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Fight or flight?

A furious airline passenger was captured on wild video unleashing a flurry of punches on an airport worker over an apparent check-in delay dispute.

The video, taken on Nov. 10, shows the enraged passenger thumping the worker from behind in front of the check-in counter at Terminal 1 of Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) in Malaysia, according to a report by Viral News. 

The staff member can be seen cowering down to fend off the attack and then turns and squares up to the irate passenger, who’s wearing a green colored top and army green pants.

CRAZY AIRPORT, PLANE BRAWLS FROM RECENT FLIGHTS AROUND THE US

But then the passenger slugs the worker with a vicious left hook, knocking the helpless worker backwards and shocking onlookers. 

Security guards then step in to separate the pair and a war of words ensues between the two before they are ushered away from the area, per the report.

KLIA District Police Chief Assistant Commissioner Azman Shari'at said in a statement that the fight stemmed from a disagreement. 

VIDEO CAPTURES WILD BRAWL AT CHICAGO'S O'HARE AIRPORT, LEADING TO 2 ARRESTS 

"The incident resulted in a fight between the two individuals due to the delay in entering to register for the flight," the police chief said, per The Star. "This then led to a fight and the worker was slightly injured."

No arrests have been made as of Nov. 16, The Star reports. 

Last week, an unruly air traveler was placed in custody after injuring a crew member and causing disruption on an American Airlines flight from Milwaukee to Texas.

The man stormed a flight attendant in an attempt to exit the plane through a cabin door, but fellow travelers helped restrain the man with tape, FOX 4 KDFW reported.

Unruly airline travelers are not uncommon. In 2023, there were 2,075 unruly passenger reports, 512 investigations initiated, 402 enforcement actions taken and $7.5 million fines levied, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. 

Ahmed Yahia Dabbas fled to Lebanon more than a decade ago to escape the relentless bombardment and frequent airstrikes carried out by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime and its Russian allies in northwest Syria.

Dabbas, 37, moved to the southern suburbs of Beirut, where he found work as a doorman and began rebuilding a new life away from his war-torn country. He and his wife welcomed four children, two boys and two girls, now between the ages of 4 and 9.

As Israel began its retaliatory bombardment of parts of southern Beirut in late September, the family decided to move back to Syria after their home was destroyed.

HAUNTING IMAGE OF SYRIAN BOY RESCUED FROM ALEPPO RUBBLE

Dabbas spoke with Fox News Digital from northwest Syria by phone in an interview translated by the Syrian Emergency Task Force (SETF), a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit and advocacy group, where he described his family’s five-day journey from Lebanon to an area liberated from Assad regime control and the challenges they’ve faced as displaced people.

"We had gone to Lebanon to escape bombardment and war followed us," he said. "For the same reasons, we had to leave everything in search of safety. And, so, we had to run away from Lebanon back to Syria."

Once the family reached the Syria-Lebanon border, they encountered numerous checkpoints manned by various security apparatuses of the Assad regime. Dabbas said many of the people running the checkpoints demanded money for them to pass through, and they ultimately ended up paying bribes to keep moving.

The family went through checkpoint after checkpoint before finally reaching Aleppo city. By the time they arrived, it was late, so they spent the night before heading to a crossing point into non-regime-held areas of Aleppo province.

They then spent three nights in a kind of "no man's land" between regime- and rebel-held areas of Aleppo. Dabbas said as they were waiting, they were spit on, beaten and weren’t allowed to eat or drink, as was the case with other people who were fleeing Lebanon and looking to leave regime-held areas.

He added that two days went by before they were given any food. They eventually made it to the rebel side of the border and spent one day at a Free Syrian Army checkpoint before finally registering with authorities in opposition areas and settling in the northern countryside of Idlib Oct. 4.

The Dabbas family is one of many who chose to flee to non-regime-held areas of Syria amid fear of arbitrary detainment, torture, forced disappearance and even death at the hands of the Syrian government.

Mouaz Moustafa, the executive director of SETF, told Fox News Digital it’s "scary" and "disturbing" that some Gulf Arab states are normalizing relations with Assad and some European countries are considering forcefully sending refugees back to Syria.

BLOODY RED CARPET: ASSAD RETURNS TO INTERNATIONAL STAGE WITH ARAB LEAGUE WELCOME

"Syria's not safe," Moustafa said. "Anywhere regime-held, it is where people would rather continue walking after walking for so long."

The U.N. refugee agency said in early November more than 470,000 people — around 30% of them Lebanese and 70% of them Syrians — had crossed into Syria from Lebanon to escape Israeli bombardment.

Israel intensified its bombing campaign against the terrorist group Hezbollah in September after more than a year of cross-border exchanges, which began a day after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks in south Israel. The Jewish State took out several high-profile leaders of the terrorist group, including longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and senior commander Ibraham Aqil, who had a $7 million bounty on his head from the U.S. State Department.

Although Israel and Lebanon agreed to a cease-fire deal in late November, Dabbas said he and his family won’t return to Beirut. The father of four said his brother, who is also displaced in northwest Syria, has helped them out, but they’re running out of the food they received upon arrival, and he’s struggling to find a job. 

They live in a crowded house with other extended family members who were unable to flee Syria in 2014 and face bombardment "every day" from the Assad regime, Russia and Iranian-backed forces.

"There is no safety and security," Dabbas said. He told Fox News Digital he’s experienced an indescribable feeling of joy being back in his home country, reuniting with family members, but he wants peace and the bombing to stop.

The humanitarian crisis in northwest Syria has worsened in recent months, with both an increase in displaced people and a surge in drone attacks on civilians in residential areas. 

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates 3.5 million people are internally displaced in northwest Syria, and 2 million are living in camps. 

Ismail Alabdullah, a volunteer with Syria Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets, a rescue organization founded in 2013 after the start of the Syrian civil wa, told Fox News Digital the Assad regime and its allies started a new strategy of attacking residential areas with suicide drones.

Alabdullah said, since Nov. 10, White Helmets teams have responded to 876 attacks. The targets are often civilian areas, such as farms, towns and agricultural areas and civilian infrastructure. 

"This kind of weapon, suicide drones, is very, very dangerous, to be honest," he said. "They are cheap, and they can fly anywhere they want. And they can attack any place they want." 

ASSAD'S BILLION-DOLLAR DRUG INDUSTRY KEEPS REGIME ‘FLUSH WITH CASH,’ WREAKS HAVOC ACROSS REGION

"Families are afraid to send their children to school," Alabdullah added.

"Maybe the world still – they don't want to hear about this. They want to hear that the bombings are stopped and nothing is happening in Syria, and northwest Syria is safe. It's not safe. The attacks are still going on, especially in Idlib."

Syrian regime forces and their allies intensified attacks against civilians in western Aleppo and eastern Idlib in recent months, displacing hundreds more families.

In a surprising development, Syrian rebels entered Aleppo, the country's second-largest city, on Friday for the first time since 2016 after launching an offensive against regime forces earlier this week.

Reuters noted the shock offensive was the first territorial advance since 2020 after a cease-fire agreement between Turkey and Russia halted fighting in Idlib.

US HITS ISIS CAMPS IN SYRIA, KILLING NEARLY 3 DOZEN TERRORISTS

Alabdullah told Fox News Digital the White Helmets still need help from the international community and the need is bigger than their capacity, especially as winter approaches and they deal with an increased number of displaced people.

"We need everyone to stand with us to stop the atrocities, to stop the killing," he said. "Imagine kids in the camps. They don't know the meaning of a key. Up to now, they haven't seen a door with a key, and they don’t know this is a door for their houses.

