President Biden to meet with families of hostages still being held by Hamas

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, told colleges and universities in the Lone Star State on Tuesday that they should avoid teaching students about any social agendas and should work to root out antisemitism on their campuses.

Abbott was speaking at the annual conference of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board at the University of Texas in Austin when he warned universities that business executives are not interested in the social or political motivations of the academic institutions prospective employees attend, according to Fox 7.

“There’s been none of them who have asked me what is the ideological bent of what is being taught in our universities? How are students being indoctrinated? They don’t ask that because that is not applicable to what they are trying to achieve when they hire an employee,” Abbott said.

The governor also urged university officials to ensure Jewish students are not subject to antisemitism when they step foot on campus in Texas, a reference to the controversial testimonies about the rise of antisemitism on campus delivered before Congress last week by Harvard University President Claudine Gay, then-University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill and MIT President Sally Kornbluth.

“You have a leadership responsibility, to ensure that there is no one on your campuses that are advocating for genocide or antisemitism. It is completely unacceptable in the state of Texas, period,” Abbott told the Texas institutions.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul warned all state colleges and universities that failing to crack down on antisemitism on their campus is a violation of the state’s Human Rights Law and will result in “aggressive enforcement action.”

Hochul wrote a letter to the presidents of colleges and universities across the state, with a message that calls for genocide made on campuses violate the New York State Human Rights Law and Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The letter came as Hochul, like many Americans, saw presidents of several universities fail to denounce antisemitism and calls for genocide of Jewish people on their college campuses.

Hochul said she contacted State University of New York (SUNY) Chancellor John King to make sure that calling for the genocide of any group of people on any of its 62 campuses is a violation of the code of conduct, which it is.

Hochul said King affirmed that SUNY does not tolerate antisemitism or hatred of any kind and learned from City University of New York (CUNY) Chancellor Felix Matos Rodriguez the same is true for CUNY schools.

Hochul told the university presidents that by not addressing antisemitic activity on campuses, the schools are in violation of the State Human Rights Law and Civil Rights Act of 1964. She also said schools that receive federal funds are responsible for keeping students free from a hostile environment based on their ethnicity or national origin.

Fox News’ Greg Wehner contributed to this report.

Officers arrested 41 students on Monday following a demonstration at Brown University as students staged a sit-in and called for a cease-fire in Gaza, according to the Brown Daily Herald. 

Providence Police Department and Brown Department of Public Safety officers arrested and booked all 41 students from Brown Divest Coalition who occupied University Hall on Tuesday afternoon and demanded the school divest from weapons manufacturers amid the Israel-Hamas war, according to the Herald. 

“The disruption to secure buildings is not acceptable, and the University is prepared to escalate the level of criminal charges for future incidents of students occupying secure buildings,” University Spokesperson Brian Clark wrote in a statement to The Herald.

Read the full article about Brown University by Stepheny Price

An ad campaign from Zara, a major fashion company chain, sparked a #BoycottZara social media push and protests outside stores for allegedly being insensitive to Gaza war victims. 

Zara released a statement, after publication, Tuesday expressing regret for the “misunderstanding” where “unfortunately, some customers felt offended” by the ads and “saw … something far from what was intended.”

The campaign for the Atelier line, titled “Collection 04_The Jacket,” features model Kristen McMenamy standing in front of props including mannequins without limbs wrapped in white plastic surrounded by rubble. Other models behind her were covered in dust and dressed in white.

Read the full article about Zara by Lindsay Kornick

A Turkish lawmaker had a heart attack and fell to the ground in Parliament on Tuesday after declaring that Israel will “not be able to escape the wrath of God,” according to reports.

Video shows Saadet Party Kocaeli Deputy Hasan Bitmez, 53, delivering a speech, which according to the BBC, was on the budget of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at the Turkish Grand National Assembly.

“Even if history remains silent, the truth will not remain silent. They think that if they get rid of us, there will be no problem,” Bitmez said in a translated version of his speech. “However, if you get rid of us, you will not be able to escape the torment of conscience. Even if you escape the torment of history, you will not be able to escape the wrath of God.”

Read the full article about Hasan Bitmez by Greg Wehner

Rutgers University suspended its Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter on Tuesday.

