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U.S. allies in Europe allege Russia is "escalating hybrid activities" against NATO and EU nations following the severing of two data cables in the Baltic Sea. 

The declaration comes as Moscow says Ukrainian forces have fired six U.S.-made missiles into Russian territory on Tuesday. In the two days beforehand, the cables linking Finland to Germany and Sweden to Lithuania were slashed underwater, according to Reuters. 

"No one believes that these cables were cut accidentally," German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius was quoted by Reuters as saying Tuesday. "We also have to assume, without knowing it yet, that it is sabotage." 

"If Russia does not stop committing acts of sabotage in Europe, Warsaw will close the rest of its consulates in Poland," Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski reportedly added. 

UKRAINE FIRES FIRST BARRAGE OF US-MADE LONG-RANGE MISSILES INTO RUSSIA, KREMLIN SAYS 

The foreign ministers of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom issued a joint statement saying that "Moscow’s escalating hybrid activities against NATO and EU countries are... unprecedented in their variety and scale, creating significant security risks." 

However, the Tuesday statement did not directly blame Moscow for the cable damage. 

"To live up to this historic challenge, we are determined to stand united with our European and transatlantic partners to think and act big on European security," that statement also said. "European countries must play a still greater role in assuring our own security, acting alongside our transatlantic and global partners." 

The Finnish state-controlled data services provider Cinia said the severed data cable was detected Monday in the C-Lion1 cable that runs nearly 750 miles from the Finnish capital, Helsinki, to the German port city of Rostock. 

PUTIN SIGNS REVISED DOCTRINE LOWERING THRESHOLD FOR NUCLEAR RESPONSE IF RUSSIA IS ATTACKED 

The C-Lion1, commissioned in 2016, is Finland’s only data communications cable that runs from the Nordic country directly to central Europe, according to Finnish public broadcaster YLE. 

"A data cable between Finland and Germany was damaged and service [was] cut off. Swedish authorities are investigating as the site is in Swedish waters," a senior European official told Fox News. 

The foreign ministries of Finland and Germany said in their own joint statement that the damage comes at a time when "our European security is not only under threat from Russia‘s war of aggression against Ukraine, but also from hybrid warfare by malicious actors." 

The statement said the countries were investigating the incident, and that it was crucial that such "critical infrastructure" be safeguarded. 

"The fact that such an incident immediately raises suspicions of intentional damage speaks volumes about the volatility of our times," the two countries added. 

Fox News’ Anders Hagstrom, Jennifer Griffin and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Moscow says Ukrainian forces have taken advantage of President Biden's green light and launched 6 U.S.-made ATACMs into Russian territory Tuesday.

Russia says it shot down five of the missiles and damaged the sixth. It added that debris landed in the area of a Russian military facility, but that no casualties or damage beyond a small fire.

This is a developing story. Check back soon for updates.

Authorities in Hong Kong sentenced 45 prominent pro-democracy activists to up to 10 years in prison on Tuesday for violating a wide-ranging national security law imposed on the area by China.

The activists are accused of agreeing to veto government-proposed budgets indiscriminately after securing a majority to force a dissolution of the legislature and ultimate ouster of the city's leader.

Of the 47 individuals charged, 31 pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit subversion, while 14 others were convicted following a trial. Two others were acquitted.

The drastic crackdown brought criticism from western countries. Australia, who had a citizen among those sentenced, objected to authorities both in Hong Kong and Beijing over the move.

HONG KONG JOURNALISTS CONVICTED OF SEDITION AS CHINA CRACKS DOWN ON FREE PRESS: REPORT

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said her government was "gravely concerned" over the sentencing of Australian citizen Gordon Ng.

Officials in the U.K. similarly condemned the move, saying it was yet another example of Beijing using the 2021 national security law to snuff out pro-democracy voices.

"Those sentenced today were exercising their right to freedom of speech, of assembly and of political participation," said Catherine West, who serves as minister for the Indo-Pacific in Britain’s Foreign Office.

The U.S. consulate in Hong Kong expressed a similar view, condemning the sentences.

