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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office has denied reports that Hamas has forwarded a list of hostages to be released in a potential cease-fire agreement Sunday.

Reuters reported earlier Sunday that Hamas had approved a list of 34 hostages it may be willing to release in exchange for a cease-fire agreement. Hamas officials said the deal was contingent on Israel reaching an agreement to withdraw from Gaza and enact a permanent cease-fire.

"Contrary to what was claimed, Hamas has not forwarded a list of names of hostages until this moment," Netanyahu's office said in a statement.

The statement comes days after Netanyahu was released from hospital on Thursday after his prostate surgery.

NETANYAHU GOES AGAINST DOCTOR’S ORDERS, APPEARS IN ISRAELI PARLIAMENT AFTER SURGERY

His office said Netanyahu, 75, was in good condition and fully conscious after the conclusion of his prostate surgery.

The Israeli leader has undergone several health procedures over the past two years. In March, Netanyahu underwent hernia surgery under full anesthesia, and Deputy Prime Minister Yariv Levin temporarily assumed his role during the process.

Months before the Oct. 7 attacks, Netanyahu suffered dehydration and was admitted to a hospital in July 2023.  The Israeli leader said that he became dehydrated after visiting the Sea of Galilee without water or sun protection during a heatwave.

A week after being admitted for dehydration, Netanyahu's doctors implanted a pacemaker to regulate his heart rate and rhythm.

Netanyahu's most recent operation came as the 75-year-old politician continues to testify in a corruption case against him in Israel. He took the stand earlier in December and is expected to continue testifying in the new year.

Netanyahu is also currently leading the IDF on multiple fronts across the Middle East, continuing to target Iranian terrorists and their proxies.

Yonat Friling contributed to this report.

Tomiko Itooka, a Japanese woman who was the world’s oldest person, according to Guinness World Records, has died, an Ashiya city official said Saturday. She was 116.

Yoshitsugu Nagata, an official in charge of elderly policies, said Itooka died Dec. 29 at a care home in Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture, central Japan.

Itooka, who loved bananas and a yogurt-flavored Japanese drink called Calpis, was born May 23, 1908. She became the oldest person last year after the death of 117-year-old Maria Branyas, according to the Gerontology Research Group.

WORLD'S OLDEST MAN, DEAD AT 112, ATE THIS MEAL EVERY FRIDAY

When she was told she was at the top of the World Supercentenarian Rankings List, she simply replied, "Thank you."

When Itooka celebrated her birthday last year, she received flowers, a cake and a card from the mayor.

Born in Osaka, Itooka was a volleyball player in high school and long had a reputation for a sprightly spirit, Nagata said. She climbed the 3,067-meter (10,062-foot) Mount Ontake twice.

OLDEST PERSON IN THE US, ELIZABETH FRANCIS, DIES AT 115 YEARS OLD IN HOUSTON

She married at 20, and had two daughters and two sons, according to Guinness.

Itooka managed the office of her husband’s textile factory during World War II. She lived alone in Nara after her husband died in 1979.

She is survived by one son and one daughter and five grandchildren. A funeral service was held with family and friends, according to Nagata.

According to the Gerontology Research Group, the world's oldest person is now 116-year-old Brazilian nun Inah Canabarro Lucas, who was born 16 days after Itooka.

JERUSALEM — Elite Israeli forces conducted a dramatic raid in Syria, destroying a secret underground long-range missile factory that also contained information about Syria's chemical weapons program in September, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

The IDF first revealed the mission Thursday in a call with reporters.

"This is one of our most significant and complex special operations in recent years, even in this complex year and a half," IDF spokesperson Nadav Shoshani said.

The IDF provided spectacular footage of the Israeli commandos during the daring mission as well as the massive explosion of the subterranean complex after the troops had cleared it.

ISRAELI OFFICIAL REVEALS HOW 'TO TRULY DEFEAT HEZBOLLAH'

"The precision-guided missile factory or facility was dug into the side of a mountain underground," the IDF spokesperson said.

Information about Syria’s chemical weapons program was uncovered during the mission. 

"I have seen some of them — notebooks and documents — and a lot of them contain very specific chemicals,"  Shoshani said. "One of them that I saw was a chemical handbook that describes how to manufacture a missile at the end of the raid. The troops dismantled the facility, including the machines and the manufacturing, to ensure the safety of Israel."

Assad’s regime repeatedly used chemical weapons on his population during the nearly 14-year civil war that ripped apart the country. The U.S.-designated terrorist movement Hezbollah played a key role in aiding Assad’s regime during the civil war.

IDF FINDS HEZBOLLAH WEAPONS CACHE IN UNDERGROUND TUNNEL: VIDEO

The factory was designed to manufacture between 150-350 missiles a year, including precision-guided missiles (PGM), according to the IDF. Commandoes from the IDF’s elite air force unit Shaldag participated in the mission. The IDF said 30 Syrian soldiers were killed during the operation.

The IDF spokesperson told reporters the operation "was aimed at an Iranian-funded precision-guided missile factory inside Syrian territory near the border with Lebanon. This facility was designed to manufacture hundreds of strategic missiles per year from start to finish for Hezbollah to use in their aerial attacks on Israel and for its Iranian axis in Syria.

"Because of the specific terrain and this facility being underground, we could not operate from the air area. Also, on Sept. 8 last year, 2024, special forces conducted a nighttime targeted raid on the facility. This raid involved over 100 soldiers. There were also dozens of aircraft, including helicopters and other types of aircraft. The forces were flown in by helicopters."

"I salute our heroic fighters for the daring and successful operation deep in Syria," Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. "This was one of the most important preventive operations that we have taken against the efforts of the Iranian axis to arm itself in order to attack us; it attests to our boldness and determination to take action everywhere to defend ourselves."

After the devastating Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas invasion of Israel, which resulted in the murder of more than 1,200 people, including 40 Americans, Israel has faced multi-prong attacks from Iran’s regime — the main sponsor of Hamas, Hezbollah; the Houthis; and the toppled Bashar Assad regime in Syria.

Amit Segal, chief political analyst of Israel's Channel 12, told Fox News Digital, "The Israeli perspective for years was that Iran operates as an octopus in the Middle East, with the head being the nuclear program in Tehran and the arms being the conventional terrorist organizations surrounding Israel. Netanyahu’s view was that the arms were meant to harass and occupy Israel while the head raced toward nuclear capability, and therefore it was preferable to contain them and focus on the main threat.

"This perception shattered on Oct. 7 when it became clear that the arms were not just a nuisance but an existential threat."

The complex commando raid on the underground Syrian factory could also be a shot across the bow for the Islamic Republic of Iran’s nuclear weapons facilities embedded in mountains.

"After a year and a quarter dedicated to severing the octopus’s arms, Israel stands in 2025 at a historic crossroads for the confrontation Netanyahu has long sought and for which history will judge him: eliminating the nuclear threat once and for all," Segal noted.

The IDF spokesperson said construction on the Syrian missile factory "began at the end of 2017 and ended in 2021 when manufacturing machinery was sent from Iran to the site. Most of the components in the factory were sourced from Iran."

