DHS: Law enforcement ambushed, boxed in by 10 cars in Chicago suburb
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem announced additional special operations personnel will be deployed to Illinois after federal agents were rammed and boxed in by 10 cars Saturday near Broadview, where anti-U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) crowds have been gathering for days.
One of the drivers accused of ramming into the law enforcement vehicle was armed with a semi-automatic weapon, according to DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. She said officers, who were unable to move, “were forced to deploy their weapons and fire defensive shots at an armed U.S. citizen.”
The armed woman, who was a U.S. citizen, was named in a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) intelligence bulletin, DHS wrote in a statement. She allegedly doxxed agents and posted online, “Hey to all my gang let’s f— those motherf—— up, don’t let them take anyone.”
Mclaughlin said no law enforcement officers were seriously injured during the incident, adding the woman involved drove herself to the hospital to get care for wounds.
ICE OFFICERS IN ILLINOIS TARGETED BY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS WHO USED ‘VEHICLES AS WEAPONS,’ OFFICIALS SAY
FBI deputy director Dan Bongino confirmed the FBI responded and is investigating the incident.
“Trying to intimidate law enforcement will not slow us down,” Bongino wrote in a statement on social media. “The mission will not stop.”
The Chicago U.S. Attorney’s Office also responded to the attack, calling the situation “serious” and noting the violence placed officers’ “life and safety” at risk.
“This Department of Justice does not tolerate assaults and obstruction of our brave men and women in federal law enforcement,” the attorney’s office wrote in an X post. “We will investigate and prosecute all those who assault or obstruct federal law enforcement, including public officials, and we will hold them accountable to the full extent of the law.”
The agents were reportedly performing a routine patrol about 15 miles away from the ICE processing center in Broadview, a suburb of Chicago, when the alleged assault occurred.
The ICE facility in Broadview has become a flashpoint for the protests. On Friday, Fox News witnessed more than a dozen protesters being arrested in the streets near the facility.
Adding fuel to the fire, hours after the attack, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker posted a barrage of statements on X, accusing the Trump administration and federal law enforcement of “unprecedented escalations of aggression against Illinois citizens and residents.”
“This morning, the Trump Administration’s Department of War gave me an ultimatum: call up your troops, or we will,” Pritzker wrote. “It is absolutely outrageous and un-American to demand a Governor send military troops within our own borders and against our will.”
The governor said in the coming hours, Trump intends to federalize 300 members of the Illinois National Guard.
WATCH: ICE AGENTS FIGHT OFF MASKED MOB OUTSIDE BLUE CITY IMMIGRATION COURT
“For Donald Trump, this has never been about safety. This is about control,” Pritzker wrote in another post. “I want to be clear: there is no need for military troops on the ground … I will not call up our National Guard to further Trump’s acts of aggression against our people.”
Andrew Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, said in a statement Saturday his office has already filed charges against more than 12 people “during this surge,” and is continuing to review cases for additional criminal charges.
Boutros said assistant U.S. attorneys will staff the FBI-led command post on a daily basis to monitor real-time developments and “take swift action” when criminal offenders assault, obstruct, or impede law enforcement personnel, or destroy federal property.
Noem said on Friday that she and her team were blocked from accessing the Village of Broadview Municipal Building, located about 12 miles west of downtown Chicago. Noem said she and her team were stopping for a “quick bathroom break.” In the same post on X, Noem slammed Pritzker “and his cronies.”
She also posted a video on Saturday of what appeared to be law enforcement activity. The video was captioned, “Chicago, we’re here for you.”
Pritzker responded on X, claiming Noem’s efforts were not “in the pursuit of justice,” but “in pursuit of social media videos.”
“Yesterday, Kristi Noem’s and Greg Bovino’s masked agents threw chemical agents near an elementary school, arrested elected officials exercising their First Amendment rights, and raided a Wal-Mart,” he said.
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Earlier this month, ICE launched Operation Midway Blitz, describing the operation as one that, “will target the criminal illegal aliens who flocked to Chicago and Illinois because they knew Governor Pritzker and his sanctuary policies would protect them and allow them to roam free on American streets.”
Virginia AG candidate must ‘step away’ from race following ‘violent’ texts: Youngkin
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin said state Democratic attorney general candidate Jay Jones should abandon his campaign “in disgrace” after he once remarked about shooting a former Virginia House speaker in texts with another lawmaker.
