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Israel says Trump’s Middle East visit is the ‘window of opportunity’ for hostage deal

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A senior Israeli defense official on Monday said President Donald Trump’s upcoming visit to the Middle East is the «window of opportunity» to secure a hostage deal, otherwise Israel will initiate a new military operation in the Gaza Strip.

«If there is no hostage deal, Operation ‘Gideon Chariots’ will begin with great intensity and will not stop until all its goals are achieved,» the official said according to a Reuters report in reference to a Sunday night decision by Israel’s security cabinet to expand operations in the Gaza Strip.

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Israel will use the roughly 10-day time frame to prepare for its new operations, which will entail calling up tens of thousands of reserve troops with the goal of taking over all the Gaza Strip.

 ISRAEL APPROVES PLAN TO CAPTURE ALL OF GAZA, CALLS UP TENS OF THOUSANDS OF RESERVE TROOPS

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, with Defense Minister Israel Katz. (Israeli PM’s Office)

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In an apparent move to counter the terror group Hamas, the Israel Defense Forces will remain in captured territory rather than withdraw forces after an operation is complete. Israel has not presented a plan for how long it intends to occupy the Palestinian lands in a move that violated U.N.-brokered treaties and internationally recognized borders. 

A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not respond to Fox News Digital’s questions. 

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement that the plan approved by the cabinet to occupy territory and sustain Israel’s presence in Gaza should be named the «Smotrich-Netanyahu plan» to «give up on the hostages and Israel’s security and national resilience.» 

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In the statement, the forum said that this plan is an admission by the government that it is choosing territories over freeing the hostages and noted that more than 70% of Israelis have opposed military prioritization over hostages in recent polling.

Trump had planned to make his trip to the Middle East, where he will visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates between May 13 and 16, his first international visit since re-entering the White House, to signify the significance of the region to the U.S.

While this will still be a major geopolitical visit, his first international trip ended up being his visit to Italy for Pope Francis’ funeral, where he held close discussions with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. 

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Neither the White House nor the State Department immediately responded to Fox News Digital’s questions regarding Israel’s increasingly aggressive position and how it is impacting hostage and peace deal negotiations. 

PARENTS OF HAMAS HOSTAGES URGE TRUMP TO BE ‘TOUGH WITH ENEMIES AND FRIENDS’ AMID ISRAELI SIEGE IN GAZA

Steve Witkoff and Benjamin Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, meets with then-President-elect Donald Trump’s Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff. (Photo by Prime Minister’s Media Adviser)

Comments made by Netanyahu last week sent ceasefire negotiators reeling after he, for the first time, confirmed that returning the hostages taken by Hamas nearly 580 days ago on Oct. 7, 2023 was not his top priority.

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«We have many objectives, many goals in this war. We want to bring back all of our hostages,» Netanyahu said. «That is a very important goal. In war, there is a supreme objective. And that supreme objective is victory over our enemies. And that is what we will achieve.»

The Israeli prime minister also on Saturday justified his increasingly aggressive operations in Gaza that have resulted in the death of more than 50,000 in the Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, including more than 15,600 children as of late-March, as «a war between civilization and barbarism.»

Gaza attacks

The building belonging to the Berbag family was destroyed after an Israeli attack, leaving several Palestinians, including children, dead and wounded in Khan Yunis, Gaza, on Aug. 2, 2024. (Photo by Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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Qatar, which has been heavily involved in hostage negotiations and ceasefire efforts, responded in a Saturday post on social media and said the comments «fall short of the most basic standards of political and moral responsibility.»

«Portraying the ongoing aggression against Gaza as a defense of ‘civilization’ echoes the rhetoric of regimes throughout history that have used false narratives to justify crimes against innocent civilians,» said Majed Al Ansari, advisor to Qatar Prime Minister Mohammad Al-Thani and spokesman for the foreign ministry. 

Ansari did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s questions. 

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Fox News’ Yael Rotem-Kuriel contributed to this report.


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Asumió el nuevo primer ministro de Países Bajos: es el más joven de la historia y está en pareja con un argentino

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El liberal progresista Rob Jetten, pareja del jugador argentino de la selección masculina de hockey Nicolás Keenan, asumió este lunes como nuevo primer ministro de Países Bajos.

