Blinken meets with Palestinian leaders of West Bank as Israel continues Gaza invasion against Hamas

A University of Massachusetts Amherst student was arrested after allegedly punching a Jewish student and spitting on the Israeli flag the student was holding.

The incident took place Friday night at the end of a vigil organized by UMass Hillel in which students called for the release of the more than 240 Israeli hostages held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza. The event included symbolic Shabbat tables with empty seats representing each hostage abducted during the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

The suspect is accused of approaching the crowd and aggressively giving people the middle finger, according to school officials and the UMass Chief of Police.

After security left, the same student allegedly returned to the gathering and assaulted a Jewish student holding an Israeli flag, UMass Hillel said. The suspect also allegedly grabbed the flag and spit on it. A UMass Hillel staff member stepped in to de-escalate as other staff members witnessed the incident.

The victim was not injured, according to the university.

UMass police investigated and arrested the suspect on the night of the event. The suspect was released on bail, but prohibited from returning to campus.

Hundreds of pro-Israel demonstrators gathered outside the Texas State Capitol on Sunday to show their support for the Jewish State amid the war between Israeli forces and Hamas terrorists.

The demonstrators were seen holding and wearing Israel's blue and white flag in Austin, Texas, as they voiced their support for the country.

"This is a huge support for us to show that we will not forget ever," protestor Dori Roberts told FOX 7 Austin.

Roberts explained that he lost a family member in the war and several more remain missing.

"Every day for us is a struggle, every day for us is an hour by hour, day by day struggle to keep the faith and believe that we will see them again," he said.

Protestor Gregg Philipson said, "We're able to be out here in peace with the proper security to vote for our cause, if you will."

Israeli Defense Forces remember the "last day of normalcy" of Oct. 6, the day before Hamas terrorists launched their attack against Israel.

"1 month ago was the last day of normalcy before the world changed forever," the IDF wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

"While Jews around the world celebrated the holiday of Simchat Torah, Hamas terrorists were planning a barbaric and deadly massacre," the IDF continued.

The IDF added, "This war was forced upon us by Hamas. We didn't start it, but we will win it."

Gaza experienced its third total communications outage since Hamas terrorists launched their attack against Israel on Oct. 7.

The "collapse in connectivity" across Gaza on Sunday was reported by internet access advocacy group NetBlocks.org and confirmed by Palestinian telecom company Paltel. The communications loss makes it increasingly difficult to deliver details of the new stage of the military offensive to civilians in Gaza.

U.N. Palestinian refugee agency spokesperson Juliette Touma confirmed that her team is facing an outage. 

"We have lost communication with the vast majority of the UNRWA team members," Touma said. 

Paltel has blamed the blackout on Israel, saying in a statement that the "main routes that were previously reconnected [were] cut off again from the Israeli side."

This, as Israel’s military said it encircled Gaza City and divided the besieged coastal strip into two.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Multiple members of the Democratic Party are calling out Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., after she attempted to justify the pro-Palestinian chant, "From the river to the sea," calling it an "aspirational call for freedom, human rights and peaceful coexistence."

Tlaib posted her interpretation of the chant to the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, on Nov. 3.

"From the river to the sea is an aspirational call for freedom, human rights, and peaceful coexistence, not death, destruction, or hate," the post read. "My work and advocacy is always centered in justice and dignity for all people no matter faith or ethnicity."

In response, a group on X called StopAntisemitism told Tlaib what the phrase actually means, saying it refers to "the full erasure of the Jewish state, from Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea."

The group also told the congresswoman the chant is Hamas’ battle cry, adding, "You echo terrorists."

While several Republicans came out against the squad member for her attempt to justify the phrase, multiple Democrats have also called her out on the matter.

On Saturday, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel called for Tlaib to "retract" the "cruel and hateful" social media post.