"The whole thing needs to be stopped. People need to return to their homes to end the suffering, to get their lives back."

The latest targets of antisemitic attacks spreading through Western Europe were Jewish teens and children in the United Kingdom. On Thursday, two buses carrying students from a London Jewish school were attacked at a bus stop by a swarm of around ten teens from a nearby school who wielded large rocks, the Jewish Chronicle reported.

Four teens boarded one of the double-decker buses and went to the second level, where they began to swear at students and give them the middle finger. One 12-year-old student, who professed he was "scared" by the attack, described how the teens "were swearing at us, saying ‘F--- Israel, nobody likes you. F--- off, you bitches. They were filming us like they were enjoying it. There were lots of people in the street and nobody tried to stop them," the student told The Jewish Chronicle. 

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

After the four teens got off the bus, they began to throw heavy rocks at the buses. An 11-year-old student recalled, "I don’t know where they got the rocks from – maybe they had them in their bags. None of us knew what to do." She reported that some students ran off the bus, but she remained aboard. "They were swearing at us and filming us," she explained. "We don’t know what they are going to do with that video or why they did what they did."

"This incident did not take place in a vacuum," a spokesperson from the British organization Campaign Against Antisemitism told Fox News Digital. "Over the past year, we have repeatedly warned of the dangerous consequences of Jew-hate going unchecked." 

Citing the Campaign Against Antisemitism’s findings that "69% of British Jews are less likely to show visible signs of their Judaism in public," the spokesperson explained that "the simple truth is that our streets are no longer safe for British Jews and their children. . . . It is time for arrests and those who break the law must face consequences."

PATRICIA HEATON CALLS ON CHRISTIANS TO FIGHT AGAINST ANTISEMITISM, OCTOBER 7 'DENIALISM,' AT AWARDS SHOW

Antisemitism has seen a startling rise in the UK in the aftermath of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 terror attacks. Citing CST statistics, the BBC reported that 1,978 antisemitic incidents occurred during the first six months of 2024, up from 964 during the same period in 2023. The number may be higher, as the Metropolitan Police’s data reporting was obstructed for three months due to technical difficulties.

The Campaign Against Antisemitism has recorded the emotional toll of the past year for British Jews. According to their research, "42% of British Jews considered leaving Britain" over the last two years on account of antisemitism. The number rose to 85% when considering antisemitism in politics. The organization also found that only "26% of British Jews think the Crown Prosecution Service does enough to protect the Jewish community."

Thursday’s school bus attack follows another startling act of violence. On Nov. 25, a man on an East London balcony launched glass bottles at a group of Jewish teenage girls walking to a rehearsal, the Jewish Chronicle reported. One of the Jewish teenagers was hospitalized with "serious but non-life changing head injuries." The incident is being investigated as a "potential antisemitic crime." The spokesperson from the Campaign Against Antisemitism told Fox News Digital that the victim was "visibly Jewish."

In 2023, 4,103 antisemitic incidents were recorded in the UK, with more than half of them, 2,140, occurring in London. 

Amichai Chikli, the Israeli Minister for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism previously called London "the most antisemitic city," on account of the "atmosphere created by Hamas supporters."  

An alleged gunman from the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas opened fire Friday at an Israeli bus in the West Bank, injuring eight people, including four soldiers, reports say. 

The incident near the settlement of Ariel ended when the attacker, identified by Hamas as 46-year-old Samer Hussein, was killed by Israeli troops. 

"As a result of the shooting attack, four IDF soldiers were lightly injured and were evacuated to a hospital to receive medical treatment," the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement, adding that "an armed terrorist opened fire at an Israeli bus in Gitti Avisar [Junction], causing injuries and damage." 

Images and video taken from the scene showed numerous bullet holes in the front windshield of the bus and a heavily damaged car on the side of the road. 

ISRAEL CEASEFIRE DEAL HAS CRITICS WORRIED OVER BIDEN, OBAMA OFFICIALS LOOKING TO STYMIE INCOMING TRUMP ADMINISTRATION 

"IDF soldiers eliminated the terrorist at the scene," the Israeli military said. 

Hamas’s armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, said the assailant belonged to its ranks, according to Reuters. 

ISRAEL DESTROYS HEZBOLLAH’S ‘LARGEST PRECISION-GUIDED MISSILES MANUFACTURING SITE’ 

Elsewhere, Friday, two girls and a woman were crushed to death as a crowd of Palestinians pushed to get bread at a bakery in the Gaza Strip. 

The bodies of two girls aged 13 and 17 and the 50-year-old woman were taken to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, where a doctor confirmed that they died from suffocation due to crowding at the al-Banna bakery, according to The Associated Press. 

Food prices reportedly have been soaring in the Gaza Strip following a recent attack on nearly 100 U.N. aid trucks that crossed over from Israel. 

A woman in the city of Deir al-Balah told The Associated Press last week that the price of flour has now climbed to more than $100 a bag, if it can even be found. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

England and Wales edged closer to legalizing assisted dying after lawmakers approved a contentious bill in the House of Commons on Friday to allow terminally ill adults to end their lives.

Lawmakers voted 330 to 275 in Britain’s lower house for the assisted dying bill, which will now be sent on to further scrutiny in Parliament before it faces a final vote by lawmakers.

The proposed bill would allow people over 18 with less than six months to live to request and be provided with help to end their lives, subject to safeguards and protections.

PHYSICALLY HEALTHY DUTCH WOMAN DIES BY ASSISTED SUICIDE AT AGE 29

The vote came after hours of emotional debate that saw personal stories of loss and suffering shared. The sensitive discussion touched on issues of ethics, grief, the law, faith, crime and money and drew large crowds outside parliament as the debate went on. 

Although hugely controversial, a majority of Britons support the principle of assisted dying, according to several polls. 

Euthanasia or assisted dying has been decriminalized in European countries like Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Spain, Austria, and Portugal, according to Euro News. Switzerland was the first country in the world to permit any kind of assisted dying, with the practice being legal since 1941.

It’s also legal in 10 U.S. states: Washington, D.C. and the states of California, Colorado, Oregon, Vermont, New Mexico, Maine, New Jersey, Hawaii and Washington.

Supporters said the law would provide dignity to the dying and prevent unnecessary suffering, while ensuring there are enough safeguards to prevent those near the end of their lives from being coerced into taking their own life.

Opponents, including faith leaders, said it would put vulnerable people at risk of being coerced, directly or indirectly, to end their lives so they don’t become a burden.

Under the proposals, two doctors and a High Court judge would need to verify that the person had made the decision voluntarily. Pressuring or coercing someone into ending their life would be punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

CALIFORNIA SENATOR PUSHES ‘DEATH ON DEMAND’ ASSISTED SUICIDE MEASURE

"Let’s be clear, we’re not talking about a choice between life or death, we are talking about giving dying people a choice about how to die," the bill’s main sponsor, Kim Leadbeater, said as she presented the bill to a packed chamber.

She said it could take another six months before a second vote takes place.

"I will take evidence, written evidence, oral evidence, we'll get a very thorough, robust bill committee there to scrutinize the bill and make it the best that it possibly can be," she told reporters after the vote on Friday. "It'll be a long process… And then, as I said in my speech, there's a two-year implementation period, so there's plenty of time to get this right."

Assessments on how assisted dying will be funded and how it will impact the U.K.'s state-funded public health service, hospice care and the legal system will also have to be considered.

Conservative lawmaker Danny Kruger said he fears that the bill has lots of loopholes and that the safeguards "aren’t very strong."

