Israeli hostage killed by Hamas as IDF strikes hundreds of targets in Gaza Strip

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Greg Joseph has been raising money to provide aid in Israel since the terrorist attacks there in October, and he'll be furthering his efforts this weekend.

The Minnesota Vikings kicker began his "Kicks for Israel" campaign Oct. 17, 10 days after the Hamas attacks.

Joseph is Jewish and has said his religion has "absolutely" guided him throughout his life. He attended high school at the Donna Klein Jewish Academy in Boca Raton, Florida.

The kicker is donating $54 for every extra point he makes, and $180 for every field goal, with all the funds going directly to "emergency food and essential supplies to those who have been displaced through the humanitarian Non-Profit Organization Leket Israel."

As the NFL continues its Cause for Cleats initiative, Joseph will be representing his faith.

Joseph's cleats will include the Star of David and the phrase "I Stand With Israel."

Fox News' Ryan Morik contributed to this report.

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Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., criticized Harvard University President Claudine Gay after she apologized for remarks made on antisemitism during a congressional hearing Tuesday.

In an interview with The Harvard Crimson published Thursday, Gay apologized for her remarks before Congress earlier in the week, saying "I am sorry…Words matter."

"When words amplify distress and pain, I don’t know how you could feel anything but regret," Gay said. "I got caught up in what had become at that point, an extended, combative exchange about policies and procedures.

"What I should have had the presence of mind to do in that moment was return to my guiding truth, which is that calls for violence against our Jewish community — threats to our Jewish students — have no place at Harvard, and will never go unchallenged," added Gay. "Substantively, I failed to convey what is my truth."

Stefanik, however, isn't taking her apology seriously.

"No, Dr. Gay. You were given an opportunity to speak your truth. And you did. Not once. Not twice Not 5x. Not 10x I asked you 17x(!!!) in the hearing about whether calling for the genocide of Jews violates @Harvard code of conduct. You spoke your truth under oath 17x. And the world heard it," Stefanik posted on X.

Fox News' Adam Sabes contributed to this report.

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Firebrand politician Geert Wilders’ surprising late November election victory in the Netherlands has prompted a political sea-change and could alter the European political landscape.

Wilders, the so-called Dutch Donald Trump, seeks to cobble together a coalition to govern the northern European country of nearly 18 million people.

Fox News Digital spoke to a number of experts who note that the 60-year-old Wilders’ election triumph has catapulted hot-button issues of unfettered mass migration, open borders, crime and terrorism into the larger U.S. and European conversations.

"It is very clear on both sides of the Atlantic, the issue of mass migration is a huge electoral issue. And I would say the political developments in Europe and the overwhelming rejection of open doors approach is a clear warning sign for Joe Biden ahead of the 2024 presidential election," Nile Gardiner, director of the Heritage Foundation's Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, told Fox News Digital.

Gardiner said while "the No. 1 issue for the U.S. election is inflation and the cost of living, immigration is high up there for the voters. The European election will make Biden very nervous."

"As we saw with Geert Wilders’ stunning election victory in the Netherlands, there is taking place right now a political earthquake across Western Europe," Gardiner noted. "Wilders’ win is a real game changer. The election was overwhelmingly about mass migration into one of Europe’s most important countries.

"Wilders stands on a platform of opposing mass migration into the Netherlands, and at the same time he stands against the increasing Islamization of Europe. Voters are increasingly rejecting open borders, mass migration and the rise of Islamist ideology in their societies."

Fox News' Benjamin Weinthal contributed to this report.

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Director Steven Spielberg expressed shock at the atrocities of Hamas terrorists against the Jewish people on Oct. 7 in announcing a project to document its horrors.

The violence that occurred that day in Israel and the wave of antisemitism around the world that followed has reminded many of echoes of the Holocaust.

Spielberg, who directed the Oscar-winning Holocaust film "Schindler’s List," indicated the terrorist attacks left him shaken in a press release from his USC Shoah Foundation announcing the project.

"I never imagined I would see such unspeakable barbarity against Jews in my lifetime," he said.