"@RashidaTlaib, I have supported and defended you countless times, even when you have said the indefensible, because I believed you to be a good person whose heart was in the right place," Nessel wrote in an X post. "But this is so hurtful to so many. Please retract this cruel and hateful remark."

Another Democrat from Michigan, Rep. Elissa Slotkin, "the only Jewish member" of Michigan’s congressional delegation, said she has worked to reach out to constituents who are Arab and Muslim who "are feeling fear and anguish," while also reflecting on their empathy as she approaches the crisis at hand.

"I ask the same of [Rep. Tlaib]," Slotkin posted to X. "The phrase ‘from the river to the sea’ is one of division & violence, & it is counterproductive to promoting peace. None of us, especially elected leaders, should amplify language that inflames a tense situation & makes it harder for our communities to find common ground."

One other party member, Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., said Tlaib "is wrong."

Fox News' Greg Wehner contributed to this report.

London's Metropolitan Police are facing backlash after one of its advisers was reportedly revealed to be an activist who has made statements critics say call for Israel's destruction.

Attiq Malik, an adviser with the Metropolitan Police, was caught on video encouraging chants of "from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" during 2021 protests, according to a report from the Telegraph.

The phrase has been called "an antisemitic slogan commonly featured in anti-Israel campaigns and chanted at demonstrations" by the Anti-Defamation League and has been denounced by the British government as "deeply offensive," according to the report.

"This rallying cry has long been used by anti-Israel voices, including supporters of terrorist organizations such as Hamas and the PFLP, which seek Israel’s destruction through violent means," reads an explainer of the phrase on ADL's website. "It is fundamentally a call for a Palestinian state extending from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, territory that includes the State of Israel, which would mean the dismantling of the Jewish state."

Malik's role with the Met Police has become increasingly controversial in recent weeks, most notably after he was present in the police operations room during anti-Israel protests in London last month. Critics had already been noting the lack of police response to protesters calling for "jihad" during demonstrations, according to reports.

The attention to Malik's involvement with the police comes as the agency has also been under fire for seemingly unequal policing practices that have favored pro-Palestinian demonstrators, including the arrest of a man who posted a video on social media criticizing people for putting up Palestinian flags in a U.K. neighborhood.

According to a report from the Express, the viral video features the man saying, "Look at this c--- here," while zooming in on Palestinian flags affixed to lamp posts and road signs, adding that "you let him into this country and this the s--- they come up with."

The man was later arrested "on suspicion of a racially aggravated Section 5 public order offense," according to the report, and was held in custody at an East London Police Station.

Fox News' Michael Lee contributed to this report.

As the war between Hamas terrorists and Israel enters its second month, the U.S. military has sent or redirected at least 17,350 military personnel to the region.

At least 1,200 troops have been deployed. Additionally, both carrier strike groups that were sent to the Eastern Mediterranean - the USS Gerald Ford and USS Eisenhower - carry around 6,000 personnel each.

The Bataan Amphibious Ready Group includes around 4,000 sailors and marines, while the Ohio-class submarine that recently entered CENTCOM's area of responsibility has a crew of around 150.

The U.S. military has also sent a variety of aircraft to the region, including F-35s, F-15s, F-16s, A-10s and F-18s.

Fox News Digital's Liz Friden contributed to this report.

King Abdullah II of Jordan announced on X that the Jordanian military air-dropped medical aid to Gaza amid the Israeli offensive against Hamas.

"Our fearless air force personnel air-dropped at midnight urgent medical aid to the Jordanian field hospital in Gaza," Abdullah II's X post read. "This is our duty to aid our brothers and sisters injured in the war on Gaza."

"We will always be there for our Palestinian brethren," the post added.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that they coordinated the air drop with Jordan. The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry says that 9,700 Palestinians have been killed since the war began on October 7, while the Israeli death toll is more than 1,400.

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

The U.S. Department of Defense reported that Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant over the phone on Sunday.

"Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant today to receive updates on Israel's operations in Gaza," the press release read. "The Secretary reiterated his ironclad commitment to Israel's right to defend itself and emphasized the importance of both protecting civilians and delivering humanitarian assistance."

"He reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to deter any state or non-state actor seeking to escalate this conflict," the statement added.

The call came days after President Biden called for a "pause" in the conflict for the sake of civilians in Gaza. Biden said that there was some progress made towards a pause on Saturday, but did not elaborate beyond that.

The Iranian government has announced that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei met with Hamas's leader over the weekend, as the war between Israel and Hamas continues.

"The Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khamenei, met with the Chairman of #Hamas’ political bureau, Mr. Ismail Haniyeh, and his accompanying delegation," Khamenei's X account posted on Sunday.

In the X thread, the leader called the Israeli government "Zionist occupiers."

"Islamic Republic of Iran’s permanent policy is to support Palestinian resistance forces vis-à-vis Zionist occupiers," the post added. "The Zionist regime’s crimes in #Gaza is directly supported by the US and certain Western governments."

"Squad" member Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., was criticized by a fellow Michigan congresswoman who asked her to apologize for her rhetoric during Israel's war against Hamas.

Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., called out Tlaib in posts on X, formerly known on Twitter, on Sunday evening.

"As the only Jewish member of MI’s congressional delegation, I have worked to reach out to Arab & Muslim constituents who I know are feeling fear and anguish right now, & I have tried to reflect that empathy in my approach to this crisis," she wrote. "I ask the same of @RepRashida."

"The phrase 'from the river to the sea' is one of division & violence, & it is counterproductive to promoting peace. None of us, especially elected leaders, should amplify language that inflames a tense situation & makes it harder for our communities to find common ground," Slotkin added.

Tlaib had recently defended the phrase as an "aspirational call for freedom." The Anti-Defamation League has maintained that it is an antisemitic expression calling for Israel's annihilation and the ethnic cleansing of its land.

"If I knew that a phrase I’d used had hurt any of my constituents, I would apologize & retract it, no matter its origin," the congresswoman added. "I’d ask the same from you."

Fox News Digital's Brandon Gillespie contributed to this report.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on Sunday that a new Ohio-class submarine entered their area of responsibility.

The CENTCOM area of responsibility covers millions of square miles from North Africa through the Middle East and Central Asia. They have not specified what region the submarine is in.

"On November 5, 2023, an Ohio-class submarine arrived in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility," CENTCOM's post on X, formerly known as Twitter, read. Ohio-class submarines are the American military's largest class of submarines.

The announcement came as the U.S. military continues its build-up in the Middle East amid the Israel-Hamas war. The USS Eisenhower and USS Gerald R. Ford, two massive aircraft carriers, have both been sent to the Eastern Mediterranean.

Hamas terrorists allegedly originally planned their attacks against Israel for Passover instead of Simchat Torah, according to an Israeli journalist's findings.

The report by Ben Caspit, which was covered by the Jerusalem Post, claimed that Iranian officials decided to delay the planned Passover attacks for an unknown reason.

The details were allegedly discovered after Israelis interrogated captured Hamas terrorists who participated in the October 7 attacks.

Caspit reported that the attack was changed to October 7 partially because it was near the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Baghdad on Sunday, following a visit to the West Bank amid the war between Israel and Hamas.

U.S. troops in Iraq have been attacked by Iranian-backed militants since mid-October. There have been 17 attacks in Iraq and 15 in Syria, totaling at least 32 incidents.

Blinken met Iraqi Prime Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, and the two men discussed recent developments in the Middle East. The officials also talked about the recent drone and rocket attacks against American forces, and Blinken told reporters that the Iraqi leader pledged to help stop the incidents.

"In Iraq, I met with Prime Minister @MohamedShia to underscore that we must prevent the conflict from spreading," Blinken wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. "I urged him to hold accountable those responsible for attacks on U.S. personnel in Iraq and discussed our work to deliver humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza."

