Foreign policy experts are advising the Trump administration to continue to carefully watch Iran’s behavior over its terror proxy Hezbollah — a group with American blood on its hands.

The importance of Hezbollah to the Tehran regime is clear in the comprehensive U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding. While the agreement does not mention the group by name, clause one of the 14-point MOU calls for the permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including the cessation of conflict in Lebanon.

Lisa Daftari, editor-in-chief, told Fox News Digital that, «Hezbollah isn’t just the Iran regime’s most prized proxy; it’s the crown jewel of the regime’s forward defense. For almost five decades, the Islamic Republic has invested billions building Hezbollah into a forward-deployed missile arsenal aimed directly at Israel’s heart.» She said «Losing Hezbollah would hurt the mullahs more than losing the Strait of Hormuz or anything else in their arsenal. That’s why Hezbollah is clause one,» of the MOU. 

TOP SENATE REPUBLICAN RIPS INTO TRUMP’S IRAN DEAL, SAYS $300 BILLION MAKES OBAMA DEAL LOOK LIKE ‘A PITTANCE’

Daftari said Hezbollah is «a forward-deployed arm of the IRGC Quds Force taking Lebanon hostage,» She said that «the IRGC created Hezbollah in 1982, trained it, armed it, funded it, and to this day embeds Quds Force commanders inside its command structure. Treating them as separate organizations is a fiction Tehran exploits.»

While the State Department didn’t answer Fox News Digital questions over concerns raised by critics regarding the administration’s handling of Hezbollah, Secretary of State Marco Rubio took a tough line on the terror group when asked by reporters in the United Arab Emirates Tuesday about Tehran’s terror proxies and why Iran’s ballistic missile program was left out of the recent Islamabad memorandum of understanding (MOU).

Rubio insisted that regional proxy threats are fundamentally covered by the framework. «I think a careful reading of the MOU will see that when you talk about, for example, a complete – an end of hostilities in the entire region, well, that’s not possible. You can’t have the end of hostilities and conflicts in the region as long as Iranian proxies are launching missiles and drones from Iraq and are participating in terrorism like Hamas did and like Hezbollah did. So I do think it’s covered by the MOU, and it is an issue that will be gotten to at the appropriate time in these negotiations.»

American Marines search for survivors and bodies in the rubble of their barracks headquarters in Beirut, Lebanon, after a suicide car bomb killed 241 U.S. servicemen and wounded over 60 on Oct. 24, 1983. (Peter Charlesworth/LightRocket)

Hezbollah was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the U.S. in 1997.  Bill Roggio, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense for Democracies (FDD) and editor of its Long War Journal, told Fox News Digital that «Hezbollah has a five-decade-long track record of killing Americans, starting with the Marine barracks bombing in Beirut in 1983, attacks on U.S. embassies and airplane hijackings.»

Roggio said the efforts «continue to this day,» with Hezbollah playing «a key role in establishing, training, advising and supporting the Iraqi militias, which are responsible for killing more than 600 American soldiers. Hezbollah also trained al Qaeda to use suicide car bombs, which it implemented in the 1998 suicide attacks on the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and perfected in theaters such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia.» 

In May 2025, A U.S. District Court determined that the torture of Lebanese American Amer Fakhoury was the responsibility of Iran, through its proxy Hezbollah. Fakhoury lost sixty pounds during a six-month period of captivity after being kidnapped by Hezbollah in Lebanon in September 2019. He died six months after his return to the U.S. of cancer that was diagnosed in prison in Lebanon.

FAMILY OF AMERICAN HOSTAGE TORTURED IN LEBANON WINS LANDMARK CASE AGAINST IRAN

As U.S.-Iran talks opened Sunday in Switzerland, a dispute over who controls and monitors billions of dollars in potentially unfrozen Iranian assets emerged (Fabrice Coffrini/Pool via REUTERS)

Zoya and Guila Fakhoury, Amer’s daughters and co-founders of the Amer Foundation, told Fox News Digital that their «family wants to see a peaceful, sovereign, and prosperous Lebanon» and welcomes «any effort that genuinely reduces violence and helps Lebanon move toward stability.»

The Fakhoury’s said that «lasting peace cannot come at the expense of accountability. True stability in Lebanon requires ensuring that terrorist organizations like Hezbollah no longer hold the power to intimidate, detain, and silence innocent people.»