The New Jersey public university issued an “interim suspension” of the pro-Palestinian organization, according to a letter obtained by NorthJersey.com. Associate Dean of Students Michelle Jefferson wrote in the letter that the student organization has violated several university policies.

“You allegedly have had multiple cases of disrupting classes, a program, meals, and students studying,” Jefferson wrote.

Read the full article about Rutgers by Adam Sabes

Fox News chief national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin joined “Your World” Tuesday to report the latest developments with the Israel-Hamas war.

During her appearance, Griffin reported that Yemeni Houthis recently struck a Norwegian tanker in the Red Sea.

“The U.S. says it’s working to build an international maritime coalition to address what the Pentagon describes as a rising threat of attacks from the Iranian-backed Houthis,” she explained. “Last night, Houthi forces fired a cruise missile that struck a Norwegian-flagged ship.”

“There has never been such a grave threat to international shipping, I’m told by concerned US Navy officers,” Griffin concluded.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Tuesday that it has “significantly” damaged Hamas’ naval capabilities.

“Since the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip, the Missile Ship Flotilla and Naval Security Squadron have struck hundreds of targets and provided support to soldiers on the ground,” the statement read. “Israeli Navy soldiers have eliminated terrorists, including dozens active in Hamas’ naval forces.”

“Most of the leaders of Hamas’ naval forces, which consist of hundreds of operatives specializing in carrying out maritime attacks, have also been targeted and killed,” the press release added.

The military also disclosed that it is processing four new Sa’ar 6-class corvettes and that, for the first time, “a Sa’ar 6 missile ship sailed to the Red Sea.”

“This week, the INS Magen, a Sa’ar 6-class corvette, anchored in the port of Eilat for the first time, joining the Israeli Navy’s operational activities,” the IDF explained. “Alongside this activity, the operational processing of the fourth and final ship of the Sa’ar 6 series was completed, which took over two years – a very rapid pace for installing and adapting advanced combat systems and state-of-the-art Israeli systems for four ships simultaneously.”

A far-right lawmaker in Poland ignited outrage among all major political forces Tuesday after blasting a lighted menorah with a fire extinguisher.

Grzegorz Braun, one of Poland’s most controversial lawmakers in parliament, can be seen extinguishing the candles on a menorah in the parliament building as a new pro-EU government was beginning its work. A cloud of smoke, haze and white powder filled the area.

Lawmakers were quick to denounce Braun’s actions, saying there would be no tolerance for antisemitic behavior in the parliament.

Read the full article about Grzegorz Braun by Bradford Betz

The United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday overwhelmingly passed a resolution presented by Egypt demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, and for the release of all hostages.

Just before the vote was taken during an emergency special session, the UN shot down two amendments to the resolution – one from Austria and another from the U.S. – condemning Hamas, as both required a two-thirds majority vote of approval to pass.

The President of the UN General Assembly, H.E. Mr. Dennis Francis, opened the emergency session just after 3 p.m. on Tuesday, telling the room full of representatives that tens of thousands of people have died since the war in Gaza between Hamas and Israel began on Oct. 7, with even more being displaced by violence with nowhere safe to go.

Read the full article on the UN by Greg Wehner

An Israeli medical professional told the Times of Israel that Israeli hostages in Hamas captivity were drugged and subjected to sexual abuse.

Renana Eitan, director of the psychiatric division of the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center-Ichilov, told the publication that she had never seen “anything like that” in her career.

“The physical, sexual, mental, psychological abuse of these hostages who came back is just terrible,” Eitan said. “We have to rewrite the textbook.”

Eitan explained that Hamas terrorists gave hostages drugs in order to control them, including teenagers and children.

One of the drugs was ketamine, an anesthetic that can cause feelings of detachment or hallucinations.

“One of the girls was given ketamine for a few weeks,” she continued. “It’s unbelievable to do this to a child.”

Vice President Kamala Harris’ holiday party speech was interrupted by a Democrat state representative calling for a cease-fire in the Middle East.

Harris was in the middle of speaking at a Christmas party on Monday night when Delaware state Rep. Madinah Wilson-Anton held up a sign that read “cease-fire” and began yelling at the vice president.