"We now have months of further debate and I am hopeful that colleagues who have expressed concerns will either succeed in strengthening the bill to make it safe or they'll conclude they haven't been able to do that and then we can defeat it at the later stage, at third reading," he said.

U.K. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer voted in favor of the bill. He said last month that he was "very pleased" that such a vote was taking place and said his government would remain neutral on the subject and that his MPs would be given a free vote, rather than having to follow a party line, per the BBC.

Others in his Cabinet, including Health Secretary Wes Streeting and the Justice Minister Shabana Mahmood, voted against it. There were similar divisions across other political parties.

Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK, said he voted against the measure. 

"I voted against the assisted dying bill, not out of a lack of compassion but because I fear that the law will widen in scope," Farage wrote on X. "If that happens, the right to die may become the obligation to die."

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. 

A Colombian school bus driver allegedly abducted a 7-year-old girl and held her captive for more than a decade until she escaped earlier this year, prosecutors have revealed. 

The suspect, identified as Carlos Humberto Grisales Higuita, is now facing charges of simple kidnapping, sexual abuse with a minor under 14 years of age, sexual acts with a minor under 14 years of age and pornography with a person under 18 years of age, according to prosecutors in Medellín, Colombia. 

"The man, who worked as a school bus driver, allegedly detained a 7-year-old girl in early 2012 and took her to a house in the city center," prosecutors said in a statement. "He allegedly psychologically manipulated and sexually assaulted her, making her believe that such behavior was normal." 

Investigators say during the victim’s captivity, her name was changed, she was taken to various buildings in the cities of Medellín and Bello, and she was kept out of school. 

BRAZIL’S FORMER PRESIDENT BOLSONARO AND AIDES INDICTED FOR ALLEGED 2022 COUP ATTEMPT 

"When she turned 16, she complained to the alleged aggressor about the treatment she received, and in retaliation she was allegedly locked up in a house, from which she managed to escape in February of this year," prosecutors said. 

They also said the victim had initially been reported missing 12 years ago. 

VENEZUELAN MIGRANT GANG TREN DE ARAGUA NOW OPERATING IN 16 STATES: REPORT 

"Grisales Higuita was arrested by the National Police in Medellín," according to prosecutors. "During the preliminary hearings he did not accept the charges brought by the Prosecutor's Office." 

Grisales Higuita remains held in custody by local authorities. 

Images and video that emerged Friday show the first glimpse inside the restored Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris five years after a devastating fire. 

French President Emmanuel Macron toured the iconic structure ahead of its reopening to the public on Dec. 8., describing the experience as "overwhelming," Reuters reported. 

Outside, the 12th-century monument is still a construction site, with scaffolding and cranes, but inside, the restoration – which included the removal of years of accumulated dirt – has revealed the cathedral’s bright colors once again. 

"We are very eager to welcome the whole world under the roof of our cathedral," Paris Archbishop Laurent Ulrich said on its website, according to Reuters. "On the night of April 15, [2019], hundreds of thousands of people committed themselves to what then seemed an impossible bet: to restore the cathedral and give it back its splendor within the unprecedented deadline of five years." 

NOTRE DAME CATHEDRAL TO REOPEN, BRACES FOR INFLUX OF TOURISTS AFTER DEVASTATING FIRE 

Carpenters worked by hand like their medieval counterparts as they hewed giant oak beams to rebuild the roof and spire that collapsed during the inferno. 

Nearly $1 billion in donations were raised to rebuild Notre Dame in the days following the fire.  

Restoration chief Philippe Jost told The Associated Press that around $148 million of those funds still remain.   

He noted that those funds will be used "in agreement with the patrons and donors to carry out needed work campaigns," as Notre Dame faces continued demands for preservation and structural integrity. 

HUMAN REMAINS AT NOTRE DAME CATHEDRAL MAY HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED AFTER MORE THAN 450 YEARS 

The Friends of Notre-Dame de Paris, a nonprofit founded in 2017, has helped lead international fundraising efforts. 

Michel Picaud, president of Friends of Notre-Dame de Paris, told Fox News Digital last week that the cathedral was already in a dire state prior to the fire. 

NOTRE DAME CATHEDRAL RECEIVES ITS ICONIC BELLS 5 YEARS AFTER FIRE

"The fire was a terrible event for us because suddenly we had not only to restore part of the cathedral but to rebuild it, which means the extent of what we had to do was much bigger. We were very hopeful that we would succeed in rebuilding this considerably," Picaud said. 

Macron will return on Dec. 7 to deliver an address and attend the consecration of the new altar during a solemn Mass the following day. 

Fox News’ Ashley J. DiMella and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

JERUSALEM— Amid the start of a cease-fire on Wednesday between Israel and the Iranian regime-backed Hezbollah terrorist movement in Lebanon, some leading Republican lawmakers accused President Biden of browbeating Israel into a temporary suspension of the war as the Jewish state staged a near-take down of the terror group's leadership and military structure. 

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reached the Litani River in Lebanon on Tuesday. A key war goal for the IDF is to push Hezbollah forces north of the Litani River. Under the cease-fire deal, Hezbollah is required to move its forces north of the Litani, which in some places is about 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the border.

Yet, the reported threat of Biden imposing a weapons embargo on Israel pulled the plug on Israel’s penetration of Hezbollah-controlled territory in southern Lebanon, according to regional experts and several lawmakers.

BIDEN ANNOUNCES CEASE-FIRE PLAN BETWEEN ISRAEL AND HEZBOLLAH ENDING 14 MONTHS OF FIGHTING

"The cease-fire agreement does not diminish what Israel managed to achieve in short order against Hezbollah. Within two months, it dismantled its infrastructure along the border, decapitated its entire senior command structure, destroyed a large percentage of its arsenal, and killed and injured thousands of its fighters," Tony Badran Levant, analyst and news editor at Tablet Magazine, told Fox News Digital.

Describing the move by former officials from the Obama administration who now work in the Biden administration, he said, "What the Obama-Biden team did on their way out was to coerce the Israelis, reportedly with the threat of an arms embargo at the Security Council, into signing onto Obama’s vision for the U.S. role in Lebanon, which is part of his broader pro-Iran realignment. This is the downside of the agreement: it consolidates this Obama framework that should have been dismantled—and that’s separate from the tactical and strategic gains that Israel achieved on the battlefield. Rather, this pertains to U.S. policy and how the Obama-Biden team used Israel to lock in their regional preferences."

He continued, "The deal puts the incoming Trump administration and the Israelis in a weird situation, not just because it saddles the new administration with Obama’s preferences in Lebanon—including hundreds of millions in additional aid to the Lebanese Armed Forces—but also it makes the U.S. an arbiter for Israeli action against Hezbollah moving forward and the possibility for friction that may create between the Trump administration and Israel.

"Meanwhile, the Obama-Biden team have set their structure in place. If the incoming administration keeps it, that would be great for the Democrats, who will pick it up on the other end and expand on it. In any case, they have a document—a bilateral side agreement—that will be there for a future Democratic administration," he warned.

Amos Hochstein, the presidential envoy who brokered the deal, told Israel's Channel 12 evening news anchor Yonit Levi that he had informed President-elect Donald Trump's team about the tenets of the deal "because it's very important for them to understand and support it, because they are going to have to carry it forward and implement as they took office in just a few weeks."