The USC Shoah Foundation, a Holocaust visual history archive founded by Spielberg in 1994, is working to gather hundreds of interviews in an initiative to collect the harrowing accounts from survivors of Oct. 7.

The Shoah Foundation hosts tens of thousands of testimonies from survivors and witnesses of the Holocaust, but its work also extends to documenting contemporary antisemitism through the Countering Antisemitism Through Testimony Collection (CATT) initiative.

The Oct. 7 testimonies will be part of CATT, which Spielberg said is "an effort that will ensure that the voices of survivors will act as a powerful tool to counter the dangerous rise of antisemitism and hate."

Fox News' Alexander Hall contributed to this report.

Seventy-four House members sent a bipartisan letter to the governing boards of Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of Pennsylvania, calling on all three to take immediate action to remove the president of each respective institution. 

The letter, obtained by Fox News Digital, was signed by 74 House of Representatives members from both parties, and specifically calls out MIT President Sally Kornbluth, UPenn President Liz Magill, and Harvard President Claudine Gay, for failing to say if calls for the genocide of Jewish people would violate university policies during a congressional hearing Tuesday.

The letter was signed by Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla.; Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La.; Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J.; Rep. Mike Ezell, R-Miss., and many more.

Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., among those who signed the letter, asked Gay, Magill and Kornbluth if calling for the genocide of Jews would violate their university's policies.

"If the speech turns into conduct, it can be harassment. Yes," Magill responded, later adding, "It is a context-dependent decision."

"It can be, depending on the context," Gay responded.

Kornbluth responded to the question, saying it would be considered harassment only if it's "targeted at individuals, not making public statements" and if it was "pervasive and severe."

"There is no context in which calls for the genocide of Jews are acceptable rhetoric. Their failure to unequivocally condemn calls for the systematic murder of Jews is deeply alarming. It stands in stark contrast to the principles we expect leaders of top academic institutions to uphold," the bipartisan letter states. "It is hard to imagine any Jewish or Israeli student, faculty, or staff feeling safe when presidents of your member institutions could not say that calls for the genocide of Jews would have clear consequences on your campus.

"If calls for genocide of the Jewish people are not in violation of your universities' policies, then your universities are operating under a clear double standard."

Read the full article from Adam Sabes,

People march through the city center during pro-Palestinian rally, in Duesseldorf, Germany last week. (Thomas Banneyer/dpa via AP)

The Department of Education announced this week that an additional six schools across the country are being investigated for discrimination amid the Israel-Hamas war. 

Investigations into Montana State University, Tulane University, Union College, the University of Cincinnati, Santa Monica College, and Cobb County School District in Georgia, were opened over the past week by the DOE's Office for Civil Rights.

The investigations are focusing on cases of alleged discrimination that involve shared ancestry.

A DOE spokesperson declined to comment on the investigations, but pointed Fox News Digital to a November press release after opening investigations into several schools after the Oct. 7 terrorist attack by Hamas.

"Hate has no place in our schools, period. When students are targeted because they are — or are perceived to be — Jewish, Muslim, Arab, Sikh, or any other ethnicity or shared ancestry, schools must act to ensure safe and inclusive educational environments where everyone is free to learn," said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. "These investigations underscore how seriously the Biden-Harris Administration, including the U.S. Department of Education, takes our responsibility to protect students from hatred and discrimination." 

At the time, Cornell University, Columbia University, and the University of Pennsylvania were among those being investigated.

While the DOE didn't say why it opened the investigations, a pro-Palestinian protest near Tulane in November ended with several people being arrested after three individuals were assaulted.  

Read the full article by Adam Sabes.

Palestinians search for the bodies of the Al-Hor family killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip in Nusseirat refugee camp Friday. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

A World Food Programme official said he wasn’t prepared for the “fear, the chaos, and the despair” he encountered during a Friday visit to the Gaza Strip.  

Carl Skau said he visited WFP staff in the Hamas-controlled territory and described a scene of confusion and despair.  

“Confusion at warehouses, distribution points with thousands of desperate hungry people, supermarkets with bare shelves, and overcrowded shelters with bursting bathrooms,” he said. “The dull thud of bombs was the soundtrack for our day.” 