“Madam Vice President, I am a rep from Delaware. Did you know in Bethlehem they are not celebrating Christmas? Did you know in Bethlehem, baby Jesus is under rubble? Why won’t you call for a cease-fire,” Wilson-Anton shouted. 

Read the full article about Kamala Harris by Joe Schoffstall and Aubrie Spady

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says that Israel has been attacked by Hezbollah at least two times this week.

“For the second time this week, Hezbollah launched several rockets toward Israel yesterday,” the IDF said on X. “One being launched 130 meters from a .@UN compound, with additional launches toward Israel from the same area.”

“By continuing to fire from areas near U.N. compounds, Hezbollah systematically violates UNSC Resolution 1701 and endangers the lives of @UNIFIL_ soldiers,” the post added.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a joint statement announcing that they are “closely monitoring threats to public safety” related to the Israel-Hamas war.

“The FBI is closely monitoring threats to public safety during the holiday season which may be amplified by the ongoing Israel-HAMAS conflict,” the statement, which was released Tuesday, read. “As we are actively communicating and sharing information with our law enforcement partners, faith communities, and others, this Public Service Announcement is being released by the FBI and DHS to the American public to help protect our communities during religious observances and other holiday-related events.”

The agencies ask members of the public to report any possible threats to their local FBI office, or to log onto tips.fbi.gov. Callers can also contact 1-800-CALL FBI.

“We take all potential threats seriously and will work closely with our law enforcement partners to determine their credibility, share information, and take appropriate investigative action,” the press release added.

The University of Pennsylvania has announced a new interim president on Tuesday, after Liz Magill resigned on Saturday.

Dr.  J. Larry Jameson will serve as the interim president of the university, UPenn announced Tuesday. Previously, Jameson was dean of the university’s medical school. 

Magill resigned following criticism stemming from her appearance at a congressional hearing, where she failed to say if calls for the genocide of Jews would violate university policy.

Read the full article about UPenn by Adam Sabes and Bryan Llenas

An antisemitic sign was hung outside the office of an outspoken pro-Israel congressman from Michigan.

Michigan Republican Rep. Tim Walberg, a former Christian pastor, issued a news release on Monday saying an antisemitic sign had been posted on a tree outside his office window.

The sign depicted Uncle Sam removing his American stovepipe hat to reveal a kippah – or yarmulke – with a Star of David underneath reading “Jew u$ury buy$ USA pols” (sic).

Read the full article about Tim Walberg by Houston Keene

In the summer of 2020, nearly every sector of American society – from academia, corporations and government entities – rushed to bend the knee to a radical left-wing mob. 

To signal their obedience, institutions began paying fealty to the Black Lives Matter organization with funds, store window displays, and, most dangerously, by infusing divisive race ideology into school curriculums. BLM reaped millions of dollars in donations, which they squandered on buying mansions instead of improving the communities they claim to serve. 

Schools that embraced BLM’s teachings began feeding the youth of America a race-baiting, oppressor-versus-oppressed narrative that is now bearing its rotten fruit on college campuses.

Read the full opinion piece by Rep. Burgess Owens

“The Young Turks” show host and announced 2024 Democratic Party presidential candidate Cenk Uygur turned heads on social media this week after asking his fellow critics of Israel to stop using the “From the River to the Sea” chant, calling it “hurtful” to the Jewish people.

Uygur, who maintains that Israel is committing “war crimes” in Gaza with its response to Hamas’ massacre in Israel on Oct. 7, added that the chant is “counterproductive” to the Palestinian cause.

On his X account Monday, Cenk asked, “Can everyone please stop the dumb ‘from the river to the sea’ chant? It is incredibly hurtful to our Jewish brothers and sisters.”

Read the full article about Cenk Uygur by Gabriel Hays

MSNBC host Joy Reid pressed Israeli official Mark Regev to defend the country’s tactics in a tense interview on Monday.

Regev pushed back against accusations Israel had not taken enough measures to protect women and children in Gaza.

The Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry has reported 18,000 people have died in the Gaza Strip since Israel started its bombing campaign in response to the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack that took hundreds of hostages and killed 1,200 people. Reid presented these numbers to Regev, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on her Monday night show.