From October 2023 to November 2024, Hezbollah launched over 17,000 projectiles toward Israel, killing dozens of Israelis, the IDF spokesperson said.

A missing 7-year-old boy survived five days alone in an African game park, alongside elephants and lions, in what Zimbabwean politicians are calling "a true miracle."

Tinotenda Pudu spent nearly a week alone in Matusadonha game park after "wander[ing] away" and losing his sense of direction, Mutsa Murombedzi, a Member Parliment in Zimbabwe, wrote in a post on X.

Pudu was found by rangers from Matusadona Africa Parks after walking nearly 15 miles from home, according to officials.

SAN DIEGO ZOO TO WELCOME PAIR OF GIANT PANDAS FROM CHAIN UNDER CONSERVATION PARTNERSHIP

"After [five] long, harrowing days in the jungle near Hogwe River, which feeds into Ume river, the boy has been found alive," Murombedzi announced. "Sleeping on a rocky perch, amidst roaring lions, passing elephants, eating wild fruits and just the unforgiving wild [is] too much for a [7]-year-old."

The park hosts lions, leopards, buffalo, zebras, elephants, hippos and antelope, according to African Parks' website.

OUTSIDE OF CHINA, PANDAS ARE ONLY FOUND IN THESE 5 ZOOS AROUND THE WORLD

The Nyaminyami community beat night drums each day in hopes the boy would hear the sound and find his way back home, according to Murombedzi.

"Above all, we thank God for watching over Tinotenda and leading him back home safely," she said. "This is a testament to the power of unity, hope, prayer and never giving up."

Officials confirmed the child's age to the BBC.

In a top meeting with National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan roughly a month ago, President Biden was presented with a series of strike options should Iran make a move to develop a nuclear weapon, reported Axios on Friday. 

The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s questions regarding the strike options, but according to the report, Biden has not signed off on any plans to hit Iran’s nuclear program. 

Biden has vowed not to let Iran develop a nuclear weapon on his watch, but it remains unclear what steps Iran would have to take in order for the Biden administration to respond with direct hits, given that Tehran has already been reported to have stockpiled near-weapons-grade uranium and to be bolstering its weaponization capabilities. 

IRAN EXPANDS WEAPONIZATION CAPABILITIES CRITICAL FOR EMPLOYING NUCLEAR BOMB

The president was reportedly presented with a series of scenarios and response options during the meeting, though sources told the outlet that Biden has not made any final decisions regarding the information he was given. 

Another source reportedly said that currently there are no active discussions on militarily hitting Iran’s program.

Biden repeatedly warned Israel against hitting Tehran’s nuclear program as tensions between the two nations reached a boiling point last year amid the conflict with Hamas and Hezbollah – both of which had the backing of Iran. 

But some aides close to the president have reportedly argued that the U.S. has the "imperative" and the "opportunity" to strike Tehran’s nuclear ambitions given its efforts to accelerate its program and its weakened position given the significantly degraded standing of Iran's proxy forces. 

Sources told Axios that Sullivan did not advise the president to take action either way but merely presented him with scenarios. 

IRAN LAUNCHES ROCKET WITH HEAVIEST-EVER PAYLOAD INTO SPACE AMID HEIGHTENED CONCERN OVER NUCLEAR PROGRAM

The report also noted that the National Security Adviser, along with other aides to the president, believed that the degraded nature of Iran’s air defenses and missile capabilities and weakened proxy forces could improve the likelihood of a successful strike and decrease the chance of Iranian retaliation. 

Biden reportedly focused on the issue of urgency and whether Iran had taken specific steps to justify a potentially conflict-inducing military strike just weeks before a new administration takes office – though it remains unclear what those steps would include. 

"You can look at the public statements of Iranian officials, which have changed in the last few months as they have been dealt these strategic blows, to raise the question: Do we have to change our doctrine at some point? The fact that that's coming out publicly is something that has to be looked at extremely carefully," Sullivan said during remarks in New York just one week before Christmas Day. 

He also pointed to the blows Iran has seen this year and argued that they could push Iran to develop a nuclear weapon rather than deter it. 

"It generates choices for that adversary that can be quite dangerous, and that's something we have to remain extremely vigilant about as we go forward," Sullivan said.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is throwing his weight behind growing calls for a new investigation into the scandal of child abuse by grooming gangs, going so far as to back calls for King Charles III to intervene.

"National inquiry now!" Musk stated on X on Friday, declaring the scandal "the worst mass crime against the people of Britain ever."

The U.K. has for years been dealing with the revelation that a number of grooming gangs, often consisting of men of South Asian or British Pakistani heritage, exploited children for decades across the north of England in cities and towns including Rochdale, Telford, Manchester and Rotherham.

BRITAIN HIT BY ANOTHER ASIAN GROOMING GANG SCANDAL AS REPORT EXPOSES CHILD SEX ABUSE IN MANCHESTER

A 2014 independent review of grooming in Rotherham found that the majority of perpetrators were of Pakistani heritage and said that it was "hard to describe the appalling nature of the abuse that child victims suffered."

"They were raped by multiple perpetrators, trafficked to other towns and cities in the north of England, abducted, beaten, and intimidated. There were examples of children who had been doused in petrol and threatened with being set alight, threatened with guns, made to witness brutally violent rapes and threatened they would be next if they told anyone," the report said. "Girls as young as 11 were raped by large numbers of male perpetrators."

That report found that around 1,400 children were abused between 1997 and 2013. It also stressed that abuse "is not confined to the past but continues to this day."

The report found that police gave no priority to the abuse cases and failed to act. It also found that at least one report "was effectively suppressed" and others were ignored by local authorities. It found that while some did not believe the information, others were spooked by political correctness.

"Several staff described their nervousness about identifying the ethnic origins of perpetrators for fear of being thought racist; others remembered clear direction from their managers not to do so," it said.

1,510 CHILDREN ABUSED IN ROTHERHAM SEX SCANDAL, NEW REPORT SAYS

A review in Telford found that a high proportion of the cases involved men described as "Asian" or "Pakistani" and that authorities in Telford were concerned that allegations "had the potential to start a ‘race riot.’" A broader Home Office report in 2020 said that while high-profile cases have "mainly involved men of Pakistani ethnicity," it also cited research showing that group-based child sex exploitation offenders are most commonly White.

The scandal was seen by many as a prioritizing of multiculturalism and political correctness over the welfare of British children and the prosecution of criminals.

The issue recently reignited when local politicians in the town of Oldham asked the Home Office in July for a government inquiry into child abuse. A 2022 report into Oldham's actions between 2011 and 2014 found that children were failed by local agencies, but it also found that there was no cover-up despite "legitimate concerns" that the far-right would capitalize on "the high-profile convictions of predominantly Pakistani offenders across the country."

The Manchester Evening News reported Home Office Minister Jess Phillips responded to the request in October, saying that any such inquiry should be organized locally. 

"Survivors sit at the heart of our work to end child sexual exploitation. Whatever happens in terms of future inquiries, we have promised them that their wishes will be paramount, and we will not renege on that pledge,’ a Home Office spokesperson told the outlet.