Texts obtained by Fox News Digital Friday showed an August 2022 conversation involving Jones — then a recently departed delegate from Norfolk — and Delegate Carrie Coyner, R-Chester. At one point, Jones, referencing then-House Speaker Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah, wrote, “Three people, two bullets. Gilbert, Hitler and Pol Pot. Gilbert gets two bullets to the head.”
“This violent, disgusting rhetoric targeted at an elected official and his children is beyond disqualifying,” Youngkin wrote in an X post Saturday. “Jay Jones said that ‘Gilbert gets two bullets to the head’ and then hoped his children would die. Read those words again.
“There is no ‘Gosh, I’m sorry’ here. Jones doesn’t have the morality or character to drop out of this race, and his running mates, Abigail Spanberger, Ghazala Hashmi and every elected Democrat in Virginia don’t have the courage to call on him to step away from this campaign in disgrace.”
VIRGINIA AG FLAMES OPPONENT FOR SUPPORTING SEX-CHANGE ID LAW HE BLAMES FOR LATEST PEDOPHILE CASES
A spokesperson for Coyner’s campaign confirmed the veracity of the texts first reported by National Review, saying they were “disturbing and disqualifying for anyone who wants to seek public office.”
“Jay Jones wished violence on the children of a colleague and joked about shooting Todd Gilbert. It’s disgusting and unbecoming of any public official,” the spokesperson said.
Jones is running against incumbent Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, a Republican.
The Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) also called on Jones to “immediately withdraw” from the race following “his abhorrent text messages.”
AFTER DEATH THREAT, VIRGINIA LAWMAKER SAYS ABIGAIL SPANBERGER CAN’T ESCAPE ‘RAGE’ REMARKS
“There is no place for political violence, including joking about it — especially from an elected official. Jay Jones should drop out of the Attorney General’s race. His comments are not acceptable from someone who wants to represent law enforcement,” RAGA Chairman Kris Kobach said.
In a statement released to the media, Jones said, “I take full responsibility for my actions, and I want to issue my deepest apology to Speaker Gilbert and his family.”
“Reading back those words made me sick to my stomach. I am embarrassed, ashamed, and sorry. I have reached out to Speaker Gilbert to apologize directly to him, his wife Jennifer, and their children. I cannot take back what I said; I can only take full accountability and offer my sincere apology.
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“Virginians deserve honest leaders who admit when they are wrong and own up to their mistakes. This was a grave mistake, and I will work every day to prove to the people of Virginia that I will fight for them as Attorney General,” he added.
DAVID MARCUS: Portland is a dystopian nightmare, and residents seem to like it
It was the perfect coda to my visit to Portland, Oregon, when my phone lit up as I sat at the airport.
Lyft was letting me know that my driver, who had spent 20 minutes lecturing me about how President Trump has laundered money for Russia for decades and that Antifa doesn’t exist, had registered a complaint claiming I had discriminated against him — presumably because I disagreed with his hectoring screed.
The most amazing thing about Portland isn’t actually how far left-wing it is. Everyone has seen episodes or clips from the TV show “Portlandia.” It’s how sure the people there are that everything is fine, that occasionally walking past dead bodies on the sidewalk is a normal American experience.
DAVID MARCUS: IN DEMOCRAT PORTLAND, LUXURY, VAGRANCY AND TOTAL DISORDER
And how sure they seem to be that not only is anyone calling themselves a Trump supporter wrong, but immoral.
Tara Faul is a Portland-based photographer who has done excellent work documenting (and often feeding) the homeless addicts in her woebegone hometown. I was struck by something she posted on X while I was there.
“At a Portland concert last night, I heard a guy give the ‘every city is like that, bro’ to an out-of-town couple who had a rough experience in our city,” she began, adding, “The wife was like, ‘No, I work in downtown Detroit, and it’s not like that.’ I was there this year and agree. It’s much cleaner.”
This perfectly summed up the feeling I had, that the people in Portland are rather like a frog in boiling water. Even as the temperature rises, they cannot seem to feel the change.
Jackie, a bartender whose family has lived in the area for a century — and who is as nice as can be — told me, “You’re only talking about downtown. The rest of the city isn’t really like that.”
Sure, every city has nice neighborhoods and not-so-nice ones. But the downtown area is what everyone shares. It’s the face of a city, and in the Rose City, it almost feels like Dickensian London.