Echoing Badran's warning, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas., noted in a statement that "I am deeply disturbed both by reports that Obama-Biden officials exerted enormous pressure on our Israeli allies to accept this cease-fire and by how those officials are characterizing Israel's obligations. This pressure and these statements are further efforts to undermine Israel and constrain the incoming Trump administration. Obama-Biden officials pressured our Israeli allies into accepting the cease-fire by withholding weapons they needed to defend themselves and counter Hezbollah, and by threatening to facilitate a further, broader, binding international arms embargo through the United Nations."

Hezbollah launched rocket attacks a day after the Hamas massacre of nearly 1,200 people on Oct. 7, 2024 in southern Israel. The Iranian regime-backed Hamas terrorist movement slaughtered more than 40 Americans during the invasion. 

According to the left-wing Israeli Haaretz newspaper, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's aides said Biden threatened a weapons delivery stoppage for Israel if Jerusalem continued to prosecute its war in Lebanon. The second Biden threat reportedly involved a U.S. refusal to veto a potential U.N. Security Council resolution that would hurt the Israelis.

The Biden administration denied the punitive measures targeting Israel to bring about a cease-fire in Lebanon. A senior administration official during a Tuesday press briefing flatly denied that Biden threatened to sanction Israel at the council. The official said, "This topic never came up, not once. It's only that we didn't threaten it … literally the topic never came up, so, I don't even know how to answer the question any other way. It is completely new to me. And none of us has heard of this before."

Backing this up in his interview with Israel's Ch. 12, Hochstein also denied the Biden administration threatened Israel over use of its U.N. Security Council veto if it did not sign the deal, saying, "There was no such discussion at any point," adding "it never came up."

The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital press query.

THUNE THREATENS INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT WITH SANCTIONS IF IT DOESN'T DROP NETANYAHU WARRANT FOR ARREST

Biden’s carrot-and-stick approach toward the delivery of weapons to Israel as the tiny Jewish state fights a seven-front war against Islamic Republic of Iran proxies has been a source of friction between Netanyahu and its main ally, the United States.

Lt. Col. (Res.) Sarit Zehavi, president and founder of the Israel-based Alma Research and Education Center, told Fox News Digital that the IDF eliminated Hezbollah leadership, most of its rockets were eradicated, and it was pushed away from the border.  She said "The big question at stake remains, will Hezbollah recover and smuggle rockets and store them in Lebanon and south Lebanon again?"

Zehavi answered her question, "I am pretty sure that this deal will not."

Lebanese experts have long argued that Hezbollah is the de facto ruler of Lebanon. The U.S., Canada and many European countries classify Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.

Zehavi said "The Lebanese government is not willing to change its relationship with Hezbollah. Hezbollah is a member of the Lebanese government."

TRUMP, CONGRESS LOOKING TO PUT SUFFOCATING SANCTIONS ON 'KANGAROO' ICC OVER NETANYAHU ARREST WARRANT

She said she does expect enforcement of the terms of the cease-fire from The United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL), the Lebanese armed forces and the Lebanese state. 

According to the cease-fire, the Lebanese government is required to stop the smuggling of weapons to Hezbollah, Zehavi noted.

"I accept this cease-fire with mixed feelings. As a resident of the north, I am happy that we have a cease-fire. I am happy that my daughter can go back to school. I am happy to go back to normality and to stop hearing sounds of war and running for shelter all the time."

Mayors and local leaders in the northern towns ravaged by Hezbollah’s missile attacks opposed the cease-fire deal because the terms of the deal did not ensure they could safely reside in their homes.

Biden said that over 70,000 Israelis were forced to flee their homes in northern Israel because of Hezbollah’s rocket attacks. The number of displaced Israelis, according to experts in Israel, may be as high as 100,000 people.

UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti told Fox News Digital that, "The proliferation of weapons outside state control in Lebanon has been an undeniable fact, and that in south Lebanon – south of the Litani River – is a flagrant violation of Resolution 1701. But, as stated earlier, UNIFIL is not mandated to disarm Hezbollah or other groups by force. The Mission does not have the mandate to forcibly enter any location unless there is credible evidence that actions leading to hostile activity are taking place in that location."

Fox News Digital reported on the alleged failures of UNSC 1701, whose aim is to dislodge Hezbollah from southern Lebanon and disarm the terrorist organization.  

When asked by CNN about incoming Trump National Security Adviser Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., attributing the cease-fire deal to the Trump effect, Jake Sullivan said, "This peace deal was reached because Israel achieved its military objectives, because the stakeholders in Lebanon decided they didn't want war anymore, and because of relentless American diplomacy led by President Biden, driven by her envoy Amos Hochstein, coordinated in this building behind me by the National Security Council. That's how this came to pass."

Waltz wrote on X, "Everyone is coming to the table because of President Trump. His resounding victory sent a clear message to the rest of the world that chaos won’t be tolerated. I’m glad to see concrete steps towards deescalation in the Middle East. But let’s be clear: The Iran Regime is the root cause of the chaos & terror that has been unleashed across the region. We will not tolerate the status quo of their support for terrorism."

A Trump-Vance transition official told Fox News Digital that, "President Trump has been crystal clear that his support for Israel and his commitment to peace in the Middle East is steadfast. Hezbollah understands this is their best opportunity to get a more favorable deal done. Iran-backed proxies clearly see the clock ticking as President Trump will soon return to the White House with a strong national security team, including Marco Rubio, Mike Waltz, and Pete Hegseth, with U.S. intelligence led by Tulsi Gabbard and John Ratcliffe. President Trump rightfully predicted that actors in the region would make moves toward peace because of his historic victory -- and that's exactly what we are seeing take place."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Israel’s military says it destroyed Hezbollah’s "largest precision-guided missiles manufacturing site" as a lawmaker is vowing that the terrorist group will "fight and resist" any attacks on Lebanon. 

The announcement from the Israel Defense Forces came as both sides entered a ceasefire deal, which is now in its third day Friday. During the 60-day first phase of the deal, Hezbollah and Israeli forces are to withdraw from south Lebanon, and the Lebanese military is to step in. 

"Hezbollah’s largest precision-guided missile manufacturing site, 1.4km wide and 70m underground, was struck and dismantled by IAF fighter jets," the IDF said earlier this week.  

"Precision-guided missiles and surface-to-surface missiles were just a few components of Hezbollah’s deadly arsenal that were produced at this site near the Syria-Lebanon border," it added. 

ISRAEL OPENS FIRE IN LEBANON AT ‘SUSPECTS’ ALLEGEDLY VIOLATING TRUCE 

Hassan Fadlallah, a Hezbollah lawmaker, told reporters Thursday that the group will cooperate with the army to implement the ceasefire, according to The Associated Press. Yet he added that the military doesn’t have the capability to defend Lebanon against Israel -- a role Hezbollah has long claimed. He said the group would continue in that role. 

"Can anyone say if Israel attacks, we watch?" Fadlallah said. "When Israel attacks our country, we will fight and resist. This is our right." 

Since 2019, Lebanon has been suffering from a financial crisis that has led troops in its army to quit their jobs or pick up extra work to pay the bills, according to the AP. Despite that, the aim of the agreement is for Lebanon to recruit more and deploy an additional 10,000 troops south of the Litani River. 

The international community, at a donor conference in Paris last month, pledged $1 billion dollars for Lebanon, including $800 million for humanitarian assistance and $200 million to support the army. However, aid groups say none of that funding has materialized yet. 

7 US HOSTAGES STILL HELD BY HAMAS TERRORISTS AS FAMILIES PLEAD FOR THEIR RELEASE 

The IDF is also continuing to warn Lebanese residents on Friday to stay away from a border region where Israeli troops are still present following their ground operation in early October. 