He said one woman at a food distribution point told him she lived with nine other families in one apartment. They take turns sleeping at night because there isn’t enough room to lay down, Skau said in a statement.  

WFP staff have so far reached one million people so far, but the breakdown of law and order has made humanitarian operations “impossible,” Skau said. 

“With just a fraction of the needed food supplies coming in, a fatal absence of fuel, interruptions to communications systems and no security for our staff or for the people we serve at food distributions, we cannot do our job,” he said.  

He called for the opening of more crossings to allow food to be delivered into Gaza.  

“This will only be possible with a humanitarian ceasefire and ultimately, we need this conflict to end,” he said.

French President Emmanuel Macron visits Notre Dame de Paris cathedral on Friday in Paris. French President Emmanuel Macron is visiting Notre Dame Cathedral on Friday, marking the one-year countdown to its reopening in 2024 following extensive restoration after the fire four years ago. (Sarah Meyssonnier, Pool via AP)

French President Emmanuel Macron is being criticized for attending a Jewish ceremony this week at the presidential palace, breaking a long-standing tradition of secularism for public officials, according to reports.

Macron was invited to the Élysée Palace on Thursday to receive an award for fighting antisemitism and protecting religious freedoms at the Conference of European Rabbis, Politico reported.

France’s chief rabbi, Haïm Korsia, lit a ceremonial candle on a menorah while members of the audience sang traditional Hanukkah songs in Hebrew.

“I think that on this point we need to keep our heads cool,” Macron told reporters on Friday while visiting the Norte-Dame cathedral in Paris. “Secularism isn’t about erasing religions. It’s about the fact that everyone has the right and freedom to believe and not to believe.”

Even some Jewish groups criticized the French president.

“The Élysée is not the place to light a Hanukkah candle because the Republican DNA is to stay away from anything religious,” said Yonathan Arfi, president of the French Jewish federation CRIF who also attended the event.

Manuel Bompard, an opposition lawmaker in France, said Macron had made “an unforgivable political mistake.”

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas attends a meeting with Belgium's Prime Minister Alexander De Croo and Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (not pictured), in Ramallahlast mont. (ALAA BADARNEH/Pool via REUTERS)

Palestinian President Abbas says US is the 'only power' capable of ordering Israel to end the war Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, on Friday told Reuters that he believes the U.S. "is the only power that is capable of ordering Israel to stop the war [...] but unfortunately it doesn't."

Abbas, speaking in an interview, also said that "the United States, which fully supports Israel, bears the responsibility of what is happening in the enclave."

He called for an international peace conference to find a solution to end the Israel-Hamas war. 

"I am with peaceful resistance. I am for negotiations based on an international peace conference and under international auspices that would lead to a solution that will be protected by world powers to establish a sovereign Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem," Abbas told Reuters.

A temporary cease-fire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas went into effect in late November but lasted for only a week before fighting resumed in the Gaza Strip.  

Read the full article by Timothy H.J. Nerozzi.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (L) and then-Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki (2nd from L) applaud as members address the United Nations General Assembly during a 2012 meeting at UN Headquarters in New York. (Reuters)

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, said Israel’s goal is the  “the ethnic cleansing of the Gaza Strip” and “the dispossession and forcible displacement of the Palestinian people” after the United States vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza. 

“If you are against the destruction and displacement of the Palestinian people, you have to be in favor of an immediate cease-fire,” Mansour said. “When you refuse to call for a cease-fire, you are refusing to call for the only thing that can put an end to war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.”

The 13-member council voted 13-1 with the United Kingdom abstaining. 

U.S. deputy ambassador Robert Wood criticized the council after the vote over its failure to condemn Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel in which the militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, or to acknowledge Israel’s right to defend itself.  

He declared that halting military action would allow Hamas to continue to rule Gaza and “only plant the seeds for the next war.”

“Hamas has no desire to see a durable peace, to see a two-state solution,” Wood said before the vote. “For that reason, while the United States strongly supports a durable peace, in which both Israelis and Palestinians can live in peace and security, we do not support calls for an immediate cease-fire.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Israeli forces attacked a manned observation post used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces said.

The IDF also identified terrorist fighters who were at the anti-tank launching position.