Portland is very fashion-forward. There, you’ll see natty three-piece suits, handlebar mustaches and hair colors of such variety that, when in large groups, the heads appear almost like an open bag of Skittles.
Much like the elites of a Charles Dickens tale — tapping walking sticks in their finery while using a nosegay to mitigate the stench of the masses — in Portland, human misery fades into the background, like the quiet but incessant rain.
I could almost hear the hipsters mutter to themselves, “Are there no soup kitchens? Are there no safe injection sites?”
About a quarter of the storefronts, by my count, are vacant. What remains is all expensive. Outside of a class group in a museum, I’m not sure if I saw a child the entire four days I was there. There’s just no life in the place.
But, having said all that, the pickle at the end of the day is that, from what I can tell, most people in Portland think things are fine — great even. And if that’s true, then who are we in the rest of the country to tell them they’re wrong?
That’s where the warning comes in for every American city. When you hand local government over to the far left, and it refuses to maintain order, you wind up with something like “Blade Runner,” where the wealthy and protected flourish, the vagrants languish and die and everyone else stays the hell away.
This is how you end up with a city where the local police arrest journalists for daring to cover the fact that Antifa has been given control of the streets. Because, in Portland, if you are anything short of a committed leftist, you can start to feel a little less than human.
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The message I got from Lyft at the Portland airport instructed me to reply by saying I acknowledged the vague complaint against me. Instead, I wrote something to the effect of, “Your driver lectured me about the evils of Donald Trump and was quite rude.”
When I arrived at Dulles and tried to use the Lyft app, no drivers would appear for me. I actually laughed — and then just used a different app.
But it isn’t actually funny, because this is how social credit systems work. If you say something supposedly offensive, you can’t have a bank account or get a car. And I do think many, if not most, Portlanders would deep down agree that expressing conservative views deserves punishment.
I can say with certainty that I have no desire to return to Portland, but I can also say, with great trepidation, that I’m a little worried Portland may be coming to me — and to all of us.
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Trans athlete leads girls’ volleyball team on dominant win streak to first place
A transgender volleyball player in California has helped lead a girls high school team to an undefeated start in league play and first place after multiple opponents forfeited matches.
Jurupa Valley High School’s girls volleyball team improved to 6-0 in league play to cement its place at the top of the River Valley League standings with a win Friday over Rubidoux.
The win also pushed the team’s overall record to 14-8 on the season.
However, eight of the team’s wins, including one of its six league wins, came via forfeit. The eight teams that have forfeited games to Jurupa Valley this season have not provided a reason, but it is believed they are in response to trans athlete AB Hernandez.
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The most recent team to forfeit was Patriot High School, which was the one league rival to forfeit against JVHS and also the first team within the same school district to do so.
Jurupa Valley is scheduled to face Patriot again Oct. 13.
Meanwhile, two of Hernandez’s teammates have also stepped away from the team this season in protest and have filed a lawsuit against the Jurupa Unified School District (JUSD) over their experience playing with Hernandez over the last three years.
Jurupa has just five games left in the regular season, including the second Patriot meeting, before the postseason starts.
Last November, while Jurupa Valley went on to win its league, another high school in California saw a postseason match forfeited. Stone Ridge Christian High School forfeited a semifinal playoff match to San Francisco Waldorf, which had a trans player on its girls volleyball and girls basketball team. Stone Ridge Christin directly cited the trans athlete as the reason for the forfeit to San Fracisco Waldorf.
“Unfortunately, we were just informed that our opponent, San Francisco Waldorf, has a male athlete playing for their team,” the team said in a statement.
INSIDE GAVIN NEWSOM’S TRANSGENDER VOLLEYBALL CRISIS
“At SRC, we believe God’s Word is authoritative and infallible. It is Truth. And as Genesis makes clear, God wonderfully and immutably created each person as male or female. We do not believe sex is changeable, and we do not intend to participate in events that send a different message. We also have a duty and responsibility to care for the health and safety of our athletes. So, after consulting with our students, coaches and staff, we have made the difficult decision to forfeit Saturday’s game. Standing for Biblical truth means more than the outcome of a game.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office recently provided a statement to Fox News Digital addressing the state’s influx of controversies involving transgender volleyball players, suggesting the situation falls outside his responsibility and deferring fault to the California Department of Education (CDE), California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) and state legislature.