PROTEST ANTHEM 'GLORY TO HONG KONG' OUTLAWED IN CITY

"We call on (Beijing) and Hong Kong authorities to cease politically motivated prosecutions of Hong Kong citizens and to immediately release all political prisoners and individuals jailed for their peaceful advocacy for rights and freedoms," it said in a statement.

The sentencing comes less than a month after two pro-democracy journalists in Hong Kong were sentenced to prison for "seditious" activities and "illegal ideologies."

Chung Pui-kuen, 55, and Patrick Lam, 36, were found guilty in August of conspiring to publish seditious materials through their Stand News media outlet. 

Chung was the former editor-in-chief of Stand News and received a 21-month prison sentence. Lam, Chung's successor, was sentenced to 14 months but had his time reduced due to a variety of factors, such as his time served pre-trial and his health conditions.

The two men are the first journalists convicted of such crimes in Hong Kong since the United Kingdom handed it over to Chinese rule in 1997.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a revised nuclear doctrine on Tuesday stating that any attack on Russia supported by a country with nuclear power could be grounds for a nuclear response.

Putin signed the new policy on the 1,000th day of the war with Ukraine and the day after President Biden authorized Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied longer-range missiles to strike inside Russia.

The doctrine also states that Russia could respond to aggression against its ally Belarus with nuclear weapons, The Associated Press reported.

Though the doctrine doesn't specify that Russia will definitely respond to such attacks with nuclear weapons, it does mention the "uncertainty of scale, time and place of possible use of nuclear deterrent" as key principles of deterrence.

BIDEN AUTHORIZES UKRAINE TO USE US LONG-RANGE MISSILES TO STRIKE INSIDE RUSSIA

When asked if the updated doctrine comes in response to Biden's decision to ease restrictions on how Ukraine can strike Russia, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told the AP that the doctrine was published "in a timely manner." 

Peskov also said Putin told the government to update it earlier this year so that it's "in line with the current situation" – the Russian president led a meeting in September to discuss these proposed revisions to the doctrine.

TRUMP ALLIES WARN BIDEN RISKING 'WORLD WAR III' BY AUTHORIZING LONG-RANGE MISSILES FOR UKRAINE

Revealed in September, the doctrine now officially states that an attack on Russia by a nonnuclear power with the "participation or support of a nuclear power" will be seen as a "joint attack on the Russian Federation."

It also contains a broader range of conditions that would trigger the use of nuclear weapons, noting that they could be used in response to an air attack involving ballistic and cruise missiles, aircraft, drones and other flying vehicles.

The previous document threatened the use of Russia's arsenal if "reliable information is received about the launch of ballistic missiles targeting the territory of Russia or its allies."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A month after the body of a Walmart employee was found inside a walk-in oven of a store in eastern Canada, police have determined that her death was not suspicious.

The Halifax Police Department released a statement to announce that an investigation into the death of the 19-year-old woman, who was found inside the walk-in oven of the Halifax Walmart on Oct. 19, was not suspicious and there was no evidence of foul play.

"We do not believe anyone else was involved in the circumstances surrounding the woman's death," Halifax Regional Police Constable Martin Cromwell announced in a video update on the department's Facebook page on Monday.

Cromwell added that they did not have many details they could share and did not expect any other updates anytime soon. 

WALMART EMPLOYEE FOUND DEAD INSIDE WALK-IN OVEN AT CANADA STORE: POLICE

"We acknowledge the public's interest in this case and that there are questions that may never have answers," said Cromwell. "Please be mindful of the damage public speculation can cause. This woman's loved ones are grieving."

Police have not yet released the name of the victim. However, the Gurudwara Maritime Sikh Society, an organization for Sikh immigrants, has identified the woman as Gursimran Kaur.

The group also created a GoFundMe page, which is no longer running, that raised more than $194,000 for Kaur's family.

"Gursimran Kaur was only 19 years old, a young beautiful girl who came to Canada with big dreams," a post on the website read.

IDENTITY OF 'BADLY DECOMPOSED' BODY FOUND IN OHIO CAR WASH RELEASED: REPORT

According to the post, Kaur and her mother both worked at Walmart for the last two years.

