INTERNACIONAL
Could private security contractors be the ‘day after’ solution in Gaza?
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The question of a «day after» plan in the Gaza Strip has plagued negotiations between Israel, the U.S., Arab nations and Hamas for months and has ultimately led to the terrorist network’s refusal to release the 55 hostages still held there.
However, foreign policy leaders and security experts based in Washington may have the key that could provide a solution to help rebuild the war-torn Gaza Strip where others cannot: private security contractors (PSC).
PSCs, which have heavy experience in the Middle East and decades of lessons learned to draw from, could be used as non-state actors to provide stability and a path forward for the Palestinians, but they would have to start with humanitarian aid, John Hannah, former national security advisor to Dick Cheney and current Randi & Charles Wax senior fellow at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA), told Fox News Digital.
Palestinians continue their daily lives under harsh conditions amid the rubble of destroyed buildings in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza following the enforcement of a ceasefire agreement on Feb. 10, 2025. (Mahmoud ssa/Anadolu via Getty Images)
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In a plan hatched out following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel and the subsequent outbreak of war in the Gaza Strip, a group of eight members with JINSA and the Vandenberg Coalition comprised a report that detailed how the handling of humanitarian aid could completely change security in the region.
The plan, in part, initially looked similar to the mechanism known as the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which is backed by the U.S. and Israel, and which launched last month to distribute aid to Palestinians.
However, the plan comprised by Hannah and the team took it a step further and argued that these aid actors should also be involved in rebuilding Gaza.
«We thought humanitarian issues was the best way [forward],» Hannah said. «It was the common denominator that would allow all of the major stakeholders that want to get to a better ‘day after’ – Israel, the United States, the key pragmatic Arab states – they all could agree that we can’t agree on a political vision for Palestine 10 years from now, and the issue of a Palestinian state, but we can all agree on this apple pie and motherhood issue that we don’t want to see starving, suffering Palestinians.»
Hamas terrorists emerge in a show of strength, escorting Red Cross vehicles carrying three Israeli hostages to be released as part of the ceasefire deal. (TPS-IL)
The Israel Defense Forces had already detailed the need to eliminate Hamas following the deadliest-ever attack on Israel, but the group of eight experts also identified that aid, long used by Hamas to maintain power by using it to incentivize support and recruitment, and to punish opposition, needed to be the key to cementing actual change.
«We needed a solution on humanitarian aid,» Hannah said. «And when we looked around the world, who could do this, take over the humanitarian aid? We were left with one option.»
Displaced Palestinians line up pans to collect hot food from a charity food distribution center in Gaza City, northern Gaza, on Tuesday, May 27, 2025. (Ahmad Salem/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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«We didn’t think it should be the Israel Defense Forces. Israel lacks legitimacy with the Palestinian population, and frankly, it had its hands full doing the military job of defeating Hamas,» he added. «American forces weren’t going to do it. We didn’t think Arab forces would step up and do this. And the U.N. system as it existed under UNRWA was illegitimate in the eyes of Israel.»
The group not only briefed the Biden and Netanyahu administrations on the proposal, but held numerous discussions with Israeli officials in 2024 on how such a plan could work.
Retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Michael Barbero – who served as deputy chief of staff, Strategic Operations for Multinational Forces-Iraq for 2007-2008 and who was tasked by Gen. David Petraeus to create a system of accountability over PSCs in Iraq following the Blackwater incident in September 2007 known as the Nisour Square massacre – also briefed Israeli officials on how a PSC mechanism could work in the Gaza Strip.
Progress on the proposal appeared to stall by summer last year as then-President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were at increasing loggerheads over humanitarian concerns and mounting civilian Palestinian death tolls.
However, Hannah questioned whether the seed had been planted with Israel by the time the Trump administration re-entered office, enabling the GHF to come in and start distributing aid.
The GHF, though it has distributed over 16 million meals since it began operations in late May, saw a chaotic start with starving Palestinians rushing certain sites and reports of violence unfolding.
A truck loaded with humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip makes its way to the Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Israel, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
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Though the reports of the level of chaos have reportedly been exaggerated by Hamas – which ultimately would benefit from the GHF’s failure as experts have explained – the group initially drew some criticism over transparency concerns, though the group has been looking to remedy this with regal updates.