The position was being used to carry out rocket fire into Israel Thursday night in a border attack, the IDF said.

The operatives were struck, the IDF said.

The U.S. Embassy is seen from across the Tigris River in Baghdad, Iraq. A rocket attack at the sprawling U.S. embassy in Baghdad on Friday and caused minor material damage but no casualties, U.S. and Iraqi officials said. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed, File)

The Biden administration is urging authorities in Iraq to find and arrest those behind rocket attacks on the U.S. Embassy and facilities hosting American personnel. 

The State Department said many Iran-linked militias that operate freely in Iraq threaten “the security and stability of Iraq, our personnel, and our partners in the region."

“Prime Minister (Mohammed Shia' Al) Sudani rightly called these attacks acts of ‘terrorism,’” the agency said in a statement Friday. 

There have been 10 attacks in the past 24 hours from a combination of rockets, mortars and drones, a senior U.S. defense official told Fox News. The official said it was “definitely an escalation.”

The attack on the U.S. Embassy involved seven 60mm mortars. Other targets were the Al Asad Air Base and the Bashar Air Base in Iraq and the Mission Support Site Euphrates in Syria, among a handful of others. 

“The Iraqi Government has repeatedly committed to protect diplomatic missions as well as U.S. military personnel, who are present in the country at Iraq’s invitation. This is non-negotiable, as is our right to self-defense,” the State Department said. 

The U.S. has carried out six airstrikes in Iraq and Syria since Oct. 17, one for every 14 attacks. The total number of attacks stands at 84. 

Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin and Lucas Tomlinson contributed to this report.

Israeli ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan speaks Friday during a United Nations Security Council meeting about the invoking of Article 99 of the United Nations charter to address the humanitarian crisis in the midst of conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas at the UN headquarters in New York City. (REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton)

The United States vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution Friday calling for an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip. 

The council held an emergency meeting in New York following a Wednesday letter by  Secretary-General António Guterres about the deteriorating humanitarian crisis in Hamas-controlled Gaza. 

“The situation is simply becoming untenable,” Guterres said in a Friday speech to the global body. “The conditions for the effective delivery of humanitarian aid no longer exists.”

Israel and Hamas paused fighting for just over a week amid a hostage and prisoner exchange but the conflict has since resumed. Hamas broke a previous cease-fire when it conducted its deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israeli communities. 

After the veto, Gilad Erdan, Israel’s ambassador to the U.N., thanked the Biden administration for “showing their leadership and values.”

He criticized the U.N. for tasking Israel with initiating the cease-fire despite Hamas breaking the previous agreement and starting the ongoing war. 

“It is shocking that while Hamas is firing rockets at Israel from population centers in southern Gaza, the UN is busy debating a distorted resolution that will enable Hamas’ terrorists to stay in power in Gaza and does not condemn Hamas or call for the release of the hostages,” he wrote on X. “A ceasefire will be possible only with the return of all the hostages and the destruction of Hamas.”

In a speech to the council, he accused Hamas of shielding itself among civilians and using its “vicious strategy” of using civilian deaths as a propaganda tool.

The Merkava Mk-4 tank near Tel Aviv on June 24, 2002. The Merkava Mk-4, is one of the modern tanks providing protection and survivability for the crew by utilizing the tank's systems - the engine is installed in the front of the tank and has an automatic fire suppression system. REUTERS/Havakuk Levison

The Biden administration is asking for Congress to approve the sale of 45,000 shells for Israel's Merkava tanks for use in its offensive against Hamas in Gaza, according to a Reuters report.

The State Department is pushing congressional committees to quickly approve the transaction, said a U.S. official and Josh Paul, a former State Department spokesperson, amid objections from human rights advocates over the use of U.S.-made weapons in the conflict, the report said.

"This went to committees earlier this week and they are supposed to have 20 days to review Israel cases. State (Department) is pushing them to clear now," Paul told Reuters.

A State Department spokesperson said "we do not confirm or comment on proposed defense transfers or sales until they have been formally notified to Congress."

