IDF surrounds hospitals in northern Gaza, says Hamas commanders, 19 operatives killed

The Israel Defense Force's International spokesperson, Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, and an Operations Officer in the Givati Brigade, Maj. (Res.) Shay, provided a briefing on the evacuation of the Rantisi Hospital.

The IDF said hundreds of Hamas terrorists were seen over and underground, and troops arrived at the hospital "knowing that there were Hamas terrorists in it."

"We called civilians to leave [the] hospital for three days," Shay said. "We wanted to evacuate civilians and sick people. We realized civilians are held by Hamas there. We got close, surrounded hospital and opened a safe passage out of hospital. We saw terrorists in the crowds evacuating between the civilians. We had a dilemma – do we attack Hamas terrorists between the people? We decided not to use snipers and not shoot."

Shay added: "We did not want people to panic. We saw Hamas terrorists shooting at people to force them back into hospital. We decided not to act and we unfortunately let the terrorists leave with civilians – they used people as human shields. We let that happen in order not to hurt civilians. We identified in that spot at least 5 to 6 terrorists inside the crowds and others in the hospital, we saw them via the windows."

Hecht said, "We will continue to destroy all Hamas capabilities. We are doing our best to encourage civilians to evacuate these areas. Hospitals need to be evacuated in order for us to deal with Hamas. Shifa Hospital: we are seeing a presence of several thousands in the courtyard. We are pushing forward to increase the number of people leaving the hospital."

According to Shay, people left the hospital by foot, in ambulances and on wheelchairs.

President Biden will travel to San Francisco for a high-stakes meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the 30th annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

The showdown between the leaders of the world's two largest economies, who are on the opposite end of many issues, is likely to dominate the summit.

For Biden, it will be an opportunity to highlight some of the areas where cooperation is possible, while also issuing stern warnings on key U.S. national interests in the region. The Chinese president will likely assert China’s ability to influence global affairs and act as a mediator in some of the world's conflicts.

APEC is a coalition of nations with conflicting interests and values. It groups member economies and not nations and covers nearly 40% of the global population, about 62% of GDP and almost half of global trade, according to the State Department. Participants include Taiwan, an island territory that Beijing considers part of China, but the U.S. backs with military support.

This will be the first meeting between Biden and Xi since they met on the sidelines of the G-20 meeting in Bali in November 2022. Biden’s meeting with Xi comes after several high-level U.S. officials met with their Chinese counterparts to ease tensions after the spy balloon incident earlier this year.

The U.S. and China are fundamentally at odds on many issues, and there are low expectations the meeting will yield significant results.

"There is no need for President Biden to meet with Xi Jinping to talk about Ukraine and Israel next Wednesday," China expert Gordon Chang told Fox News Digital. "If Biden wants Beijing to stop supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine and Iran’s war on Israel, he needs to impose severe costs on China."

Fox News' Chris Massaro contributed to this report.

The Israel Defense Forces released a recap of its activity over the last 24 hours as its war against Hamas terrorists continues.

The IDF says it neutralized terrorist cells, took control of 11 Hamas terrorist posts, neutralized a vehicle rigged with explosives, located and destroyed an underground terrorist tunnel route, struck Hamas weapons storage facilities and struck military targets inside the Al-Shati Camp.

More than 11,000 people have been killed in Gaza and Israel since Hamas launched its largest attack against Israel in decades on Oct. 7, prompting military response from Israeli forces. Thousands more have been wounded, and many others have been taken hostage by Hamas and raped, tortured and murdered.

Service at Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan was temporarily suspended on Friday after mobs of pro-Palestinian demonstrators flooded the streets of New York City to protest Israel's war in Gaza, creating chaos as some tried to break into the closed station.

The pro-Palestinian rally began at 5 p.m. Friday with over a thousand individuals marching through the streets. Some were seen tearing down posters of the hostages being held by Hamas terrorists and crumbling them up while other demonstrators burned an Israeli flag.

According to an Instagram post from pro-Palestinian organizations, Within Our Lifetime and the City University of New York for Palestine, the protest was to "flood Manhattan for Gaza."