During the evening of her daughter's disappearance, the society executive said Kaur's mother tried to find her after not having contact with her for an hour but brushed it aside, assuming she was helping a customer.

Kaur's phone was reportedly also not reachable. 

"Mother started panicking as it was unusual for her to switch her phone off during the day. She reached out to the onsite admin for help," the post continued.

MISSOURI INFANT DIES AFTER MOTHER 'ACCIDENTALLY' PLACES BABY IN OVEN INSTEAD OF CRIB: POLICE

Sadly, after a few hours, her daughter's body was found inside a walk-in oven in the store's bakery.

"Imagine the horror that her mother experienced when she opened the oven, when someone pointed it out to her!" the society executive described. "This family's sufferings are unimaginable and indescribable."

Both Kaur's father and brother were both reportedly in India at the time of her death.

"Investigators met with family to share this update and extend condolences," Halifax police said. "Our thoughts remain with them at this difficult time."

A spokesperson for Walmart previously told Fox News Digital that the store "will be closed until further notice."

The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported that the store reopened on Monday and that the bakery oven was being removed from the store.

Fox News Digital reached out to Walmart for comment on the latest news but did not immediately receive a response.

JERUSALEM— Just hours before the United Nations Security Council is slated to vote on an alleged anti-Israel resolution pushed by Algeria to impose an end on the Jewish state's war of self-defense against Hamas, the Biden administration has gone silent about how it will vote.

The irony of the notoriously anti-Israel Algeria devising the resolution recalls the witty line of the late Israeli Ambassador to the U.N., Abba Eban, who said, "If Algeria introduced a (U.N.) resolution declaring that the earth was flat and that Israel had flattened it, it would pass by a vote of 164 to 13 with 26 abstentions."

The proposed resolution has triggered outrage from several quarters, including a leading Republican U.S.senator.

UN, ISRAEL AT ODDS OVER CAUSE OF DECLINE IN AID DELIVERIES: 'FALSE NARRATIVES BY INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY'

"This resolution is just one of several assaults on Israel being planned at the United Nations, meant to preemptively and permanently undermine the incoming Trump administration and Republican Congress," Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital.

"I will work with my Republican colleagues and with President Trump to take whatever steps are necessary to undo these measures, including fundamentally reevaluating our relationship with the U.N. and the Palestinians, broadly cutting aid, imposing sanctions on specific officials responsible for those measures, and countering governments and NGOs pushing or implementing them," he said.

Fox News Digital reported last week that U.N. experts believed Biden’s administration might seek to replicate Obama’s parting shot at Israel, in which he failed to veto an anti-Israel resolution in the closing weeks of his administration.

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield delivered remarks on Monday at the world body but did not address the pending draft resolution. However, she noted, "The United States has exercised leadership and resolve in pursuing clear objectives: End the war in Gaza — end the war in Gaza by securing the release of hostages, while surging aid to Palestinians, who did not start and cannot end this conflict. Avoid a broader regional war while forcefully countering Iran’s terrorist proxies and destabilizing activities, and demonstrating an ironclad, unprecedented commitment to Israel’s security."

Fox News Digital approached the U.S. State Department and the United States mission to the U.N. for comment about the proposed draft.

Anne Bayefsky, President, Human Rights Voices in New York, told Fox News Digital, "Allies of Hamas are licking their chops at the prospect of the outgoing Biden administration refusing to veto an Israel-bashing resolution scheduled for adoption at the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday." She claimed, "For weeks, the United States has been busy massaging the terms of a draft, leaked to news outlets Al Jazeera and Al-Arabiya."

"The U.N.-U.S. operation is to pretend it's all about humanitarianism, when it is exactly the opposite. It guarantees to prolong the war and the suffering of the hostages and ignore the actual root causes: Iran, antisemitism and the illegal denial of Israel's right of self-defense. If adopted, it would be the fifth Security Council resolution President Biden has allowed to pass since Oct. 7 that doesn't even condemn Hamas," she said.

