By Negotiations between Israel and Hamas for a potential cease-fire and hostage release are in their final stages, Fox News has learned.
The deal could include a potential hostage release as well as a temporary end to fighting to get humanitarian aid into the region.
“It does appear the final details are being discussed toward a cease-fire that would end fighting in Gaza for up to five days and include the release of some hostages,” Fox News’ Trey Yingst reported from Israel Tuesday afternoon.
“We understand, according to Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, that a deal is approaching,” Yingst reported. “Reports indicate it would include the release of dozens of Israeli and foreign citizen hostages. The hostages are expected to be only women and children and would be exchanged for [Palestinian] prisoners being held in Israel.”
He said the hopeful news “comes amid intense battles in Gaza as Israeli forces work their way across the strip. The Israeli military said it targeted 250 different Hamas sites over the past day, killing dozens of militants.”
Reuters similarly reported Hamas officials were “close to reaching a truce agreement” with Israel. They also cited a statement from Ismail Haniyeh.
Netanyahu says task of freeing hostages is ‘always in front of my eyes’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his country has “not relented” in its effort to free hostages being held captive by Hamas inside the Gaza Strip.
“Together with the War Cabinet, I met tonight with the families of the abductees who are always in my heart and guide my actions,” he wrote last night in a post on X. “Restoring our abductees is a sacred and supreme task — and I am committed to it.”
“I listened to the pain of the families. We talked heart to heart, I shared with them as much as I could — the political, intelligence and operational efforts that we lead around the clock,” Netanyahu continued.
“I told the dear families: our abductees are always in front of my eyes — from the moment I get up in the morning until I go to bed late at night — all the time,” he added.
Netanyahu’s comments come as negotiations Tuesday between Israel and Hamas for a potential cease-fire and hostage release are in their final stages, Fox News has learned.
The deal could include a potential hostage release as well as a temporary end to fighting to get humanitarian aid into the region.
Fox News’ Trey Yingst and Lawrence Richard contributed to this report.
Israel investigating reports of journalists being killed by airstrike along Lebanon border
Israel’s military said Tuesday that it is investigating reports that two journalists from the Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen TV station have been killed in an airstrike along the Israel-Lebanon border.
The station, which is politically allied with the militant Hezbollah group, said the journalists were killed in an Israeli airstrike, according to the Associated Press. Lebanese Information Minister Ziad Makary also confirmed the strike and the Israeli military said it was looking into the reports.
Last week, the Israeli government blocked Al-Mayadeen TV from broadcasting in Israel.
The Israeli Air Force posted on X this morning that “Aircraft of the Air Force identified and attacked three anti-tank squads in the Lebanese border area a short time ago.”
“In addition, Air Force fighter jets attacked a number of terrorist targets of the Hezbollah terrorist organization, including military infrastructures and infrastructures for targeting terrorism,” it also said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
MD hate crime task force member claimed babies killed by Hamas were ‘fake,’ compared Israel to Nazis
A member of a Maryland task force aimed at combating hate crimes published numerous antisemitic social media posts, including claiming that the babies brutally murdered in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack were “fake,” and comparing the nation of Israel to Nazi Germany.
Zainab Chaudry, an anti-Israel activist who serves as the director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ (CAIR) Maryland office, made the posts in the weeks following Hamas’ attack, which saw more than 1,200 people killed, including children and babies, as well as numerous rapes and destruction of property.
“I will never be able to understand how the world summoned up rage for 40 fake Israeli babies while completely turning a blind eye to 3,000 real Palestinian babies,” Chaudry wrote in a Facebook post dated Oct. 26.
“[T]hat moment when you become what you hated most,” Chaudry wrote in an Oct. 17 post, including two photos of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, one showing it lit up with the Israeli flag in solidarity with Israel following the attack, and another from a ceremony in 1936 when it was decorated with the flag of Nazi Germany during the Olympics that year.
In another post from Nov. 6, Chaudry appeared to suggest the mere existence of Israel as a nation was the cause of the ongoing war, writing it was an “inconvenient fact.” She included an image of the words “it all started in 1948,” the year Israel was founded as a nation.
Fox News’ Brandon Gillespie contributed to this report.
IDF reveals ‘precise operations’ against Hamas in Gaza Strip, anti-tank missile found under crib
The Israel Defense Forces said it is conducting precise operations in the Gaza Strip in the ongoing war against Hamas terrorists. The IDF also said an anti-tank missile was found under a baby’s crib.
“As part of the IDF’s activities in the Gaza Strip over the last day, IDF aircraft struck approximately 250 Hamas terror targets,” the IDF said in a statement. “Among the targets struck were dozens of terrorists, rocket launchers, and terrorist infrastructure.”
“Overnight, IDF troops directed a fighter jet to strike a rocket launch post from which rockets were fired toward central Israel yesterday (Monday). The post was located near a residential area of the civilian population,” the statement continued.
IDF ground troops also located a “significant weapons stockpile” in the residence of a senior Nukhba terrorist in the Gaza Strip.
Additionally, IDF ground troops said they discovered an anti-tank missile hidden under a baby’s crib.