"Gaza calls, we respond. Palestine will be free, because when we resist we win together. Cease genocide. Cease the siege. Cease the blockade. Cease occupation. Cease funding Israel. Cease settler colonization. Cease Zionism. Cease imperialism," the social media post read, in part.

In social media posts, the Palestinian Youth Movement and other groups called for people to walk out of their workplaces, schools and other activities to join the demonstration.

Video from the protest Friday night showed one protester climbing up a streetpost to tear down American flags and United Nations flags while hoards of protesters gathered and cheered at the base.

Fox News' Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.

The nation's top universities are ramping up their efforts to combat antisemitism after facing intense backlash in the wake of the unfolding war between Israel and Hamas.

Columbia University announced Friday it would suspend Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace from campus through the end of the fall term over alleged violations of the school's policies.

A statement from Columbia senior vice president Gerald Rosberg said the two pro-Palestinian groups held an "unauthorized event" on Thursday "that proceeded despite warnings" and "included threatening rhetoric and intimidation."

Brandeis University similarly announced Monday it was banning its SJP organization from holding campus activities.

Harvard President Claudine Gay released a statement Thursday condemning antisemitism and described the pro-Palestinian "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" rally cry as crossing the line.

"Our community must understand that phrases such as ‘from the river to the sea’ bear specific historical meanings that to a great many people imply the eradication of Jews from Israel and engender both pain and existential fears within our Jewish community. I condemn this phrase and any similarly hurtful phrases," Gay wrote.

Fox News' Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.

A pro-Palestinian demonstrator set an Israeli flag on fire and stomped on it during a protest Friday in New York City.

The incident occurred during a protest that began in Columbus Circle in Manhattan where hundreds of people turned out. The person who lit the flag has their face covered with a keffiyeh.

Onlookers cheered as the flag burned. 

Organizers invited those in favor of a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, and those who support freedom for Palestinians. 

"Gaza calls, we respond," read an Instagram post by protest organizers. "Palestine will be free, because when we resist we win together. Ceasefire."

Demonstrators were leading chants like, "5,6,7,8, Israel is a terror state," FOX 5 reported. 

At one point, Palestinian supporters confronted an Israel supporter, who began crying, the New York Post reported. 

"Cry, b****! Cry!" a pro-Palestinian supporter said. 

At Grand Central Station, rioters were seen kicking doors and breaking windows. The station eventually closed, the Metro-North Railroad said. 

Fox News Digital's Louis Casiano contributed to this report.

A pro-Palestinian rally at The University of Maryland is under investigation by the school and Maryland law enforcement after students claimed the demonstration turned "antisemitic."

Students spoke out against a Students for Justice in Palestine rally held on campus, Thursday, accusing it of antisemitic messages. Witnesses of the event told a local outlet that messages like "Holocaust 2.0" were written in chalk on campus walkways near where the rally was held.

The event led one student to fear for her safety. "Now that I know what some people on this campus think, I don't feel as safe walking around. Especially alone and especially at night," the student told a CBS affiliate.

The pro-Palestinian group that put on the rally says its mission is to "work in solidarity with the Palestinian people's struggle for human rights." An Instagram post advertising the rally called on students to "Walk out and sit in at Hornbake Plaza in calling for a ceasefire and reiterating our demands to the University of Maryland administration!!!"

"Bring flags, kuffiyahs, and chalk!!" the post added.

It also implored students to "Stand on the right side of history AGAINST GENOCIDE #ceasefirenow."

University of Maryland staff acknowledged the "hateful" and "antisemitic" turn the rally took Thursday and declared that an investigation into the incident was underway. 

In a public statement, school officials said, "We are aware of hateful, antisemitic sentiment expressed at today’s demonstration by Students for Justice in Palestine. We condemn it in no uncertain terms. The offensive actions of a few should not reflect on the vast majority of protesters who were there to peacefully express their views, but there is no place for any antisemitic message, behavior or action at the University of Maryland."

The statement also noted that Maryland police are on the case as well, adding, "The University of Maryland Police Department (UMPD) has launched an immediate investigation and continues to conduct real-time threat assessments. Responsible parties will be held accountable."

The Anti-Defamation League’s D.C. chapter and University of Maryland Jewish groups put out a joint statement Friday condemning the rally.