20 MEN FOUND GUILTY OF RAPING MORE THAN A DOZEN TEENAGE GIRLS IN NORTHERN ENGLAND

"We all recognize that terrible mistakes were made in the past, with children ignored or dismissed," they said.

That response was slammed by Conservative Party Leader Kemi Badenoch, who called for a full national inquiry into what she called the "rape gangs scandal."

"The time is long overdue for a full national inquiry into the rape gangs scandal," she said on X. "Trials have taken place all over the country in recent years but no one in authority has joined the dots."

"2025 must be the year that the victims start to get justice," she said.

Musk, who has been tapped by President-elect Trump to lead the Department of Government Efficiency, also backed calls for King Charles III to intervene-noting that current Prime Minister Keir Starmer was head of the Crown Prosecution Service at the time of the scandals, although the scandals generally involved local authorities.

"Yes," Musk said in response to a post saying the King "must step in." 

He continued, "They oppose an inquiry, because it will show that those in power were complicit in the cover-up," he said of the government.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting responded to Musk's comments, telling ITV News that the government takes child abuse "incredibly seriously" and repeating that an inquiry in Oldham should be led locally.

"Some of the criticisms that Elon Musk has made, I think are misjudged and certainly misinformed, but we’re willing to work with Elon Musk, who I think has got a big role to play with his social media platform to help us and other countries to tackle this serious issue," he said. "So if he wants to work with us and roll his sleeves up, we’d welcome that."

Fox News Digital reached out to the British government's Home Office for comment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy struck a hopeful tone on Thursday during a televised interview and said he believes President-elect Donald Trump could be "decisive" in ending the war as Kyiv stares down the third anniversary of Russia's invasion. 

"Trump can be decisive. For us, this is the most important thing," Zelenskyy said according to a Reuters report. "His qualities are indeed there. 

"He can be decisive in this war. He is capable of stopping [Russian President Vladimir] Putin or, to put it more fairly, help us stop Putin," he added. "He is able to do this."

UKRAINE: HOW THE WAR SHIFTED IN 2024

Zelenskyy said Trump assured him that Kyiv would be among his first presidential visits following his inauguration later this month as Ukraine looks to stabilize the front lines. 

Stopping Russian advances early in the new year is a top priority for Zelenskyy, who also reportedly claimed that Putin feared negotiations as it would be seen by the Kremlin chief as tantamount to a Russian defeat.

Despite nearly three full years of war, Russia has been unable to achieve not only its initial war aims, but even Putin’s amended plans, which he announced last year when he said his main goal is now to take all the Donbas – a region in eastern Ukraine encompassing much of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

However, it is not only Putin who views potential peace negotiations with apparent trepidation. 

Zelenskyy has said he welcomes peace talks, but he has also made it clear that any negotiations on ending the war will only be accepted if Ukraine is granted certain security guarantees – like the possibility of joining NATO.

RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER BLASTS UKRAINE PEACE DEAL REPORTEDLY FLOATED BY TRUMP'S TEAM: 'NOT HAPPY'

"Naturally, any security guarantees without the United States are weak security guarantees for Ukraine," he said, though he added that Washington must take into account Kyiv’s future security.

"It cannot be otherwise," he added. "We are Ukraine, and it's our independence, our land and our future."

Putin, on the other hand, has said he will not accept any cease-fire negotiations that do not include guarantees that bar Kyiv from joining the 32-member body, which under Article 5 of the alliance’s treaty says an attack on one member will trigger an attack from all NATO nations and would effectively ensure a united strike on Moscow should it once again target Ukraine. 

Zelenskyy, who has led the country since 2019, was also asked if he would consider re-running for the presidency. 

The Ukrainian president reiterated that the nation cannot hold elections while in a state of war under the nation’s existing constitution but said he may consider it once the conflict has ended. 

"I don't know how this war will end," he said. "If I can do more than I am able, then I will probably view such a decision [seeking re-election] more positively. For now, this is not an objective for me."

Fox News Digital could not immediately reach the Trump transition team for comment. 

The Islamic Republic of Iran executed over 1,000 prisoners in 86 prisons across the country in 2024, according to a report by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). The report says the death toll is "an unprecedented figure in the past three decades," and represents an increase of 16% from the 864 executions conducted in 2023.

Most of the regime’s executions took place in the latter half of the year. Almost 70% occurred after the July election of President Masoud Pezeshkian. About 47% took place in the fourth quarter of 2024, when the regime "faced severe defeats in the region and mounting economic and social crises," the NCRI said.

Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the NCRI, said that the series of executions represent a "desperate attempt to prevent the uprising of an angry populace who will settle for nothing less than the regime’s complete overthrow. These medieval crimes, however, double the resolve of Iran’s youth to topple the religious dictatorship."

IRAN SLAMMED FOR RECORD SURGE IN EXECUTIONS OF REGIME OPPONENTS: ‘TRUE FACE IS ON DISPLAY’

According to Rajavi, "any negotiations or dealings with [the regime] must be conditioned on ending executions and torture. Its leaders must be brought to justice for 45 years of crimes against humanity and genocide."

Fox News Digital reached out to the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations for comment about the regime’s record level of executions. The Mission declined to comment.

Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital that "the more the regime looks weak abroad, the more it is trying to double down to prevent a contagion effect on the home front. It is doing this by increasing the number of executions, including of political prisoners, non-violent offenders, and even hostages." Taleblu said that October saw "a record number of killings by the clerical regime."

IRAN REGIME UNDER ‘IMMENSE PRESSURE’ AMID INCOMING TRUMP ADMIN POLICIES, REGIONAL LOSSES, ECONOMIC WOES

The prisoners executed this year in Iran included 34 women and seven prisoners whose crimes were committed when they were juveniles. They also included 70 Afghan nationals, Amu TV reported. This represented an increase of about 300% over the prior year.

The NCRI reports that 119 of the executed prisoners were from the Baluchi minority. An August 2024 report from the United Nations-mandated Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran said that the Baluchis make up 2% of the Iranian population. The fact-finding mission also found that ethnic and religious minorities have been "disproportionately impacted by the Government’s response to the protests that began in September 2022," after Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish woman arrested for not wearing a headscarf, died in Iranian custody.

Also among those executed by the Iranian regime in 2024 was 69-year-old journalist Jamshid Sharmahd, a German citizen and 20-year resident of the United States who was kidnapped in Dubai in 2020. Sharmahd was executed in October after being charged with "corruption on earth" in what was called a "grossly unfair" trial. 

In an open letter shared by the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, 25-year-old political prisoner Saeed Masouri wrote that "we witness an execution every four hours on average." During Christmas, Masouri said that "nearly 25 innocent people were executed, equating to almost one execution every 2.5 hours." 

"I no longer know how much more I must see and endure," Masouri writes, explaining that from the moment of his sentencing, he "consider[ed] every meeting to be [his] last and every ‘opening and closing’ sound of the door as a death knell." 

The NCRI reported that on the first day of 2025, 12 prisoners were executed by hanging at four Iranian prisons.