“CIF is an independent nonprofit that governs high school sports. The California Department of Education is a separate constitutional office. Neither is under the Governor’s authority. CIF and the CDE have stated they follow existing state law — a law that was passed in 2013 and signed by Governor Jerry Brown (not Newsom) and in line with 21 other states. For the law to change, the legislature would need to send the Governor a bill. They have not,” the statement said.
The CIF and CDE are being sued by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for refusing to change policies allowing biological males to compete in girls sports.
On April 1, the California state Legislature blocked two bills that would reverse the current law that allows males in girls sports.
Every Democrat voted against it, with Assembly member Rick Chavez Zbur arguing that one of the bills “is really reminiscent to me of what happened in Nazi Germany in the 1930s. We are moving towards autocracy in this country. In Nazi Germany, transgender people were persecuted, barred from public life.”
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Zbur said this while in the presence of a descendant of a Holocaust survivor, who had to excuse herself from the chamber, according to GOP Assembly member Kate Sanchez.
“She stood up and left because she was just so disgusted with the comparison,” Sanchez told Fox News Digital.
Federal employees to collect paychecks after heading home during shutdown
The government shutdown costs taxpayers $400 million every day to pay federal employees who are not actively working, totaling $1.2 billion as of Friday, Congressional Budget Office (CBO) data published by the office of Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, estimates.
“Schumer’s Shutdown Shenanigans mean taxpayers will be on the hook for another $400 million today to pay 750,000 non-essential bureaucrats NOT to work,” Ernst said in a comment to Fox News Digital Friday.
“Democrats’ political stunt to fight for taxpayer-funded healthcare for illegal immigrants has officially become a billion-dollar boondoggle,” she added. “Enough has to be enough for the radical left. We must reopen the government and get Washington back to work serving veterans, families and hardworking Americans.”
A law passed in 2019 requires furloughed employees receive backpay after a funding agreement is reached and a shutdown ends. The CBO found that the furloughed employees’ daily cost of compensation sits at about $400 million, or a total of $1.2 billion as of Friday.
WHITE HOUSE SAYS FEDERAL LAYOFFS COULD HIT ‘THOUSANDS’ AHEAD OF TRUMP, VOUGHT MEETING
“Using information from the agencies’ contingency plans and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), CBO estimates that under a lapse in discretionary funding for fiscal year 2026 about 750,000 employees could be furloughed each day; the total daily cost of their compensation would be roughly $400 million,” a letter from the Congressional Budget Office to Ernst stated Tuesday.
The data was released after the Iowa Republican requested CBO provide a data cost breakdown of the shutdown in September as the deadline clock ran out.
The CBO data was largely based on statistics from a five-week partial shutdown from Dec. 22, 2018, until Jan. 25, 2019, during the first Trump administration, the office noted in its letter to Ernst.
The letter added that the number of furloughed federal employees, estimated at about 750,000 staffers, could vary by the day “because some agencies might furlough more employees the longer a shutdown persists and others might recall some initially furloughed employees.”
The government shut down early Wednesday morning after Senate lawmakers failed to reach a budget agreement. House lawmakers had approved a short-term extension of fiscal year 2025 funding earlier in September that aimed to keep the government funded through Nov. 21.
The Trump administration and Republicans have since pinned blame for the shutdown on Democrats, claiming they sought taxpayer-funded medical benefits for illegal immigrants. Democrats have denied they want to fund healthcare for illegal immigrants and instead have blamed Republicans for the shutdown.
Fox News Digital reached out to Schumer’s office for comment on the CBO data and Ernst’s remarks but did not immediately receive a reply.
White House spokesman Kush Desai slammed Democrats as “not serious people” when asked about the CBO data Friday morning.
HERE’S WHAT TRUMP WANTS TO DO TO RESHAPE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT DURING THE SHUTDOWN
“Democrats are burning $400 million a day to pay federal workers not to work because they want to spend $200 billion on free health care for illegal aliens,” Desai told Fox News Digital. “These are not serious people.”
Trump repeatedly has said he did not want a shutdown to unfold, but noted Tuesday as the clock ran out that some “good” could come from it.