"We are deeply disturbed that students at University of Maryland were met yesterday with antisemitic graffiti that said, ‘Holocaust 2.0.’ This imagery is deeply troubling whether it was meant to trivialize the Holocaust or seen as a direct threat against Jewish students. Either way it is dangerous and unacceptable," they stated.

Students for Justice in Palestine is a far-left group which celebrated the Hamas terrorist attack as a "historic" victory for Palestinian resistance. Brandeis University said Monday it will no longer recognize Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) on its campus.

The school’s spokesperson Julie Jette told Fox News Digital, "National SJP has called on its chapters to engage in conduct that supports Hamas in its call for the elimination of the only Jewish state in the world and its people. Such expression is not protected by Brandeis' principles of free speech."

It was also suspended from campus on Friday by Columbia University.

Fox News Digital's Gabriel Hays contributed to this report.

Michael Ramirez, the political cartoonist whose work mocking Hamas was pulled by The Washington Post following internal and external backlash, is speaking out about the "unfortunate" episode restricting free speech. 

The cartoon titled "Human shields" depicted the terrorist group's spokesperson saying, "How dare Israel attack civilians," while a frightened-looking woman and four small children remain bound with rope to his body.

"I think it's empirically true that Hamas uses civilians, both Palestinians and Israelis, as human shields," Ramirez told Fox News Digital in an interview Friday. "I don't think it's a hidden knowledge that they operate their bases in densely populated areas and under civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, they fire rockets from densely residential areas, and by design, to sacrifice the lives of the innocent people."

Ramirez, who is employed by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, has a collaborative agreement with the Washington Post so that his work simultaneously appears in both papers on Tuesdays and Saturdays. 

While the paper ultimately retracted the anti-Hamas cartoon, the Review-Journal is standing behind it.

He predicted his cartoon would spark some sort of visceral reaction among some based on the current political climate but suggested those who claim to be advocating for innocent Palestinians "have a tendency to kind of erase the boundaries" when it comes to Hamas. 

The conservative-leaning Ramirez shed light on his working relationship with Post opinions editor David Shipley, who handpicked the anti-Hamas cartoon after the cartoonist provided multiple options for him to choose from.

"In this case, we both thought that was a bold cartoon," Ramirez said. 

It didn't take long for outrage on social media to mount but also within The Washington Post newsroom as the paper's executive editor Sally Buzbee wrote in an email Wednesday to staff acknowledging the "many deep concerns" that were made. 

Left-wing critics accused the cartoon of being racist, pointing to the exaggerated features depicted in the cartoon of Hamas spokesman Ghazi Hamad. Ramirez rejected such claims, sending Fox News Digital examples of other political figures he has drawn including former President Trump, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., all having similar features. 

But the pressure both internally and externally reached a boiling point as Shipley deleted the cartoon from the Post's website, replacing it with an apologetic editor's note and letters from readers condemning the illustration. 

Fox News Digital's David Rutz and Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.

A Pro-Palestinian protester was seen lighting an Israeli flag on fire in New York City on Friday.

The incident happened during a protest that began in Columbus Circle in Manhattan.

An individual whose face was covered with a keffiyeh lit the Israeli flag on fire, then stomped on it.

Others in the crowd cheered the individual on while the flag was lit on fire.

French President Emmanuel Macron called for a cease-fire in Gaza in an interview with the BBC.

During the interview, Macron said he recognizes Israel's right to protect itself, but said "we do urge them to stop this bombing" in Gaza.

He also called on leaders in the U.S. and U.K. to join his calls for a cease-fire, stating "I hope they will."

"De facto - today, civilians are bombed - de facto. These babies, these ladies, these old people are bombed and killed. So there is no reason for that and no legitimacy. So we do urge Israel to stop," Macron said.

During a speech at the France Peace Forum on Friday, Macron said, speaking about Israel, "The challenges accumulate, often in these same countries who in the name of thinking of security because they have faced terrorism or regional instability. And, at the same time, the means aren't there."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded by stating, "The responsibility for harming civilians lies with Hamas-ISIS and not with Israel."

