J-K terror: Doctor, 5 labourers killed as terrorists open fire at construction site in Ganderbal
The terrorists had attacked a camp where workers of a private company were working on an under-construction tunnel in the Gund area, as per official reports.
Elon Musk to upgrade security after left-wing magazine labels him ‘Public Enemy No. 2’
Elon Musk said Sunday he planned to upgrade his security after a left-wing German magazine labeled him an enemy of the people. Musk held a town hall discussion in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Sunday in support of former President Donald Trump’s candidacy. While talking to the crowd, Musk commented on the heightened political atmosphere as the nation approached the November presidential election. He noted he was recently on the cover of Der Spiegel, which labeled him “Public Enemy No. 2” – the first being Trump. “I’m like, enemy number 2 of what? Uh, democracy? I mean I’m pro-democracy. I’m literally trying to uphold the Constitution and ensure we have a free and fair election,” Musk said, eliciting applause from the crowd. ELON GOES ON CAMPAIGN BLITZ AGAINST GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS, VOWS TO REVEAL BIZARRE ALLEGED SCHEMES “I’m definitely upgrading my security. Guess I better cancel that open-car parade,” Musk said, a seeming nod to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The SpaceX CEO said he was a “little shook” by the “level of vitriolic hatred on the left.” ELON MUSK KICKS OFF DAILY MILLION-DOLLAR GIVEAWAY FOR SIGNERS OF PRO-TRUMP PETITION “They claim they’re tolerant. And yet, they’re incredibly intolerant and spewing hate,” Musk said. “Whereas on the right I see people who tend to regard people on the left as, well, misguided. But they don’t hate them… but the amount of hate coming from the left is like, wow, next level.” Fox News Digital has reached out to Der Spiegel for a response. Former President Trump has survived two assassination attempts – one during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July, and another around two months later while he was playing a round of golf at his club in West Palm Beach, Florida. Musk officially endorsed Trump over the summer, when the 45th president survived the first assassination attempt, and has since joined the campaign trail in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania to rally support and encourage people to vote. Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.
Vance takes faith approach after Harris mocked pro-life protesters at rally: ‘Jesus is King’
An attendee at Sen. JD Vance’s Wisconsin rally shouted “Jesus is King!” during his speech on Sunday afternoon, with Vance echoing the attendee and repeating the same phrase – a different approach than Vice President Kamala Harris seemed to take last week. Vance shared that, while he doesn’t talk about his faith often, he returned to his faith as a young man and is a devout Christian. He said he was baptized in 2019. “I say this as a Christian, as a person who was baptized for the first time just a few years ago. There is something really bizarre with Kamala Harris’ anti-Christian rhetoric and anti-Christian approach to public policy,” Vance explained. This comes after Vice President Kamala Harris seemingly told two Christian students at her Wisconsin rally last week that they were “at the wrong rally” when they shouted “Jesus is Lord” and “Christ is King.” PRO-LIFE PROTESTERS SPEAK OUT AFTER ALLEGEDLY BEING MOCKED, PUSHED AT HARRIS RALLY: ‘WE DID GOD’S WORK’ As he continued speaking about faith and politics, he was interrupted by an attendee who shouted “Jesus is King.” “That’s right. Jesus is King,” Vance responds. Vance then addressed a viral video of Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer wearing a Harris-Walz campaign hat while feeding Doritos to a kneeling podcast host in what some critics said made a mockery of a sacred Christian rite. “I don’t think that we’ve seen anything like this in modern American politics,” Vance said. “Gretchen Whitmer does this really bizarre thing where she acts like she’s given somebody communion, but it’s a Dorito. And of course, Gretchen Whitmer isn’t like a minister of anything except for, you know, a church I don’t necessarily want to talk about, but think about how sacrilegious that is and think about how offensive that is to every person.” “Frankly, whether you’re a person of Christian faith or not, Donald Trump and I are going to fight for your right to live your values, because that’s what the First Amendment protects. And I think whether you’re a Christian, a Catholic or any other faith or no faith at all, when you see an American leader, when you see a surrogate of Kamala Harris insulting people of the Christian faith, I think that we should say to every single one of those people, you’re fired. We’re not giving you any more power,” Vance continued. CATHOLICS HOLD ‘ROSARY RALLY’ OUTSIDE GRETCHEN WHITMER’S HOUSE AFTER DORITOS VIDEO SPARKS BACKLASH Whitmer has since apologized for the video and emphasized that the video was