Blinken had met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas earlier, where they discussed violence in Gaza and how to mitigate civilian deaths.

"This is a process,” Blinken told reporters. “Israel has raised important questions about how humanitarian pauses would work. We’ve got to answer those questions."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Fox News correspondent Trey Yingst joined "MediaBuzz" to share how he was escorted into the Gaza Strip as one of the few journalists allowed in the embattled territory.

"This was an opportunity we've been pushing for since the war began 30 days ago, trying to get access into the Gaza Strip to see what it looks like and what the operations in the battles are like," he explained. "We've been listening as the Israelis launch new airstrikes against Gaza."

"But inside, you really got a sense of just how dangerous it is for the Israeli forces. We took an armored personnel carrier with the Israelis as they went to a house that they'd taken over," he added. "And on the way there, you could see on the faces of these Israeli soldiers the concern and the fear."

The reporter explained that he went over a mile into Gaza and instantly walked into gunfire by Hamas.

"When we arrived, we were at a house and within seconds of getting out of the APC [armored personnel carrier], two bullets whizzed past and the Israelis were engaged in a new gun battle with Hamas militants

Former acting DHS secretary Chad Wolf joined Fox News Channel on Sunday to share his thoughts on the Israel-Hamas war that has been raging for nearly a month.

The ex-U.S. official said that his former department had concluded that Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah has a presence in the U.S.

"We know that Lebanese Hezbollah has been in the United States for some time," Wolf said. "We have a threat assessment from the Department of Homeland Security going back to 2020 that says that they could engage in operations with little notice."

Wolf also referenced the crisis at the U.S. southern border as a potential threat to national security.

"Whether you have known, suspected terrorists or you have special interest aliens coming from countries of concern like Iran, like Syria, like Lebanon. All of this leads us to a situation where we're... vulnerable, particularly as that southern border continues to be wide open," he explained.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari presented evidence of Hamas terrorists exploiting hospitals in Gaza during a briefing on Sunday.

"I will be sharing evidence proving that Hamas systematically exploits hospitals as part of its war machine," Hagari said. "We already heard evidence that Hamas operates command and control centers inside and under Shifa Hospital."

"We decided to declassify and share more sensitive intelligence with you because the world must take immediate action against that information," he added.

The spokesperson also emphasized that the Hamas terrorists use civilians as "human shields" and denounced that practice.

"Among the worst of Hamas war crimes is the use of hospitals to hide the terror infrastructure," he explained. "Unsurprisingly, Hamas built the hospital on top of their terror infrastructures."

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

For Mitchai Sarabon, a Thai fieldhand working on Kibbutz Alumim in southern Israel, Oct. 7 started like any other Saturday. His one day off a week, the 32-year-old said, he woke early and began doing his laundry. His friends – a mix of Thai migrant workers and Nepalese agricultural students – were also milling about the compound where they lived on the edge of the kibbutz, taking care of various personal tasks, when suddenly they heard gunshots.

"Suddenly, I saw one of the Nepalese guys being shot, others ran to hide in a bomb shelter and then the terrorists arrived," Sarabon recounted to Fox News Digital in a video interview from his home in Udon Thani, Thailand, on Friday. "They threw a grenade inside, some of the people died instantly and others ran away, they were shot dead too."

Sarabon also began to run, taking cover inside his living quarters, crouching in the kitchen, and turning off the lights. But hiding did not help, Sarabon said. The terrorists soon found him and the five other people with him, first lobbing in grenades and then shooting everyone who was still alive. Sarabon, who served in the Thai military before moving to Israel for work, made the impulsive decision to break the kitchen window and climb out.

"Everything was burning, the room, the people and I just decided to jump out and run," he said, showing Fox News Digital scars from shrapnel and two gunshot wounds in his side and upper chest. Running from the burning building, Sarabon said he almost made it to the edge of the kibbutz’s orange groves when the terrorists shot at him again, this time hitting him in the head.