"Let's recall that Israel entered the war because the terrorist organization brutally murdered hundreds of Israelis and kidnapped more than 200 Israelis. While Israel does everything to avoid harming civilians and calls on them to leave the combat zones - Hamas-ISIS does everything to prevent them from leaving safe areas and uses them as a human shield," Netanyahu said. "Hamas-ISIS brutally holds our hostages - women, children and the elderly - in a crime against humanity."

"World leaders must condemn Hamas-ISIS and not Israel," he said.

The son to a co-founder of Hamas was invited to a meeting of the United Nations Security Council by Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan.

Mosab Hassan Yousef sat behind the Israeli ambassador during the meeting on Friday afternoon.

During the meeting, Erdan blasted the United Nations for its actions taken against Israel during its war against Hamas.

"We are combatting a genocidal Nazi-like terror organization," Erdan said during the meeting.

Pro-Palestinian rioters on Thursday spray painted "free Gaza" on an NYPD cruiser outside the New York Times building.

Windows on the police cruiser were also broken.

Hundreds of protesters were seen in Manhattan as the war between Israel and Hamas rages.

New York Times staffers were sent an email from their head of corporate security describing the protest as "peaceful," and noted "no entrances are blocked."

A group calling themselves the "Writers Block" walked into the Times building while carrying a banner calling for a cease-fire at around 5 p.m.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Conservative criticism is mounting against The Washington Post for pulling an anti-Hamas political cartoon after some staffers expressed "deep concerns" about the panel.

The cartoon by the Las Vegas Review-Journal's Michael Ramirez, who is also published in the Post twice a week, was titled "Human shields" and depicted a Hamas spokesperson saying, "How dare Israel attack civilians," while a frightened-looking woman and four children are bound with rope to his body.

The cartoon was featured in the Nov. 8 print edition of the paper and online, which was later deleted after backlash, both internally and externally.

"There was both external criticism and internal criticism. I think a number of people inside and outside were offended by the caricature, both of the man and the woman. I’m not sure, however, if the message itself [criticizing Hamas] was the problem," one Washington Post insider told Fox News Digital.

The deletion and The Post's subsequent apology angered some conservative political commentators online, who bashed the outlet for refusing to stand by the cartoon.

"Let the word go forth, for the woke have spoken: terrorist groups using human shields is not problematic," political consultant Noah Pollak wrote in a post on X. "But making fun of terrorist groups using human shields is deeply problematic."

"Kind of surprised the Washington Post pulled this cartoon, given that it's a completely accurate depiction of Hamas's tactics," The Bulwark's Sonny Bunch wrote on X. 

Journalist Jeryl Bier wrote that he was not convinced of The Post's reasoning behind its apology. "I am skeptical that retracting a cartoon because some people complain is the ‘spirit of opinion journalism.’"

Fox News' Jeffrey Clark and David Rutz contributed to this report.

A United Nations watchdog has criticized the organization for passing multiple resolutions this week condemning Israel for various alleged human rights violations, but making no condemnation of Hamas or other groups or nations, at a time when antisemitism is on the rise.

"The U.N.’s assault on Israel with a torrent of one-sided resolutions, just one month after the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, and on the 85th anniversary of Kristallnacht, is surreal," Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, said in a press release. 

"The only purpose of these eight lopsided condemnations is to demonize the Jewish state," Neuer said. "The world should not be deceived that these annual resolutions advance the cause of peace or human rights in any way."

The U.N.’s Second Committee, which focuses on Economic and Financial issues, announced the passage of three such resolutions, including one demanding that Israel cease the "exploitation, damage, cause of loss or depletion and endangerment" in the Golan Heights region of Syria. 

Syria drafted and co-sponsored the resolutions, which passed with a vote of 151 in favor to six against — only Canada, Israel, the Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and the U.S. opposed the measure, and 11 members abstained from voting. 

"These are Arab lands," the representative of Syria said after the vote. "They will return to their original legitimate owners sooner or later." 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sent medical supplies to Israel on Friday after Barzilai hospital in Ashkelon, Israel sustained damage from a Hamas attack, according to the Israeli consulate in Miami.

