at his official residence in Jerusalem on Dec. 14. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

Israeli President Isaac Herzog blasted political infighting between elected officials that he said only serves Israel’s enemies. 

“The enemy is waiting to see chasms among us, for us to start fighting with one another. It sees the confrontations, the ego battles and the political headbutting,” Herzog said in a primetime Address, The Times of Israel reported Sunday. “It celebrates every time disagreement drives us apart.”

“We must not return to the discourse of October 6, of us and them,” he added.Herzog was referring the political divisions that raged earlier this year over the hardline government’s judicial overhaul.

“We must not return to toxic discourse online. Anyone who returns us to the discourse of October 6 harms the war effort and citizens’ security,” he said.  

Pope Francis holds a statue of Baby Jesus as he presides over Christmas eve Mass, at St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

During a Christmas Eve Mass, Pope Francis said “our hearts are in Bethlehem” as he recalled the birth of Jesus in a stable.

The pontiff presided Sunday over the evening Mass attended by about 6,500 faithful who took their place amid the splendor of St. Peter’s Basilica behind rows of white-clad prelates.

“Our hearts are in Bethlehem, where the Prince of Peace is once more rejected by the futile logic of war, ” the pope said, referring to the war sparked by Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 rampage and hostage-taking in Israel.

As Mass began, a statuette of the Christ child was unveiled before the altar bedecked in greenery and white flowers, and children representing all corners of the globe placed flowers around a gilded throne.

Francis, draped in white robes, led the Mass standing at the foot of one of St. Peter’s grand columns.

Recalling that Jesus was born during a census meant to reinforce King David’s power, Francis warned against “the quest for worldly power and might, fame and glory, which measures everything in terms of success, results, numbers and figures, a world obsessed with achievement.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said that Israel "will fight to the end" to eliminate Hamas. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg, Pool)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said that Israel is “deepening” the war in the Gaza Strip and will continue to fight until Hamas is eliminated and the Israelis taken hostage are returned. 

Netanyahu, speaking in Hebrew, addressed the video message to Israeli citizens, saying that while it will take time to bring the war to a conclusion, Israel will “fight to the end.” 

"Israeli citizens, we are deepening the war in the Gaza Strip,” Netanyahu said. “We will continue to fight until the complete victory over Hamas. This is the only way to return our abductees, eliminate Hamas and ensure that Gaza will no longer be a threat to Israel.” 

“It will take time, but we are united - the fighters (i.e. fighting soldiers), the people and the government. We are united and determined to fight to the end,” the prime minister continued. 

“War has a price, a very heavy price in the lives of our heroic soldiers, and we do everything to preserve the lives of our soldiers. But one thing will not be done - we will not stop until we achieve victory," Netanyahu concluded. 

The Israeli military on Sunday announced that 14 Israeli soldiers were killed over the weekend. Since the ground offensive began, 153 Israeli troops have been killed. 

Hamas terrorists stormed communities in southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 and taking 240 hostage. The war has devastated parts of Gaza, killing roughly 20,400 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza.  

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The New York Times print edition ran a controversial headline, which reads: “Gaza Deaths Surpass Any Arab War Losses in 40 Years.” (Deb Cohn-Orbach/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images, File)

A headline in the newspaper edition of The New York Times claims that the estimated 20,000 deaths in Gaza during its war with Israel have surpassed the tolls of "any Arab war" in the past 40 years, appearing to discount the more than 306,000 civilians believed to have been killed in the 10-year Syria conflict between 2011 and 2021.

The article, bearing the headline “Gaza Deaths Surpass Any Arab War Losses in 40 Years,” appeared in Friday’s paper edition of The Times.

The article’s headline on The Times’ website, however, specifies "wars with Isreal." The entire digital headline reads, “Gaza Deaths Surpass Any Arab Loss in Wars With Israel in Past 40 Years,” and has a publication timestamp of Thursday.

The seemingly misleading headline in the newspaper edition was called out on social media by the former head of speechwriting for Israel’s Permanent Mission to the U.N., Aviva Klompas.

Klompas wrote that The Times “is now just making sh-- up,” and said that “one whole second of Googling” found conflicting information.

The information that Klompas cites in her post is found in a June 2022 press release from the U.N. Human Rights Office, which says that the office estimates more than 306,000 civilians were killed over 10 years in the Syria conflict.