“A lot of good can come down from shutdowns,” he told reporters. “We can get rid of a lot of things that we didn’t want, and they’d be Democrat things. But they want open borders. They want men playing in women’s sports. They want transgender for everybody. They never stop. They don’t learn. We won an election in a landslide.”
SOCIAL SECURITY, AIRPORTS, FOOD STAMPS: HOW ARE YOU AFFECTED DURING A GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN?
The administration is expected to lay off federal employees across various agencies amid the shutdown, with Trump meeting Office of Management and Budget chief Russell Vought Thursday to map out which departments and programs to target for cuts.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday that “thousands” of employees will likely be laid off.
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“Look, it’s likely going to be in the thousands,” Leavitt said. “It’s a very good question. And that’s something that the Office of Management and Budget and the entire team at the White House here, again, is unfortunately having to work on today.”
Maher challenges Chappelle to mock Muhammad in Saudi Arabia after free speech claim
“Real Time” host Bill Maher called out comedian Dave Chappelle Friday for downplaying free speech in America during his performance at the Riyadh Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia last week.
“Dave Chappelle … was in the press today saying that you can speak more freely over here than in America,” Maher told comedian Louis C.K., who is set to perform at the Saudi comedy festival on Monday.
C.K. let out a laugh and conceded, “I don’t know if that’s true.”
CHAPPELLE SAYS IT’S EASIER TO SPEAK FREELY AT SAUDI ARABIAN COMEDY FEST THAN IN USA, BRINGS UP CHARLIE KIRK
“Oh, it’s not true,” Maher said.
He added that if Chappelle truly believed that Saudi Arabia had fewer restrictions on free speech than America, he should have tested that claim by doing a routine about the Prophet Muhammad.
Reacting to Maher’s suggestion, C.K. quickly clarified that Chappelle is a Muslim.
“So, it depends on who you are and what you want to talk about.”
BILL MAHER URGES AMERICANS TO UNCONDITIONALLY SUPPORT FREE SPEECH, AVOID BECOMING LIKE BRITAIN
According to The New York Times, Chappelle told an audience of about 6,000 people, “Right now in America, they say that if you talk about Charlie Kirk, that you’ll get canceled. I don’t know if that’s true, but I’m gonna find out.”
The Times reported that Chappelle was met with “whoops, cheers and applause” after telling the crowd, “It’s easier to talk here than it is in America.”
Comedians performing at the festival have come under fire in recent weeks, even receiving pushback from fellow comedians who argued that Saudi Arabia is using the high-profile event to improve its global image despite alleged human rights abuses.
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In a statement posted on his website, comedian and actor David Cross blasted his peers for taking part in the event, citing the host nation’s “crimes against humanity.”
Cross referenced accusations that the Saudi government assisted 9/11 hijackers, that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman allegedly ordered the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the kingdom’s record on LGBTQ and women’s rights.
Cross wrote he was “disgusted and deeply disappointed in this whole gross thing,” accusing the participants of condoning “a totalitarian fiefdom for … what, a fourth house? A boat? More sneakers?”
During a recent episode of “Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast,” comedian Shane Gillis revealed he was offered a “significant” amount of money to perform at the event but declined the job. He said the festival’s organizers doubled their offer, but he once again turned them down.
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“I took a principled stand,” Gillis said. “You don’t 9/11 your friends.”
Fox News Digital reached out to representatives of Chappelle for comment.
Rock guitarist steps back from band’s reunion tour after cancer diagnosis
Oasis guitarist Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs is putting his health first.
The 60-year-old rocker is stepping away from the band’s global reunion tour to get treatment for prostate cancer.
Arthurs shared the news in a candid Instagram post Friday, telling fans he was diagnosed earlier this year and is entering the next phase of treatment.
OASIS FAN DIES IN TRAGIC FALL DURING WEMBLEY STADIUM SHOW ON BAND’S WORLD TOUR
“The good news is I’m responding really well to treatment, which meant I could be part of this incredible tour,” Arthurs wrote. “Now, I am having to take a planned break for the next phase of my care, so I’ll be missing the gigs in Seoul, Tokyo, Melbourne and Sydney.”
He admitted he’s heartbroken to be away from the shows but promised fans this isn’t the end of the road.
“I’m really sad to be missing these shows,” he continued. “I am feeling good and will be back ready to go in time for South America.
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“Have an amazing time if you’re going this month and I’ll see you back onstage with the band in November,” he added.