Consul General of the Israeli consulate in Miami, Mayor Elbaz-Starinsky made the announcement on Friday.

"Medical supplies were sent today to @Israel by @GovRonDeSantis. Thank you governor and the whole state of Florida for your staunch support. These supplies will be sent to Barzilai hospital in the City of Ashkelon which has sustained more than 10 HAMAS rockets and missiles," he wrote.

Columbia University announced it has suspended the school's Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace chapters.

Gerald Rosberg, senior vice president of Columbia University, said the student groups violated campus policy on Thursday afternoon when they held an unauthorized event that included threats.

"Columbia University is suspending Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) as official student groups through the end of the fall term. This decision was made after the two groups repeatedly violated University policies related to holding campus events, culminating in an unauthorized event Thursday afternoon that proceeded despite warnings and included threatening rhetoric and intimidation," Rosberg said.

SJP and JVP will not be able to hold events on campus or receive university funding through the fall semester.

Rosberg said their suspensions will be lifted when they demonstrate a commitment to following university policies and engage in "consultations at a group leadership level with University officials."

"Like all student groups, SJP and JVP are required to abide by University policies and procedures. This ensures both the safety of our community and that core University activities can be conducted without disruption. During this especially charged time on our campus, we are strongly committed to giving space to student groups to participate in debate, advocacy, and protest. This relies on community members abiding by the rules and cooperating with University administrators who have a duty to ensure the safety of everyone in our community," Rosberg said. 

The Israel Defense Forces said it conducted retaliatory air strikes against several Hezbollah targets on Friday.

IDF Spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a post on X that fighter jets and aircraft launched the strikes in response to launches from Hezbollah on Thursday.

The IDF strikes were targeting buildings where Hezbollah terrorists were operating, Hagari said.

"In response to the launches in the last day, fighter jets and aircraft attacked a series of terrorist targets of the Hezbollah organization in Lebanese territory," Hagari said. "Among the targets attacked were a number of buildings and military positions where the organization's terrorists operated, a weapons warehouse and an intelligence infrastructure from which terrorists directed terror against the State of Israel."

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is condemning unrest in Montreal as "unacceptable" after police this week reported shots being fired at two Jewish schools and a fight between Israel and Palestinian supporters. 

A Montreal police spokesperson told the CBC that investigators received two 911 calls yesterday morning regarding shots being fired at the Talmud Torah Elementary School and Yeshiva Gedola of Montreal, both in Quebec city’s Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood. 

In both instances, police say the callers said the front doors of the buildings had been struck by bullets, but nobody was inside the facilities at the time and there were no injuries, according to the CBC. 

On Wednesday, a 22-year-old student was taken into custody for allegedly assaulting a 54-year-old security guard at Concordia University in Montreal during an altercation between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian supporters that left three injured, the news agency also reported. 

"I understand that people are so profoundly disturbed by what they see happening there," Trudeau said Thursday, according to Reuters. 

But he added that "violence, hate, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and scenes such as the ones we saw in Concordia University or shots fired at Jewish schools overnight -- all of that is unacceptable." 

Fox News Digital's Greg Norman contributed to this report.

IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner on Friday confirmed a report that Israeli soldiers found a Hamas terror tunnel inside a child's bedroom in northern Gaza. 

"In more than once instance," Lerner said on "Outnumbered." 

The Israel Defense Force's Combat Engineering Corps discovered the opening to a tunnel belonging to the terrorist group Hamas inside a civilian residence, the Times of Israel reported. The tunnel was located in an "upscale beachside neighborhood," at a house with an outdoor swimming pool, according to the report. 

"Inside a bedroom scattered with brightly colored clothes, underneath one of three child-sized beds, soldiers had found a portal to where monsters were hiding," the report said.

According to those who closely track the Iranian-backed terror group, as well as admissions by its own leaders, Hamas has built an approximately 300-mile subterranean system that snakes beneath civilian homes, schools and hospitals in urban areas of the Gaza Strip.

Israel has pummeled Gaza with airstrikes targeting places where Hamas' underground command centers are believed to exist, often near civilian infrastructure where innocent Palestinians become casualties of the war. 

Fox News Digital's Ruth Marks Eglash contributed to this update.