The group, which saw its third leadership in as many weeks earlier this month, told Fox News Digital that despite some frustration among world leaders and aid groups, its goal is to work with major organizations like the United Nations and others to better distribute aid across Gaza where those programs are still flagging.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee confirmed last month that the GHF’s distribution centers would be protected by private security contractors.
Palestinians in Gaza get aid from the U.S. and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. (Gaza Humanitarian Foundation)
Though while Washington backs the effort, State Department spokeperson Tammy Bruce has repeatedly made clear that the GHF is «an independent organization» that «does not receive U.S. government funding.»
However, she has also refused to confirm whether any U.S. officials are working for the program.
PSCs have a storied history in the Middle East, and not only the U.S. war on terror. They have been used by nations like Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which could lend them a level of acceptance that would not be attainable by another force.
The proposal issued by Hannah and his colleagues took the use of PSCs one step beyond humanitarian aid and argued they could make a positive impact in the actual reconstruction of the Gaza Strip – an idea that was also presented to the Trump administration this year.
Displaced Palestinians wait to receive a free meal from a charity food distribution center in Gaza City, northern Gaza, on Tuesday, May 27, 2025. (Photographer: Ahmad Salem/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
«It’s not at all foreign to these Arab parties that you might employ PSCs for certain critical missions,» Hannah said. «Our idea was, let’s scale it up. Let’s unify the effort. Let’s have America and the Arabs lead it.
«The Arabs would put in most of the humanitarian aid workers, a lot of the financing, and then they would hire some of these international PSCs with a lot of experience to come in and protect those operations,» he explained. «You’d have the Arabs engaged, which we thought was absolutely critical.»
The plan also included bringing in other international aid organizations that would work with these PSCs to expand developments like housing projects, community development and infrastructure repair to restore electricity and water.
«And eventually, hopefully, begin to identify new leadership, local leadership in Gaza, who would be prepared to cooperate with the operations of this nonprofit entity,» Hannah said. «Local Gazans of goodwill, who wanted to be rid of Hamas, who this entity could provide some support to, some protection to so they can, could begin rebuilding Gaza civil administration.»
Destroyed buildings are pictured in the west of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on Feb. 11, 2025 amid the current ceasefire deal in the war between Israel and Hamas. (BASHAR TALEB/AFP via Getty Images)
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The plan also addressed the perpetual question of how to deter the next generation of Hamas terrroirsts, particularly amid Israeli military operations.
Hannah argued this issue could be addressed by simultaneously training a «non-Hamas new Palestinian, local Palestinian security force» that would not only have the trust of the local population but could also gain the trust of Israel.
Hannah said he still believes this plan could be a tenable next step to securing the Gaza Strip but urged the Trump administration to take a more direct diplomatic role by leaning on Arab, European and Israeli partners to make it happen.
The White House did not respond to Fox News Digital’s questions about this reporting.
INTERNACIONAL
En una carta pública, el presidente de Irán dijo que Netanyahu manipula a Trump en la guerra y lanzó una advertencia a EE.UU.
Mientras se cruzan las versiones por un alto al fuego entre Washington y Teherán, este miércoles por la tarde el presidente iraní publicó una carta abierta en la que dijo dirigirse «al pueblo de los Estados Unidos». Masoud Pezeshkian cuestionó la «guerra de desinformación», deslizó que Donald Trump puede estar siendo manipulado por Benjamin Netanyahu y cerró con una fuerte advertencia: «A lo largo de su milenaria y orgullosa historia, Irán se sobrepuso a muchos agresores. Lo que queda de ellos sólo son nombres manchados en la historia».
Se trata de una misiva de cuatro carillas publicada en los perfiles oficiales de redes sociales de Pezeshkian, presidente de Irán, este miércoles por la noche, hora local. Llegó apenas horas después de que Donald Trump afirmara en Truth Social que «el nuevo presidente del régimen iraní acababa de pedirle un alto al fuego», lo cual sería considerado por Washington sólo después de que se liberara el estrecho de Ormuz.
En su carta, Pezeshkian no se pronuncia explícitamente sobre el posible cese al fuego, pero señala: «Hoy el mundo está en una encrucijada. Seguir por el camino de la confrontación es más caro y fútil que nunca. La elección entre confrontación y compromiso es real y consecuente; su resultado moldeará el futuro de las generaciones venideras».
Tampoco aclara si la carta fue escrita con aprobación del líder supremo, Mojtaba Khamenei, de mayor poder que el presidencial.
