Republican Sen. Tim Scott’s goal in next year’s midterm elections is not only to defend the GOP’s 53-47 margin in the Senate, but to expand the majority.

Scott, the conservative senator from South Carolina, told Fox News Digital soon after taking over late last year as chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) that he aimed to increase the GOP’s control in the chamber to at least 55 seats.

And he’s standing by his goal.

«The bottom line is, I believe that we can defend our current seats while adding at least two more seats to our numbers,» the NRSC chair told Fox News Digital earlier this year.

THIS REPUBLICAN JUST JUMPED INTO BATTLEGROUND GEORGIA’S HIGH-PROFILE SENATE RACE 

Senate Republicans enjoyed a favorable map in the 2024 cycle as they flipped four seats from blue to red to win back the majority.

But the party in power—clearly the Republicans right now—traditionally faces political headwinds in the midterm elections. Nevertheless, a current read of the 2026 map indicates the GOP may be able to go on offense in some key states.

In battleground Georgia, which President Donald Trump narrowly carried in last year’s White House race, Republicans view first-term Sen. Jon Ossoff as the most vulnerable Democrat incumbent up for re-election next year.

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They’re also targeting battleground Michigan, where Democratic Sen. Gary Peters is retiring at the end of next year, and swing state New Hampshire, where longtime Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen decided against seeking a fourth six-year term in the Senate.

Also on the NRSC’s target list is blue-leaning Minnesota, where Democratic Sen. Tina Smith isn’t running for re-election.

At the top of their list is Ossoff, who narrowly won election to the Senate in a January 2021 runoff contest.

Republicans view Sen. Jon Ossoff as the most vulnerable Democrat running for re-election in the 2026 midterm elections. (AP)

But Ossoff is off to a very hot fundraising start, and a GOP primary in Georgia between Reps. Mike Collins and Buddy Carter, and former college and professional football coach Derek Dooley, is starting to turn combustible.

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Republicans are also confident they can flip Michigan, another battleground Trump narrowly carried last November.

Former Rep. Mike Rogers, the 2024 GOP Senate nominee who lost last year’s race by a razor-thin margin, has at this point cleared the Republican primary field, thanks in great part to Trump’s endorsement.

Former Rep. Mike Rogers, a Republican Senate candidate in Michigan for a second straight election cycle, is interviewed by Fox New Digital in Grand Rapids, Michigan on April 2, 2024. (Paul Steinhauser – Fox News )

Democrats, meanwhile, have a very competitive primary on their hands. The primary race includes three well-known Democrats: Rep. Haley Stevens, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and former gubernatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed, who enjoys the backing of progressive champion Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

With Shaheen, who made history as the first woman in the nation’s history to win election as a governor and a senator, out of the running in New Hampshire, the GOP is hoping to win a Senate election in the Granite State for the first time in 16 years.

Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, seen at a policy event in Concord, N.H. on Oct. 22, 2024, isn’t seeking a fourth term in the Senate when she’s up for re-election in 2026. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

They’re encouraged by the gains Trump made in New Hampshire in last year’s election, as he improved on his showing from four years earlier and came close to carrying the state.

But four-term Rep. Chris Pappas’ announcement in early April that he would run to succeed Shaheen has cleared the Democratic primary field, as of now, of any potential rivals for the party’s Senate nomination.

Meanwhile, a Republican primary in the state—where the GOP hasn’t won a Senate race in 15 years—is heating up between former Sen. Scott Brown and state Sen. Dan Innis, with the possibility of more candidates entering the race.

In Minnesota, the leading candidates in the Democratic primary to succeed Smith are Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and Rep. Angie Craig.

Former professional basketball player Royce White, who won the 2024 Senate nomination in Minnesota, and former Navy SEAL Adam Schwarze are currently running in the GOP primary. But another Republican Senate hopeful may soon enter the field.

While Republicans will work to defy political history in next year’s midterms, they point to the Democratic Party’s current brand issues.

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«Democrats have historically low approval ratings because candidates like Jon Ossoff and Chris Pappas keep prioritizing radical policies like men in women’s sports, protecting sanctuary cities for criminal illegal aliens, and raising taxes on working families,» NRSC communications director Joanna Rodriguez argued in a statement to Fox News.

And Rodriguez touted that «Republicans are delivering on policies that keep Americans safe and let families and workers keep more of their hard-earned paychecks. Voters will reward us for it in 2026.» 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to convene his high-level security cabinet on Thursday to discuss expanding the war against Hamas, including the potential full military occupation of the Gaza Strip.

The prospect comes against the backdrop of the 20th anniversary of Israel’s full disengagement from the enclave, as calls for resettlement — once confined to the political fringes — have entered the mainstream, including within the government, particularly in the wake of Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre.

Rebuilding Jewish communities in Gaza would be «a historic correction to a national injustice,» Yitzhak Wasserlauf, Israel’s minister for the Development of the Periphery, the Negev and the Galilee, told Fox News Digital.

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«Expelling Jews from their homes in their own country was a strategic and moral mistake that led to the rise of an Islamist terrorist regime called Hamas,» he said. «That mistake enabled Hamas to fire relentless rockets and ultimately carry out the October 7 massacre — which included murder, rape, abuse, looting, and, of course, the kidnapping of soldiers and civilians.»

Wasserlauf invoked the bloc of 17 Israeli communities, collectively known as Gush Katif, which was established in Gaza after the 1967 Six-Day War. In August 2005, as part of Israel’s unilateral disengagement, the government forcibly removed approximately 8,600 Jewish residents from the area.