Read the full article about Joy Reid by Kristine Parks

Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said Tuesday that “the actions that we’ve seen from these Houthi forces are disturbing [and] rising” following a missile attack on a Norwegian commercial tanker in the Red Sea.

“They’re dangerous and clearly a flagrant violation of international law. And so this is an international problem that requires an international solution. We do continue to consult closely with our international allies and partners on implementing a maritime task force,” Ryder said during a briefing.

Ryder said the ship was attacked “by what appears to be an anti-ship cruise missile launched from a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen” around midnight local time this morning.

Houthi military spokesperson Yehia Sarea claimed the vessel was targeted because it ignored warnings and was in the process of delivering crude oil to an Israeli terminal, according to Reuters. 

But the ship’s owner said to the news agency that the STRINDA was not planning to stop in Israel and was headed to Italy with palm oil meant to be used in biofuels. 

President Biden said Tuesday during a campaign fundraiser in Washington that Israel could lose international support for its military campaign against the terrorist group Hamas if it carries out “indiscriminate bombing” in the Gaza Strip.

“One of the things that Bibi understands,” Biden said, according to the Associated Press, “is that Israel’s security can rest on the United States. But, right now, it has more than the United States. It has the European Union, it has Europe, it has most of the world supporting them. But they’re starting to lose that support by indiscriminate bombing that takes place.”

Biden also said he urged Netanyahu
not to “make the same mistakes” the U.S. made after Sept. 11, saying the U.S. military response landed it in a long war in Afghanistan and “there’s no reason we did so many of the things we did,” the AP quoted Biden as saying.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

House GOP Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., slammed Harvard’s decision Tuesday to stand behind Harvard President Claudine Gay despite her testifying last week at a congressional hearing that calls on campus for the genocide of Jews require “context” before they would violate the school’s code of conduct. 

Taking a point of personal privilege at the top of the House Republican Conference press conference, Stefanik ripped the “complete moral failure” of Harvard’s leadership, saying that in allowing Gay to remain as president, the “only update to the code of conduct” that the Ivy League school has made after the hearing, “is to allow a plagiarist as the president of Harvard.”

“There is a reason why the testimony at the Education Workforce Committee garnered 1 billion views worldwide, and it’s because those university presidents made history by putting the most morally bankrupt testimony into the Congressional Record, and the world saw it,” Stefanik said Tuesday.

Iran’s foreign minister has warned that the war in Gaza could lead to a “big explosion” of conflicts in the Middle East, with Lebanon and Yemen already “involved” and more countries poised to join. 

“At least every week, we receive a message from the U.S. telling us that U.S. bases in Syria and Iraq are targeted by some groups,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian told the Doha Forum on Monday. 

“At any moment, there is a possibility of a big explosion in the region, one not controllable by any party,” he explained via translator. 

The ominous warning follows the U.S. veto of a United Nations Security Council resolution to seek an immediate cease-fire. U.S. Deputy Permanent Representative Robert A. Wood called the demand for an unconditional cease-fire “dangerous” and “a recipe for disaster for Israel, for Palestinians and for the entire region.” The U.K. abstained from voting. 

The Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday that it has recovered the bodies of two hostages captured by Hamas, one of which was an Israeli soldier.

“During an operation in Gaza, the bodies of the hostages Eden Zecharya and (SGM) Ziv Dado were recovered by IDF Special Forces and brought back to Israel,” the IDF said in a statement. 

The statement said the 27-year-old Zecharya was captured by Hamas during the Oct. 7 attack on a music festival in southern Israel.

“The IDF sends the families its heartfelt condolences and will continue to support them,” it added, noting that two soldiers died in combat and others were injured during the operation that “enabled the location of the bodies.”

Fox News’ Dana Karni contributed to this report.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has posted a video on X saying that he greatly appreciates the “American support for destroying Hamas and returning our hostages.”

“Following an intensive dialogue with President Biden and his team, we received full backing for the ground incursion and blocking the international pressure to stop the war,” Netanyahu said. 

“Yes, there is disagreement about ‘the day after Hamas’ and I hope that we will reach agreement here as well,” he continued, referring to what security in and around the Gaza Strip could look like once fighting ends.