«Al pueblo de los Estados Unidos de América y a todos aquellos que, en medio de un caudal de distorsiones y relatos fabricados, continúan buscando la verdad y aspira a llevar una vida mejor. Irán –en su nombre, carácter e identidad– es una de las civilizaciones más antiguas en la historia. Pero además de sus ventajas históricas y geográficas a lo largo de los tiempos, Irán nunca ha elegido, en su historia moderna, el camino de la agresión, expansión, colonialismo o la dominación», comienza la carta del presidente iraní.
Y continúa: «Incluso ante la ocupación, invasión y de la presión sostenida de las potencias globales –y a pesar de tener superioridad militar sobre varios de sus vecinos–, Irán nunca inició una guerra. En cambio, resolvió y repelió valientemente a aquellos que lo atacaron (…) Por eso, retratar a Irán como una amenaza no es ni consistente con la realidad histórica ni la moderna; y esa percepción responde a la necesidad de justificar la presión, mantener superioridad militar y la industria bélica (…) En ese contexto, si no hay una amenaza, se la inventa».
To the people of the United States of America pic.twitter.com/3uAL4FZgY7
— Masoud Pezeshkian (@drpezeshkian) April 1, 2026
También señala a Estados Unidos por concentrar «sus más numerosas fuerzas y capacidades militares alrededor de Irán». «Lo que Irán ha sostenido es una respuesta mesurada en legítima defensa, lo cual no significa la iniciación de guerra o agresión alguna», amplía Pezeshkian en su carta abierta.
Además, dice -en referencia a las negociaciones por el programa nuclear, previas al estallido de la guerra- que «Irán buscó negociar, alcanzó un acuerdo y cumplió con sus compromisos».
«La decisión de salir de ese acuerdo, escalar el conflicto y lanzar dos ataques en medio de las negociaciones fueron dos decisiones destructivas del gobierno estadounidenses. Haber atacado infraestructura crucial de Irán –instalaciones energéticas e industriales– atentó directamente contra su pueblo», sigue.
Luego desliza acusaciones sobre el rol de Benjamin Netanyahu y su influencia sobre Trump: «¿Acaso los Estados Unidos no entraron en el conflicto arrastrados como un proxy de Israel, manipulados por su régimen? ¿Acaso no es evidente que Israel busca confrontar contra Irán hasta la vida del último soldado norteamericano y del último dolar de impuestos de cada estadounidense? ¿Es realmente ‘Primero EE.UU.’ la prioridad del gobierno norteamericano?».
«A lo largo de su historia y orgullosa historia, Irán se sobrepuso a numerosos agresores. Lo único que queda de ellos son nombres manchados en la historia, mientras que Irán persiste, resiliente, digno y orgulloso«, concluyó el presidente iraní.
Más temprano este miércoles, Trump publicó en su propia red social, Truth, un mensaje para anunciar que el régimen de Teherán había pedido un alto al fuego. «El nuevo presidente del régimen iraní, mucho menos radicalizado y mucho más inteligente que sus precesores, ¡acaba de pedir un alto al fuego a los EE. UU.! Lo consideraremos cuando el estrecho de Ormuz esté abierto, libre y despejado», comenzó el mandatario norteamericano.
De lo contrario, aseguró, Estados Unidos continuará «bombardeando Irán hasta la aniquilación o, como dicen algunos, hasta que regrese a la Edad de Piedra».
No tardó en llegar la respuesta desde Teherán: el portavoz del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, Esmaeil Baqaei, dijo que «la afirmación de Trump es falsa e infundada».
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As artificial intelligence continues to expand into homes and the workplace, voters are less concerned about it taking their jobs and more worried about its overall influence.
The latest Fox News Poll finds 66% of registered voters are concerned about artificial intelligence, up from 63% in December and 56% in 2023 (the first time the question was asked).
The increase in concern is across the board, with the biggest jumps happening among women, voters without a college degree, Democrats and liberal voters.
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Yet when it comes to how AI will affect the workforce, voters aren’t concerned about their own jobs even though most think it will eliminate more positions (59%) than it will create (7%) over the next 5 years.
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Seven in 10 (69%) employed voters are unconcerned their job will be cut in the next five years, while three in 10 are worried (31%). This matches where sentiment was in November.
The lack of concern may reflect broader attitudes toward AI in the workplace: Seven in 10 say it is not important to their career that they learn how to use AI, including six in 10 employed voters.