"The IDF does not intend to target you, and therefore you are prohibited at this stage from returning to your homes from this line south until further notice," IDF Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee wrote on X, posting a map of the zone along the Israel-Lebanon border. 

"Anyone who moves south of this line -- exposes himself to danger," he added. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sat stoically across the table in the cafeteria car of the moving train. His dark sweater, matching the pitch black sky outside, had the Ukrainian gold coat of arms embroidered over his heart.

"If we have permission plus missiles, you will hear the results on the battlefield." Zelenskyy said with a slight smirk on his face. "For today we didn’t use it."

Hours later, Ukraine’s wartime leader would order six U.S.-supplied long-range missiles to be launched into southern Russia. A move that has reshaped the trajectory of the now 1,000+ day war.

ZELENSKYY FEARS DANGER IF UKRAINE LOSES UNITY, DEFEAT IF US CUTS FUNDS, 1,000 DAYS AFTER WAR BEGAN

For months, Russian leadership warned that such a move would be viewed as direct Western involvement in the conflict and could spark World War III. For Ukraine, the decision was highly anticipated and came more than six months after the U.S.-built ATACMS arrived in-country, along with similar British and French weaponry. 

"All our partners always look for permission from the United States," Zelenskyy lamented. "If the United States doesn’t give it, Europe will not give." 

RUSSIA TRICKS YEMENI MEN TO FIGHT IN UKRAINE UNDER HOUTHI SCHEME

The 44-year-old president spoke with intention after a long day traveling the eastern front lines. He had just met with soldiers in the cities of Kupyansk, Kramatorsk and Pokrovsk who told him they were running low on ammunition and artillery shells. A long war of attrition was changing quickly and not in Ukraine’s favor.

This 24-hour trip was considered a top secret mission for the Ukrainian military, intelligence agencies and government since nearly three years into the conflict against Russia. Zelenskyy remains a key target.

Emerging from an underground bunker in Pokrovsk, the echo of outgoing artillery fire pierced the air. 

"You can hear, we are very close," Zelenskyy said.

Driving to the next location, Zelenskyy thought of what he would say to civilians who had paused their lives to dig trenches outside the city.

Russian soldiers were advancing in the distance, and Ukraine would need to build up additional defenses, carved into the Earth, to slow the enemy down.

While on defense in some areas along the more than 600-mile front line, his forces would need to use what western weapons they could to target staging Russian soldiers who were now joined by thousands of North Korean troops.

When asked if there were certain targets that the Americans were encouraging Ukraine not to hit with their new ATACMS missiles, Zelenskyy checked with his translator to ensure he heard the question correctly before responding.

"The Americans were not happy," Zelenskyy recalled. "They were not happy because [of] our targeting some energy targets on the territory of Russia."

A hiker who had been missing for more than six weeks was located in the Canadian wilderness earlier this week, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).

The Northern Rockies RCMP were notified on Tuesday at around 11:30 a.m. that Sam Benastick, 20, had been located. He had been reported missing by his family on Oct. 19.

Benastick’s family became alarmed when he didn’t check in after embarking on a 10-day solo camping trip on Oct. 7 in harsh winter conditions, with temperatures plummeting below 4 degrees Fahrenheit.

SEARCH FOR MISSING OREGON HIKER AND HER DOGS SUSPENDED OVER 'WEATHER CONDITIONS, LIKELIHOOD OF SURVIVABILITY'

Benastick was found when two people traveling to the Redfern Lake Trail for work saw him walking toward him. He was using walking sticks to support himself and was using a cut-up sleeping bag to keep his legs warm.

The men took Benastick to the hospital, where police confirmed him as the missing camper.

He told police that he had stayed in his car for part of the time but then walked to a creek and the mountain side where he camped for 10 to 15 days. After that, he moved down the valley and built a camp and shelter in a dried-out creek bed before eventually flagging down the two men.

"Finding Sam alive is the absolute best outcome. After all the time he was missing, it was feared that this would not be the outcome," said RCMP Cpl. Madonna Saunderson.

The agency went on to thank multiple jurisdictions that provided mutual aid support during the search, as well as the Canadian Rangers and volunteers with extensive backcountry knowledge of the area.

HIKER LOST FOR 10 DAYS FOUND ALIVE IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA MOUNTAINS

"The time, effort and resources put in to locate Sam from the time of notification he was missing was beyond measure. We are thankful for the great outcome," Saunderson said.

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A GoFundMe was set up by his sister following his disappearance to aid with expenses used to locate him.

A radical Islamist group unleashed its biggest military incursion against Syrian regime forces since 2020 in the northwest of the war-ravaged Syrian Arab Republic, triggering Russian and Syrian warplanes on Thursday to bomb the insurgent offensive.

Rebels led by the U.S-designated Islamist terrorist organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham stormed a dozen towns and villages in northwest Aleppo province, which is controlled by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces.

The Syrian Islamist offensive started on the same day that Assad’s ally, the Lebanese-based terrorist organization, Hezbollah, reached a ceasefire agreement with Israel to end over 14 months of warfare.

The battle unfolding in Syria involves a motley crew of U.S.-classified state-sponsors of terrorism — Assad’s regime, the Islamic Republic of Iran — against a Turkey-backed Islamist terrorist movement. Vladimir Putin’s Russian regime has faced accusations of war crimes during its invasion of Ukraine. 

NEARLY 30,000 CHILDREN ARE SUFFERING HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN SYRIA, UN-BACKED COMMISSION SAYS

Former U.S. defense intel officer Rebekah Koffler, who is an expert on Putin, told Fox News Digital, "This is classic Putin’s Playbook, what’s going on in Syria, on Thanksgiving Day. He is doing what’s called lateral escalation in Syria, in response to Biden’s giving authorization to [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky to use U.S. ATACMs to strike deep into Russia, and Zelensky taking Biden up on his offer. Russia and the United States are on the opposite sides of the war in Syria. So Putin is ratcheting up support of Assad, which is counter to U.S. policy, signaling to Biden that he will be countering U.S. interests across multiple geographic areas."

Koffler added, "Putin is signaling pressure on Biden to withdraw authorization from Zelensky to use ATACMs against Russia. The doctrine is ‘escalate to de-escalate.’ With the recent strike of hypersonic missile Oreshnik on Ukraine, Putin climbed several rungs on the escalation ladder. With Russian air forces joining Syrian airfare bombing rebel-held northwestern Syria, he is also moving laterally on the escalation ladder, to out escalate the United States, unbalance Biden, and create as much negotiating leverage on Ukraine for himself before President Trump begins his second term. I would not be surprised if Assad strikes the rebel-held territories with chemical weapons again."

Alex Grinberg, an Israeli expert on Russia, told Fox News Digital that the rest of Assad’s army cannot fight against Hayat Tahrir al-Sham without Russian air power. 

He said this is "usually what the Russians do" in Syria.

ISRAEL KEEPING ITS ‘EYES OPEN’ FOR IRANIAN ATTACKS DURING TRUMP TRANSITION PERIOD, AMBASSADOR SAYS

Iranian regime-controlled state media said that Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Brigadier General Kioumars Pourhashemi was killed in Aleppo during the incursion. Pourhashemi was a senior IRGC military adviser in Syria.

Islamist rebels say the campaign was in response to stepped-up strikes in recent weeks against civilians by the Russian and Syrian air forces on areas in southern Idlib, and to preempt any attacks by the Syrian army, which they said was building up troops near front lines with rebels.

Assad’s war against his population, which started with Syrians calling for democracy in 2011, has resulted in the murders of over 500,000 people.