On Wednesday, the Senate narrowly voted not to advance a bill to aid Ukraine and Israel. The bill would have provided both countries with billions of dollars amid separate conflicts in both regions

Harvard President Claudine Gay, left, speaks as University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill listens during a hearing of the House Committee on Education on Capitol Hill. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Harvard President Claudine Gay has apologized for remarks she made on antisemitism during her testimony before Congress. 

"I am sorry. Words matter." Gay said during an interview with The Harvard Crimson on Thursday. "When words amplify distress and pain, I don’t know how you could feel anything but regret," she added.

On Tuesday, Gay sat before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce to discuss antisemitism and threats against Jewish students on Harvard’s campus.

During an exchange with Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., Gay was asked whether calling for the genocide of Jews on campus violates the university’s codes of conduct related to bullying and harassment.

Gay said it would depend on the "context" of the incident.

When asked to give a yes or no answer, Gay said antisemitic speech could warrant action from Harvard if the conduct crosses into bullying, harassment and intimidation.

Stefanik again pressed Gay to provide a simple yes or no response."Again, it depends on the context," Gay said.

Read the full article by Nikolas Lanum.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a meeting with human rights leaders at the State Department on Thursday in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani both stated the importance on containing the Israeli-Hamas conflict during a Friday meeting. 

Blinken met with Al Thani ahead of a meeting with the broader delegation from the Joint Arab League-Organization of Islamic Cooperation contact group, State Department Matthew Miller said. 

“The Secretary and Prime Minister Al Thani reiterated the importance of preventing the conflict from spreading and committed to continuing close coordination on ongoing efforts to facilitate the safe return of all remaining hostages while sustaining humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza,” Miller said. 

Last week, Blinken urged Israel to comply with international law and spare civilians amid its war with Hamas.

European Union flags fly outside the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo

The European Union has added two Hamas militants to its terror list in response to its Oct. 7 attack on Israel, the EU Officials Journal said Friday. 

Mohammed Deif, commander of the armed wing of Hamas since 2002, as well as Marwan Issa have been placed on the list.

Issa serves as a deputy commander of Hamas’ military wing, the EU said. 

“Following their listing, the two individuals are subject to the freezing of their funds and other financial assets in EU member states, the announcement said. “It is also prohibited for EU operators to make funds and economic resources available to them."

Both men were listed as leaders in the terror group and helped plan the deadly attack that killed more than 1,200 people and resulted in some 240 people kidnapped.

Israel’s military says two of its soldiers have been "severely injured" during an overnight operation to rescue hostages held by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip. 

The Israel Defense Forces says during the operation “numerous terrorists who took part in the abducting and holding of hostages were killed” but it ultimately did not result in the rescue of any hostages. 

The families of the wounded soldiers have been notified, according to the IDF. 

“The IDF continues to operate in a variety of operational and intelligence methods, together with security organizations, in order to release the hostages, and to collect relevant information,” the IDF also said. “IDF representatives are in contact with the families of the hostages, regularly updating them with all verified information about their loved ones.” 

The Israeli Air Force said Friday that its "aircraft attacked several terrorist targets of the Hezbollah terrorist organization" following yet another round of launches from Lebanon toward Israel.

"The IDF attacked the sources of the fire with artillery," it said in a post on X.

IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari also said "a short time ago, a shot was fired from Lebanese territory at an IDF post in Matat area" and "IDF forces attacked the firing area with artillery" in response.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, right, meets with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at his office in Ramallah, in the West Bank, on Thursday, Nov. 30. (Nasser Nasser/Pool via Reuters)

Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, told Reuters Friday that the United States "is the only power that is capable of ordering Israel to stop the war... but unfortunately it doesn't."

Abbas, speaking in an interview, also said "the United States which fully supports Israel bears the responsibility of what is happening in the enclave."

He called for an international peace conference to find a solution to end the Israel-Hamas war.

"I am with peaceful resistance. I am for negotiations based on an international peace conference and under international auspices that would lead to a solution that will be protected by world powers to establish a sovereign Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem," Abbas told Reuters.