Oasis echoed his post on its own Instagram, resharing Arthurs’ message and adding, “Wishing you all the best with your treatment @boneheadspage — we’ll see you back on stage in South America.”
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Arthurs, a founding member of Oasis, rejoined the band for its highly anticipated reunion tour, which has sparked global fan excitement.
Fans flooded social media with messages of support and well-wishes for the guitarist.
“All the best buddy! Your contribution to the tour so far has been stellar,” one fan wrote.
TOM CRUISE BOLDLY SHOWS UP AT OASIS CONCERT DESPITE INFAMOUS DISS BY BAND MEMBERS
Another added, “FEEL BETTER BONEY WE LOVE U.”
“Be well and be back, you’re very important to us,” read another comment on Instagram.
Arthurs has faced a health battle before.
In 2022, while touring with Liam Gallagher, he revealed he had been diagnosed with tonsil cancer and stepped away from performing.
“Just to let you all know I’m going to be taking a break from playing for a while,” he wrote at the time in a statement. “I’ve been diagnosed with tonsil cancer, but the good news is it’s treatable, and I’ll be starting a course of treatment soon.
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“I’ll keep you posted on how it’s going. I’m gutted I’m missing the gigs with Liam and the band,” Arthurs added. “Have the best summer and enjoy the gigs if you’re going, I’ll see you soon xxx.”
By September 2022, Arthurs announced he was cancer-free after scans showed his cancer was gone, according to the BBC.
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Israel agrees to Gaza withdrawal line as Trump announces ceasefire deal moves forward
President Donald Trump on Saturday announced Israel has agreed to the “initial withdrawal line” in Gaza, which the U.S. has shared with Hamas.
Pending Hamas’ confirmation, the agreement will trigger an immediate ceasefire and exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.
“After negotiations, Israel has agreed to the initial withdrawal line, which we have shown to, and shared with, Hamas. When Hamas confirms, the Ceasefire will be IMMEDIATELY effective, the Hostages and Prisoner Exchange will begin, and we will create the conditions for the next phase of withdrawal, which will bring us close to the end of this 3,000 YEAR CATASTROPHE,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Saturday.
“Thank you for your attention to this matter and, STAY TUNED!”
ISRAEL’S ARMY WILL ‘ADVANCE READINESS’ FOR FIRST PHASE OF TRUMP PLAN TO RELEASE HOSTAGES
The announcement comes hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement Saturday morning noting Israel was “on the verge of a very great achievement.”
“It is not yet final; we are working on it diligently, and I hope, with God’s help, that in the coming days, during the Sukkot holiday, I will be able to inform you about the return of all our hostages, both living and deceased, in one phase, while the IDF remains deep within the Strip and in the controlling areas within it,” Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu claimed that after intense military and diplomatic pressure, Hamas was pressured into agreeing to Israel’s proposed plan, rejecting the fact that Hamas had previously been ready to release the Israeli hostages without a full withdrawal from Gaza.
TRUMP’S PEACE DEAL COULD END THE WAR IN GAZA OR NETANYAHU’S CAREER
In the first stage of the withdrawal plan, he said Hamas will release all Israeli hostages while the IDF redeploys but maintains control over key strategic areas deep inside the Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu will send his negotiating team, headed by Minister Ron Dermer, to Egypt to finalize the technical details of the hostage release, which he expects to conclude within a few days.
The prime minister emphasized that both Israel and the U.S. intend to prevent any stalling or delay tactics by Hamas.
NETANYAHU ADDRESSES TRUMP’S 21-POINT PEACE PLAN, CALLS FREEING HOSTAGES AND DISMANTLING HAMAS TOP PRIORITIES
In the second stage of the plan, Netanyahu said Hamas will be disarmed and the Gaza Strip demilitarized, either through diplomatic means under the Trump Plan or, if necessary, by military force.
“I also said this in Washington: Either it will be achieved the easy way, or it will be achieved the hard way — but it will be achieved,” he said.
“Together, we pushed back our enemies’ plans of destruction. From Gaza to Rafah, from Beirut to Damascus, from Yemen to Tehran, together we have achieved great things,” Netanyahu added. “From victory to victory — we are changing the face of the Middle East together. Together we will continue to act to ensure the eternity of Israel.”
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Netanyahu thanked Trump for his assistance in dispatching the B2 planes to bomb the nuclear facility in Fordo and for his “steadfast support.”