not meant to mock people of faith. Vance continued speaking about the support the Trump administration has for religious people, unlike the Harris campaign, he said. “There are a lot of Catholics. So I think rightfully feel abandoned by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’s leadership. And they’re just looking for somebody to protect their rights and make this country an affordable and decent place to raise a family,” Vance said during his rally in Waukesha. “And that’s all I think that’s true of a lot of Catholics. It’s true of non-Catholics, too. But we cannot have an American government that is persecuting Christians for living their faith. We should be rewarding people and encouraging people to live their faith.” Vance’s comments come after two pro-life Wisconsin college students insisted that they were doing “God’s work” by attending Harris’ rally on their university’s campus and shouting pro-life, Christian messages last week. GRETCHEN WHITMER APOLOGIZES FOR DORITOS VIDEO CRITICS SAY MOCKED CHRISTIAN SACRAMENT In video footage of the rally, the student’s voices are heard shouting the phrases. Harris, pausing her speech, turned her attention to them, and said, “You guys are at the wrong rally.” She continued as the crowd roared, “I think you meant to go to the smaller one down the street” – referring to Trump’s rally. Luke Polaske, a University of Wisconsin-La Crosse junior, shared a vivid account of the incident from his perspective, stating that he and fellow UW-La Crosse junior Grant Beth were approximately 20 to 30 yards away from Harris in the small venue. In detailing the encounter, he described his perceived interaction with the vice president. “There’s a lot of controversy that says she wasn’t talking to us or [that] we left. We didn’t get kicked out. Well, I can speak on Grant and I’s behalf,” Polaske said. “On video, Grant’s getting pushed and shoved, and there’s about five seconds before she tells us to go to a small rally down the street. You can see on the video, she waves. She was actually waving to me. I took this cross off my neck that I wear and, as we were getting asked to leave, I held it up in the air and waved at her and pointed at her, and she looked directly in the eye, kind of gave me an evil smirk.” “I just want to clear that up and confirm that she 100% was talking to us.” Fox News Digital reached out to Kamala Harris’ campaign for comment and did not immediately receive a response. Fox News Digital’s Taylor Penley contributed to this report.
Heavy showers lash Mumbai, IMD issues yellow and red alert in THESE areas for next two days, check details
For most districts in Maharashtra, the IMD issued a yellow alert, warning of thunderstorms, lightning, and moderate rainfall with gusty winds
What Donald Trump said he’s getting Kamala Harris for her birthday
Former President Trump, who spent part of his afternoon serving food from a drive-thru window at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania, wished Vice President Kamala Harris a Happy Birthday, joking that he might get her flowers and fries. Trump made a stop in Feasterville-Trevose, Pennsylvania, on Sunday afternoon to operate the fry cooker and serve McDonald’s orders to customers going through the drive-thru. He even told customers as he handed them their food that the order was on him. Throughout the afternoon, the former president and current presidential candidate would talk with people standing on the other side of the drive-thru lane, some of whom consisted of members of the press and photographers. As Trump wrapped up his time serving up Big Macs and fries, he took several questions from the press pool, including one person who mentioned it was the vice president’s birthday today. TRUMP TEASES HE WILL ‘DO EVERYTHING’ WHILE WORKING BEHIND MCDONALD’S COUNTER IN CRUCIAL SWING STATE “It’s Kamala’s Birthday?” Trump replied. “She’s 60 years old? Yes, I would say, ‘Happy Birthday, Kamala.’“ “She’s turning 60? I think I’ll get her some flowers. Maybe I’ll get her some fries… give her some McDonald’s fries,” he added. “Happy Birthday, Kamala. Happy Birthday.” Fox News Digital has reached out to both the Harris and Trump campaigns for comment. CRUNCH TIME: HARRIS TEAMING UP WITH OBAMAS NEXT WEEK ON CAMPAIGN TRAIL With just over two weeks to go until Election Day, Trump remains locked in a tight presidential race with Harris and continues to claim the Vice President never worked at McDonald’s. Harris is campaigning to succeed President Biden in the White House and has spotlighted her middle-class upbringing and her time working at McDonald’s while working on her undergraduate degree in the 1980s. While on the Howard Stern show earlier this month, the radio show host asked Harris about her time working at McDonald’s. CAMPAIGN BATTLE BETWEEN THE BILLIONAIRES: MARK CUBAN AND ELON MUSK HIT THE TRAIL FOR HARRIS AND TRUMP “I mean, I was doing the fries, and you got to watch the timer, and it’s, it’s hard work,” Harris told Stern. “But honestly, Howard, I will say in all seriousness, the point about McDonald’s for me is… I was a college kid, and it was spending money. “There were people who were working there, [and] that was the source of their family’s income…and that’s the thing that I think that’s my takeaway about that experience, as much as anything, which is we still got a lot of work to do to make sure that folks cannot just get by, but get ahead,” Harris said. But Trump claims she is not telling the truth about working in the fast-food industry. He told “Fox and Friends” on Friday he was going to go work at McDonald’s on Sunday “because she lied.” “You don’t think she ever worked in McDonald’s?” co-host Brian Kilmeade asked. “I know she didn’t. We checked it out,” Trump said. “They said she never worked here.” Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
Arab Americans sour on Democrats amid war in Middle East: Activist says Trump outreach has been ‘surreal’
An old adage suggests that foreign policy doesn’t decide elections. “It’s the economy, stupid,” Clinton campaign strategist James Carville famously proclaimed in the lead-up to the 1992 elections. But this year’s nail-biter presidential election could come down, in part, to war in the Middle East – and whether Vice President Kamala Harris can recapture support from the historically Democratic Arab-American community. And according to activists in swing states, the Trump team is seizing on Arab Americans’ sour feelings about the Biden-Harris administration. “For Democrats, outreach is pretty null towards the grassroots,” Samraa Luqman, a Dearborn-based Arab-American activist told Fox News Digital. “The Republicans’ outreach has been like nothing I have ever seen,” said Luqman, who wrote in Bernie Sanders in 2020 and is now voting for former President Donald Trump. “The people that are surrounding the president have been in communication with grassroots organizers, local leaders, people like myself,” she went on. “I’m really not somebody on the national stage. . . . And yet, here I am with access” to those like Richard Grenell, Trump’s former acting Director of National Intelligence, and Massad Boulos, father-in-law of Trump’s daughter, Tiffany. Grenell, who may well find himself in a Cabinet-level job if Trump is elected, and Boulos, a Lebanese-American businessman, have been leading the outreach to Arab American communities in swing states and “they’ve gotten progressives like myself on board to say that this is the right person for the job at this time, considering the alternative.” For Luqman — who supports Medicare for all and student debt forgiveness – hers is a vote of protest more than an enthusiasm for Trump. “It’s really become an issue about genocide and how to hold administrations accountable for it, simply because we cannot reward an administration for genocide.” To Luqman and Palestinian supporters in the U.S., President Joe Biden’s criticisms of Israel’s offensive campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon ring hollow when the U.S. continues to provide aid without conditions to the war effort. NETANYAHU HITS BIDEN ADMIN, SAYS ISRAEL – NOT US – WILL DECIDE HOW TO HANDLE IRAN Biden is a “completely owned dog to Bibi,” said Luqman, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump, she said, “is not.” “Trump is a wild card, and we saw him sour on Bibi towards the end of his presidency.” “Perhaps he would say his America-first policy means that we are going to keep our billions at home,” she went on. “Perhaps he would say, you know, the whole ‘peace through strength’ . . . I told you to do something, and you didn’t do it, then possibly withholding the military aid would come next.” As for what Trump might do better, “It really comes down to personality.” Michigan, which Biden narrowly won in 2020, is a crucial battleground state this election. It has the second-highest population of Arab American residents – north of 300,000. Trump won the state by just 11,000 votes in 2016 over Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, and then lost the state four years later by nearly 154,000 votes to Biden. And while Arab Americans also historically favor Democrats, new polling suggests that could change. Of likely voters in the community, Arab Americans favor Trump over Harris 46% to 42%, according to new polling by the Arab American Institute. “This is a shift that started several years ago, around 2022, when there was sexually explicit material in books in public school libraries, and the community felt, you know, [they wanted] to assert parental rights. They did not want their children exposed to these at whatever age it was,” said Luqman. “I’m not one of those people that was in those buckets. I am very liberal. But once Oct. 7 happened, that solidified support for Republicans among some people within this community.” Last month, Democratic Mayor Amer Ghalib of Hamtramck, Michigan, a town where 60% are believed to be Muslim Americans, announced his endorsement of Trump. AS GAZA WAR DRAGS PAST 1 YEAR MARK, HOPE FADES FOR A DEAL TO BRING HOSTAGES HOME SOON Biden won 60% of the Arab American vote in 2020, but