Iran has sent thousands of fighters to Syria during the Syrian war. While these have included members of the Guards, officially serving as advisers, the bulk have been Shi'ite militiamen from all over the region.

Turkish security sources said on Thursday the rebels initially launched a limited operation after attacks by Syrian government forces, and expanded the operation after government forces abandoned their positions.

Reuters contributed to this report.

A normal hiking trip turned into a day of archaeological discovery for a couple who found prehistoric footprints dating back millions of years. 

Claudia Steffensen was hiking with her husband through the Italian Alps last summer when she noticed what she described as "strange designs" on a rock. 

"It was a very hot day last summer and we wanted to escape the heat, so we went to the mountains," Steffensen told the Guardian. "On our way back down, we had to walk very carefully along the path. My husband was in front of me, looking straight ahead, while I was looking towards my feet. I put my foot on a rock, which struck me as odd as it seemed more like a slab of cement. I then noticed these strange circular designs with wavy lines. I took a closer look and realized they were footprints." 

12-YEAR-OLD BOY STUMBLES UPON STUNNING ANCIENT FIND WHILE WALKING DOG IN ENGLAND: ‘RELATIVELY RARE’

Once she identified the markings as footprints, the finding was passed along and further studied by a number of experts. 

The first step Steffensen took after discovering the footprints was sending along a photo to a photographer friend with a specialization in the natural world. 

The photographer then reached out to a paleontologist at the Museum of Natural History in Milan named Cristiano Dal Sasso, according to the Guardian, who consulted other experts in the field. 

The footprints found by Steffensen, which presented themselves to her as a result of melting snow and ice, were identified by experts as belonging to a prehistoric reptile. 

ANCIENT PLANT LIFE UNEARTHED IN 53-MILLION-YEAR-OLD FOREST IN TASMANIA

Experts have made many visits to the area since the original footprints were discovered. Further exploration has led to the discovery of hundreds more fossilized footprints belonging to prehistoric reptiles, amphibians and insects. Fossils of plants, seeds and imprints of raindrops have also been discovered in the area, according to the Guardian. 

The fossilized footprints date back to the Permian period, according to Smithsonian Magazine. The time period took place between 251 and 299 million years ago, a time before dinosaurs. 

The time period ended in "the worst extinction event in the planet's history," according to National Geographic, with 90% of marine species and 70% of land animals being wiped out. 

"Dinosaurs did not yet exist, but the authors of the largest footprints must still have been of a considerable size – up to 2-3 meters long," Dal Sasso said in a statement, per the Guardian. 

Steffensen expressed gratitude at being part of the discovery of what is now referred to as "Rock Zero."

"I’m feeling very proud, especially to have made a small contribution to science," Steffensen told the Guardian. 

Research continues on the site, with certain relics being brought to the Natural History Museum in Milan for display. 

Following an overnight missile and drone attack by Russia targeting Ukraine’s key energy infrastructure, Russian President Vladimir Putin now says that government buildings in Kyiv could be targeted next using a new hypersonic missile that could also potentially reach the U.S.

Russian attacks have not so far struck "decision-making centers" in the Ukrainian capital as Kyiv is heavily protected by air defenses. But Putin says Russia's Oreshnik hypersonic missile, which it fired for the first time at a Ukrainian city last week, is incapable of being intercepted.

Russia fired the Oreshnik at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Nov. 21, striking a weapons production plant. This was in retaliation against Ukrainian strikes on a Russian military facility in Bryansk two days earlier with U.S. made long-range missiles called ATACMS, after President Biden had given Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy permission to do so.

RUSSIA LAUNCHES ANOTHER LARGE MISSILE, DRONE ATTACK ON UKRAINE'S ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE

Russia says Ukraine fired more ATACMS at its Kursk region on Nov. 23 and Nov. 25.

"Of course, we will respond to the ongoing strikes on Russian territory with long-range Western-made missiles, as has already been said, including by possibly continuing to test the Oreshnik in combat conditions, as was done on November 21," Putin told a meeting of a security alliance of ex-Soviet countries in Kazakhstan.

"At present, the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff are selecting targets to hit on Ukrainian territory. These could be military facilities, defense and industrial enterprises, or decision-making centers in Kyiv," he said.

The instrumentations of the Oreshnik missile – its sensors, electronics, data acquisition capabilities – are those of the Rubezh, a Russian solid-fueled intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM). With its flight capability of between 310 miles and 3,100 miles – just 310 miles below the standard low limit of an ICBM – the Oreshnik can target most of Europe and the West Coast of the United States. After a launch, such a missile could probably hit Britain in 20 minutes and Poland in 12 minutes.

The Oreshnik can be outfitted with a non-nuclear or nuclear warhead. And it is nearly impossible to intercept by existing missile defense systems because it is designed to fly at hypersonic speeds, reaching Mach 11.

Putin said Russia's production of advanced missile systems exceeds that of the NATO military alliance by 10 times, and that Moscow planned to ramp up production further.

His plans to increase production and ongoing strikes mean the conflict – which has already passed 1,000 days – shows no signs of abating. 

Russia unleashed a massive aerial drone and missile attack on Ukraine on Thursday targeting the country’s key energy infrastructure, leaving more than a million households without power in the west, south and center of the country, Ukrainian officials said.

RUSSIA LAUNCHES RECORD NUMBER OF DRONES IN NEW ATTACK

The attack consisted of firing nearly 200 missiles and drones with explosions being reported in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Rivne, Khmelnytskyi, Lutsk and many other cities in central and western Ukraine.

The operation was Russia's second major aerial attack on Ukraine's power grid in less than two weeks, with President Vladimir Putin saying on Thursday that the attack was a response to Kyiv's attacks on Russian regions using longer-range American missiles.

The attack has raised fears in Ukraine that Russia is looking to cripple its energy infrastructure before the winter cold starts to bite and dampen Ukrainian spirits about the outcome of the war.

Zelenskyy said that the attack was a "vile escalation" and that Kalibr cruise missiles with cluster munitions were used to deliberately target civilian infrastructure.

"The use of these cluster elements significantly complicates the work of our rescuers and power engineers in mitigating the damage, marking yet another vile escalation in Russia’s terrorist tactics," Zelenskyy wrote on X.

He urged Western countries to deliver on promised air defense weaponry. Ukrainian officials in the past have grumbled that military aid is slow to arrive.

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The attack came just hours after President-elect Trump nominated Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg for a potential new post focused on ending the Russia-Ukraine war. Trump has created the position of special envoy for the Ukraine conflict,

Three sources familiar told Reuters that Kellogg presented Trump with a plan to end the conflict, and in April co-authored a research document that presented the idea of using weapons supplied to Ukraine as leverage for armistice negotiations with Russia.

Rebekah Koffler, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. 

The parents of the American hostages who have been held by Hamas for nearly 420 days are once again pleading with the U.S. and Israeli officials to show a sense of "urgency" in securing their freedom.

Seven of the 101 hostages held in Gaza are American, and their families, who will once again sit through another Thanksgiving dinner with an empty seat on Thursday, are again urging that their release be prioritized.

"Our plea is that this is urgent, and I'm not sure we're seeing the sense of urgency," Orna Neutra, mother of Omer Neutra, who was 21 years old when he was abducted by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, but who has since experienced two birthdays while in captivity, told Fox News Digital.

"There were security issues that needed to be dealt with in the north, with Hezbollah, with Iran. But at this point, the hostages – which are a primary war goal for the Israelis – should be the first priority, and everything possible should be done to get them out," she continued. "It's been very frustrating for us to follow this news cycle to make sure that they're not forgotten, to wait patiently, constantly, until other goals are achieved."