The threat posed by the Islamic State has once again hit the headlines following the New Year's Day attack on a crowded street in New Orleans on Wednesday by a man who may have ties to the terrorist network.

Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a U.S.-born citizen who lived in Texas and an Army Veteran, drove a pickup truck with an ISIS flag into a crowd of people on Bourbon Street, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens of others.

However, the FBI has not confirmed his direct "affiliation" or "association" with the infamous terrorist network which has been expanding across the globe in recent years, particularly in regions like the Sahel in Africa, despite the 2019 assertion that the terrorist network had been "defeated."

WHO IS SHAMSUD-DIN JABBAR? WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE NEW ORLEANS NEW YEARS' TERRORIST SUSPECT

"Claims of the Islamic State defeat, just like claims of the defeat of al Qaeda, are premature," Bill Roggio, senior fellow with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and editor of the Long War Journal, told Fox News Digital. "These groups may have setbacks, but they're persistent. 

"The Islamic State poses a threat from Afghanistan. It has a significant network in Africa, particularly in the Sahel and in East Africa, in Somalia. And its network in Iraq and Syria persists," he added. 

While the FBI has not confirmed that the New Orleans attacker was directly involved in ISIS, reports have suggested he was apparently sympathetic to the terrorist network and "pledged allegiance to ISIS" in a series of videos posted to his Facebook page, according to The New York Times. 

The FBI has not yet released a motive for the attack, and Roggio explained that this incident is unlikely to indicate there is a "resurgence" of ISIS, though the security expert did highlight that increasingly the terrorist network is finding itself up against less resistance in areas where it was previously opposed. 

The 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan and the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria last month to the al Qaeda-derived organization dubbed Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham left security vacuums in the Middle East and South Asia – similar to what contributed to the rise of ISIS following the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. Security experts have warned ISIS and other terrorist networks could use these power gaps. 

GLOBAL WAR ON TERROR RAGES AS ISIS, AL QAEDA EXPAND 23 YEARS AFTER 9/11

ISIS-K – the regional affiliate of the terrorist group that originated in Iraq and Syria – garnered international attention in August 2021 when it attacked Afghans fleeing the Taliban takeover amid the U.S. withdrawal and used a suicide bombing to kill 13 American service members and some 170 Afghan civilians.

The Taliban takeover prompted concern that Afghanistan would become a safe haven for terrorists like Taliban allies al Qaeda, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and other jihadi groups, though there was also concern that the new governing body in Afghanistan would be unable to oppose ISIS-K.

ISIS-K has largely been unable to significantly thrive in Afghanistan following the fall of the democratic government and the withdrawal of U.S. forces, but it is also no longer as fervently opposed. 

"The Taliban and the Islamic State are enemies. The Taliban goes after the Islamic State even while we're not there – that doesn't make them a counter-terrorism partner, but now they don't have the dual threat against them – the U.S. targeting the Islamic State and the Taliban targeting the Islamic State – they have greater freedom of movement," Roggio said.  

TRUMP COULD FACE RENEWED ISIS THREAT IN SYRIA AS TURKEY GOES AFTER US ALLY

The security expert said that when it comes to Afghanistan and the threats posed against the U.S. and its Western allies, the Taliban and al Qaeda remain a greater threat than ISIS, though he emphasized that ISIS does increasingly have "more space to operate."

"The Assad regime was an enemy of the Islamic State," Roggio said. "One of the Islamic State's enemies has been taken off the board, and therefore it will give ISIS more space to regenerate strength in an area where it already has a significant presence."

However, there is a third area where ISIS has strong roots and where it could see a resurgence should the U.S. again pull troops from the area. 

The Biden administration in September announced that, in coordination with the Iraqi government, the U.S. will end its military mission in Iraq to combat the Islamic State by 2026. The move was met with immediate concern from security experts who argued that ISIS remains a top threat to the U.S., and it could further endanger American soldiers still fighting the terrorist network in Syria. 

Specifics on the troop drawdown remain unclear, and plans to renegotiate a change to the withdrawal plans following the collapse of the Assad regime and the ambiguous state of Syria have not emerged. 

It remains further unlikely that the incoming Trump administration will push to keep U.S. soldiers in Iraq despite the threat posed by ISIS given the president-elect’s push to withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan during his first term. 

"The U.S. has to decide if it wants to remain in Iraq and Syria in order to counter the Islamic State and other target groups," Roggio said. "And if it decides to stay, it needs to beef up [its] presence in order to deter threats from militia groups that have been attacking U.S. troops.

"The U.S. effort to keep the Islamic State down is critical. Without the U.S. presence there, groups like the Islamic State, will thrive given the lawlessness," the security expert added. "As bad as the Assad regime was, and it was a horrible regime, it did fight the Islamic State – so without their presence, you have another terrorist organization that is in nominal control of large areas of Syria.

"As we learned in Afghanistan, you can't trust terrorists to fight other terrorists," Roggio added. 

Fox News Digital could not reach the Trump transition team for comment on his plans regarding U.S. troops in the Middle East.

Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday fended off an arrest attempt Friday after a hourslong standoff between investigators with the country’s anti-corruption agency and presidential security. 

Investigators left the president's official residence after the presidential security service blocked them from entering for nearly six hours due to concerns about their safety. 

The agency expressed "serious regret about the attitude of the suspect, who did not respond to a process by law."

Yoon, who was impeached last month over his short-lived martial law declaration, has defied investigators' attempts to question him for weeks. He has not left the residence since Dec. 12, when he went to the nearby presidential office to make a televised statement to the nation, vowing to fight efforts to oust him.

ARREST WARRANT ISSUED FOR IMPEACHED SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT AS POLITICAL CRISIS DEEPENS

Apparently frustrated that his policies were blocked by an opposition-dominated parliament, Yoon declared martial law on Dec. 3 and dispatched troops to surround the National Assembly. 

Parliament overturned the declaration within hours in a unanimous vote and impeached Yoon on Dec. 14, accusing him of rebellion. Anti-corruption authorities and public prosecutors, meanwhile, have opened separate investigations. 

A Seoul court issued a warrant for Yoon's detention on Tuesday, but enforcing it is complicated as long as he remains in his official residence.

COURT ISSUES ARREST WARRANT FOR SOUTH KOREA'S PRESIDENT YOON

Yoon's lawyers, who filed a challenge to the warrant on Thursday, say it cannot be enforced at his residence due to a law that protects locations potentially linked to military secrets from search without the consent of the person in charge.

The office said it will discuss further actions, but did not immediately say whether it would make another attempt to detain Yoon. The warrant for his detention is valid for one week.

If investigators manage to detain Yoon, they will likely ask a court for permission to make a formal arrest. Otherwise, he will be released after 48 hours.

Thousands of police officers gathered at Yoon's residence on Friday, forming a perimeter around a growing group of pro-Yoon protesters who braved subfreezing temperatures for hours, waving South Korean and American flags while chanting slogans in his support. 

There were no immediate reports of major clashes outside the residence.

Nearly five hours after dozens of investigators and police officers were seen entering the gate of the residence in Seoul to execute a warrant for Yoon's detention, the dramatic scene appeared to have developed into a standoff. Two of Yoon's lawyers, Yoon Kap-keun and Kim Hong-il, were seen entering the gate of the presidential residence around noon.

