The Israeli air force is apparently readying itself for a potential strike against Iran’s nuclear program as the incoming Trump administration is also reportedly mulling a ‘maximum pressure 2.0’ campaign against Tehran as the situation in the Middle East rapidly evolves.

The fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime – a former ally of Iran – due in large part to the dismantling of Hezbollah in Lebanon, and in extension Syria, has not only once again changed the political landscape in the Middle East, it has left Tehran increasingly isolated. 

Israeli reports on Thursday said the evolving reality in the region has prompted Israel to once again consider targeting Iran’s nuclear program, which Jerusalem and its international allies have deemed one of the greatest emerging threats at a time when tensions between the West and nations like Russia and Iran continue to deteriorate. 

Fox News Digital could not immediately reach the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for comment on alleged plans to hit Iran’s nuclear program, though it is a step long viewed as taboo and one that Jerusalem already pursued earlier this year. 

The U.S., under the Biden administration, along with its international partners including the International Atomic Energy Agency, have urged Israel not to strike Iran’s nuclear installations. 

However, last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed the IDF had hit and degraded part of Iran’s nuclear program during a retaliatory strike in late October, but he warned it was not enough to thwart Tehran’s ability to develop a nuclear weapon.

In a similar sentiment, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in November that Iran was ‘more exposed than ever [for] strikes on its nuclear facilities.’

‘We have the opportunity to achieve our most important goal – to thwart and eliminate the existential threat to the State of Israel,’ he added.

It remains unclear to what extent Iran’s nuclear program has been impacted by the Israeli strikes, and the IAEA continues to assess that Iran is rapidly bolstering its stockpiles of near-weapons grade enriched uranium.

President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to once again take a hard-line approach when it comes to Tehran’s attempts to develop a nuclear weapon, and a report by the Wall Street Journal on Friday said his transition team was evaluating a ‘maximum pressure 2.0’ campaign.

Trump has reportedly called on his team to devise options on how the U.S. could clamp down on Iran’s nuclear ambitions, including through the possible use of preventive airstrikes, though without pulling the U.S. military into a war with Tehran.

Fox News Digital could not immediately reach the Trump transition team for comment, though in an interview with the president-elect released on Thursday, Time magazine questioned the possibility of the U.S. going to war with Iran, to which Trump responded ‘anything can happen.’

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, is putting himself forward as a contender to be the next chair of the House Rules Committee, an influential panel that acts as the last gatekeeper for most bills before they get a House-wide vote.

‘I will defer to the speaker on that,’ Roy said when asked about the chairmanship on Steve Bannon’s ‘War Room’ podcast this week. ‘Obviously, I have put my name out there.’

It would be an astonishing ascent for a lawmaker who has been a vocal critic of House leadership on certain issues, particularly on government spending.

More recently, however, the GOP rebel – and current policy chair of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus – has gained a reputation for being a conduit between GOP leaders and the lawmakers usually known for bucking their directives.

Roy got a seat on the House Rules Committee as part of a deal with ex-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., in January 2023 to expand conservative representation – a piece of a wider compromise for McCarthy to win his short-lived House speakership.

The Texas Republican was not one of the eight Republicans who later voted to oust McCarthy despite his early criticism – and was even publicly skeptical of his colleagues’ decision to do so.

The House Rules Committee is the final stop for bills before a House-wide vote. The committee and its chair are responsible for dictating the terms of debate on a bill and what, if any, amendments will also get a vote.

After a bill passes the House Rules Committee, it is then subject to a House-wide ‘rule vote’ to allow for debate on the legislation before a vote on final passage.

In his two years on the committee, Roy has voted against several House rules, which could put his hopes for the role in jeopardy.

He’s scored support from multiple colleagues, however – Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., told Fox News Digital on Thursday, ‘He’d be great. I support him 100%.’

Rep. John Carter, R-Texas, wrote on X that Roy ‘will build the conservative coalition in the House needed to support President Trump’s priorities as Rule Committee chairman.’

But unlike other committees, whose chairpersons are selected by a wider group of lawmakers, only the House speaker gets a say for the House Rules panel.