HOW A US-BACKED UN RESOLUTION FAILED TO STOP HEZBOLLAH TERROR TAKEOVER: 'BIPARTISAN FAILURE'

Speaking earlier at the Security Council, Israel's Ambassador to the U.N., Danny Danon, criticized the draft resolution, stating, "Any resolution that does not condition the cease-fire on the release of the hostages means abandoning the 101 hostages to the hell of the terrorist monsters."

Danon added, "The decision being promoted in this Council only strengthens Hamas and terrorism and abandons the hostages. We cannot allow the U.N. to tie the hands of the State of Israel from protecting its citizens, and we will not stop fighting until we return all the kidnapped men and women home."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the retaliatory attack Jerusalem launched on Iran in late October degraded part of Tehran’s nuclear program.

"It’s not a secret," Netanyahu said in a Knesset speech reported by the Times of Israel. "There is a specific component in their nuclear program that was hit in this attack."

Despite the prime minister’s comments, it had not previously been confirmed by Israeli officials that Tehran’s coveted nuclear program, which it has been attempting to beef up since the collapse of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear agreement in 2018, had been targeted in last month’s strike.

IRAN MILITARY HEADS VOW 'CRUSHING' RESPONSE TO ISRAEL AS UN ATOMIC CHIEF SAYS NUKE SITES SHOULDN'T BE ATTACKED

Israeli security officials confirmed that military sites had been targeted during the overnight strike on Oct. 26 that caused concern among global leaders about an all-out war as the two nations ramp up direct lines of attack on one another.

The international community, along with the Biden administration, attempted to re-enter into negotiations with Tehran to counter its nuclear development, though to no avail.

The U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), earlier this year warned that Iran’s nuclear program has largely run unchecked for the last six years, and it is believed to have increased its stockpiles of highly enriched uranium metals to 60% purity levels; just shy of weapons-grade uranium, which is enriched to 90% purity.

But IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi has warned that Iran's nuclear facilities should not become a target as Israel ramps up direct operations against Tehran.

Netanyahu did not expand on how Iran’s nuclear program has been affected after the strikes last month, but on Monday he reportedly said it was not enough to have entirely blocked Iran’s path to obtaining a nuclear weapon.

UN WATCHDOG WARNS TIME TO 'MANEUVER' ON IRAN'S NUCLEAR PROGRAM IS SHRINKING: REPORT

Israel destroyed an active nuclear weapons research facility in Parchin, roughly 20 miles southeast of Tehran.

Grossi visited two Iranian nuclear sites last week and said he would engage in high-level talks with Tehran in a push to get Iran to adhere to international agreements and nuclear safeguards.

In a message later posted to X, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he was ready to engage in international talks but noted Tehran would not succumb to pressure as President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House with what many believe will be a much stronger approach when it comes to Iran.

"The ball is in the EU/E3 court," the foreign minister said in reference to three European countries, France, Britain and Germany, that represent Western interests, including the U.S., during nuclear talks.

"Willing to negotiate based on our national interest and inalienable rights but not ready to negotiate under pressure and intimidation," Araghchi said.

South Dakota Republican Sen. John Thune on Sunday threatened to slap the International Criminal Court (ICC) with sanctions if it did not drop its application for an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Thune – who was selected Wednesday to be the next Senate Majority Leader once the GOP takes the upper chamber come January 2025 – warned that if the current Democratic leader does not take on the international court, he will.

"If the ICC and its prosecutor do not reverse their outrageous and unlawful actions to pursue arrest warrants against Israeli officials, the Senate should immediately pass sanctions legislation, as the House has already done on a bipartisan basis," Thune wrote on X. "If Majority Leader Schumer does not act, the Senate Republican majority will stand with our key ally Israel and make this – and other supportive legislation – a top priority in the next Congress."

BIDEN REVERSES TRUMP, LIFTS SANCTIONS ON INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT

In May, the ICC issued applications for arrest warrants against Netanyahu, as well as then-Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and three Hamas terrorists for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity following the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks. All three Hamas leaders are believed to since have been killed.