Jetten, líder de una coalición de centroderecha en minoría, juró el cargo ante el rey Guillermo Alejandro de Países Bajos, esposo de la reina Máxima Zorreguieta.

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De esa manera, comenzó una legislatura con una estabilidad cuestionada que dependerá de pactos con la oposición para sacar adelante su agenda.

Jetten, de 38 años, ganó las elecciones el 22 de octubre al imponerse al ultraderechista Geert Wilders. Así, se convirtió en el primer ministro más joven de la historia de su país.

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Está comprometido con Nicolás Keenan, integrante de Los Leones, desde 2023. Hoy, el jugador argentino subió un video en sus redes sociales en el momento previo de la jura. .

Cómo será el nuevo gobierno neerlandés

El Ejecutivo de Jetten quedó investido tras la ceremonia de juramento ante el monarca en el palacio Huis ten Bosch, en la ciudad neerlandesa de La Haya, donde los ministros firmaron los decretos reales que formalizan el traspaso de poderes.

El gabinete, que gobernará en minoría, está compuesto por 18 ministros y 10 secretarios de Estado. Tras la ceremonia, los ministros posaron en la tradicional foto oficial en la escalera del palacio, una imagen reservada exclusivamente a los titulares de cartera y no a los secretarios de Estado.

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El rey Guillermo junto al nuevo premier Rob Jetten y los nuevos miembros del gabinete (Foto: REUTERS/Peter Lous)

La distribución de cargos refleja el equilibrio interno de la coalición en base a la representación parlamentaria de cada partido socio del gabinete: el liberal de izquierdas D66 aporta diez miembros al gabinete, el liberal de derechas VVD nueve y el democristiano CDA ocho.

Completa el gabinete la independiente Sandra Palmen, secretaria de Estado responsable del proceso de reparación del escándalo de las ayudas sociales a padres con hijos.

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En su cuenta personal, Jetten publicó una fotografía junto a los futuros representantes de D66 en el Ejecutivo, acompañada de un mensaje en el que expresó su “orgullo por asumir la responsabilidad de gobernar y su compromiso de construir lo que puede ir mejor” para todos los ciudadanos.

El nuevo gabinete inicia así una legislatura marcada por la necesidad de negociar con la oposición para sacar adelante sus iniciativas, en un Parlamento fragmentado que anticipa una legislatura exigente para el Ejecutivo recién investido.

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Cuáles son las prioridades del nuevo gobierno

El acuerdo de gobierno, presentado a finales de enero, fija como prioridades el aumento del gasto en defensa hasta el 3,5% del PIB, un mayor control del asilo y un papel más activo de Países Bajos en la Unión Europea (UE), con especial énfasis en seguridad, tecnología (semiconductores) y autonomía.

En materia migratoria y de asilo, apuesta por una línea más restrictiva y coordinada a nivel europeo. Además, buscará que las solicitudes puedan tramitarse fuera de Europa, con la intención de reducir las llegadas y evitar que los procedimientos se desarrollen en territorio neerlandés.

El texto contempla acelerar procedimientos, reforzar centros de régimen estricto y, en caso de aumentar la presión migratoria, suspender temporalmente la reagrupación familiar.

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El nuevo gobierno también sitúa a la UE en el centro de su política exterior y defiende decisiones por mayoría cualificada en política exterior y seguridad, endurecer los mecanismos contra Estados miembros que vulneren los principios comunitarios y mantener el compromiso con el apoyo militar y financiero a Ucrania “de forma plurianual e ininterrumpida”.

El acuerdo señala que la relación transatlántica se mantendrá, aunque Países Bajos se reserva el derecho de “interpelar de forma creíble” a Washington cuando sus acciones afecten a valores e intereses europeos. Finalmente, defiende un mayor énfasis en sanciones y protección de tecnologías sensibles frente a países como Rusia, China e Irán.

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(Con información de EFE)

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Former Secret Service officials warn of low-tech threats facing Trump after latest Mar-a-Lago breach

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A deadly confrontation at Mar-a-Lago, Florida, Sunday is the latest in a string of high-profile security incidents threatening President Donald Trump, as former Secret Service officials warn that low-tech, lone actors now pose one of the toughest challenges to presidential protection.