Fox News' Ruth Marks Eglash contributed to this report

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suspended Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu after the official claimed that nuking Gaza was "one of the possibilities" in Israel's ongoing war against Hamas.

Eliyahu has been relieved of his duties and will no longer participate in cabinet meetings, though it is unclear how long his suspension will last. The minister had told an interviewer that nuclear weapons were a possibility during an appearance on Radio Kol Berama this weekend.

"Minister Amihai Eliyahu's statements are not based in reality. Israel and the IDF are operating in accordance with the highest standards of international law to avoid harming innocents. We will continue to do so until our victory," Netanyahu said in a statement.

Netanyahu further clarified that Eliyahu was never a member of the emergency security cabinet created in the wake of Hamas' Oct. 7 massacre.\

“This is one of the possibilities," Eliyahu had said when asked about nuclear weapons being used in Gaza. The right-wing Israeli politician added later in the interview that "there's no such thing as innocents in Gaza.

Former President Obama said during an interview on Pod Save America that the U.S. had to admit that "all of us are complicit" in the Israel-Hamas conflict and added, "nobody's hands are clean."

Obama argued that if there was any way the U.S. could act on the conflict in the Middle East, people would have to acknowledge several points of view that he said might seem "contradictory" on the surface. 

"What Hamas did was horrific, and there is no justification for it. And what is also true is that the occupation, and what’s happening to Palestinians, is unbearable, and what is also true is that there is a history of the Jewish people that may be dismissed unless your grandparents, or your great-great-grandparents or your uncle or your aunt tell you stories about the madness of antisemitism, and what is true is that there are people right now that are dying who have nothing to do with what Hamas did," he said, noting he could go on for a while.

The former president argued that it was important to acknowledge the "whole truth," not just one side.

He also criticized attempts to debate the conflict through TikTok "activism" and social media, suggesting people were trying to "maintain moral innocence" by speaking just one side of truth.

IDF Spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner admitted that Israel was taken by "surprise" by Hamas' October 7 assault that killed at least 1,4000 people on Sunday.

Lerner made the statement during a Sunday morning appearence on Fox News, offering an update on Israel's ongoing campaign against Hamas in Gaza. He stated that Hamas had been planning for an attack on Israel and an Israeli response "for many years."

"On the 7th of October, we were as a military, as a defense industry, we were surprised by there attack," Lerner said. "But we have a good grasp of what they are, who they are, what they have and how we need to deal with it."

Lerner went on to say that Israel has reduced Hamas to a state of disarray in the 30 days since October 7.

Sen. Bernie Sanders refused to condemn remarks by fellow progressive Rep. Rashida Tlaib that some have criticized as "antisemitic."

Appearing on CNN's "State of the Union," Sanders was shown a clip of recent Tlaib remarks in which the Michigan Democrat accuses Israel of committing "genocide" in Gaza and asked about her controversial use of the phrase "from the river to the sea," which host Dana Bash pointed out is considered an "antisemitic" rallying cry by the Anti-Defamation League.

"What's going on right now is a horror show," Sanders, I-Vt., said in response to the clip. "We don't have to quibble about words. Thousands of men, women and children are being killed. It has got to end right now."

Sanders went on to say that Tlaib is a "friend of mine" and notes that her family "comes from Palestine." 

"I think she's been shaken, as all of us are, about what is going on with them right now," Sanders said. "We have to address that humanitarian crisis." Bash continued to press Sanders, laying out the definition of genocide and pointing to Tlaib's use of the phrase, arguing that the Vermont senator knows "words matter."

"Words matter, but what matters more… is you have a horrible humanitarian disaster that has to be dealt with right now," Sanders said. "This is an enormously complex issue and slogans like ‘river to the sea,' if that means that destruction of Israel, that’s not going to work. People who are saying ‘Israel right or wrong we’re for you all the way,' that's not going to work."