It wasn’t clear whether investigators successfully entered Yoon's residential building, but South Korea's YTN television reported scuffles as investigators and police confronted the presidential security forces.

Yoon's presidential powers have been suspended since the National Assembly voted to impeach him on Dec. 14. Yoon's fate now lies with the Constitutional Court, which has begun deliberations on whether to uphold the impeachment and formally remove Yoon from office or reinstate him. At least six justices on the nine-member Constitutional Court must vote in favor of removing him from office.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was released from hospital on Thursday after his prostate surgery ended "successfully," his office reported on X.

NETANYAHU GOES AGAINST DOCTOR’S ORDERS, APPEARS IN ISRAELI PARLIAMENT AFTER SURGERY

"I have just left Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital," he said on X. The hospital is in Jerusalem.

His office said Netanyahu, 75, was in good condition and fully conscious after the conclusion of his prostate surgery.

A driver ran down two New Zealand police officers as they patrolled on foot in the early hours of New Year’s Day, killing one and seriously injuring the other, the country’s police chief said.

The attack jolted a country where the killing of police officers on duty is rare. Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming was the first female officer in New Zealand's history killed by a criminal act while at work, police said Thursday.

In Wednesday's attack, the vehicle drove into the officers "at speed" as they performed a routine patrol of a parking lot, before the driver turned and rammed a police car, Police Commissioner Richard Chambers told reporters in the South Island city of Nelson. Fleming died in a local hospital hours later.

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A 32-year-old man was arrested over the incident shortly after it happened, at about 2 a.m. local time. He was charged with eight criminal counts, including murder, attempted murder, assault using a vehicle as a weapon and driving while disqualified.

The other officer struck by the car was in serious condition but was expected to make a full recovery, Chambers said. A third officer who was in the rammed police car received a concussion and two members of the public were hurt, one of them after coming to help the injured officers.

Chambers condemned the "senseless act of an individual who appears to have been determined to cause harm," although he did not suggest a motive.

"There was, at this stage, no indication that was what about to occur, occurred," Chambers said.

Police Minister Mark Mitchell told reporters the officers were "targeted in what I consider a very cowardly attack." It was a "devastating day" for police and for the country, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon wrote on X.

The attack happened in a downtown area of Nelson — population 55,000 — close to the street where the city’s New Year’s Eve celebrations had concluded two hours before.

Before Wednesday, the last killing of a police officer on duty in New Zealand was in 2020, when an officer was shot by a fleeing driver. 33 other officers have died through criminal acts while on duty since 1890, according to police records.

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Fleming had been an officer for 38 years and was a long-serving netball coach at a local girls' high school.

"She's a mother, she's a wife and she's a well-known and highly respected member of the Nelson community," Chambers said.

The man charged is due to appear in court on Friday. A murder conviction in New Zealand draws an automatic sentence of life in prison, with the presiding judge setting a non-parole period of at least 10 years.

EXCLUSIVE: Reports for years have indicated that religious intolerance is on the rise around the globe in the face of increasing authoritarian rule and the continued spread of Islamic extremism, but a report released Thursday indicates that Christianity, above all others, is taking the biggest hit. 

"The world is seeing an increasing push toward oppressive control over religion, particularly Christianity, as a consequence of several modern and historical factors converging," Jeff King, president of the International Christian Concern (ICC), a non-profit based in Washington, D.C., told Fox News Digital. "Christians face oppression in more countries than any other faith group, with significant challenges in regions like the Middle East, Africa and Asia." 

A report titled "The Global Persecution Index 2025," released by the ICC on Thursday, outlined which nations have become the biggest offenders when it comes to religious oppression, particularly against Christian populations, and found the majority of religion-based persecution is carried out under authoritarian leaders and by Islamic extremist groups. 

PRIEST STABBED IN THE FACE DURING MASS AS RELIGION-BASED HATE CRIME IS ON THE RISE WORLDWIDE

The greatest concentration of "Red Zone" nations, countries with the most severe actions taken against Christians, including torture and death, were found in a strip of land in Africa known as the Sahel, which includes places like Mali, Niger and Chad. However, other significantly dangerous nations for the Christian faith were identified as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and North Korea. 

There is a mounting trend that shows authoritarian policies are on the rise globally – particularly as geopolitics enter an increasingly fragile period – and has meant more nations are clamping down on religion.

Christians and Muslims are the two largest religious groups in the world and consistently see the highest rates of "harassment" – both physical and verbal - over any other group, according to a Pew Research Center (PRC) report released this month, which analyzed findings from 2022 – data that King also referenced. 

While neither the ICC report nor the PRC report were able to break down the exact rates of how many Christians, versus Muslims, or others, were targets of harassment, the PRC found that Christians are targeted in more countries by governments or "social groups" than any other religion, with Muslims coming in second and Jews third. 

"In many authoritarian states, Christianity is seen as a proxy for Western influence and values, which regimes often reject as imperialistic or destabilizing," King told Fox News Digital. "Christianity and other faiths emphasize allegiance to a higher moral authority, which inherently challenges authoritarian regimes that demand complete loyalty to the state." 

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However, while authoritarian attempts to control the hearts and minds of its citizens through oppressive policies are nothing new, emerging and increasingly accessible technology has upped the level to which nations can persecute perceived dissidence.  

Technology like social media in many ways has improved freedom of speech and access to information worldwide, but the expansion of other technologies has also increased oppressive authoritarian systems of hyper-surveillance – even in regions not traditionally seen as religiously oppressive, like Latin America.

"Countries like Nicaragua and Venezuela, traditionally Christian-majority nations, saw a big increase in hostility toward religious groups critical of authoritarian regimes," King said. "The targeting of religious citizens and suppression of dissenting voices marked a new and alarming trend.

"Nations like China exported sophisticated surveillance technology to other authoritarian regimes, enabling tighter control and monitoring of religious groups," he added. 

Some nations have increasingly viewed Christianity as a threat to their cultural norms, including India, which in recent years has seen a severe increase in the number of attacks against Christians, according to not only the ICC and the PRC reports, but also a report submitted to the United Nations General Assembly by the Human Rights Council in February. 

"In countries like India and Pakistan, social media platforms were used to incite mob violence and spread disinformation about Christian communities, leading to targeted attacks," King explained.

The violence and oppression against religious groups around the globe are not isolated events and are indicative of an increasingly growing threat reminiscent of historical atrocities carried out under similar oppressive policies. 

"Many nations are experiencing democratic backsliding, with authoritarian leaders consolidating power and silencing dissent, including religious voices," King explained in reference to the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. "Economic crises, political unrest, and social inequalities create conditions where leaders seek scapegoats or distractions, often targeting religious minorities to unite the majority under their rule. 

"Today’s regimes are drawing from this playbook as they face similar challenges to their authority," he added. "Religion, with its ability to inspire freedom, hope and resistance, is viewed as a mortal enemy to their dominance. 