They expressed disappointment that there has been «little public focus on the Americans who remain unjustly detained by the Iranian regime.» They added that «Any meaningful agreement with Iran should include concrete progress toward bringing every wrongfully detained American home.»

Amer Fakhoury is shown before his illegal detention in Lebanon and after his rescue from hospital with cancer. His New Hampshire family seeks justice from Iran for his imprisonment. (Fakhoury Family)

A U.S. official told Fox News Digital that «The Trump Administration is committed to securing the release of all Americans unjustly detained in Iran and around the world. The Iranian regime has a long and shameful history of unjustly detaining U.S. nationals and other foreign citizens. The Iranian regime should immediately release all Americans unjustly detained in Iran.  To ensure the safety and security and security of those Americans, we have nothing further to share at this time.»

As talks brokered by the U.S. between Lebanese and Israeli officials resumed in Washington, the Lebanese president, Joseph Aoun, released a statement on his X account Tuesday, thanking the Vice President and Secretary of State, stating in part «for the attention that the United States is showing toward Lebanon, aimed at ending the war there, strengthening the authority of the Lebanese state, and the independence of its decision-making, considering it solely responsible for preserving national sovereignty, the dignity of the Lebanese people, and their safety.»

ISRAEL POUNDS HEZBOLLAH TARGETS, DARING LEBANON TO RECLAIM SOVEREIGNTY FROM IRAN-BACKED TERROR PROXY

The U.S. delegation including Steve Witkoff, JD Vance and Jared Kushner arrived in Switzerland on Sunday (REUTERS/Nathan Howard/Pool)

Walid Phares, a foreign policy expert and author of ‘Iran: An Imperialist Republic and U.S. Policy,’ told Fox News Digital that it was «a major mistake…to give the Islamic regime in Iran a power to include Lebanon and Hezbollah in the talks. He warned that «putting Lebanon on the agenda of the talks with the regime in Switzerland could collapse the Washington, D.C. platform.»

Pressed by reporters while in Kuwait on Wednesday about Israel’s continued military presence, Rubio drew a firm line on the administration’s expectations, stating its hope is «that the Lebanese Armed Forces and the legitimate, sovereign Lebanese government will continue to be able to control and secure more and more of their own territory – because that’s who needs to control Lebanese territory, not a terrorist group like Hezbollah. So that’s the goal. And I think the Israelis have been clear. They don’t have any quarrels with the Lebanese people, they don’t have any claims on the territory of Lebanon.»

Michael Needham, counselor for the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa, Lebanese Ambassador to the U.S. Nada Hamadeh Moawad, and Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter pose for a photo before a meeting at the State Department in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 2026. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo)

Jonathan Conricus, a former international spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces, told Fox News Digital that «From an Israeli perspective, Hezbollah is not an organization that we can talk with or expect them to change their ways.» He said that as a jihadi organization, «their primary objective in life is to wage holy war against the Jews, and then against Christians and against other what they consider to be infidels and Westerners. These are not people that you can negotiate or talk sense with.»

Conricus, a senior fellow at the FDD, added that «there’s a unique chance here to roll back Iranian aggression in the region and to dismantle the most important Iranian proxy Hezbollah.» To do so, he called for «political pressure, information pressure and…economic pressure on Hezbollah [and] on all of its financial institutions.»

A deliverman rides a motorcycle along a road in Baghdad past billboards showing Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and Hassan Nasrallah, the slain leader of Hezbollah, on Oct. 7, 2024. (Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP)

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A U.S. government official told Fox News Digital that «Secretary Rubio spoke to both [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] and Aoun on Friday about solidifying ceasefire and future talks. As a result of those calls, the U.S. started a monitoring mechanism via [U.S. Central Command] so that our policymakers have real-time and accurate information about fighting in Lebanon.»

The Washington talks between Lebanon and Israel are expected to continue into Thursday.

The Democratic Party has an identity crisis.

Three far-left radicals backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani won their primary elections Tuesday night in a clean sweep by socialist and socialist-adjacent candidates. The mayor’s preferred candidates destroyed those backed by the Democrat establishment and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), leaving party leadership shellshocked.

Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) members Darializa Avila Chevalier and State Assemblywoman Claire Valdez, along with progressive Democrat and former DSA member Brad Lander, all have a clear path to Congress after winning in heavily blue districts.