Fox News' Michael Lee contributed to this report

Jewish students continue to fear for their safety on college campuses across the U.S. as tensions around the Israel-Hamas war rage into the fourth week, with defacements, protests and calls for the state of Israel to be eradicated emerging on several fronts.

One Jewish student at George Washington University is warning that the divisive misinformation is driving the unrest, and that the cultural climate of today's antisemitism is alarmingly reminiscent of persecutions from the past.

"This has intimidated Jewish students. It's affected the campus dialogue to the extent that it infiltrates the classroom, and it makes students like myself have to change our way of life," Sabrina Soffer told FOX News on Saturday.

"This past week my mom told me from California… not to leave the house with my Jewish star. That's scary. Now I wear one where I actually have to open it, and this was worn by Jews during the Spanish Inquisition. This is the reality that Jewish students are facing today, Jews are facing around the world in countries from the Middle East to Europe and the United States, the country of freedom and human rights and good values… And now these values have been distorted."

Soffer said "there should be absolutely no tolerance for" the shows of antisemitism, adding that Jewish students at her school haven't been spared the chaos.

Fox News' Taylor Penley contributed to this report

A woman identified as a State Department employee has used social media to accuse President Biden and his administration of being "complicit in genocide" toward the people in Gaza and warned that it could stifle his re-election chances in 2024.

Sylvia Yacoub, who has served for more than two years as a foreign affairs officer in the State Department's Bureau of Near East Affairs, according to her LinkedIn page, has outspokenly shared her opinions on the matter through a variety of posts to X, formerly known as Twitter.

Yacoub used the platform to take aim at President Biden and his administration over its support for Israel in the country's war against Hamas, though the posts have since been made private.

In a response Thursday to one of Biden's posts on X, which highlighted his support for additional U.S. military aid to Israel, Yacoub "You are providing significantly more military assistance to the government that is indiscriminately attacking innocent Gazans….you are complicit in genocide."

"Embarrassingly out of touch @VP," Yacoub tweeted at Vice President Kamala Harris after Harris met with U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Harris had just posted that she and Sunak discussed "our support for Israel's right to defend itself and the urgent need to increase the flow of humanitarian assistance into Gaza."

Fox News' Kyle Morris contributed to this report

Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters swarmed Washington, D.C. on Saturday, shouting slogans and leaving antisemitic messages in graffiti.

Saturday's protest was among the largest pro-Palestinian protests in the U.S. since Hamas first carried out its terrorist attack against Israel on October 7. At least one person was arrested during the event, but D.C. police have not clarified how many people were arrested in total.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment on the incident as protesters swarmed around the presidential residence.

Opinion by Dr. Marc Siegel--

Dr. Yoram Klein, director of trauma and critical care surgery at Sheba Medical Center, located just outside of Tel Aviv and the largest medical center in the Middle East, told me that he does not think in terms of medical miracles. But when I interviewed him on Doctor Radio on SiriusXM, his entire story was of miracles. 

Dr. Yoram Klein, director of trauma and critical care surgery at Sheba Medical Center, located just outside of Tel Aviv and the largest medical center in the Middle East, told me that he does not think in terms of medical miracles. But when I interviewed him on Doctor Radio on SiriusXM, his entire story was of miracles.

If that weren’t miracle enough, Klein went on to cite several stories of spiritual overcoming and survival against all odds. One man, Amichai, which in Hebrew means "my people live," held the door of the shelter where he was with both his hands while the terrorists were targeting him, his wife, and his six kids, Klein said:

"And he just held the door and absorbed all the munitions and gunfire they were aiming at opening the door, and they failed, and they just figured out that they are wasting too much time here and went to find families that were easier to kill – this cost him severe injuries, but he saved his family. He lost one hand, and the other hand, one forearm basically ... is severely damaged.