"This trend is exacerbated by technological advancements, rising nationalism, and global instability, making the fight for religious freedom more urgent than ever," King warned.

The escalation of antisemitism in the wake of the Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 terror massacre in Israel has paved the way for attacks on Jewish communities around the world. For the duration of the past year, schools, community centers and houses of worship have faced threats, intimidation and physical violence.

Rabbi Moshe Hauer, the executive vice president of the Orthodox Union, told Fox News Digital that throughout 2024, the "level of presumed security" the American Jewish community has lived with has shifted. "That’s difficult, when you have a place that you call home, and suddenly you don’t feel so at home." With the environment of "rolling antisemitism" in the U.S. becoming "an accepted part of daily life," Hauer said the issue "is still looked at as a problem for Jewish people as opposed to a stain on society." 

The suddenness of the shift has been striking, Hauer said. "It was like we were a source of darkness," he explained. "All those who we stood shoulder-to-shoulder with to fight for their needs and to fight for their rights suddenly don’t recognize us, so that’s jarring."

CALLS FOR US TO DO MORE AS ANTISEMITIC ACTS SKYROCKET IN EUROPE: ‘ENORMOUSLY PAINFUL’

The Anti-Defamation League tallied over 10,000 antisemitic incidents between Oct. 7, 2023 and Oct. 6, 2024, up from 3,325 during the prior year and representing the highest annual total the group has counted. They include over 8,000 incidents of harassment, 150 physical assaults and 1,840 acts of vandalism. Combined, more than half of these incidents took place at anti-Israel rallies (over 3,000) or at Jewish institutions (over 2,000).

Some politicians and the United Nations (U.N.) have stoked domestic anti-Israel hate. In January, the Chicago City Council passed a resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza without also calling for the disarmament of Hamas, drawing wide condemnation from Jewish community leaders. 

Despite multiple U.S. officials and the State Department condemning her spread of antisemitism, U.N. special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese visited numerous U.S. campuses in October while presenting her latest report before the U.N. General Assembly. During a stop at Barnard College, Albanese "described Israel’s war in Gaza as a ‘genocide,’ justified the October 7 attack, and questioned Israel’s right to exist," the Times of Israel reported.

Hatred that had been percolating on university campuses took new shape when anti-Israel encampments sprung up at learning institutions countrywide during the spring. During some encampment protests, Jewish students were excluded from their own campus spaces. 

Terror flags have been flown on U.S. streets and campuses during anti-Israel protests. School administrators and business leaders who have angered anti-Israel protesters have had their homes and institutions tagged with the inverted red triangle that Hamas uses to denote military targets. In July, protesters replaced the American flag with the Palestinian flag in Washington, D.C., and wrote "Hamas is coming" on a statue of Christopher Columbus. 

In September, an ISIS-inspired attack on the Jewish community was thwarted by Canadian and U.S. authorities. On Oct. 26, a Mauritanian national who entered the country illegally in March 2023 shot a Jewish worshipper in Chicago before engaging in a shootout with responding police and paramedics. Chicago leaders waited five days before confirming the religious identity of the suspect’s target and noting that the shooter had intentionally targeted the Jewish community. 

CHICAGO HATE CRIME SHOOTING SUSPECT RESEARCHED JEWISH TARGETS, HAD PRO-HAMAS MATERIAL ON HIS PHONE: PROSECUTOR

Brooke Goldstein, a human rights attorney and founder of The Lawfare Project, addressed the impetus for the atmosphere of intolerance, telling Fox News Digital that "President Biden and the largely Democratic leaders of large cities around the country have failed to act to curtail Jew-hatred because it is politically inconvenient for them to enforce the civil rights of Jewish Americans and ensure public safety." 

She said that "for years, the progressive left has ignored Jew-hatred coming from within their own ranks, choosing to ignore the reality that the Jewish people are a minority people still very much needing their legal protections upheld in the face of Marxist-oriented and Islamist-inspired attacks on their identity, indigenous right to their ancestral homeland, and their ability to enjoy equal protection under the law. Their politicians downplay Jewish identity to avoid being called out for their hypocrisy given their support for social justice for all people - other than Jews - and even to avoid prosecuting attacks against Jews as hate crimes, especially when the attackers are members of other minority communities."

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean and global social action director for the Simon Wiesenthal Center, told Fox News Digital that he feels the world is "at a tipping point" where antisemitic intolerance is concerned. With popular social media influencers "normalizing" hatred of Israel, national leaders around the world escalating anti-Israel rhetoric and extremists not "feeling they’re going to be held accountable" when they target the Jewish community, Rabbi Cooper explained that it is "a perfect storm." 

In Europe, incidents of antisemitic hate have risen as much as the 800% seen in Sweden between 2022 and 2023. Jews across Europe have reported that they no longer wear items that might identify their religion and have sometimes changed their names to avoid being targeted. In France, there has been a 430% increase in Jews applying to immigrate to Israel from 2022 to 2023.

Though Ireland has a small Jewish population, it has seen an uptick in antisemitic hatred and Jewish self-censorship. In December, Israel announced that it would close its embassy in the country, citing Irish leaders’ "deligitimization and demonization of the Jewish state." 

The United Kingdom has also seen a large increase in antisemitic hate, with the Community Security Trust reporting a record 1,978 antisemitic incidents in the first half of 2024. This included a 246% increase in "damage and desecration to Jewish property" between the first six months of 2023 and the first six months of 2024. The Israeli minister for Diaspora affairs and combating antisemitism said in March that due to its pro-Hamas atmosphere, London had become the world’s "most antisemitic city." 

In late November, a bus carrying Jewish school children was attacked with rocks after protesters harassed those aboard. Days earlier, a man threw bottles at a group of Jewish teens, hitting and hospitalizing one of his targets.

Headlines about hate for the Jewish community overseas have been gruesome. In June, a 12-year-old Jewish girl in France was raped by two teens on account of her religion. In November, the body of Chabad Rabbi Zvi Kogan was found dead in the United Arab Emirates after he disappeared from his Abu Dhabi home. 

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More than nine synagogues worldwide have been the targets of arson since Oct. 7, according to a social media post from Hen Mazzig, a senior fellow at the Tel Aviv Institute. The latest attack occurred on Dec. 18 in Montreal at a synagogue which was also targeted in November 2023, the New York Post reported. Just two days later, shots were fired overnight at a Jewish elementary school in Toronto. It was the third shooting at the school since May, according to the Times of Israel.

Another recent arson attack took place at a synagogue in Melbourne, Australia, on Dec. 6. The Simon Wiesenthal Center responded to the incident by issuing a travel advisory for Australia, explaining that the country’s leaders had failed to stand up against "persistent demonization, harassment, and violence against Jews and Jewish institutions."

Just a month earlier, the Simon Wiesenthal Center issued a similar advisory for the Netherlands after a soccer match led to a "Jew Hunt," in which Jewish fans were tracked down and assaulted in the city. The incident sparked another attempted "Jew Hunt" in Antwerp and attacks on a Berlin youth soccer team.

When Cooper’s group placed the travel advisory on the Netherlands, he told Fox News Digital that "theoretically, you could slap a travel advisory on almost every place in Western Europe."