"The United States tells us that it supports a two-state solution, that Israel is not allowed to occupy Gaza, to keep security control of Gaza or to expropriate land from Gaza," he also said, referencing an Israeli plan to have a temporary presence in Gaza after the war ends, according to Reuters. "America doesn't force Israel to implement what it says."

Israelis rush to a shelter as a siren sounds a warning of incoming rockets fired from the Gaza strip, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Friday. (AP/Leo Correa)

The Israel Defense Forces said Friday that "a heavy barrage of rockets was just launched at Tel Aviv and central Israel."

The development comes after reports earlier of sirens sounding across the country warning of rocket fire.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a United Nations Security Council meeting in New York City on Friday. (Reuters/Shannon Stapleton)

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said Friday that the ongoing Israel-Hamas war has led to the "largest single loss of life" in the history of his organization.

"The threat to the safety and security of United Nations staff in Gaza is unprecedented. More than 130 of my colleagues have already been killed, many with their families," Guterres told the Security Council.

"This is the largest single loss of life in the history of our organization. Some of our staff take their children to work so they know they will live or die together. Colleagues have shared heartbreaking messages from staff members. Pleading for help," he continued.

Guterres once again reiterated a call for an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.

"There is a high risk of the total collapse of the humanitarian support system in Gaza, which would have devastating consequences. We anticipate that would result in a complete breakdown of public order and increased pressure for mass displacement into Egypt," he also said. "I fear the consequences could be devastating for the security of the entire region."

An explosion is seen Friday during fighting in the area of Khan Younis, in a screengrab from a video released by the Israeli military. (IDF)

The Israel Defense Forces said Friday that it has “launched a rapid, powerful, and focused operation, moving from tunnel to tunnel, from house to house” in Khan Younis – the birthplace of Hamas’ Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar. 

“The forces of the 98th Division continue to fight in the Khan Younis area, a main stronghold of the Hamas terrorist organization,” it said. “The division's troops have eliminated dozens of terrorists, conducted searches, destroyed tunnels and directed precise strikes from the ground and air.” 

“The Givati Brigade, the 55th Brigade, and the 4th Brigade are encircling the city and conducting operations and raids on the battalions of the Khan Younis Brigade of the Hamas terrorist organization,” the IDF also said. “In a sustained raid by the forces, many weapons were found in a school, including rocket and mortar launchers, RPGs, explosives, and intelligence materials.” 

The IDF released video showing fighting unfolding in the area. 

Reverend Doctor Munther Isaac, the church's pastor, said the installation of a scene of the nativity of Christ has a figure "symbolizing baby Jesus lying in his manger amid rubble." (Hazem Bader/AFP via Getty Images)

A church in Bethlehem, the biblical birthplace of Jesus, is receiving attention for its decision to redesign its Christmas nativity scene to reflect the impact of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

Just weeks before Christmas, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bethlehem, located in the West Bank, unveiled a new display of the nativity scene that shows baby Jesus lying in a manger amid rubble. The imagery symbolizes the destroyed Palestinian communities in Gaza and the ongoing war between Israel and the Hamas terror group, a church official said.

"Church families met last week and built it together. It was a moving experience for our families. During the service on Sunday, some people were in tears," Reverend Doctor Munther Isaac, the church's pastor, told The New Arab. "We are pleased our message has reached the world. This is what Christmas looks like in Palestine this year, the origin of Christmas."

Bethlehem is historically recognized as the birthplace of Jesus and his birth is celebrated by Christians and others on Christmas, Dec. 25. The nativity scene often depicts Jesus as a baby, alongside his mother Mary, often regarded by Catholics as a saint; as well as his father Joseph, wise men and their respective gifts, shepherds, angels and various animals, including donkeys and sheep.

The Israel Defense Forces said Friday that sirens are sounding in northern, southern and central Israel, including in the Tel Aviv area, warning of rocket fire.

"The air defense fighters successfully intercepted a suspicious aerial target that crossed from Lebanon into the territory of the State of Israel, following a warning in the north of the country," the Israeli Air Force wrote in a post on X.

IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari also said "a number of launches were detected a short time ago, from Lebanese territory towards a number of IDF posts in the border area" and that Israel's military responded by attacking the "source of the shooting and other targets in Lebanese territory."