"He had a thoracic (chest) injury, facial injuries, head injuries, but he was treated – an army medic put a tourniquet on his hand, saved him from exsanguinating, he was flown to us, and we treated him, and I am happy to say that he survived, he is fully alert, he is communicating, and this morning he left my department to the rehab center."

The use of tourniquets saved lives on October 7, but also cost limbs because of the long evacuation time of five or six hours. By the time the patient arrived at the hospital there was irreversible damage to the arm or leg. "And nowadays, we are facing the second wave of complications due to these terrible injuries namely infections, tissue damage, renal failure." 

Israeli tour guide Yoav Rotem talked through some of the emotions of not only enduring the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, but witnessing pro-Palestinian protests across the U.S.

Rotem has been offering tours in Israel for 18 years. His experience introduces tourists to Israel's food and culture, while also stopping at several sacred sites along the way such as the Western Wall. But the Israel-Hamas war has once again disrupted his job, which was previously put on hold during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. He is currently in the U.S. giving speeches about the conflict and, he told Fox News Digital, trying to refute some falsehoods. 

Hamas fighters launched a surprise attack on Israel  on the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah on Oct. 7, resulting in the brutal murder of 1,400 Israelis. As the war approaches a month, as many as 9,900 people have been killed in the war on both sides, including at least 1,400 Israeli civilians and soldiers and 35 Americans. The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry claims 8,525 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and 111 in the West Bank. At least 10 Americans are feared to be among the 240 people Hamas is holding captive.

"So I can say that my emotions and, you know, many Israeli emotions, my family and everyone, starts with a lot of shock, shame… fear," Rotem told Fox News Digital. "How did it happen to us? And it moved to this emotion that we have to finish it, which, it's us or them. And we're there. We're united around that. We really understand that there is evil and good over here, and we're definitely the good. And there's no doubt about it."   

Rotem said that while the feeling of security has been damaged, the spirit of Israelis is "strong and united against whoever would want to attack us." 

Fox News' Courtney O'Brien contributed to this report

Most college students at a pro-Palestinian protest had supportive messages for Israeli hostages' families, though one said Hamas had to rebel and take civilians captive.

"I sympathize with their pain and I pray with them for their family's safe return," Malak, an American University student, told Fox News. "And I hope that they would understand where I'm coming from as well."

Chris said he'd tell the hostages' families he was sorry, but blamed Israel for Hamas' actions. He said the Jewish state, which formed a blockade around Gaza for decades, forced the terrorist group's hand.

"I'm sorry that this has to happen," Chris told Fox News. He added that he's sorry Israel caused "the conditions that have put Gazans in a place where they need to revolt."

Students for Justice in Palestine at American University organized a walkout event Wednesday morning that drew over a hundred students and faculty in support of Palestinians. The demonstration was intended to "demand that AU recognizes the ongoing genocide" against Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, according to a post on the group's Instagram.

"The Gazans have tried to peacefully resolve this," Chris said. "They have tried to reach out to the international community and nothing works."

Fox News' John Michael Raasch contributed to this report

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis responded to criticism Friday that he was acting more like a president and neglecting his duties as governor after he helped ship weaponry to Israel and assisted in evacuating U.S. citizens from Tel Aviv.

DeSantis told FOX News he was simply "filling a void" left by what he suggested to be an insufficient response at the federal level.

"What we found after a day or two is that people were stranded. They weren't getting help from the State Department. They weren't getting help from the embassy there in Jerusalem. And so I did an executive order in Florida, and we were able to scramble planes and bring back mostly Floridians… [and] Americans who were stranded," he said Friday on "America Reports."

Israel's consul-general in Miami, Maor Elbaz-Starinsky, told the Tampa Bay Times weaponry parts had indeed been scheduled to fly as cargo on an El Al Airlines flight to Israel earlier in October and that DeSantis aides approached him for assistance.