“After the great sacrifice of our civilians and our soldiers, I will not allow the entry into Gaza of those who educate for terrorism, support terrorism and finance terrorism,” Netanyahu also said. 

A White House official tells Fox News that President Biden will meet tomorrow at the White House with family members of Americans taken hostage by Hamas.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
said Sunday that Hamas still has around 117 hostages, including the remains of 20 people who have died in their captivity.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby earlier this month told Fox News that the United States believes eight or nine Americans are still being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza, including one woman whose condition and whereabouts are unknown.

Fox News’ Patrick Ward, Danielle Wallace and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

President Biden hosted a Hanukkah celebration on Monday at the White House, where he condemned the rise of antisemitism during the Israel-Hamas war as “sickening.” 

In remarks in front of Jewish lawmakers and other attendees, Biden harshly criticized those who remain silent in the face of antisemitism and reiterated his longstanding support for Israel.

“I got in trouble, got criticized very badly by the southern part of my state and some of the southern parts of the country, when 35 years ago I said, ‘You don’t have to be a Jew to be a Zionist. And I am a Zionist,'” Biden said. 

The president described Hanukkah as a “timeless story of miracles,” a celebration of survival and hope. “But we know this year’s Hanukkah is different,” he said, acknowledging the ongoing war in Gaza.

Data released by the Israel Defense Forces on Tuesday shows that of the 105 soldiers killed so far during the military campaign against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, 20 were killed in friendly-fire incidents and other accidents, the Times of Israel is reporting. 

The newspaper, citing the data, says 13 soldiers were killed due to mistaken identification during airstrikes, tank shelling and gunfire. 

It reported that one soldier was killed by gunfire not intended for them, while another two died because of accidental misfires. 

Two soldiers also died in accidents involving military vehicles running over troops, while two others were killed by shrapnel including from explosives set off by the Israeli military, according to the Times of Israel. 

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Tuesday that he will speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about timetables to ending combat in Gaza when he visits his country later this week. 

“The subject of how they are seeing the timetable of this war will certainly be on the agenda for my meetings,” Sullivan said Tuesday during an appearance at a forum hosted by the Wall Street Journal, according to the Associated Press. 

Sullivan also said he would also speak to Netanyahu about his recent comments that the Israel Defense Forces would maintain open-ended security control of Gaza after the war ends. 

Sullivan reiterated the Biden administration’s position that it does not want to see Israel reoccupy Gaza or further shrink its already small territory. The administration has repeatedly called for a return of the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority and the resumption of peace talks aimed at establishing a Palestinian state alongside Israel. 

“I will have the opportunity to talk to Prime Minister Netanyahu about what exactly he has in mind with that comment, because that can be interpreted in a number of different ways,” Sullivan said. “But the U.S. position on this is clear.” 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

The island country of Cyprus is preparing to start shipping large quantities of humanitarian aid across the Mediterranean Sea to the Gaza Strip, according to the Associated Press. 

A spokesman for Cyprus’ government said Tuesday that a team of technical experts from Israel is visiting the island nation to inspect infrastructure and facilities that will be used in the effort, once conditions on the ground in Gaza allow for it. 

Constantinos Letymbiotis said the Israeli team’s visit Tuesday follows two earlier trips that Cypriot officials made to Israel to brief authorities there about the Cypriot initiative. 

An initial shipment is already in storage at Larnaca port, from where ships will set sail for Gaza some 242 miles away. 

The AP reports that officials from Israel and elsewhere will be on hand to monitor as Cypriot customs agents inspect the aid to ensure that nothing is shipped to Gaza that could be weaponized by Hamas to use against Israel. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Harvard President Claudine Gay is expected to remain in her pos
t after her congressional testimony on antisemitism sparked widespread public outrage last week. 

The Harvard Corporation, the university’s governing body, issued a statement of support for Gay on Tuesday morning. 

“As members of the Harvard Corporation, we today reaffirm our support for President Gay’s continued leadership of Harvard University. Our extensive deliberations affirm our confidence that President Gay is the right leader to help our community heal and to address the very serious societal issues we are facing,” the Corporation said. 