Here’s what we know about them:

‘PARTY OF ZOHRAN’: MAMDANI EMERGES AS DEMOCRATIC KINGMAKER AFTER SOCIALIST ALLIES SWEEP NYC PRIMARIES

Darializa Avila Chevalier

Avila Chevalier, 32, is originally from Florida. She attended Columbia University and is currently pursuing a PhD at the City University of New York (CUNY).

She spent much of her time in college organizing against the political right, and is a hardline anti-Israel actor. At the Ivy League school, she helped found a group called Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), which later caused a firestorm when it posted «Death to America» in Farsi on X.

In 2024, the group faced widespread condemnation when it stated that it was «fighting for the total eradication of Western civilization.» Columbia has distanced itself from the group.

Congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier speaks during a Get Out the Vote rally at King’s Theater in New York City on June 18, 2026. Sen. Bernie Sanders and Mayor Zohran Mamdani campaigned alongside her and other candidates ahead of the Democratic primary and early voting. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

MAMDANI STANDS BY FELLOW SOCIALIST CANDIDATE DESPITE RESURFACED FAR-LEFT, ANTI-AMERICAN POSTS

Avila Chevalier identifies as «Afro Latina» and converted to Islam in recent years. Her parents emigrated from the Dominican Republic before she was born, and her nationality became a central focus of her primary battle in the largely Dominican 13th Congressional District, especially as she appeared to distance herself from her roots.

Tuesday night, she ousted five-term Democrat Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), a progressive in his own right, after running against him from his left.

Avila Chevalier deleted a rash of inflammatory far-left posts from her X account where she attacked other Democrats including former President Joe Biden, whom she called a «rapist» and a «war criminal,» Vice President Kamala Harris, whom she cursed out, and progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., whom she chastised for his «liberal Zionism.»

Darializa Avila Chevalier, Democratic candidate for Congress in New York’s 13th Congressional District, speaks with a voter in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan on June 14, 2026, in New York, N.Y. (Shuran Huang/For The Washington Post via Getty Images)

MAMDANI-BACKED SOCIALIST CANDIDATE STORMS OUT OF LIVE INTERVIEW WHEN CONFRONTED WITH OLD SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS

Perhaps most egregiously, she has trashed the United States on multiple occasions — one time calling her home country «a f—ing disgrace.»

«I forgot to get napkins so I just wiped my hand on the American flag behind me,» she said in yet another deleted post.

The soon-to-be congresswoman is also a rabid anti-borders activist, and has argued for completely abolishing police and prisons.

FAR-LEFT SURGE: MAMDANI-BACKED CANDIDATES OUST DEM ESTABLISHMENT INCUMBENTS

In a 2021 repost on X, then Twitter, she said that abolishing borders, prisons and police is «possible, necessary, and the only moral way forward,» and later amplified and echoed posts that claimed «all deportation is wrong» and to «literally abolish the border.»

In a debate against Espaillat last week, Avila Chevalier argued that illegal aliens shouldn’t be deported from the under any circumstances, even if they have committed violent crimes or served jail time. She bizarrely argued that deporting violent alien criminals constitutes «double jeopardy,» since Americans who commit the same crimes cannot be deported.

Darializa Avila Chevalier, Democratic candidate for Congress in New York’s 13th Congressional District, speaks with voter Maria Rodriguez in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan on June 14, 2026. (Shuran Huang/For The Washington Post via Getty Images)

She also waged a war on white women and even once blasted black and Arab men for «fetishizing ugly colonizer women.»

DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST MAMDANI ALLY MOUNTS BID FOR US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

State Assemblywoman Claire Valdez

Valdez currently represents New York’s State Assembly for the 37th District, a position she was elected to in 2024. She took office in 2025, and almost immediately launched her congressional bid to replace outgoing Rep. Nydia Velázquez, D-N.Y., who is retiring from Congress.

Valdez is from Lubbock, Texas, and moved to New York to pursue a career as an artist in 2015. She is part Native American and a citizen of the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Nation.

She, like Avila Chevalier, was endorsed by Justice Democrats, a far-left group that rose to prominence for helping launch the political career of socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. The group describes Valdez as a «proud Democratic Socialist.»

Congressional candidate Claire Valdez acknowledges supporters during her primary-night watch party at 99 Scott Studio in the East Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City, on June 23, 2026. Valdez won the 7th District race against Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso to succeed retiring Rep. Nydia Velazquez. She was one of three progressive candidates endorsed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

SOCIALISTS CHEER ‘SHOCKWAVE’ PRIMARY NIGHT AS DSA-BACKED CANDIDATES WIN, ADVANCE ACROSS THE MAP

The endorsement brags that Valdez «worked low-wage customer service jobs through high school, college and after.» One of those jobs was as a worker at Columbia University, where she joined UAW Local 2110, which represents full and part-time secretarial and clerical employees. She was elected to the bargaining committee of the union.