Another three in 10 say it is important, and that jumps to roughly in 10 among workers, voters with graduate degrees, and those living in households with an annual income of $100,000 or higher. Those most likely to feel learning AI is a career priority are men under age 45 (48%).
But if they must tech up, a majority of voters feel comfortable adopting and using new technology (60% comfortable vs. 40% not comfortable).
The highest numbers saying they’re comfortable are voters under age 45, particularly younger men (81%) and younger Republicans (82%).
Artificial intelligence and the military…
As the Iran conflict enters its fifth week, nearly two-thirds of voters are uncomfortable with the military using autonomous weapons systems (AWS). About four in 10 feel comfortable.
The partisan divide on this issue is wide: 52% of Republicans are comfortable with AWS vs. 27% of Democrats. Fifty-eight percent of MAGA Republicans are comfortable vs. 40% of non-MAGA Republicans.
There is also a prominent gender gap with men (43%) more comfortable than women (31%).
Still, nearly all voters say that when the military is considering a strike that could kill people, a human should be required to make the final decision: 93% feel that way vs. 7% saying AI systems alone should have the final say.
This is a bipartisan belief, with at least nine in 10 Democrats, Republicans and independents agreeing a human needs to make the decision.
More than half of voters who have served in the military are uncomfortable with the use of AWS systems (54% not comfortable vs. 45% comfortable), and an overwhelming majority thinks a human should be making the choice between life and death (90%).
One more thing…
While concern about AI is up among voters, it’s far from the top worry with inflation (86% extremely/very concerned), healthcare (81%), gas prices (80%), political divisions (80%), unemployment (73%), attacks by Islamic (73%) and non-Islamic terrorists (70%), ability to pay bills (70%) and gun violence (69%) ranking higher.
Concern about Iran getting a nuclear bomb ties with concern over AI (66% extremely/very) while antisemitism (63%) and detentions by ICE (62%) rank lower.
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Conducted March 20-23, 2026, under the direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), this Fox News survey includes interviews with a sample of 1,001 registered voters randomly selected from a national voter file. Respondents spoke with live interviewers on landlines (104) and cellphones (641) or completed the survey online after receiving a text (256). Results based on the full sample have a margin of sampling error of ±3 percentage points. Sampling error for results among subgroups is higher. In addition to sampling error, question wording and order can influence results. Weights are generally applied to age, race, education and area variables to ensure the demographics are representative of the registered voter population. Sources for developing weight targets include the most recent American Community Survey, Fox News Voter Analysis and voter file data.
artificial intelligence, politics, military tech, military, democratic party, republicans, fox news poll
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday touted new momentum toward ending the country’s war with Russia after a high-level call with President Donald Trump’s envoys, pointing to progress on a U.S.-backed security deal.
Zelenskyy announced in an X post that he and his officials had a «positive» conversation with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, along with Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte with talks centered around forging a «dignified peace.»
«We agreed to strengthen security guarantees, and I have already instructed our team to promptly update the documents so that the security guarantees for Ukraine are strong, the prospects for post-war reconstruction are real, and everything is doable,» Zelenskyy wrote.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a meeting Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (@ZelenskyyUa via X)
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He emphasized Ukraine needs clear agreements so that its citizens understand exactly how international partners will respond to deter any renewed Russian aggression.
«We need strong, shared positions, and Ukraine’s contribution to this strength is unquestionable,» Zelenskyy wrote. «… I expect that the teams will work substantively in the coming days so that we can all feel progress. A trilateral format — a leaders’ format — all of this is necessary.»
Ukranian leaders at a meeting discussing the Ukraine-Russia war Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (@ZelenskyyUa via X)
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In a subsequent video, Zelenskyy reported Russia launched a massive wave of more than 700 drones Wednesday, including «shaheds,» targeting Ukraine’s energy sites, food warehouses and residential buildings across multiple regions.
Although Ukrainian forces intercepted roughly 90% of the incoming drones, Zelenskyy condemned the bombardment as Russia’s direct response to Ukraine’s proposal for an Easter ceasefire.
Leaders meet to discuss the Ukraine-Russia war Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (@ZelenskyyUa via X)
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He noted that a halt in fighting during the holidays was intended to be a signal that diplomacy could be successful.
Beyond the U.S. and Europe, Zelenskyy said Defense Minister Rustem Umerov is working to secure long-term defense contracts with several Middle Eastern nations, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq, Bahrain and Turkey.
volodymyr zelenskyy, ukraine, russia, world politics, wars
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