The Israeli Air Force has posted a video on X of a rocket launch site being destroyed in the Gaza Strip.

“Soldiers of the 162nd Division in Jabalya, in cooperation with the soldiers of the 636th Collection Unit of the Border Protection Corps, identified a launch site… launching rockets towards the city of Sderot.”

It said the forces “directed an aircraft that attacked and destroyed the launch site.”

Footage released by the IDF shows a building being flattened in an airstrike.

The humanitarian aid organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said Tuesday that one of its doctors was injured inside of a Gaza hospital after being hit “by a shot fired from outside the facility.”

The group wrote on X that its colleagues at the Al-Awda hospital in the northern Gaza Strip “report snipers surrounding the hospital, firing on those inside. 

“Al-Awda has been under total siege by Israeli forces since 5 December,” Doctors Without Borders is claiming, adding that “these attacks have killed at least 5 hospital staff, including two MSF doctors while they were caring for their patients.”

“The hospital building has also sustained substantial damage in the bombing and fighting, along many other hospitals in the north of the Strip, and supplies are running low, further compromising the doctors’ capacity to treat patients,” it also said.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. Israel and the U.S. say Hamas has been operating out of civilian infrastructure, putting lives at risk.

A World Health Organization official said Tuesday that only 11 of the Gaza Strip’s 36 hospitals are partially functional.

“In just 66 days the health system has gone from 36 functional hospitals to 11 partially functional hospitals — one in the north and 10 in the south,” Richard Peeperkorn, a WHO representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, was quoted by Reuters as saying during a U.N. press briefing by videolink from Gaza.

“We cannot afford to lose any health care facilities or hospitals,” he reportedly added. “We hope, we plea that this will not happen.”

The Hamas-run Palestinian Ministry of Health is now claiming that nearly 18,000 Palestinians have died during the conflict in Gaza.

Israel’s Air Force announced Tuesday that it has intercepted a “suspicious aerial target that crossed from the territory of Lebanon into the territory of the State of Israel.”

The development comes as the Israel Defense Forces say “soldiers of the Nahal Brigade operating in the Jabalya area in the northern Gaza Strip located several combat posts and weapons caches used by Hamas in a residential area and near a school.

“The combat equipment was taken by the soldiers for further examination. All of the terror infrastructure found was located near civilian buildings and infrastructure,” it added. 

“As part of the operation, the soldiers demolished the residence of a Nukhba terrorist prepared for attacking IDF soldiers,” the IDF said, referring to a fighter from Hamas’ elite force. “The residence served as a Hamas command center and contained combat-related documents and laptops belonging to Hamas which contained operational plans for the October 7 massacre.”

The Israeli Air Force also in the last day has “struck a number of launch posts used to fire rockets at Israelis across the country from inside the Gaza Strip,” according to the IDF.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels said Tuesday that an attack on the Norwegian commercial tanker STRINDA in the Red Sea was done in protest of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. 

Houthi military spokesperson Yehia Sarea claimed the vessel was targeted because it ignored warnings and was in the process of delivering crude oil to an Israeli terminal, according to Reuters. 

But the ship’s owner, Norway’s Mowinckel Chemical Tankers, said to the news agency that the STRINDA was not planning to stop in Israel and was headed to Italy with palm oil meant to be used in biofuels. 

A land-based cruise missile launched from Houthi-controlled Yemen had struck the STRINDA, causing some damage and a fire, a senior U.S. defense official confirmed to Fox News overnight. 

The USS Mason is on the scene to render aid, the defense official said. 

No U.S. ships were near the location of the attack, which took place about 60 nautical miles north of Bab-al-Mandab. 

There were no casualties reported in connection with the incident. 

Fox News’ Landon Mion and Jennifer Griffin contributed to this report. 

Mufid Fawaz Alkhader, the 28-year-old Iraqi-born U.S. citizen who officials accuse of saying “Free Palestine” after firing a shotgun into the air
outside the Temple Israel synagogue in Albany, New York, last Thursday, now faces another federal charge.

Federal prosecutors initially charged him with possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, which authorities said was related to his admitted use of marijuana.

He then was charged Monday with conspiracy to make a false statement during the purchase of a firearm. The new charge stems from the recent purchase of the shotgun authorities said he used in the shooting.