Terrified parishioner’s plea during Minneapolis church attack: ‘Dear God in heaven’
Newly released 911 transcripts reveal the fear and chaos that gripped students, staff and clergy inside a Minneapolis church when a gunman clad in tactical gear opened fire on them in August.
The transcripts, obtained by Fox News Digital, include teachers whispering to calm students and staff urging children to stay hidden at Annunciation Catholic Church, while passersby outside describe the gunfire.
The heroism of educators and staff who kept students quiet under pews and sheltered in a downstairs classroom is vividly revealed.
“Dear God, dear God in heaven, there’s some guns in Annunciation Church, on 54th,” Karen McCann, a parishioner hiding in the sanctuary, told a dispatcher.
HAUNTING FOOTAGE SHOWS SUBURBAN MINNEAPOLIS HOME WHERE TRANS GUNMAN PLOTTED SCHOOL ATTACK
“We’re all crouched down under the — it just happened. We’re crouched under the pews. … I’s a whole bunch of people here,” McCann said. “He might be coming in the church again.”
The dispatcher tried to reassure her, saying, “We have so many responders on the way to you.”
The Aug. 27 mass shooting left two children dead and 18 others injured. The alleged gunman, Robin Westman, killed himself with his own weapon, police said.
In the Minneapolis police offense report also obtained by Fox News Digital, investigators labeled the attack with “no bias” motivation, meaning it was not classified as a hate crime under state reporting standards.
The first 911 calls came from people outside the church who either saw the gunman or heard bullets ring out as early as 8:27 a.m., as students were getting ready to pray.
“There’s gunshots. … There’s like gunshots all over,” an unidentified caller said. “Uhm, must have been 20 all together in a bunch of different bursts,” the caller said.
Jillian Mai, a parent driving by, described a man “in head-to-toe camo gear” with “black goggles … standing in place next to the church,” while neighbor Caitlin Nolan said she saw the shooter across the street.
“He was shooting at the church. … He seemed to be wearing all black and had a black, gigantic [gun],” Nolan said. “[It] had to be automatic.”
Inside, the horror was unfolding.
“We need, we need medical assistance ASAP. We got multiple people have been shot,” an unidentified woman caller, likely a staff member, told a dispatcher.
Father Dennis Zehren confirmed that children were inside the church and that the gunman was active at the south end of the building.
GIRL SHOT IN HEAD DURING MINNEAPOLIS CHURCH MASSACRE MAKING ‘MIRACULOUS’ RECOVERY
Becca Hare, a fourth-grade teacher, confirmed people were injured.
“I don’t know how many people are here, but there are people hurt,” Hare said. “Stay down, stay down, OK … I’m going to go help. I’m going to go help.”
The calls reveal dispatchers telling the terrified callers to stay hidden as teachers worked to keep students quiet under the pews.
A teacher named Diane reported that she and her aides were downstairs, where they managed to barricade doors and took in fleeing children, actions that also likely kept the children safe from stray fire.
“We were downstairs having crackers, and, all of a sudden, we heard gunshots. … There’s a whole bunch of kids started coming in ’cause they’re running from everywhere,” she said.
“We’re in the church basement, locked in the classroom right now.”
At the end of Hare’s call, she told students that the police had arrived, and she began giving commands to others to move out.
“People just asked if someone was hurt, and they said yes,” Hare said. “If you’re injured and you can walk, could you walk?” she said as she tried to evacuate the children.
“Injured are going. We are evacuating,” she said. “We are going to the school. We are going to the school. It’s OK, I promise.”
Outside, two of Westman’s stray bullets also hit the car of motorist Timothy Barnes, who said he was driving by as gunfire erupted.
“I saw a guy start shooting and my car got hit by bullets,” Barnes said.
Barnes described the shooter as being in all-black tactical gear with an assault rifle, standing “between the school and the church in a green space.”
In other documents obtained by Fox News Digital, police confirmed that a death by suicide occurred as part of the same case.
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Westman is not named in the documents, which were redacted in accordance with Minnesota state law. Minneapolis police, however, identified him by name during a press briefing following the shooting.
Two children, Fletcher Merkel and Harper Moyski, were killed, and 18 people — 15 of them children — were injured. Sophia Forchas, who was shot in the head is making a steady recovery.