AMERICAN FATHER OF HAMAS HOSTAGE ITAY CHEN PUSHES US, ISRAEL ON ‘PLAN B’ AS NEGOTIATIONS FALTER

Orna, her husband Ronen Neutra, along with the families of other hostages still in Gaza have begun to question Netanyahu’s strategy for returning the hostages.

The Israeli prime minister has seen an increasing push at home and abroad by those calling on him to establish a cease-fire with Hamas and secure the hostages’ release. 

Cease-fire negotiations have all but collapsed. And although the Biden administration continues to push all sides to the table to end the war and secure the release of the hostages, Israel's military campaign to defeat Hamas continues.

"It's extremely . . . painful for us to see how the time is going by, and our son is held in those terrible conditions trying to survive," Omer’s father Ronen said. "The question is, what are we going to gain from a few more months of waiting with these conditions?"

Ultimately, as Omer’s parents highlighted, while IDF operations continue in Gaza the hostages remain in danger.

"We saw what happened in late August, when the IDF was getting too close to the hostages, the terrorists got instructions to execute them," Orna said. "We saw six hostages executed in one day, one of them, American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin. And the conditions that they were held in and the state in which they were retrieved – they were emaciated, they were dehydrated, it doesn't leave a lot of room for imagination.

"They are in horrible conditions, and they need to be taken out as soon as possible," she added. 

Netanyahu has said his two primary goals in the Gaza campaign are the destruction of Hamas and securing the return of the hostages. 

But following the October death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar – a major war aim for Netanyahu – military operations did not cease, nor were ceasefire negotiations fervently pursued by Israel or Hamas.

DR. AYELET LEVY SHAHAR: A MOTHER'S MESSAGE TO AMERICA: DON'T FORGET THE HOSTAGES

It is not only the continued military operations in Gaza that have begun to frustrate the families of the hostages, but also Israel’s increased attention in Lebanon, which has left many feeling that the hostages had been "sidelined."

Israel and Lebanon on Wednesday entered into a cease-fire just two months after Jerusalem began its operations to oust Hezbollah, a move that will allow citizens in both countries to begin returning to their homes near the shared border. But despite nearly a year’s effort, no such deal has been secured in Gaza. 

"I am a bit disappointed that there is no connection between the Lebanon peace and the Gaza peace," Ruby Chen, father of Itay Chen, who was 19 and serving in the IDF when he was attacked and taken by Hamas terrorists, told Fox News Digital. "In Gaza, there are people, U.S. citizens, that are at risk and should come out. 

"But let's have hope that this will bring Israel into focus on this peace for the hostages, as well as the other international players that are doing the hostage deal," he added. 

In an address on Wednesday, Biden championed the Israel-Lebanon cease-fire but said, "Now Hamas has a choice to make. Their only way out is to release the hostages, including American citizens which they hold, and, in the process, bring an end to the fighting, which would make possible a surge of humanitarian relief.  

"Over the coming days, the United States will make another push with Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, Israel and others to achieve a cease-fire in Gaza with the hostages released and the end to the war without Hamas in power," he added. 

AS GAZA WAR DRAGS PAST 1 YEAR MARK, HOPE FADES FOR A DEAL TO BRING HOSTAGES HOME SOON

Many hold out hope that even if the Biden administration cannot secure the release of the hostages before he leaves office in January, that the incoming Trump administration may bring a change to the negotiations and secure the hostages’ release. 

President-elect Donald Trump said from the campaign trail, "We want our hostages back, and they better be back before I assume office, or you will be paying a very big price."

Trump has not detailed steps he would take to secure the hostages' release from the terrorist network, though on Tuesday he signed a memorandum of understanding that should enable him to begin accessing intelligence regarding the hostages – a process that traditionally happens weeks prior to when Trump signed the document. 

While some Republicans, including those whom Trump has tapped for top jobs in his administration, like Florida Sen.  Marco Rubio, have been in communication with the hostage families, the president-elect has not yet made contact with them, according to the parents of Omer and Itay.

Fox News Digital could not immediately reach Trump’s transition team to verify when the president-elect intends to reach out to the families and start on securing the hostages' release. 

The parents of Omer and Itay have said they will continue to make sure that neither everyday citizens nor world leaders forget their children who are still held hostage. 

"I have my empty seat again this Thanksgiving," Ruby said in reference to where his son Itay should sit. "We would hope that U.S. citizens that understand the tragedy of having an empty chair at the table would adopt that as well. 

"We have Christmas [and Hanukkah] coming up, hopefully we will have our Christmas miracle as well, and we'll be able to be united as family again and bring him home," Ruby added. 

The other American hostages still being held in Gaza include Edan Alexander, Sagui Dekel-Chen, Gadi Haggai, Judi Weinstein Haggai and Keith Siegel.

The Israel Defense Forces opened fire Thursday at "suspects" in southern Lebanon that allegedly violated the terms of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah. 

IDF Arabic Spokesperson Avichay Adraee wrote on X that "in the past hour, a number of suspects were observed arriving, some of them in vehicles, to several areas in southern Lebanon, which constitutes a violation of the agreement." 

The Israeli and Lebanese militaries have warned displaced Lebanese not to return to evacuated villages in southern Lebanon – where Israeli troops are still present following their ground invasion in early October – until the forces withdraw. The deal, brokered by the U.S. and France and approved by Israel late Tuesday, calls for an initial two-month halt to fighting and requires Hezbollah to end its armed presence in southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops are to return to their side of the border.

"IDF forces opened fire at them," Adraee said. "IDF forces deployed in the southern Lebanon area are enforcing any violation of the ceasefire agreement." 

BIDEN ANNOUNCES CEASE-FIRE PLAN BETWEEN ISRAEL AND HEZBOLLAH, ENDING 14 MONTHS OF FIGHTING 

He also posted a map on X of a zone running along the Israel-Lebanon border that Lebanese residents should stay away from for the time being. 

"The IDF does not intend to target you, and therefore, at this stage, you are prohibited from returning to your homes from this line south until further notice," Adraee added. "Anyone who moves south of this line – exposes himself to danger." 

Israeli tanks struck six areas within that region Thursday morning, wounding two people, Reuters reported, citing Lebanese state media and security sources. 

The ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah is in its second day, with the Lebanese terrorist group saying that its fighters "remain fully equipped to deal with the aspirations and assaults of the Israeli enemy" and will monitor the withdrawal of IDF troops "with their hands on the trigger," according to Reuters. 

The conflict in Lebanon began when Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, initiated strikes into Israel's north after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Since the back-and-forth began, Israel has killed many of Hezbollah's leaders, in addition to degrading its infrastructure in Lebanon.  

US LAWMAKERS REACT TO CEASEFIRE DEAL BETWEEN ISRAEL AND HEZBOLLAH 

By ending the conflict with Hezbollah, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hamas would stand alone in the Gaza Strip, clearing the way for Israeli forces to recover the remaining hostages there. 

Thousands of Lebanese displaced by the war returned home Wednesday as the ceasefire started to take hold, driving cars stacked with personal belongings, according to The Associated Press. 

"They were a nasty and ugly 60 days," Mohammed Kaafarani, who was displaced from the Lebanese village of Bidias, told the AP. "We reached a point where there was no place to hide." 

"We don’t care about the rubble or destruction. We lost our livelihood, our properties, but it’s OK, it will all come back," added Fatima Hanifa, a resident who lives near Beirut. 