Alkhader did not think he was eligible to buy a firearm because of a previous protective order, so he gave a friend money to buy the shotgun for him, according to the Associated Press. The unidentified friend falsely indicated on a federal form that he was buying the firearm for himself, federal prosecutors said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman said Monday night that Harvard’s governing board was reluctant to fire University President Claudine Gay following her controversial comments before Congress about the rise in antisemitism on campus over concerns it would appear they were conceding to him.

Ackman, a Harvard alumnus who has been critical of the university’s response to antisemitic behavior on campus, said reporters informed him that one of the board’s reasons for not firing Gay was that they did not want the public to suspect they were “kowtowing” to him.

“I have been told now by two reporters that one of the factors that made it challenging for the @Harvard board to fire Gay was that they were concerned it would look like they were kowtowing to me,” Ackman wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

“In other words, the reporters explained, quoting the trustees: ‘Had Bill just stopped tweeting, we would have come to the right answer.’ So much for Veritas,” he continued.

During last week’s hearing before the House Education and the Workforce Committee, House GOP Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., demanded Gay, University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill and MIT President Sally Kornbluth answer whether calls on campus for intifada, or the genocide of Jews, violated their respective universities’ codes of conduct or rules against bullying and harassment.

“It can be, depending on the context,” Gay responded, prompting Stefanik to press her for a yes or no answer.

“Antisemitic speech when it crosses into conduct that amounts to bullying, harassment, intimidation — that is actionable conduct, and we do take action,” Gay said.

The Ohio-based Oberlin College removed a former Iran regime official and religion professor, Mohammad Jafar Mahallati, from his teaching post after a three-year pressure campaign from Iranian Americans who were outraged over his role in covering up the mass murder of at least 5,000 Iranian political prisoners in 1988.

Andrea Simakis, a spokeswoman for the controversial college administration, told Fox News Digital
that “Professor Mahallati was placed on indefinite administrative leave on November 28.”

Fox News Digital reported last month that Iran’s former U.N. ambassador, Mahallati, was  being investigated by the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights for subjecting Jewish students to harassment, including defending the U.S. and EU-designated terrorist organization Hamas.

Less than a month later, the college scrubbed its website of Mahallati’s profile and deleted a fact sheet, in which the college allegedly whitewashed Mahallati’s reported crimes against humanity, antisemitism and genocidal rhetoric targeting the Baha’i community in Iran.

Mahallati has reveled in his title as the “Professor of Peace” on the Oberlin campus because of his teachings on peace and friendship.

Photographs viewed by Fox News Digital show the college removed his nameplate from his office. The ostensible ouster of Mahallati marks a stunning admission by Oberlin College President Carmen Twillie Ambar that her three-year defense of Mahallati was no longer tenable. Ambar and her administration have been reeling from a series of Mahallati scandals since 2020, including his alleged endorsement of a fatwa to murder the American-British author Salman Rushdie.

The California-based Alliance Against Islamic Regime of Iran Apologists (AAIRIA) spearheaded the high-intensity campaign to fire Mahallati. Lawdan Bazargan, the lead organizer on the campaign, has crisscrossed the United States and some European countries to draw attention to Mahallati’s reported crimes against humanity.

Fox News’ Benjamin Weinthal contributed to this report.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) First Lt. Eden Ram wrote about her experience with Hamas terrorists on October7.org, describing the horrors she witnessed when the Israel-Hamas war began.

“They blew up the last door, came into the room, and shot a volley of bullets at us without pause, screaming,” Ram wrote. “When they were done, they waited a little, spoke in Arabic, searched for documents, checked that we were dead and then left.”

“Throughout this I was not sure if I was dead or alive, I felt dead, but I could still see and hear and feel,” she continued. “I waited for the final bullet that would hit me and kill me, but it never came.”

Ram reported that she was shot 12 times by Hamas terrorists.

“I had been shot 12 times – bullets in my legs, my left hand and my shoulder,” the soldier wrote. “I thank God who watched over me and was with me in that room.”

“I still can’t believe that I am here, that I am alive and that with the help of God I should get back to regain full function. It is simply a miracle,” she concluded.