‘I think it’s important to have a rules chairman, whoever that may be, that will support leadership,’ one GOP lawmaker granted anonymity to speak freely said about Roy’s bid. 

‘The speaker is going to get his agenda passed one way or the other, and so whoever he appoints to that – that’s going to be the deal. Because he can remove them and then replace them.’

Another GOP lawmaker said, ‘He’s one of the brightest and knows procedure, but most won’t trust him in that role.’

Rumors are swirling that current House Education and Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., is also in contention for the role.

Current House Rules Committee Chairman Michael Burgess, R-Texas, is retiring at the end of this year. 

The Biden administration on Thursday announced it is launching a national strategy to combat Islamophobia. 

The move, which the administration described as the first-ever Strategy to Counter Islamophobia and Anti-Arab Hate, comes a little more than a year after Hamas’ unprovoked attack on Israel Oct. 7, 2023, which was followed by spikes in antisemitic protests and antisemitism across the United States.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment. 

‘The very idea of America is that we are all created equal and deserve to be treated equally throughout our lives,’ President Biden said in a statement posted to social media. ‘This Strategy is a historic step forward to live up to our ideals. Let us walk forward together, upholding those ideals and advancing our collective prosperity.’   

The aim of the strategy is to ‘address the bias, discrimination and threats Muslim and Arab Americans have long faced,’ the White House said in a release, noting that threats against Muslim and Arab communities in the U.S. increased over the last year.

‘In October 2023, 6-year-old Wadee Alfayoumi, an American Muslim boy of Palestinian descent, was viciously killed in his home in Illinois, and, over the last year, there have been other grievous attacks on Muslim and Arab Americans,’ the release said. 

The White House noted President Biden established an interagency group in December 2022 to fight antisemitism and Islamophobia. Last year, the administration released the first-ever National Strategy to Combat Antisemitism. 

The strategy to combat Islamophobia will focus on increasing awareness about anti-Arab hate, improve safety, tackle discrimination, accommodate religious practices and build solidarity across communities. 

Antisemitic incidents hit record highs after the Oct. 7 attack on Israel and the continued war with Hamas. 

Just this week, students at Columbia University started distributing a newspaper that had articles like ‘Zionist Peace Means Palestinian Blood’ and ‘The Myth of the Two-State Solution’ and anti-Israel protesters interrupted last month’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. 

In an exclusive interview with Fox News, Gen. Mazloum Abdi, the commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the main U.S. ally whose fighters are currently guarding 45,000 ISIS militants and their families at camps and prisons in Eastern Syria, said the Turkish military and its allied forces continue to attack his Kurdish forces, despite a U.S. brokered ceasefire deal Wednesday. 

‘We are still under constant attack from the Turkish military and the Turkish-supported opposition which is called SNA,’ Gen. Mazloum told Fox. ‘Eighty drone attacks a day we have from the Turkish military. There is intensive artillery shells. This situation has paralyzed our counterterror operation.’ 

The attacks by the Turkish military on the SDF have increased since Bashar Al Assad’s fall on December 8. Gen. Mazloum warned that if his Kurdish fighters have to flee, ISIS would return.

Gen. Mazloum said half of his fighters guarding the ISIS camps had to withdraw in recent days.

‘All of the prisons still are under our control. However, the prisons and camps are in a critical situation because who is guarding them? They are leaving and having to protect their families,’ said Gen. Mazloum in an interview from his base in Eastern Syria. ‘I can give you one example like the Raqqa ISIS prison, which contains about 1,000 ISIS ex-fighters. The number of guards there have diminished by half which is putting them in a fragile position.’ 

A chilling warning from one of America’s staunchest allies. The U.S. has 900 troops in Eastern Syria, and they would likely have to withdraw if the allied Kurdish fighters retreat under attack from Turkey’s military, which views the Kurds as a terrorist threat.

‘We don’t want to see that happen. So we’re in very close touch with our SDF partners to try to maintain that focus on counter-ISIS missions. And we are just as importantly in touch with our Turkish counterparts,’ said National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby during a White House press briefing Thursday.

Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is in Turkey today meeting with President Recep Erdogan to discuss how to bring stability to Syria.

Secretary Blinken ‘reiterated the importance of all actors in Syria respecting human rights, upholding international humanitarian law, and taking all feasible steps to protect civilians, including members of minority groups,’ State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement following the meeting with President Erdogan. ‘He emphasized the need to ensure the coalition can continue to execute its critical mission to defeat ISIS.’ 

CENTCOM Commander General Erik Kurilla met with Gen. Mazloum and the SDF in Syria on Tuesday, two days after the U.S. military carried out extensive airstrikes targeting dozens of ISIS positions in Eastern Syria. The operation struck over 75 targets – camps and operatives – using U.S. Air Force B-52s, F-15s, and A-10s, according to a statement released by U.S. Central Command.

‘There should be no doubt – we will not allow ISIS to reconstitute and take advantage of the current situation in Syria,’ said Kurilla. ‘All organizations in Syria should know that we will hold them accountable if they partner with or support ISIS in any way.’

On Wednesday, the SDF announced a truce with Syria’s Turkey-backed rebels in northern Manbij following U.S. mediation ‘to ensure the safety and security of civilians,’ Gen. Mazloum said early on Wednesday.

‘The fighters of the Manbij Military Council, who have been resisting the attacks since November 27, will withdraw from the area as soon as possible,’ Gen. Mazloum added. 

And new indications suggest a ceasefire late Thursday has tentatively been agreed to in Aleppo and Deir Ezzor south of Raqqa along the Euphrates River.

Gen. Mazloum worries about what would happen if the U.S. pulled its forces out of Syria right now.

‘We saw that the Russians – they have no further leverage in the country – same for the Iranians. So if now U.S. troops withdraw from Syria that will bring a vacuum.’

He added the following warning: ‘We expect those Islamists, different factions to unite, to fight with ISIS and that will bring back tougher extremists, terrorist organizations back to the country.’

The SDF Commander fears another bloody civil war could start if the new Syrian government in Damascus does not include different minority groups, like the Syrian Kurds.

‘So any new government in Syria needs to be representative, needs to be inclusive and contain and include all different parties of Syria. So if not that takes us to a bloody civil war in the country and that will put us in huge stage of escalatory path that no one can predict the fate of that,’ Gen. Mazloum told Fox.

Facing the Turkish fighter jets, the SDF mistakenly shot down a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone in Syria on Monday, the result of ‘friendly fire,’ a U.S. defense official told Fox News. ‘The U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters who are under attack from the Turkish military misidentified the drone as a threat,’ the official said.

A top conservative grassroots group is launching a six-figure ad campaign to support the swift confirmation of President-elect Trump’s Cabinet nominees.

The $150,000 static digital ad campaign will target nine states with a ‘soft appeal’ to voters who might, in turn, contact their senators and express how Trump ‘has a mandate from the American people,’ Heritage Action for America Vice President Ryan Walker said Thursday.

Walker said the $150,000 is the first tranche of $1 million the group has allocated through Inauguration Day to push for Americans to ask their senators to support the nominees.

The first ad of the campaign sought to bolster Defense Secretary-nominee Pete Hegseth, and the overall initial ad buy will last through Dec. 31.

Other ads have or will highlight former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, Kash Patel and former Florida Attorney General Pamela Bondi – all of whom are Trump Cabinet nominees.

This initial buy, Walker said, focuses on Alaska, Maine, Louisiana, Iowa, North Carolina, Kentucky, Indiana, Utah, South Dakota and Washington, D.C.

While most similar advertising campaigns may seek to appeal to voters in ‘swing states’ or in a particular region of the country, the states included here have a unique link, Walker said.

Some of the states included in the first ad buy are home to senators who either appear on the fence or have not stated a solid commitment for or against nominees like Hegseth, Gabbard and Patel.

Alaska and Maine are represented by two high-profile moderate Republicans – Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins, respectively. 