In Israel, the mood reportedly was subdued, with displaced Israelis concerned that Hezbollah had not been defeated and that there was no progress toward returning hostages held in Gaza. 

"I think it is still not safe to return to our homes because Hezbollah is still close to us," Eliyahu Maman, who was displaced from the northern city of Kiryat Shmona, which was hit hard by the months of fighting, told the AP. 

Fox News’ Danielle Wallace, Louis Casiano and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

President Biden’s administration is urging Ukraine to lower its draft age to conscript 18-year-olds to keep pace with Russia’s growing military nearly three years after Russia’s full-scale invasion.

A senior Biden administration official told The Associated Press Wednesday that "the pure math" of Ukraine’s situation calls for lowering the draft age from the current age of 25 to expand its outnumbered fighting force.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Ukraine is failing to mobilize and train enough soldiers to replace its battlefield losses and keep pace with Russia's growing forces.

In April, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a law that lowered the military conscription age from 27 to 25 to replenish its depleted ranks.

RUSSIA LAUNCHES ANOTHER LARGE MISSILE, DRONE ATTACK ON UKRAINE'S ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE

Lowering the minimum conscription age, however, has some Ukrainians worried that taking more young adults out of the workforce could further damage its already war-ravaged economy. Some Ukrainian officials see the push from the U.S. as part of a Western effort to distract from their own delays in providing weaponry and other equipment.

Even with more than 1 million Ukrainians now in uniform, including the National Guard and other units, Ukrainian officials have said they need about 160,000 additional troops to keep pace on the battlefield. 

But the Biden administration believes they probably will need even more, saying that shoring up Ukraine’s manpower shortage far eclipses the need for military equipment.

TRUMP NOMINATES FORMER PENCE MILITARY AIDE FOR NEW UKRAINE POST

White House National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett in a statement said the administration will continue sending Ukraine weaponry but believes "manpower is the most vital need" for Ukraine.

"So, we’re also ready to ramp up our training capacity if they take appropriate steps to fill out their ranks," Savett said.

The White House has pushed more than $56 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the start of Russia's February 2022 invasion and expects to send billions more to Kyiv before Biden leaves office in less than two months.

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President-elect Trump has said that he will bring about a swift end to the war when he takes office on Jan. 20, 2025, though some are concerned that he may not continue to provide Ukraine with military support.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Russia launched another "massive" attack on Ukraine's energy infrastructure on Thursday, knocking out power for more than a million households, according to Ukranian officials.

Thursday's attack, which involved more than 200 missiles and drones, marks the second on Ukraine's power grid in less than two weeks.

Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said on Facebook that "attacks on energy facilities are happening all over Ukraine." He added that emergency power outages have been implemented nationwide.

Areas affected include the Lviv region in western Ukraine, the northwestern Rivne region, the bordering Volyn region and the western Ivano Frankivsk region, according to The Associated Press.

RUSSIA LAUNCHES RECORD NUMBER OF DRONES IN NEW ATTACK

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kalibr cruise missiles with cluster munitions, which release numerous small bombs over a wide area, hit civilian targets. He described the attack as an "insidious escalation."

Zelenskyy asked that Western countries accelerate delivery of promised air defense weaponry in response to the attack.

"Each such attack proves that air defense systems are needed now in Ukraine, where they save lives, and not at storage bases," Zelenskyy said on Telegram.

Andrii Yermak, head of Ukraine's presidential office, accused Russia of stockpiling missiles with the intention of waging war during the winter. He also said Russia "was helped by their crazy allies, including from North Korea."

US WARNS RUSSIA POTENTIALLY AIDING NORTH KOREA'S NUCLEAR PROGRAM IN DIRECT THREAT TO EUROPE, ASIA

It is not uncommon for Russia to attack Ukraine during the bitter winter months in attempts to deny civilians access to heat and drinking water supplies. 

The attacks also aim to break down Ukraine's production of missiles, drones, armored vehicles and other military assets.

In the nearly three years of war, Russia has destroyed almost half of Ukraine's energy infrastructure.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The United States has imposed sanctions on an additional 21 allies of President Nicolás Maduro, accusing them on Wednesday of perpetrating some of the repression with which officials in Venezuela responded to July's disputed presidential election.

The security and cabinet-level officials sanctioned by the Department of the Treasury include the head of the nation's corrections agency, the director of an intelligence service and the minister of Maduro’s Office of the President. They joined a list of dozens of sanctioned Venezuelans that includes the head of the country’s high court, ministers and prosecutors.

BIDEN URGED TO CRACK DOWN ON OIL COMPANIES DOING BUSINESS WITH VENEZUELA AFTER MADURO'S REFUSAL TO CEDE POWER

The Biden administration last week recognized Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo González as that nation’s "president-elect." The U.S. also on Wednesday placed visa restrictions on additional individuals it accused of repressing Venezuelans after the July 28 election.

While Maduro declared victory in the election, he and his government have refused to show vote tallies backing his claim.

González left Venezuela in September for exile in Spain after a warrant was issued for his arrest in connection with an investigation into the publishing of vote tallies. The former diplomat, who represented the main opposition parties, claimed to have won the presidential election by a wide margin.

In September, the U.S. government imposed sanctions against 16 allies of Maduro, accusing them of obstructing the vote and carrying out human rights abuses.

The effect of the individual sanctions and visa restrictions announced Wednesday is unclear. Previously punished Maduro loyalists still hold power in Venezuela’s government.

Venezuelan lawmakers on Tuesday continued the debate over a bill that would catalogue economic sanctions as a crime against humanity and allow the prosecution of anyone who expresses support for the measures.

A police officer who shocked a 95-year-old nursing home resident with a Taser was found guilty of manslaughter in an Australian court Wednesday.

A jury found Kristian James Samuel White guilty in the trial in Sydney after 20 hours of deliberation. White, who is on bail, could get up to 25 years in prison when he is sentenced later.

Clare Nowland, a great-grandmother who had dementia and used a walker, was refusing to put down the steak knife she was holding when the officer discharged his Taser at her in May 2023. Nowland fell backward after White shocked her and died a week later in hospital.

GRANDMOTHER, 95, DIES AFTER POLICE SHOCK HER WITH STUN GUN: 'COMMUNITY IS OUTRAGED'

Police said at the time that Nowland sustained her fatal injuries from striking her head on the floor, rather than directly from the device’s debilitating electric shock.

White's employment is under review and is subject to legal processes, NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb told reporters after the verdict.

"The court has found Claire Nowland died as a result of the actions of a police officer. This should never have happened," Webb said, as she offered her "deepest condolences" to Nowland's family. The state's police reviewed its Taser policy and training in January and no changes to it were made, she added.

In video footage played during the New South Wales Supreme Court trial, White was heard saying "nah, bugger it" before discharging his weapon, after the officers told Nowland 21 times to put the knife down. White, 34, told the jury he had been taught that any person wielding a knife was dangerous, the Guardian reported.

ALABAMA POLICE OFFICER ON LEAVE AFTER VIDEO SHOWS HER USING STUN GUN ON HANDCUFFED MAN

But after an eight-day trial, the jury rejected arguments by White's lawyers that his use of the Taser was a proportionate response to the threat posed by Nowland, who weighed about 100 pounds.

The prosecutor argued that White's use of the Taser was was "utterly unnecessary and obviously excessive," local news outlets said.

The extraordinary case provoked debate about how officers in the state use Tasers, a device that incapacitates using electricity.

Nowland, a resident of Yallambee Lodge, a nursing home in the town of Cooma, was survived by eight children, 24 grandchildren and 31 great-grandchildren, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.