support from that community has cratered since the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, 2023. The National Uncommitted and Abandon Biden movement launched a campaign calling on voters to cast uncommitted ballots in swing state primaries to send a message to Democrats, and more than a million did so. Trump has said that for a Jewish American not to vote for him “shows either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty.” His campaign frequently suggests that Harris favors the Palestinian cause over the Israelis. But in April, Trump told radio host Hugh Hewitt “Israel is absolutely losing the PR war,” and criticized the images being shown of Gaza in ruins. “You’ve got to get it over with, and you have to get back to normalcy. And I’m not sure that I’m loving the way they’re doing it, because you’ve got to have victory,” Trump said, without directly answering whether he was “100 percent with Israel.” Trump recently said that a post-war Gaza could be “better than Monaco.” “It could be better than Monaco. It has the best location in the Middle East, the best water, the best everything,” he told Hewitt earlier this month. “They never took advantage of it. You know, as a developer, it could be the most beautiful place,” he said. Trump has blamed the current unrest in the Middle East on Harris and Biden for loosening sanctions on Iran, thus emboldening its proxies to carry out the attack last year. But his growing support among Arab Americans is a stark shift from the post 9/11 years and comes despite a history of anti-Muslim remarks and a travel ban on people from Muslim-majority nations in his first presidential administration. And it’s a reflection of how Harris refusing to put any daylight between herself and Biden could be damaging. After Luqman’s efforts to get the party to abandon Biden, “I think I could have considered possibly voting
11 million illegals would have become citizens under bill that Kamala Harris promoted
Vice President Kamala Harris touted an immigration bill from 2021 as evidence that she and President Biden worked to strengthen U.S. immigration policies ahead of the migrant crisis that has rocked the U.S. in the last three and a half years. A review of the bill, however, shows it would have paved the way to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants. “At the beginning of our administration, within practically hours of taking the oath, the first bill that we offered Congress – before we worked on infrastructure, before the Inflation Reduction Act, before the Chips and Science Act, before the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act – the first bill, practically within hours of taking the oath, was a bill to fix our immigration system,” Harris said when speaking with Fox News’ Bret Baier last week in her first interview with Fox News since Biden dropped out of the presidential race in July and Harris ascended to the top of the Democratic ticket. “Yes, ma’am. It was called the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021,” Baier responded, which Baier described as “essentially a pathway to citizenship.” WHAT VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS LEFT OUT ABOUT BIDEN ADMIN’S ROLE IN BORDER CRISIS: A TIMELINE “Exactly,” Harris responded before Baier began to say that the bill “was essentially a pathway to citizenship.” Harris’ response came after Baier grilled the VP on the Biden-Harris administration reversing Trump border policies upon their inauguration in 2021, including a Trump policy that required illegal immigrants to be detained while awaiting asylum hearings. Baier asked Harris if she “regrets” terminating the Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” policy in light of illegal immigrant males who have allegedly committed ghastly crimes such as murder in the U.S. under the administration. JD VANCE CALLS OUT KAMALA HARRIS’ ‘BIZARRE’ ANSWERS TO BRET BAIER: ‘SOMETHING PATHOLOGICAL GOING ON’ On Biden and Harris’ first day in office in 2021, the president sent Congress a piece of legislation touted as one that would “restore humanity and American values to our immigration system.” The U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 was never enacted, dying in Congress instead, and detailed that in addition to “modernizing” the U.S. immigration system, it explicitly detailed it would “provide pathways to citizenship & strengthen labor protections.” KAMALA HARRIS ASSERTS HER PRESIDENCY ‘WILL NOT BE A CONTINUATION’ OF BIDEN’S As Democrats in Congress unveiled the bill in February of that year, the White House estimated that up to 11 million illegal immigrants could earn citizenship through an eight-year plan, including those deported under the Trump administration, Fox News Digital reported at the time. “Applicants must be physically present in the United States on or before January 1, 2021. The Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) may waive the presence requirement for those deported on or after January 20, 2017 who were physically present for at least three years prior to removal