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«It should be quite clear to all of us by now that Trump is the most threatened president in the history of the U.S.,» former Secret Service agent William «Bill» Gage told Fox News Digital Monday, pointing to multiple high-profile incidents in recent years. Unlike past presidencies, where threat levels often subsided over time, Gage said, «the longer he’s president, the more these attacks keep happening.»

Gage said the most difficult cases to prevent are often the least sophisticated. The recent incidents, he noted, were «super low-tech attacks by people with zero training,» using rudimentary weapons. «If you were standing behind them in line at Starbucks, you wouldn’t have given them a second look,» he said.

Gage said the threat landscape shifted over the course of his 12-year career as a Secret Service agent. When he joined the Secret Service in 2002, he said the agency was moving away from what he described as the traditional «lone gunman» model — figures like Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated John F. Kennedy, or international militants such as «Carlos the Jackal,» one of the world’s most wanted terrorists in the ‘70s and ’80s — and adapting to a post-9/11 world focused on coordinated terrorist networks like al Qaeda and later ISIS.

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A deadly confrontation at Mar-a-Lago, Florida, Sunday is the latest in a string of high-profile security incidents involving President Donald Trump.  (Marco Bello/Reuters)

«But if you look at Butler and the two incidents at Mar-a-Lago, those were super low-tech attacks,» Gage said. «The low-tech actors are the ones that tend to slip through the cracks.»

He also warned of a potential copycat effect when details of such incidents become public. 

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«If it were up to the Secret Service, they would never report any of these incidents ever,» Gage said, arguing that widespread coverage allows others to «study what happened» and attempt to refine it. 

In today’s hyperconnected political climate, he said, that dynamic adds another layer of complexity for agents trying to stop the next threat before it materializes.

In the early hours of Sunday, a 21-year-old man identified as Austin Tucker Martin of North Carolina was shot and killed by U.S. Secret Service agents and a local sheriff’s deputy after entering the secure perimeter of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.

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Authorities say Martin drove through the north gate carrying a shotgun and a gasoline can. After being ordered to drop both, he dropped the can but raised the shotgun toward officers, who fired and killed him at the scene. Trump and First lady Melania Trump were in Washington at the time.

The incident marked the third highly publicized security encounter involving Trump in less than two years. 

In July 2024, a gunman opened fire at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, grazing Trump’s ear and killing an attendee before being shot by a Secret Service sniper. 

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In September 2024, a man armed with a rifle was confronted by agents near Trump’s golf course while he was playing; that suspect was later convicted on attempted assassination charges.

While the incidents have drawn intense attention, former Deputy Assistant Director Don Mihalek said the latest Mar-a-Lago intrusion does not necessarily signal a breakdown in protective systems.

«He got through an exterior gate of an active club,» Mihalek told Fox News Digital. «This wasn’t someone reaching the president’s residence.» 

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Agents confronted the suspect within seconds, he said, describing the rapid response as evidence that overlapping security layers functioned as designed.

Mihalek said presidential protection relies on multiple rings of security because outer perimeters at properties like Mar-a-Lago cannot be sealed in the same way as the White House

«If he ended up in the president’s house on Mar-a-Lago, that might be a different conversation,» he said.

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He also cautioned against viewing recent incidents in isolation, noting that presidents routinely face roughly 2,000 threats per year, most of which are mitigated before the public ever becomes aware of them. 

«These just happen to be very public instances,» Mihalek said, arguing that the social media era amplifies perceptions of escalation.

Then-candidate Trump is surrounded by Secret Service agents as streaks of blood are visible on his face following a failed assassination attempt in Butler, PA

Then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is whisked away by Secret Service after shots rang out at a campaign rally at Butler Farm Show Inc. July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania.  (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)

GUNFIRE, ARSON AND VANDALISM: TRACKING POLITICAL VIOLENCE IN AMERICA

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Mihalek pointed to the 2024 rally shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, as an example of how early intervention can be decisive, noting that local law enforcement had reportedly identified the suspect prior to the attack. 