Justice Democrats says that in her capacity as an assemblywoman, she «has fought to tax the rich, protect tenants, and empower working people.»

Valdez, too, has called Israel’s military action in Gaza a «genocide.»

«Two and a half years ago, Israeli leaders clearly stated their intent to carry out a genocide in Gaza,» she said in an X post on June 3. «And that’s exactly what they did. I was in the streets with so many New Yorkers protesting our complicity and to free Palestine.»

State Rep. Claire Valdez, a Democrat from New York and U.S. House candidate, arrives for a canvass launch ahead of the primary election in Brooklyn, New York, on June 22, 2026. (Adam Gray/Bloomberg)

She has called for the U.S. to withhold funding to Israel.

Valdez has also outwardly called for the abolishment of ICE, which she described as a «fascist agency» and accused them of «terrorizing» the community and «kidnapping» people.

«This fascist administration is kidnapping our neighbors from their immigration court check-ins,» she said in a 2025 post to X. «What is Albany waiting for? State leaders cannot ignore this emergency any longer. We cannot allow ONE MORE neighbor to be targeted.»

«We must pass NY4ALL and get ICE OUT OF NEW YORK.»

Former NYC Comptroller Brad Lander

Lander served as the chief financial officer for New York City from 2022 to 2025 as comptroller.

Before that, he represented Brooklyn’s 39th District on the New York City Council for 12 years, and founded the Progressive Caucus while on the council.

NY DEM WOULDN’T BACK MAMDANI FOR MAYOR — NOW MAMDANI IS BACKING HIS CHALLENGER

Democratic congressional candidate Brad Lander speaks at an election eve rally in the East Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, on June 22, 2026. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Lander was a card-carrying DSA member until 2023, when he was turned off by the group’s response to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack on Israeli concertgoers that killed 1,200 people.

He defeated incumbent Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., in a landslide on Tuesday night in New York’s 10th Congressional District.

Lander says his first priority in Congress will be to «vanquish Trump’s fascism» and abolish ICE, and accused billionaires of «rigging our economy.»

MAMDANI-BACKED ‘LIBERAL ZIONIST’ OUSTS DEM WHO LED TRUMP IMPEACHMENT IN BID TO TAKE NYC HOUSE SEAT

He has described himself as an «ally» to the black community, and in a 2022 candidate survey for the comptroller job shockingly accused himself of possible white supremacy.

Democratic Congressional candidate Brad Lander speaks at an election eve rally in the East Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, on June 22, 2026. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

«As a white man, that work starts by listening as honestly as I can to black people about the anger and pain they are feeling, and the system of white supremacy and systemic racism it reflects,» he said.

«That is not easy —because it implicates me, because the anger is so deep, and because what it would take to change it is so big. But it must be the starting point. From deep listening, action-oriented solutions and genuine commitments should follow.»

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In 2020, Lander called for police to suspend arresting criminals and demanded most inmates at Rikers be released. He also advocated for cutting NYPD’s budget by $1 billion in a letter to constituents, according to the New York Post.

«My commitment to working to defund the NYPD,» the letter reportedly said.

None of the primary winners responded to Fox News Digital’s comment requests.

La influenza continúa cobrando vidas en Panamá. El Ministerio de Salud (Minsa) confirmó cuatro nuevas defunciones asociadas a esta enfermedad durante la semana epidemiológica 22, elevando a 51 el número de fallecidos registrados en lo que va de 2026.

Las cifras reflejan que el virus sigue representando una amenaza para los grupos más vulnerables, especialmente adultos mayores, niños pequeños y personas con enfermedades crónicas.

De acuerdo con el informe epidemiológico más reciente, el 62.7% de las muertes por influenza registradas este año corresponden a hombres. Además, el grupo más afectado ha sido el de personas de 65 años y más, que concentra el 63% de los fallecimientos, seguido por los menores de un año.

Uno de los datos que más preocupa a las autoridades sanitarias es que el 100% de las personas fallecidas no había recibido la vacuna contra la influenza correspondiente a la temporada actual. Asimismo, el 82% tampoco se había vacunado durante la campaña de 2025.