“The UN Human Rights Office today published a report that, following rigorous assessment and statistical analysis of available data on civilian casualties, estimates that 306,887 civilians were killed between 1 March 2011 and 31 March 2021 in Syria due to the conflict,” the 2022 release states. “This is the highest estimate yet of conflict-related civilian deaths in Syria.”

People walk by the Church of the Nativity, traditionally believed to be the birthplace of Jesus, on Christmas Eve, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Sunday, Dec. 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Bethlehem, the biblical birthplace of Jesus, resembled a ghost town on Sunday as Christmas Eve celebrations were called off because of the ongoing war between Israeli forces and Hamas terrorists.

The festive lights and Christmas tree that normally decorate Manger Square were missing. The foreign tourists who gather each year to celebrate Christmas were also absent. Instead, dozens of Palestinian security forces patrolled the empty area.

The gift shops in the region were slow to open on Christmas Eve, but a few did when rain stopped pouring. Still, there were few visitors.

The cancellation of Christmas festivities this year is a significant blow to the town’s economy. Tourism makes up an estimated 70% of Bethlehem’s income, and most of that comes during the Christmas season.

More than 20,000 people have been killed in Gaza and Israel since Hamas launched its largest attack against Israel in decades on Oct. 7, leading to Israeli forces launching a ground operation into the territory.

Fox News Digital's Landon Mion and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

An Israeli army tank moves near the Gaza Strip border, in southern Israel, Saturday, Dec. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)

More than a dozen Israeli soldiers were killed in combat in the Gaza Strip over the weekend, according to the Israeli military.

The 13 Israeli soldiers killed on Friday and Saturday died in battles in central and southern Gaza, the military said Sunday.

According to Israeli Army Radio, four soldiers were killed when their vehicle was struck by an anti-tank missile.

Another soldier was killed in northern Israel by fire from the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah. The number of soldiers killed since Israel's ground offensive began now sits at 154.

At least 60 people were killed in Gaza on Sunday in one of the deadliest strike since the war with Hamas began on Oct. 7. The strike hit the Maghazi refugee camp, east of Deir al-Balah. The Associated Press cited the Gaza Health Ministry for the death toll figures. 

More than 20,000 people have been killed in Gaza and Israel since Hamas launched its largest attack against Israel in decades on Oct. 7, leading to Israeli forces launching a ground operation into the territory.

Civilians have been repeatedly caught in the crossfire of the wider conflict, with thousands having been wounded, and many others having been taken hostage by Hamas and raped, tortured or murdered.

Fox News Digital's Landon Mion, Louis Casiano and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Yemeni coastguard members loyal to the internationally-recognised government ride in a patrol boat 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 USS Laboon shot down four unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the Red Sea on Saturday, as tensions in the Middle East continue to escalate amid the Israel-Hamas war.

A senior U.S. defense official confirmed the news to Fox News Digital. The weapons were fired by Houthis and targeted towards international ships.

Houthis began by firing two UAVs at international vessels, despite the ships not having any connection to Israel. One vessel was damaged, while the other was not.

A Gabon-flagged ship was also struck by a Houthi drone. Houthis also shot two anti-ship ballistic missiles, but neither hit.

Iranian-linked fighters also reportedly shot at least one unmanned aerial vehicle towards a vessel off the coast of India in the Indian Ocean.

Fox News Digital's Andrea Vacchiano and Jennifer Griffin contributed to this report.

Cargo ships are seen at Israel's Haifa commercial shipping port in the Mediterranean Sea on December 13, 2023. In solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, Yemen's Houthis are warning that they will target cargo vessels sailing through the Red Sea if they are heading for Israeli ports, regardless of their nationality. (Mati Milstein/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Iran appears to have struck a ship off the Indian coast with an unmanned aerial vehicle, a U.S. official told Fox News on Saturday.

It comes as Houthi militants targeted multiple cargo ships on Saturday, as the group fired two anti-ship ballistic missiles into international shipping lanes located in the Southern Red Sea, according to U.S. Central Command.

No ships were impacted by the ballistic missiles, officials said.The USS Laboon shot down four unmanned aerial drones on Saturday which originated from areas that the Houthis control in Yemen.

Read the full article about Iran by Jennifer Griffin and Adam Sabes