«If somebody had walked up and said, ‘Hey, who are you?’ we wouldn’t be talking about Butler,» he said.

As Trump prepares to address Congress at the State of the Union, both former officials said the security posture at the Capitol is unlikely to change in response to the weekend incident.

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The annual address is designated a National Special Security Event — the highest level of federal security planning — triggering coordination among the Secret Service, U.S. Capitol Police, FBI, War Department and other agencies. The designation allows for expanded perimeter controls, airspace restrictions and continuity-of-government planning.

Security fencing surrounds the U.S. Capitol ahead of the State of the Union address, in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 23, 2026.

Barricades go up around the Capitol ahead of the State of the Union. (Kylie Cooper/Reuters)

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Gage, who previously led advance planning for State of the Union addresses, said the event operates under a well-established security «blueprint» built to account for worst-case scenarios. «There’s really no way to increase it anymore,» he said.

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Both former officials said the defining challenge for presidential protection today is unpredictability: individuals with minimal training, rudimentary weapons and the ability to find reinforcement online. Unlike organized extremist networks, such actors may leave few detectable signals before acting.

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UK government to unseal former ambassador Mandelson documents tied to Jeffrey Epstein probe

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The UK government is set to unseal a first batch of key documents relating to Peter Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador to the U.S., MPs were told Monday.

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The disclosure, set for «early March,» follows a Commons motion ordering the release of files related to Mandelson’s vetting for the post and comes in the wake of his arrest on suspicion of misconduct in public office.

«The government expects to be able to publish the first tranche of documents very shortly, in early March,» Darren Jones, chief secretary to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, told the House of Commons.

«I should, however, inform the House that it remains the case that a subset of this first tranche of documents is currently subject to the ongoing Metropolitan Police investigation,» he said.

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British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, right, talks with Britain’s ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson during a welcome reception at the ambassador’s residence in Washington, on Feb. 26, 2025. (Carl Court/Pool Photo via AP)

Jones added that «a small portion of that material engages matters of national security or international relations» and would be handled through the Intelligence and Security Committee, in line with the will of the House.

As previously reported by Fox News Digital, a Metropolitan Police spokesperson confirmed in a statement Monday that officers had arrested a 72-year-old man at an address in Camden and took him to a London police station for questioning.

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The arrest follows revelations about Mandelson’s links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and comes days after former Prince Andrew was detained.

The investigation relates to allegations that Mandelson shared confidential government information with Epstein while serving as business secretary.

DOJ PUBLISHES TROVE OF EPSTEIN FILES, SAYS MORE TO COME AFTER FRIDAY DEADLINE

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Peter Mandelson

Former British Ambassador to the U.S. Peter Mandelson enters a vehicle outside a reported residence, after police launched a misconduct in public office investigation. (Reuters)

Police had opened a criminal inquiry after the government passed on communications between the former ambassador and the disgraced financier.

Emails released by the U.S. Department of Justice also appeared to show Mandelson sharing market-sensitive information with Epstein during the 2008 financial crisis.

Mandelson has denied wrongdoing and said he does not recall the alleged disclosures and apologized to Epstein’s victims for maintaining contact with him after his conviction.

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On Feb. 4, Starmer told the Commons: «I’m as angry as anyone about what Mandelson has been up to. The disclosures … are utterly shocking and appalling. He has betrayed our country. He has lied repeatedly. He is responsible for a litany of deceit.»

UK TO RELEASE FILES RELATED TO FORMER AMBASSADOR’S JEFFREY EPSTEIN TIES

Jeffrey Epstein mugshot

Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in federal custody in 2019. (New York State Sex Offender Registry via AP, File)

Starmer later said that if he had known then what he knows now, Mandelson «would never have been anywhere near government.»

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Mandelson, an architect of New Labour, was appointed U.S. ambassador before being dismissed in September 2025 as scrutiny over his links to Epstein intensified. 

He resigned from the Labour Party and stepped down from the House of Lords.

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As U.S. ambassador, Mandelson scored an early victory by ensuring Britain was the first country to agree to a deal with the U.S. to lower some of President Donald Trump’s tariffs, but was fired a few months later.

Starmer has also faced calls to step down over Mandelson’s appointment, Reuters reported.

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