Both women voted to impeach Trump, but both also were supportive of some of the president-elect’s policies as well. 

‘[Trump has] really about 18 months to get a substantial amount of his agenda through before the midterms. And time is of the essence in getting these folks, these Cabinet nominees, in a timely manner,’ Walker said.

‘Uniting the Republican conference around them is what we’re trying to accomplish here.’

Walker said Heritage Action is focusing on public commentary from senators in the target states, and also is very much in tune with which nominees are in the news or spending time on Capitol Hill on certain days.

Last week and this week, Hegseth made the rounds seeking support for his confirmation, so the campaign began with the former Fox News host, Walker suggested.

Next week, Health and Human Services Secretary-nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is expected to visit Washington for the same purpose, and the advertising campaign is ready to pivot to focus on the Democratic Party scion if necessary.

‘We want to remain flexible in this campaign to be able to highlight in different states… or different nominees, depending on what the conversation is in the Senate,’ Walker said, adding a direct-text-message campaign will also follow this initial advertising endeavor.

‘Then we’re likely to do a television ad,’ he said, adding he hopes to air it on national media on Inauguration Day.

Heritage Action also employs grassroots activists nationwide to forward conservative principles at the state-government level.

President Biden slammed Republicans for not understanding how advancing women’s health not only improves the lives of women but also the prosperity of the entire nation. He made the remark during a first-of-its-kind conference on women’s health research at the White House Wednesday afternoon.   

‘The fact is, the health of our moms, and grandmothers, sisters and daughters, friends and colleagues, affects not just women’s well-being but the prosperity of the entire nation,’ Biden said at the conference. ‘That’s a fact – we haven’t gotten that through to the other team yet. I mean it – across the board.’

Republicans, meanwhile, questioned whether Democrats understand the need to protect women, citing, in particular, Biden administration policies that sought to allow transgender women to use biological women’s spaces and play on women’s sports teams.

‘Is any Democrat willing to stand up and defend girls and protect girls in private, in their private spaces, and protect girls in sports – not to force girls to participate in sports against men?’ asked Tiffany Justice, the co-founder of the conservative nonprofit Moms for Liberty. ‘The idea that Democrats protect women or respect women is just absolutely nonsense.’ 

Justice pointed to Biden’s appointment of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, ‘who was unwilling to define what a woman was’ when pressed on the matter during her confirmation hearings.

The Heritage Foundation’s Sarah Perry, a civil rights attorney who has extensive experience litigating Title IX issues, noted that Biden’s remarks had an underlying tone of ‘abortion is health care,’ which was a hot-button issue for Republicans during this year’s election.

‘This is an administration that has made a name for itself in advancing the most radical ideologue policies,’ Perry said. ‘I mean, he’s got a man in a dress at HHS telling us what health care is. That is the specious nature of those kinds of representations.’

Colin Reed, a GOP strategist, added that the electoral success seen last month by Republicans was an indication that the American people reject these sorts of arguments from Democrats.

‘The Democratic Party has become a one-trick pony trying to speak to voters facing across-the-board challenges,’ he said. ‘Until Democrats start meeting voters where they are at, they will continue losing elections.’

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Karoline Leavitt, Trump-Vance Transition spokeswoman, noted that Trump campaigned on ‘making ALL Americans’ healthy again, including women, adding that Trump ‘will deliver on that promise.’

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but did not receive a response.

Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu is ‘ready to do a deal’ to secure the release of hostages still held in Gaza, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Thursday. 

‘I got the sense from the prime minister he is ready to do a deal,’ Sullivan told reporters during a Tel Aviv press conference, according to multiple reports. ‘The prime minister indicated he wants to get it done.’

Biden’s national security adviser, who met with the Israeli prime minister on Thursday, was pressed on whether Netanyahu was stalling cease-fire negotiations with Hamas in a move to wait for the incoming Trump administration, to which Sullivan said, ‘No, I do not get that sense.’

‘We want to close this deal this month. I wouldn’t be here today if I thought this is waiting until after Jan. 20,’ he said. 