for family unity and other humanitarian purposes. Lastly, the bill further recognizes America as a nation of immigrants by changing the word ‘alien’ to ‘noncitizen’ in our immigration laws,” the White House’s fact sheet for the bill stated. Other items in the bill included granting immediate eligibility for green cards to farmworkers, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) recipients and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients. It would have also opened up legal pathways to immigration by expanding the controversial green card lottery from 55,000 a year to 80,000 a year and exempting children and spouses from visa cap numbers. Conservatives in Congress slammed the legislation as an amnesty bill that would not only fail to bolster immigration laws, but encourage people to illegally cross into the U.S. KAMALA HARRIS REPEATEDLY PIVOTS TO TRUMP WHEN GRILLED ON IMMIGRATION RECORD IN FOX NEWS INTERVIEW Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., called it a “massive proposal for blanket amnesty that would gut enforcement of American laws while creating huge new incentives for people to rush here illegally at the same time.” Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who was part of the 2013 “Gang of Eight,” brushed the legislation off as a non-starter. Harris was grilled about her immigration policies during her interview with Baier, frequently dodging the questions by responding with criticisms of former President Trump. DEMS TO INTRODUCE BIDEN-BACKED IMMIGRATION BILL, INCLUDES CITIZENSHIP PATH FOR MILLIONS OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS Baier kicked off the interview Wednesday by asking Harris how many illegal immigrants were released by the Biden administration into the country. “Well, I’m glad you raised the issue of immigration, because I agree with you,” Harris responded. “It is a topic of discussion that people want to rightly have. And you know what I’m going to talk about-“ “But just a number,” Baier pressed. “Do you think it’s 1 million? Three million?” “Bret, let’s just get to the point, OK? The point is that we have a broken immigration system that needs to be repaired,” Harris said, before Baier interjected that the Department of Homeland Security estimates 6 million illegal immigrants have been released in the U.S. since the Biden-Harris administration. Immigration, the economy, health care and abortion are among top voter concerns this election cycle. Fox News Power Rankings published earlier this month found Trump has a clear advantage on immigration, leading Harris by 11 points. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub. Fox News Digital’s Adam Shaw contributed to this report.
Trump makes fries at Pennsylvania McDonald’s: ‘I’ve now worked for 15 minutes more than Kamala’
Former President Donald Trump took on a new role as he cooked and served french fries to customers at McDonald’s on Sunday afternoon in Pennsylvania, while dishing out plenty of jabs at Vice President Kamala Harris. Thousands of Trump supporters surrounded the McDonald’s restaurant as Trump spent the afternoon working as a fry cook after accusing Harris of lying about working at the fast food restaurant. “I’ve now worked for 15 minutes more than Kamala at McDonald’s,” Trump said through the drive-thru window as he handed out orders. “I’ve really wanted to do this all my life. And now I’m going to do it because she didn’t do it,” Trump continued. TRUMP ASKS PENNSYLVANIA CROWD, ‘ARE YOU BETTER OFF NOW THAN YOU WERE FOUR YEARS AGO?’ Trump claimed he also spoke with McDonald’s about Harris’ claims that she worked at the fast-food chain. “She shouldn’t lie about it. McDonald’s confirmed four times that she never worked here. But, let’s not talk about that. It’s an amazing business. It’s an amazing country. And we’re going to make America greater than ever before,” Trump said. Trump donned an apron and cooked fries while talking to reporters about his call with the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, raising the minimum wage, what it was like working at McDonald’s, and even wishing Kamala Harris a happy birthday. FORMER NFL STAR ANTONIO BROWN SLAMS HARRIS, SAYS ‘TAMPON TIM’ WALZ WASN’T A REAL FOOTBALL COACH AT TRUMP RALLY Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman joined Trump during his shift and said he was in great spirits and was actually doing the cooking and giving customers their orders. “I love McDonald’s, I love jobs, I like to see good jobs. And I think it’s inappropriate when somebody puts down all over the place that you work. Think that was a big part of her resume and that you worked at McDonald’s,” Trump said. Trump smiled and continued to cook fries and hand out orders to customers while praising the manager and promising to make America better if he was elected president again. “Look how happy everybody is. They’re happy because they want hope. They need hope and that’s what we’re doing is going to give much more than hope you’re going to make. We’re going to take hope and make it back,” Trump said.