El informe señala además que el 78% de los fallecidos presentaba factores de riesgo asociados a edad avanzada o enfermedades metabólicas, cardiovasculares y renales.

La influenza es una enfermedad respiratoria causada por virus que afectan la nariz, la garganta y los pulmones. Aunque en muchos casos provoca síntomas similares a los de un resfriado común, puede derivar en complicaciones graves como neumonía, insuficiencia respiratoria, descompensación de enfermedades crónicas e incluso la muerte.

Los síntomas más frecuentes incluyen fiebre alta, tos, dolor de garganta, congestión nasal, dolores musculares, dolor de cabeza y fatiga intensa.

Las autoridades sanitarias insisten en que la vacunación sigue siendo la principal herramienta de prevención. En Panamá, la vacuna contra la influenza se aplica de forma gratuita en las instalaciones del sistema público de salud y está disponible para toda la población, con especial énfasis en adultos mayores, embarazadas, niños pequeños, pacientes con enfermedades crónicas y personal de salud.

Las cifras oficiales muestran además que la circulación de virus respiratorios sigue siendo elevada. Durante la semana epidemiológica analizada se registraron 964 casos de síndrome gripal, para un acumulado anual de 18,271 casos.

Paralelamente, las infecciones respiratorias agudas graves, que incluyen bronconeumonías y neumonías, sumaron 432 nuevos casos en una sola semana y alcanzaron un acumulado de 7,882 casos en lo que va del año.

Mientras tanto, el dengue continúa siendo una de las enfermedades transmitidas por mosquitos con mayor impacto en el país. Hasta la semana epidemiológica 22 se habían confirmado 3,000 casos. De ellos, 2,632 fueron clasificados como dengue sin signos de alarma, 348 presentaron signos de alarma y 20 evolucionaron a dengue grave.

El dengue puede provocar fiebre alta, dolor detrás de los ojos, dolores musculares y articulares, náuseas y erupciones en la piel. En sus formas más severas puede generar hemorragias, afectación de órganos vitales y choque, por lo que requiere atención médica inmediata.

Otro padecimiento que continúa generando preocupación es la malaria. El informe reporta 79 nuevos casos notificados o actualizados durante la semana analizada, para un acumulado anual de 4,281 casos. La enfermedad, transmitida por mosquitos infectados del género Anopheles, puede causar fiebre, escalofríos, sudoración intensa, dolor de cabeza y anemia. Sin tratamiento oportuno, algunas variantes pueden resultar potencialmente mortales.

Entre las enfermedades menos conocidas por la población destaca la leptospirosis. Aunque durante la semana 22 no se notificaron nuevos casos, las autoridades actualizaron un caso correspondiente a semanas anteriores, elevando el acumulado anual a 23.

La leptospirosis es una infección bacteriana transmitida principalmente por el contacto con agua, suelo o alimentos contaminados con orina de animales infectados, especialmente roedores.

Sus síntomas iniciales pueden confundirse con los de otras enfermedades febriles e incluyen fiebre, dolor de cabeza, dolores musculares y vómitos. Sin embargo, en los casos más graves puede provocar insuficiencia renal, daño hepático, meningitis e incluso la muerte.

El reporte también registra 1,206 casos acumulados de leishmaniasis, enfermedad transmitida por la picadura de pequeños insectos conocidos como flebótomos o jején. Dependiendo de la variante, puede producir lesiones cutáneas persistentes o afectar órganos internos.

En cuanto al hantavirus, Panamá acumula 10 casos de fiebre por hantavirus y otros 10 casos de síndrome cardiopulmonar por hantavirus durante 2026. Esta enfermedad se transmite por el contacto con excretas de roedores infectados y puede evolucionar rápidamente hacia una insuficiencia respiratoria severa.

El informe epidemiológico también reporta 52 casos acumulados de gusano barrenador en humanos, siete casos de enfermedad por virus Oropouche, seis casos de viruela símica y cuatro casos de chikungunya, mientras que el zika continúa sin registrar casos durante este año.

Ante este panorama, las autoridades reiteraron el llamado a mantener las medidas de autocuidado, acudir oportunamente a los servicios de salud y completar los esquemas de vacunación disponibles. Para el Minsa, la combinación de inmunización, control de criaderos de mosquitos y atención temprana sigue siendo la mejor defensa frente a las enfermedades que continúan circulando en el país.