In the U.S., with anti-Jewish intolerance infiltrating elite universities, workplaces, the medical community, and the entertainment industry, Rabbi Cooper summarized that "the challenges ahead are going to be quite daunting." He also noted that he has hope on account of the resiliency of the Jewish community and the safety provided by American democracy. 

Cooper said that many appointees from President Trump’s incoming administration, including incoming U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Rep. Elise Stefanik, are "defenders of our community." When they begin implementing new policies, he said that he believes that "a lot of good things can happen very, very quickly." 

As the 119th Congress prepares for an opening session on January 3rd, one Republican Congressman appeals to the incoming Trump administration to advance U.S. interests and target foreign malign actors.

In a letter obtained by Fox News Digital, South Carolina Republican Rep. Joe Wilson calls on Secretary of State nominee, Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and National Security Advisor nominee, Representative Michael Waltz (R-Fla.) to "prioritize using U.S. law enforcement mechanisms to expose and dismantle Georgian sanctions evasion schemes, scam call centers, and other illicit Georgian Dream enterprises."

FORMER GEORGIAN PRIME MINISTER SAYS NATION'S ELECTION WAS 'RIGGED,' AND 'WRITTEN IN MOSCOW'

The letter comes after the United States imposed sanctions on Georgia’s former Prime Minister and Russia made billionaire, country’s de-facto ruler Bidzina Ivanishvili.

These operations, according to the congressman's letter, enable Ivanishvili’s regime to profit from atrocities such as Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, "which is abetted by Chinese, North Korean, and Iranian complicity".

On December 27th, Ivanishvili was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury for "undermining the democratic and Euro-Atlantic future of Georgia for the benefit of the Russian federation".

Congressman Wilson, who chairs The Helsinki Commission, calls sanctions on Ivanishvili a "significant step forward" and urges the incoming administration to extend sanctions to Ivanishvili’s immediate family members and cronies:

"This is a key opportunity to advance our shared goals of defending democracy and countering malign influence worldwide. The Axes of Aggressors would be deprived of a significant force multiplier should Georgia return to rule by the Georgian people," - the letter reads.

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Wilson’s letter is a continuation in the series of public outcries among Georgia watchers in the United States and Europe following Georgian Dream’s highly disputed victory in October parliamentary elections and government’s subsequent decision to pause its accession to the European Union that led to massive daily demonstrations throughout the country.  

Local and international election observers, including International Republican Institute’s (IRI) mission, concluded elections were "fundamentally flawed".

"Reflecting on what IRI’s mission observed and on what has transpired since the election, only new elections can restore the Georgian people’s confidence in their government’s legitimacy," said IRI President Dan Twining.

Despite domestic and international calls for new elections, a single party parliament conveyed to anoint the only presidential candidate, former soccer player and a hard-line West critic Mikheil Kavelashvili on December 29th in an inauguration ceremony, visibly missing foreign dignitaries and guests.

Georgian Dream officials have repeatedly downplayed the prospect of U.S. sanctions. Minutes after the Treasury's announcement, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze claimed - "in reality, nothing has changed".

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Kobakhidze, as well as other party leaders, also voiced optimism about "positive changes" after President Trump will take office on January 20th. However, this scenario is unlikely, according to Laura Linderman, Senior Fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council.

"Given that Trump's national security team would likely pursue an even tougher stance against countries aligned with China and Iran, Georgian Dream's apparent calculation that they would receive more favorable treatment under a Trump administration is misguided," Linderman tells Fox News Digital.

Linderman also says congressional Republicans are largely united in their support for Georgia's democratic future and "Trump would be unlikely to expend political capital challenging the bipartisan consensus on Georgia's Euro-Atlantic path".

In recent years Ivanishvilis’s Georgian Dream government has increasingly isolated itself from the West and has aligned with authoritarian regimes. Georgia – until recently – a strategic U.S. partner has now formalized such partnership with China, has favoured Chinese companies over American investments, adopted Russian style "foreign agent" law, and suspended EU accession talks. This year alone, PM Kobakhidze has paid a number of visits to Iran. In Tehran he attended both - funeral of late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and inauguration of the new president Masoud Pezeshkian, who was sworn in with chants of "Death to America, Israel"

Heritage Foundations Senior Counselor and leading foreign policy expert James Carafano tells Fox News Digital, that regimes that are leaning on support from Moscow and Beijing are going to find that "playtime is over", adding they cannot expect a "favorable or indifferent hand" from the Trump administration.

"If there are U.S. interests at stake, and there are some in Georgia, governments that want to lean on Moscow are likely to not only get a cold shoulder from Trump, they are probably going to get hit with the shoulder pads," Carafano says.

A top Hamas commander responsible for the heinous Oct. 7 attack on Kibbutz Nir Oz has been killed by a targeted drone strike, the Israel Defense Force (IDF) announced.

Abd al-Hadi Sabah, who led the infiltration into Kibbutz Nir Oz, which ravaged the community near the Gaza border on Oct. 7, was killed on Tuesday local time in the Western Khan Yunis Battalion.

The IDF said in a release on social media Tuesday that they conducted the intelligence-based strike alongside the Israeli Security Agency (ISA). 

The agencies said that Sabah was hiding in a shelter in the designated humanitarian area in Khan Yunis, in southern Gaza.

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The agencies noted that Sabah was one of the leaders of the infiltration into Kibbutz Nir Oz during Oct. 7 and had been a leader in "numerous terrorist attacks against IDF troops."

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"The IDF and ISA will continue to operate against all of the terrorists who took part in the murderous October 7th Massacre," the agencies said.

The IDF said that they took "numerous steps" to mitigate harm to civilians by using "precise munitions, intelligence, and aerial surveillance."

Sabah's leadership on the destruction of Kibbutz Nir Oz in southern Israel left nearly half of the 400 residents murdered or taken captive during the Oct. 7 attack.

Three suspected migrants were arrested Monday for allegedly killing a Mexican immigration agent who had asked to see their identification documents, Mexican officials say. 

The migrants — two from Venezuela and one from Colombia — were arrested hours after an alleged attack on the agent, who was found earlier in the day with no signs of life, state security and migration officials said. The attack took place around 30 miles south of the U.S./Mexico border.

State investigators confirmed that the immigration agent suffered a head injury and was found with no vital signs. His body also showed "signs of violence," according to a statement from public security officials with northern Chihuahua state.

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The agent was identified as Luis Alberto Olivas García, who had worked for the immigration agency for 30 years.

The slain agent was attacked at a checkpoint just south of Ciudad Juarez, which is across the border from the U.S. city of El Paso, Texas, when he asked an unspecified number of foreign nationals for their identification documents, according to the National Migration Institute.

Preliminary reports indicated that the agent had sustained several wounds possibly caused by a sharp weapon and a head injury most likely caused by a rock, the New York Times reported, citing the Chihuahua security ministry, Jorge Armendáriz. 

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Olivas García had been recognized earlier on Monday for his 30 years of service, Armendáriz added.