New ‘insulting’ Harris ad target’s Black men’s love lives
Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign released a new digital advertisement that targets Black men’s love lives, insinuating that they will be rejected by women if they don’t have a plan to vote. The ads depict a dating game in which a Black man approaches a group of women who are holding balloons. They begin to ask him questions about himself, including how much he makes, how tall he is and whether he works out. The man’s answers get seemingly positive responses from the women, until one asks him if he has a plan to vote in November. “Nah, not my thing,” the man says, prompting all the women in the scene to pop their balloons. “Vote. Election Day is Nov 5,” reads a message at the end of the ad alongside a Harris-Walz campaign logo. BLACK GROUP FIRES BACK AT OBAMA FOR ‘INSULTING’ HARRIS PITCH: ‘WORST KIND OF IDENTITY POLITICS’ “New Harris/Walz ad tells black men that women will reject them if they don’t vote,” Center for the Study of Partisanship and Ideology President Richard Hanania remarked in a post on X along with a video of the ad. “Memorable and works as an appeal to self-interest.” But not all users were sold on the content of the ad, with some arguing that the ad only served to “insult” and “dehumanize” Black men. “Democrats continue to dehumanize and insult black men and try to shame and pressure them into only voting for them,” one user wrote. “Kamala campaign doesn’t even try to engage respectfully.” “Does the Harris Walz team really believe this will convince anyone to vote for them?” asked another. “Belittling and insulting,” another user added. “I think this might have the opposite effect,” one user quipped. ‘AUTO WORKERS FOR TRUMP’ LEADER SAYS THOUSANDS POISED TO BREAK FROM DEMS OVER GREEN POLICIES, JOB KILLING REGS The ad comes as some have begun to speculate that Harris is struggling to win over the support of young Black men, a typically dependable demographic of voters for Democrats. According to one Howard University Initiative on Public Opinion poll, 81% of Black men say they plan to vote for Harris, though that number drops to 68% for Black men under 50 years old, with 21% of that group indicating they plan to support former President Trump. Former President Barack Obama has also joined in on the recent appeal to Black men, arguing at a rally in Pennsylvania earlier this month that the group should have the same enthusiasm for Harris as they did for his campaigns in 2008 and 2012. “My understanding, based on reports I’m getting from campaigns and communities, is that we have not yet seen the same kinds of energy and turnout in all quarters of our neighborhoods and communities as we saw when I was running,” Obama said at the time, adding that the lack of enthusiasm “seems to be more pronounced with the brothers” and that they might not want to support a female president. “And you are thinking about sitting out?” he said. “Part of it makes me think – and I’m speaking to men directly – part of it makes me think that, well, you just aren’t feeling the idea of having a woman as president, and you’re coming up with other alternatives and other reasons for that.” The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Graham says Israel has window to ‘replace Hamas forever’ after Sinwar killing: ‘Door is now open’
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Israel has an opportunity to have new leadership in the Gaza Strip, urging action following last week’s killing of Hamas leader and mastermind of the Oct. 7 attacks, Yahya Sinwar. “There’s a window here not only to end the fighting, but to replace Hamas forever,” Graham said in an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “And the way you do that, is you have normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel. With the death of Sinwar, the door is now open to not only find a way to get Israel to turn over Gaza and eventually Lebanon, but to have it replaced by an Arab coalition offering a better life to the Palestinians.” “I’ve never been more hopeful that normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel is possible,” he added. “I’ve been working with the Biden administration over a year and a half. I think we’re very close.” IDF SAYS ‘MISSION IS NOT OVER’ UNTIL HOSTAGES ARE RETURNED: ‘WE WILL NOT REST’ Graham, who has been working with the Biden administration to broker a deal for Israel and Saudi Arabia to establish diplomatic ties by the end of the year, also told NBC host Kristen Welker that he anticipated a counterattack by Israel against Iran soon but declined to supply a more specific timeline. “I don’t have any direct knowledge, but I know they’re serious about hitting back,” Graham said, referencing Iran’s recent launching of nearly 200 missiles at Israel. “I think it will be soon, and I think it will be a hard hit. But again, the more you can diminish Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas, better for the region. I think a normalization deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel, which is the key, is more possible than ever.” US INVESTIGATING RELEASE OF CLASSIFIED DOCS ON ISRAEL’S PLANNED STRIKE ON IRAN Meanwhile, the U.S. is reportedly investigating an unauthorized leak of classified documents with U.S. intelligence regarding Israel’s planned strikes against Iran posted to Telegram last week. Iran supports Hamas and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah, which are both designated by the State Department as foreign terrorist organizations. The U.S. is urging Israel to press for a cease-fire in Gaza following last week’s killing of Sinwar. But neither Israel nor Hamas has shown interest in such a deal after months of negotiations sputtered to a halt in August, The Associated Press reported. Israel’s government said a drone targeted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s house on Saturday, with no casualties, as fighting with Hezbollah and Hamas terrorists showed no pause. The Associated Press contributed to this report.