A Jewish student group hired an airplane to fly a banner around Harvard University’s Cambridge, Massachusetts campus this week as a rebuke of the antisemitic demonstrations on campus and the hesitancy of administrators to condemn them since Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel.

"Harvard with Hamas," a student group organized to call out the recent wave of antisemitism on campus, claimed responsibility for the "Harvard Hates Jews" banner that could be seen in the skies above campus on Thursday, towed by a small plane.

The banner featured the words in black alongside a large Palestinian flag. According to a statement from the group, its aerial campaign "seeks to respond to the runaway antisemitism on the campus and the shocking support for Hamas terrorism and rape obscenely vocalized by Harvard faculty and students following the Oct. 7th massacre in Israel."

A menorah stands outside the entrance to Temple Israel on Thursday in Albany, N.Y. (AP/Maysoon Khan)

The FBI said Friday that a man suspected of firing gunshots outside a Jewish temple in upstate New York yesterday been federally charged.

"Thanks to the swift coordination between the ATF, FBI, and our partners at Albany Police Department and New York State Police, Mufid Fawaz Alkhader has been arrested and charged with possession of a firearm by a prohibited person," the FBI said in a statement.

Alkhader was expected to appear in a federal courtroom in Albany on Friday, according to the Associated Press.

Officials say Alkhader is the man who was arrested shortly after the shots were fired at Temple Israel at around 2 p.m. Thursday. Police did not initially release the man's name, but Gov. Kathy Hochul said he was a local resident.

Albany Police Chief Eric Hawkins said the man said “Free Palestine" when officers arrested him.

There were no injuries stemming from the incident.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Eitan Levi has died in Hamas custody, according to a statement Friday from the Bat Yam municipality in Israel. (Hostage and Missing Families Forum)

A 53-year-old Israeli taxi driver who was kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7 has been murdered, the Bat Yam municipality announced Friday in a statement obtained by Fox News.

The Israeli city where Eitan Levi once lived said they were informed by the military last night of his death.

"Eitan, a taxi driver, was driving his client from the center of the country to Kibbutz Be'eri just as the terrorists were taking over the area," it said. "His body is still held by Hamas in Gaza. We hug the family and will continue to accompany them all the way."

The Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum said in a statement to Fox News that it "mourns the murder of Eitan Levi.

They described Levi as "a warm, loving family man who always cared for others over himself.

"Eitan was a responsible and dedicated man in all his endeavors. He has an only son, Shachar, and together they loved hiking and dining at fine steakhouses. Eitan loved animals, dogs in particular," it added.

"Today, the family received the devastating news that he was murdered near Kibbutz Be'eri after dropping off a friend at her home on that tragic Saturday morning," it also said.

Fox News' Yonat Friling and Ben Evansky contributed to this report.

Grenades that the IDF says it recovered from a Hamas position inside the Gaza Strip. (IDF)

Israel Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari announced Friday that troops yesterday “destroyed buildings including terrorist infrastructures that were used for Hamas military activity at Al-Azhar University in the Rimal neighborhood of the Gaza Strip. 

“Enemy infrastructures were located in the university complex, among them, an underground route that leaves the university yard and continues to a school about a kilometer from it,” Hagari wrote in a post on X. “In addition, many explosive devices, rocket parts, launchers, explosives operating systems and a variety of technological devices were located and transferred to an intelligence investigation.” 

Hagari shared one image appearing to show paint buckets filled with grenades that were recovered from the area. 

“The findings on the ground show that the terrorist organization Hamas used the university building for the purpose of fighting against our forces,” he said. 

“In addition, IDF reserve fighters from the 14th Brigade raided the observation post of the Hamas terrorist organization in the area of the Shati Hospital, in the post they found about 200 radios and dozens of cameras,” Hagari also said. 

An Israeli army vehicle removes tires blocking roads that Palestinians had set on fire during a military raid in Faraa refugee camp in the West Bank on Friday, Dec. 8. (AP/Majdi Mohammed)

Israeli forces killed the local commander of the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade and arrested suspected Palestinian militants during a raid on the West Bank on Friday, officials said. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, formed in late 2000, is recognized as a foreign terrorist organization by the United States.