He said reapplying Israeli sovereignty «would send a clear message: whoever strikes us loses the ground beneath his feet. Only in this way can true deterrence be achieved,» Wasserlauf continued. «We need to create facts on the ground. There must be no agreements with terrorists. Settlement in Gaza must, at the very least, be the price that reminds everyone terrorism does not pay.»

From 1948 to 1967, the Gaza Strip was under Egyptian occupation. After Israel captured the territory in the 1967 Six-Day War, it remained under full Israeli control until 1994, when administrative responsibility was transferred to the Palestinian Authority under the Oslo Accords — paving the way for Yasser Arafat’s return from exile in Tunis.

Hamas terrorists emerge from the shadows as they surround Red Cross vehicles. (TPS-IL)

In 2005, Israel evacuated all military personnel and civilian communities from Gaza. Shortly thereafter, Hamas won the Palestinian legislative elections and staged a violent coup to overthrow the Palestinian Authority and seize control of the Strip.

A year after Israel unilaterally disengaged from Gaza, evacuating all military personnel and civilian communities, Hamas won the Palestinian legislative elections and, shortly thereafter, staged a violent coup to overthrow the Palestinian Authority and seize control of the Strip.

Wasserlauf argued that critics of the disengagement had long warned that any concession of land would only embolden terrorists. These warnings, he said, were ignored, but ultimately proven correct by the events that followed.

He acknowledged that renewed settlement in Gaza would likely trigger political backlash both domestically and abroad. «The countries that support us will stand with us, and those that consistently oppose us will remain against us … I remind you that there were countries that urged us not to strike Iran, despite its race toward nuclear weapons and its explicit goal of destroying Israel.»

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The Israeli settlement of Pa’at Sadeh is seen Dec. 26, 2004 in the southern Gaza Strip.

Brig. Gen. (Res.) Amir Avivi told Fox News Digital that Israel’s core national security doctrine of deterrence is being tested by jihadist groups like Hamas, which operate according to a radically different set of rules.

Avivi, founder and chairman of the Israel Defense and Security Forum, said that Israel’s approach to Gaza may ultimately hinge on U.S. support, especially from President Donald Trump. «If the U.S. president advocates for massive relocation and taking control of Gaza to implement his own vision, it would suggest some kind of basic understanding between the two sides,» Avivi said.

He estimated that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) currently controls about 75% of Gaza, with past decisions largely driven by military considerations. However, he said that the remaining 25% of the territory involves broader strategic decisions, shaped by how Israel and the United States view the future of the area, including Jewish settlement.

Maj. Gen. (Res.) Yaakov Amidror, a former national security adviser, told Fox News Digital that resettling Gaza should not be part of Israel’s agenda.

Chief of the General Staff LTG Eyal Zamir conducted a field tour in the Rafah area of the Gaza Strip. Zamir spoke with soldiers and was presented with defensive preparations and operational plans. (IDF)

«We have one mission now, and that is to dismantle Hamas,» he said. «We’ll talk about the day after, the day after. To bring back any level of normalcy to Gaza, we need to find partners — and I don’t know who those partners would be if we settle in Gaza.»

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Amidror, a distinguished fellow with the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, said that Israel must in the long-term remain solely responsible for security in Gaza, citing past failures when control was transferred to the Palestinians after the Oslo Accords. He argued that reestablishing settlements could complicate that mission, asserting that security should remain solely in the hands of the IDF.

Religious Zionism lawmaker Simcha Rothman told Fox News Digital that «If we are trying to achieve peace, any agreement or situation in which Jews cannot live in their ancient homeland is not just,» but acknowledged it is not one of Israel’s official war objectives. «While resettling Gaza is the right thing to do, it is not part of the current effort.»

Maj. Gen. (ret.) Amos Yadlin, former head of IDF Military Intelligence, reiterated that resettling Gaza is not part of the Israeli government’s declared war objectives.

«If Israel needs to reoccupy Gaza militarily, it should be to destroy Hamas and bring back the hostages — not to annex Gaza as part of Israel. There are 2 million Palestinians in Gaza, maybe more,» Yadlin, who is currently president of MIND Israel, told Fox News Digital.

Memorials at the site of the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack on the Supernova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im, Israel, on Monday, May 27, 2024. (Kobi Wolf/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

«Israel does not want to rule over them or provide for all their needs. It would cost billions and alter the demographic balance. This idea is being pushed by right-wing elements in the government, and even the prime minister and his party do not support it,» he said.

Daniella Weiss, general director of the Nachala Settlement Movement, told Fox News Digital that the aftermath of Hamas’s October 7 attack signals the start of a new era. «I think we should go much further than what existed in 2005. Back then, we were 10,000 people in Gaza. Our movement, Nachala, has proposed a plan for 1.2 million Jews in Gaza,» Weiss said.

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Israelis march from Sderot toward the northern border of Gaza, calling for the re-establishment of settlements in the territory, on July 30, 2025 in Israel. (Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu via Getty Images)

She said her organization is already taking tangible steps to begin the process, «We’ve organized six groups of young families—more than 1,000 families—who are willing to move to Gaza now,» she said.

While Weiss expressed regret that the Israeli government has not included Jewish resettlement in its official war objectives, she insisted that in Israel’s democracy, public pressure can influence government policy.

«The basic truth is that the Gaza area is part of the western Negev,» she said. «Historically, it was part of the area of the tribe of Yehuda. To turn your back on that is wrong.»

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Zelenski dijo que tenía previsto mantener conversaciones telefónicas con líderes europeos. Foto: AP

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