The Times further reported additional manifests of donations from U.S. citizens were transported to Israel on Florida's dime, to which White House spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby said it is legal for state governors to offer "foreign assistance."

Fox News' Charles Creitz contributed to this report

Israeli Defense Forces shared images they say shows Hamas rocket emplacements dug in just yards away from a children's swimming pool in Gaza on Sunday.

Israel has long accused Hamas of placing rocket launch sites, headquarters and supply caches near or even beneath civilian infrastructure like playgrounds, hospitals and schools. Israeli forces have faced accusations of targeting civilians in Gaza as the military takes out such targets.

"Kids, swings, a pool and rockets. One of these things is not like the other," the IDF wrote Sunday.

"Hamas hides rocket launchpads in children's playgrounds. Here’s the proof:" it added, attaching footage.

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., said Saturday that U.S. policy toward Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "doesn't add up" as Israel's war against Hamas terrorists continues.

Omar has been critical of Israel's government since Hamas launched its surprise attack against the Jewish State on Oct. 7.

"U.S. policy is essentially that Netanyahu has no achievable goals in Gaza and a ground invasion risks regional war, including potential US troops. And also we should give him $14 billion in weapons with no restrictions, and say there are no red lines as he bombs refugee camps," Omar wrote Saturday on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

"See how this doesn’t add up?" she added.

More than 10,000 people have been killed in Gaza and Israel since Hamas launched its largest attack against Israel in decades on Oct. 7, leading to retaliatory action from Israeli forces. Thousands more have been wounded, and many others have been taken hostage by Hamas and raped, tortured and murdered.

Fox News' Landon Mion contributed to this report

President Biden indicated Saturday that progress has been made toward a humanitarian pause in the Israel-Hamas war.

The president was walking out of St. Edmond Roman Catholic Church in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware when a reporter shouted a question about progress on a potential pause. Biden responded with a thumbs-up gesture and said, "Yes."

Biden previously said that there needed to be "a pause" with the fighting during a campaign event in Minnesota on Wednesday.

“I think we need a pause," Biden began. "A pause means give time to get the prisoners out.”

At the time, the president acknowledged the "emotion" over the conflict and admitted it was complicated for both sides.

"It’s incredibly complicated for the Muslim world as well [as the Israelis]… I supported a two state solution, I have from the very beginning," he said. "The fact is the matter is that Hamas is a terrorist organization. A flat-out terrorist organization."

A White House fence was vandalized Saturday night with red paint as pro-Palestinaian protesters shook the gate to one entrance to the executive mansion as some chanted "F--k Joe Biden," the New York Post reported.

The demonstrators also covered the General Marquis de Lafayette Statue in nearby Lafayette Park with graffiti and Palestinian flags, according to social media posts.

A building in Washington D.C. was vandalized with graffiti messages reading, "Death to Israel" and "Glory 2 the Martyrs," as thousands of protesters descended on the nation's capital to protest on the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

"In our backyard: "Death to Israel" and "Glory to our Martyrs," among other violent antisemitic graffiti spotted in Washington DC. #WhereIsTheOutrage," the Israeli embassy to the United States said in an X post Saturday.

The footage showed a series of graffiti messages reading, "Free Gaza" and "F--k Israel."

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday amid the ongoing war between Israeli forces and Hamas terrorists.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Blinken "reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to the delivery of life-saving humanitarian assistance and resumption of essential services in Gaza and made clear that Palestinians must not be forcibly displaced."

"Secretary Blinken and President Abbas discussed efforts to restore calm and stability in the West Bank, including the need to stop extremist violence against Palestinians and hold those accountable responsible," Miller said.

Miller added, "Secretary Blinken reiterated that the United States remains committed to advancing equal measures of dignity and security for Palestinians and Israelis alike. The Secretary also expressed the commitment of the United States to working toward the realization of the Palestinians’ legitimate aspirations for the establishment of a Palestinian state."

Fox News' Landon Mion contributed to this report