Israeli undercover forces secretly entered the Faraa refugee camp, a stronghold of terror activity, near the northern town of Tubas on Friday morning and set up sniper positions on top of buildings, residents said.

The undercover operation ultimately resulted in a firefight with local gunmen that left six Palestinians killed. The Palestinian Health Ministry revealed the dead included the founder of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, an armed offshoot of the secular nationalist Fatah party.

The operation in the West Bank comes as Israel continues its war with Hamas in Gaza, days after a cease-fire temporarily ended.

The Israel Defense Forces said Friday that "450+ targets were struck by IDF ground, aerial and naval forces in Gaza" in the last 24 hours.

It added that Israeli Air Force jets "neutralized numerous terrorists in a series of precise strikes" and "killed many Hamas terrorists in Khan Younis, under the direction of the 7th Brigade."

The IDF has been increasingly active in Khan Younis this week in an effort to track down Hamas' Gaza leader, Yahya Sinwar.

Iraqi Counter Terrorism Forces stand guard outside the U.S. Embassy on May 30, 2021 in Baghdad, Iraq. (John Moore/Getty Images)

The U.S. embassy in Baghdad was attacked by mortar rounds on Friday morning that caused minor material damage but no casualties, U.S. and Iraqi officials said.

Explosions were heard near the embassy in the capital city of Iraq at approximately 4:15 a.m. on Friday. An embassy spokesperson then confirmed the U.S. Embassy was attacked by two salvos, adding: "Assessments are ongoing, but there are no reported casualties on the Embassy compound."

Some of the rounds struck near one of the embassy’s gates while others fell in the Tigris River, according to an Iraqi security official.

The attack was confirmed by a U.S. military official who said it was launched at U.S. and Coalition forces in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses Iraqi government buildings and embassies.

The attack is the first such attack on the U.S. Embassy since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war, which has escalated tensions in the region. Various militia groups have attacked U.S. forces throughout Iraq and Syria since the Israel-Hamas war began two months ago.

The Israeli town of Sderot marked the first night of Hanukkah on Thursday, with soldiers gathering to sing songs and remember the unprecedented Oct. 7 attack that plunged the Jewish state into war with Hamas. 

Soldiers with the Israel Defense Forces were seen gathering by a large menorah in the city to start eight-days of celebrations as they prayed to start the Jewish holiday. 

“After what happened on Oct. 7 in this area, we in Sderot, and probably Israel, want to bring the light to the world,” Sderot Deputy Mayor Ofir Asulin told Fox News. 

The city sits near the Gaza Strip and was one of the locations targeted by Hamas, including a gun battle at a local police station.

During the fight, 30 terrorists were killed along with 12 police officers.

"Squad" Democrats gathered on Capitol Hill to call for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza on Thursday, doubling down on accusations that Israel is targeting civilians and committing "genocide."

Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., held the press conference alongside Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich. They also invited members of the Doctors Without Borders organization, which provides humanitarian aid in Gaza. Bush had vicious words for Israel during her opening remarks.

"When we hear genocidal rhetoric, when we witness devastation and mass murder, when we finance the bombs being dropped, when we intentionally disregard the suffering, we allow the people we represent to be complicit in mass atrocities," Bush said.

"And let me be clear about what's happening: These are war crimes. The targeting of civilians is a war crime; the targeting of medical facilities is a war crime, the starvation and withholding of water and electricity is a war crime; the collective punishment of 2.3 million people is a war crime, and we refuse to be silent," she added as Omar and Tlaib nodded in agreement.

Israel, meanwhile, gave civilians in the Gaza Strip warnings and urged them to evacuate war zones ahead of strikes targeting Hamas's terror infrastructure. While many Palestinian civilians have died during the war, the Biden administration has defended Israel's right to self-defense, noting that civilian deaths, while tragic, are a result of "the nature of conflict."

The "Squad" trio has already faced heavy criticism for their incendiary rhetoric around the Israel-Hamas war. Tlaib herself was censured in the House of Representatives in November after she defended a chant calling for the destruction of the state of Israel.

Fox News' Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.