Thune’s threats were made in coordination with a bill introduced by Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., in June – which closely aligned with a bill that passed in the House with bipartisan support just days prior – that called for sanctions against prosecutors who have gone after "U.S., Israeli, or any other allied citizen wrongfully targeted by the ICC."

The U.S. does not officially recognize the ICC’s authority, but it is not the first time Washington has looked to halt the court’s actions.

In 2020, the Trump administration opposed attempts by the ICC to investigate U.S. soldiers and the CIA involved in alleged war crimes between 2003-2004 "in secret detention facilities in Afghanistan," and issued sanctions against ICC prosecutors. 

However, the sanctions did more than target individuals through asset freezing and international travel bans and were deemed, at the time, to have the potential for "wide-reaching consequences."

TOP TRUMP ALLIES MEET WITH NETANYAHU IN ISRAEL AS ICC SEEKS ARREST WARRANTS

"Service providers to the ICC – from banks to vending machine companies – may reassess whether continuing to work with the institution is prudent given the risk of inadvertently violating U.S. sanctions," Human Rights Watch explained. 

"[It] created apprehension and uncertainty for nongovernmental organizations, consultants, and lawyers who work with the ICC in investigative and adjudicative capacities," the organization added. 

Richard Goldberg, who served on the White House National Security Council during the Trump administration and who is now a senior adviser to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital the 2020 sanctions were also "effective in shaking up the organization since it was coming up on an election for a new chief prosecutor."

"Many believed that the presence of U.S. sanctions led Karim Khan to put investigations of Israel and the U.S. in a drawer once he was elected," Goldberg explained in reference to the ICC’s chief prosecutor who filed the applications for warrants of arrest against Netanyahu and Gallant.

Goldberg argued that sanctions against prosecutors may not be enough to dissuade Khan from pursuing the case against Netanyahu and warned the ICC chief might view them as "a badge of honor."

Goldberg said he thinks lawmakers should consider going after the ICC as a whole rather than individual prosecutors this time around. 

"It's one thing to threaten sanctions against individuals involved in illegitimate schemes to indict American or Israeli soldiers, it's another thing to use sanctions as a tool to cut off the ICC's access to funds," he told Fox News Digital.

"I think countries like Japan and Germany will put enormous pressure on the ICC to back down if they think their own banks may be subject to sanctions for wiring money to the ICC," he added. 

Decisions by the court on arrest warrants are generally made within three months, according to Reuters, though it remains unclear when the panel will reach a decision.

The last time the Pre-Trial Chamber of the ICC was asked to make a decision over issuing a warrant for the arrest of a government leader was when an application was filed against Russian President Vladimir Putin in February 2023. The panel reached a decision within one month of the application having been filed. 

A rare Israeli strike in central Beirut killed the Hezbollah militant group's chief spokesman on Sunday, while an Israeli strike in northern Gaza ’s Beit Lahiya killed at least 30 people, a hospital director there told The Associated Press.

Mohammed Afif al-Naboulsi was killed in a strike on the Arab socialist Baath party’s office in Beirut, Hezbollah confirmed in a statement. He had been especially visible after all-out war erupted between Israel and Hezbollah in September.

Israel's military in a statement said he "wielded significant influence over Hezbollah’s military operations" and "glorified and incited" attacks on Israel.

ISRAEL’S NEW DEFENSE MINISTER SAYS COUNTRY HAS DEFEATED HEZBOLLAH

It was the latest targeted killing of a senior Hezbollah official. On Sunday night, another strike in central Beirut hit a computer shop, killing two people and wounding 22, Lebanon's Health Ministry said. There was no immediate comment from Israel's military.

The strikes happened as Lebanese officials considered a United States-led cease-fire proposal. "This confirms the crimes of the Israeli enemy, and that it wants to negotiate under fire and is expanding and targeting safe and safer areas," said a Lebanese member of parliament, Faisal Al Sayegh.

Israel also bombed several buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has long been headquartered, after warning people to evacuate.

There was no Israeli evacuation warning before the strike near a busy intersection that killed Afif. Four people were killed and 14 wounded including two children, the Health Ministry said.