Sullivan’s comments came just two days after he met with the family members of American hostages who have been held captive by Hamas for more than 430 days following the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in Israel. 

Hope that a hostage deal could finally be on the horizon after more than a year since the last hostage release was agreed to in November 2023, resurfaced late last month after Jerusalem and Hezbollah agreed to a cease-fire under a 13-point deal. 

A report this week by the Wall Street Journal further suggested that Hamas has conceded on two key Israeli demands and reportedly told mediators the terrorist network would allow Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers to remain in Gaza during a pause in the fighting.

The group also apparently agreed to drop its demands for a permanent end to Israel’s campaign and handed over a list of hostages, including Americans, who would be exchanged under a ‘cease-fire pact.’

It remains unclear how many hostages Hamas would hand over or which of the seven Americans still in Gaza – three of whom are still believed to be alive – were on this list.

Families of the hostages, both in the U.S. and in Israel, have been calling on Netanyahu for months to seek a truce and secure the release of the hostages. This plea became increasingly urgent after a cease-fire deal collapsed in late summer, and ultimately failed to secure the release of American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who, along with two other Israelis shortlisted for release, were killed alongside three other hostages by Hamas in August. 

The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday issued a sweeping demand that Israel and Hamas reach a cease-fire agreement and that all hostages be freed from captivity. 

The resolution, which was adopted with 158 votes in favor of the 193-member body, called for an ‘immediate, unconditional and permanent cease-fire, to be respected by all parties, and further reiterates its demand for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.’

Though U.N. General Assembly resolutions are not binding, they are significant as they portray the international position regarding an issue. 

Nine countries voted against the resolution, including the U.S. and Israel, while 13 other nations abstained.

In an address to the assembly following the vote, Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Robert Wood said, ‘The draft resolution on a cease-fire in Gaza risks sending a dangerous message to Hamas that there’s no need to negotiate or release the hostages.’

‘Even as the Gaza resolution before us today does nothing to advance a realistic diplomatic solution, the United States will continue to pursue a diplomatic solution that brings peace, security, and freedom to Palestinian civilians in Gaza,’ he added, saying now is the time to put more pressure on Hamas.

Sullivan on Thursday reportedly said Hamas’ ‘posture at the negotiation table’ had shifted since the cease-fire in Lebanon was agreed to last month, effectively showing the terrorist network it could no longer rely on assistance from Hezbollah. 

The White House national security adviser is expected to travel from Israel this week to Qatar and then to Egypt, where he will meet with top officials to secure a cease-fire and the release of hostages. 

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday declared himself a ‘proud feminist’ as he lamented Vice President Harris’ loss to President-elect Trump in the 2024 presidential election as just one recent example of a setback for women’s progress.

Trudeau delivered remarks in Ottawa at a gala for Equal Voice, an organization that works to improve gender representation in Canada’s politics. 

‘We were supposed to be on a steady, if difficult, march towards progress,’ Trudeau said. ‘And yet, just a few weeks ago, the United States voted for a second time to not elect its first woman president.’

‘Everywhere, women’s rights and women’s progress is under attack, overtly and subtly,’ Trudeau continued. ‘I want you to know that I am, and always will be, a proud feminist. You will always have an ally in me and in my government.’

Trudeau’s remarks come as relations between the U.S. and Canada grow tense over immigration and the flow of illicit drugs into the U.S.

Trudeau jetted into Mar-a-Lago unannounced on Nov. 29, just days after Trump threatened to impose sweeping tariffs on Canadian products. Trump is threatening to impose 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico over failures by both nations to curb the flow of illegal immigrants and illicit drugs from those countries into the U.S. 

Both Trump and Trudeau called the meeting ‘very productive.’

Sources later told Fox News that Trudeau had told Trump he cannot levy the tariff because it would kill the Canadian economy completely. Trump retorted by asking, so your country can’t survive unless it’s ripping off the U.S. to the tune of $100 billion? 

Trump then suggested to Trudeau that Canada become the 51st state, which caused the prime minister and others to laugh nervously, sources told Fox News.

Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan and Greg Wehner contributed to this report.