The death of the agent marked a rare case of deadly violence against agents and comes as migrants try to cross into the U.S. ahead of an impending crackdown on illegal crossings when President-elect Trump is sworn into office. 

Hundreds of U.S.-bound migrants waited in long lines outside an immigration office in southern Mexico on Monday, hoping to secure safe passage north and enter the U.S., according to Reuters.

The U.S. recorded an unprecedented number of illegal migrants flowing across its borders under the Biden-Harris administration.

A cornerstone of Trump’s second term in office is to secure the border and carry out the largest mass deportation program the U.S. has ever seen.

Reuters contributed to this report. 

At least 66 people have died after a truck plunged into a river in southern Ethiopia, a hospital director said Monday.

The accident took place Sunday when an old, overcrowded truck that was contracted by wedding guests fell off the Gelan Bridge, where villagers said traffic crashes have happened before.

IN ETHIOPIA, AT LEAST 183 KILLED IN 2 MONTHS DUE TO CONFLICT IN AMHARA REGION, UN SAYS

The medical director at Bona General Hospital in the southern Sidama region, Lemma Lagide, told The Associated Press on Monday that 64 people died on site and two others at the hospital.

He said those patients in need of more sophisticated critical care were transferred to a bigger hospital in Hawassa.

Delays in rescue efforts in the remote village were blamed for the high number of casualties. Villagers said they tried to save people from the raging river only with sticks.

A villager, Serak Boko, told AP that moments before the accident, music was blasting out of the truck and people dressed in suits were dancing and waving.

It is common for people in rural Ethiopia to hire trucks instead of buses to transport them to social events like weddings because they are more affordable and carry many people. Most of those on the truck were men because they are culturally required to escort the bride from her home to the groom's house.

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"The area always has regular accidents around the river as it is poorly constructed," said resident Fasil Atara, referring to the road lacking bumps and warnings.

With desolate infrastructure and overcrowded public transportation, Ethiopia has had similar accidents in the past. In August, 38 people died after a bus rolled over in Amhara region.

The site of Sunday's South Korean budget airline Jeju Air's plane crash is being combed through by U.S. investigators, with some from the aircraft's manufacturer. 

All but two of the 181 people aboard the Boeing 737-800 died, making it South Korea's most fatal plane crash in decades. Investigators are hoping evidence collected from the scene will help them figure out why the pilot attempted the landing after declaring an emergency.

A pre-flight inspection found "no issues," the airline said, according to the BBC.

Flight data like speed, altitude, fuel levels and voice recordings from the cockpit will be examined from the plane's two separately located flight recording devices, most commonly referred to as black boxes, The Guardian reported. 

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Air safety experts on Tuesday questioned the placement of an airport embankment into which the passenger jet slammed after skidding past the end of the runway, as video showed.

Comments in the airport's operating manual, uploaded early in 2024, said the embankment was too close to the end of the runway and recommended that the location of equipment be reviewed during a planned expansion, Reuters reported. 

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The South Korean government has launched safety inspections on all the 101 Boeing 737-800s in the country. The Transport Ministry said authorities are looking at maintenance and operation records during five days of safety checks that are to run until Friday.

The ministry said that a delegation of eight U.S. investigators – one from the Federal Aviation Administration, three from the National Transportation Safety Board and four from Boeing – visited the crash site on Tuesday. The results of their examination were not immediately available.

While it will likely take months to determine the cause of the crash, Lee Jeong-hyeon, chief of the Muan fire station, previously said workers were looking into various possibilities, including whether the aircraft was struck by birds.

"A bird strike on an engine might shut an engine down, but there's so many redundant systems there, it just doesn't make sense. We're not in the dark, but we know the runway is 9,200 feet. It's a very long runway. It [the plane] did come in hot and high, hot and fast. We don't know why that was the real issue," aviation consultant Mike Boyd told Fox News Sunday.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

A Palestinian Authority (PA) official reportedly predicted that President-elect Donald Trump will "destroy Iran" and that Tehran's weakening will effectively break down the remaining Hamas terror cells. 

Mohammad Hamdan, secretary-general of the PA’s ruling Fatah Party, reportedly made the comments to the New York Post on Dec. 19 during a meeting between the outlet and other top PA leaders in Nablus, about an hour south of the West Bank city of Jenin, where Western-backed PA forces have launched security operations against armed extremists aligned with Hamas this month. 

The Post first reported the conversation on Monday. 

"We are confronting Hamas’ ideology. Our problem is with Hamas’ link to regimes outside Palestine," Hamdan told the Post, referencing Iran specifically. 

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"We see that Trump and the ruling government in Israel are planning to destroy Iran, so Hamas [followers] will have no other choice than to become Palestinian," he added. 

A group of more than a dozen extremists stole two PA vehicles and paraded them down the streets of Jenin while waving Hamas and ISIS flags on Dec. 6, according to the Post. 

Since then, PA forces have killed at least three extremists in the West Bank town and have vowed to arrest or "eliminate" the remaining people responsible. 

Fatah suffered a major defeat in the 2006 election, resulting in rival Hamas seizing control of the Gaza Strip, hardening Islamic-extremist rule and launching repeated attacks on Israel.

The tipping point came when Hamas terrorists launched their coordinated attack on southern Israel from Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, killing more than 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages.  

As Israel has decimated Hamas in the Gaza Strip since then, the PA, which is backed by the U.S. and other Western governments, appears to be positioning itself to resume governance of Gaza once the war ends. 

"Hamas rejects international legitimacy, meaning UN resolutions," Hamdan said. "The world cannot accept a situation where a party does not accept international resolutions."

Hamas and other Islamic extremist groups have sown distrust of the PA, accusing it of coordinating closely with Israel on past security raids on Jenin. 

The Jewish state in the past has cracked down on Jenin, which has long been considered a terrorist stronghold. The PA security forces had until recently little presence there until its new security operations this month.

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At least three PA security force members have been killed, including a captain in the intelligence services, during armed clashes with extremists, The Associated Press reported. The PA has arrested dozens of people.

The Post said the PA leaders they interviewed condemned Israel's increased settlements in the West Bank but said they supported the Jewish state's right to exist. 

Hamdan also reportedly told the Post that PA President Mahmoud Abbas – who slammed Israel and the United States before the United Nations General Assembly earlier this year – "still supports realistic relations with the Americans in order to achieve the aspirations of the Palestinians." However, the secretary-general also argued that failed U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East was responsible for growing Islamic extremism. 

"Look what happened in Syria. First, the U.S. declared the rebels to be al Qaeda, and then [last week] an American delegation visited Syria," Hamdan told the Post. "And the one before that, when the Americans struck deals with the Taliban in Afghanistan. We as Palestinians believe that most of these extremist Islamic groups are produced by America by its effort to create a new Middle East." 

On the issue of post-war Gaza governance, one Israeli official told the Post that the PA remained an option but would need to stop "the corruption" and "funding terrorism" on Israeli settlers in the West bank. 

The official acknowledged though that the PA could have "a historically unprecedented opportunity" to return to its control of the Palestinian territories. 

The PA's opposition to Hamas could provide unique leverage to "participate in day-after talks," the Israeli official added. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.