"I was asleep and awoke from the sound of the strike, and people screaming, and cars and gunfire," said witness Suheil Halabi.

HEZBOLLAH CONFIRMS DEATH OF SENIOR COMMANDER IN LINE TO REPLACE HASSAN NASRALLAH

After the second strike in central Beirut, firefighters struggled to control the blaze in the busy residential neighborhood of Mar Elias. Bystanders said they heard a second explosion and a car nearby appeared to be hit.

Hezbollah began firing rockets, missiles and drones into Israel the day after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack ignited the war in Gaza. Israel launched retaliatory airstrikes in Lebanon and the conflict steadily escalated.

Israeli forces invaded Lebanon on Oct. 1. On Sunday, Israel’s military said mobile artillery batteries had crossed into Lebanon and began attacking Hezbollah targets, the first time artillery was launched within Lebanese territory.

More than 3,400 people have been killed in Lebanon, according to the Health Ministry, and over 1.2 million driven from their homes. It is not known how many of the dead are Hezbollah fighters.

Hezbollah has fired dozens of projectiles into Israel daily. The attacks have killed at least 76 people, including 31 soldiers, and caused some 60,000 people to flee. Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency service said a teenager suffered blast injuries Sunday in Upper Galilee.

Lebanon's army, largely on the sidelines, said an Israeli strike on Sunday hit a military center in southeastern Al-Mari, killing two soldiers and wounding two others. There was no immediate Israeli comment.

The director of the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya, Hosam Abu Safiya, said dozens were wounded in the Israeli strike and other people likely were under the rubble.

Fleeing residents told the AP that houses were hit. An Israeli military statement earlier said it conducted several strikes on "terrorist targets" in Beit Lahiya, and that efforts to evacuate civilians from the "active war zone" continued.

Israeli forces have again been on the offensive in northern Gaza, saying Hamas militants have regrouped.

HEZBOLLAH GENERATES FUNDS FOR ACTIVITIES UNDER THE GUISE OF A NON-PROFIT: ISRAELI OFFICIALS

"Tonight we did not sleep at all," said one fleeing Beit Lahiya resident, Dalal al-Bakri. "They destroyed all the houses around us. ... There are many martyrs."

A woman, Umm Hamza, said the bombing escalated overnight. "It’s cold and we don’t know where to go," she said.

Earlier, officials said Israeli strikes killed six people in Nuseirat and four in Bureij, two built-up refugee camps in central Gaza dating back to the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation.

Two people were killed in a strike on Gaza’s main north-south highway, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central city of Deir al-Balah.

Israel’s military said two soldiers were killed in northern Gaza on Sunday.

The war between Israel and Hamas began after Palestinian militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7. last year, killing about 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducting around 250 others. Around 100 hostages remain in Gaza, about a third believed to be dead.

On Sunday, Israel’s Shin Bet internal security agency said it met with the heads of the army and intelligence to discuss mediation efforts to release the hostages. It was the first public word of any such effort since Qatar announced earlier this month it was suspending its mediation work.

Gaza's Health Ministry says around 43,800 Palestinians have been killed in the war. It does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but has said women and children make up more than half the dead.

Around 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million Palestinians have been displaced, and large areas have been flattened by Israeli bombardment and ground operations.

Pope Francis has called for an investigation to determine if Israel’s attacks in Gaza constitute genocide, according to excerpts released Sunday from an upcoming book.

Israeli police arrested three suspects after two flares were fired overnight at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private residence in the coastal city of Caesarea.

Netanyahu and his family were not there, authorities said. A drone launched by Hezbollah struck the residence last month, also when they were away.

The police did not provide details about the suspects, but officials pointed to domestic political critics of Netanyahu.

The prime minister has faced months of mass protests. Critics blame him for security and intelligence failures that allowed the Oct. 7 attack to happen and for not reaching a deal with Hamas to release hostages.

His government also faces anger from the ultra-Orthodox community over military draft notices. Some protested Sunday in the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak near Tel Aviv after the government said 7,000 new notices would be issued.