Israel launches second ground incursion into Gaza, Hamas commander killed in airstrike

Colleges should expect more vocal board members and less generous donors if they continue letting students force "woke" decisions on administrators, a former University of Pennsylvania trustee said following widespread anti-Israel rallies.

"A university is not run by the students, the university is run by the board of trustees who represent all the alumni," the former trustee, CSMI CEO and charter school magnate Vahan Gureghian, told Fox News. "Presidents of these universities need to take heed before they make these woke decisions that adversely impact the reputation of these elite institutions because they have awakened the sleeping giant of donors who are now saying, ‘I'm not just going to write a check anymore and automatically give them money no matter what they say or do.’"

Several top universities, including UPenn, have drawn criticism for allowing pro-Palestinian student groups to rally and express anti-Israel sentiments. Several major donors have cut off support from the Ivy League school, and drove Gureghian and a board of advisors member to resign.

UPenn faced criticism prior to Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel for hosting a "Palestine Writes Literature Festival" featuring speakers with a history of antisemitism despite alumni and students' appeals to cancel or condemn the event, Fox News previously reported. Gureghian, who was still a trustee at the time, was surprised the university's president, Liz Magill, let the Sept. 22 event proceed after concerns were raised.

"There's plenty of people on the board, all of whom are substantial men and women, that you could get advice and counsel from, and clearly they would give you the advice and counsel to cancel," he said. "That didn't happen. She let it go on."

But then Magill took three days to release a statement in response to Hamas' attack, which killed around 1,400 Israelis and included women and children. Gureghian felt that was too slow — particularly after her decision about the Palestine Writes event just weeks earlier — and resigned as a trustee after nearly 15 years.

Over 600 alumni, faculty, and students of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are pleading with the university’s president to "prevent the propagation of slogans, messages, and hateful acts that may threaten the safety of Jewish and Israeli students" after calls for "intifada" rang out at an anti-Israel protest last week.

A list of 607 people associated with the school, including a graduate of 1953, wrote a letter to MIT President Sally Kornbluth Monday citing "deep concern, fear, and disappointment" after chants of "one solution, intifada revolution" and "from the [Jordan] river to the [Mediterranean] sea, Palestine will be free!" rang out at a rally in support of the Hamas terrorist attacks that killed over 1,400 Israelis Oct. 7.

"While we fully support the principles of free speech and the right to peaceful assembly, it is essential that we also prioritize the safety and well-being of all members of the MIT community," the letter states.

The letter says in addition to the use of these derogatory messages, several attendees of the event used hateful language and messages toward Jewish and Israeli bystanders. In one case, "a perpetrator aggressively held their bicycles as intended to harm a Jewish MIT student, stating that ‘[your] ancestors did not die in the Holocaust so they could kill Palestinians.’"

Those signing the letter include graduates with PhDs and MBAs and prestigious fellowship recipients.

The authors state that in the context of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the word intifada means the "armed and violent Palestinian insurrection targeting Israelis, including civilians, which resulted in the killing of thousands of Israelis in the last few decades."

Three weeks to the day after the Hamas assault on Israel, former President Donald Trump and his top rivals for the 2024 Republican nomination will showcase their solidarity with Israel as they all speak at the same event.

Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy all speak Saturday at the Republican Jewish Coalition's (RJC) annual leadership conference in Las Vegas.

The gathering is only the second time Trump, the commanding frontrunner for the GOP nomination as he makes his third straight White House run, is taking part in an event with his 2024 rivals.

"This is a Halley’s Comet-type rare event where we have all of the Republican presidential candidates together at the same event on the same day on the same stage," RJC CEO Matt Brooks told Fox News.

Brooks said the appearance of the major Republican presidential contenders and other major GOP leaders speaking at the three-day confab that got underway Thursday "underscores how much they value the Jewish community."

More than 1,400 Israelis were killed during the sneak attack. Israel responded with relentless airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, which, according to authorities in the Hamas-controlled territory, have left roughly 7,000 Palestinians dead.

Israeli military aircrafts attacked about 150 underground targets in the northern Gaza Strip over Friday night amid the ongoing war against Hamas terrorists.

The Israeli Defense Forces said Hamas terrorists were killed while underground combat zones and other underground terrorist infrastructures were also destroyed.

The IDF said the head of the Hamas air force was eliminated.

More than 8,400 people have been killed in Gaza and Israel since Hamas launched its largest attack against Israel in decades on Oct. 7, leading to retaliatory action from Israeli forces. 

Thousands more have been wounded, and many others have been taken hostage by Hamas and raped, tortured and murdered.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said Friday that cutting off communication to people in Gaza during the war between Israeli forces and Hamas terrorists is "unacceptable" and endangers innocent civilians.

The congresswoman was responding to a post on X from Palestinian Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Husam Zomlot, who said he has been unable to contact his family in Gaza.

"I have been trying to reach my family in Gaza for hours with no success," Zomlot wrote. "All telecommunications and internet have been cut, while Israeli strikes is literally destroying Gaza from air land and sea. How many more innocent people: children, parents and grandparents will be murdered before the world steps in?"

Ocasio-Cortez replied, "Cutting off all communication to a population of 2.2 million is unacceptable. Journalists, medical professionals, humanitarian efforts, and innocents are all endangered."

"I do not know how such an act can be defended. The United States has historically denounced this practice," she added.

More than 8,400 people have been killed in Gaza and Israel since Hamas launched its largest attack against Israel in decades on Oct. 7, leading to retaliatory action from Israeli forces. Thousands more have been wounded, and many others have been taken hostage by Hamas and raped, tortured and murdered.

President Biden said in a letter to House and Senate leaders that the U.S. airstrikes against Syria on Thursday represented "necessary and proportionate action consistent with international law" within "the United States' inherent right of self-defense as reflected in Article 51 of the United Nations Charter."

As I have reported previously, militia groups affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have perpetrated a series of attacks against United States personnel and facilities in Iraq and Syria," Biden wrote. "Since October 17, 2023, these militia groups have conducted numerous attacks using unmanned aerial systems and indirect fire, injuring several United States service members.  A United States contractor suffered a fatal cardiac incident while moving to shelter during one of these attacks.  These attacks have placed under grave threat the lives of United States personnel and of Coalition forces operating alongside United States forces."

"In response to this series of attacks and continuing threats of future attacks, at my direction, on the night of October 26, 2023, United States forces conducted targeted strikes against facilities in eastern Syria," he continued. "The precision strikes targeted facilities used by the IRGC and IRGC-affiliated groups for command and control, munitions storage, and other purposes.  The strikes were intended to establish deterrence and were conducted in a manner to limit the risk of escalation and avoid civilian casualties.  I directed the strikes in order to protect and defend our personnel, to degrade and disrupt the ongoing series of attacks against the United States and our partners, and to deter Iran and Iran-backed militia groups from conducting or supporting further attacks on United States personnel and facilities."

The president added, "I directed this military action consistent with my responsibility to protect United States citizens both at home and abroad and in furtherance of United States national security and foreign policy interests, pursuant to my constitutional authority as Commander in Chief and Chief Executive and to conduct United States foreign relations.  The United States took this necessary and proportionate action consistent with international law and in the exercise of the United States' inherent right of self-defense as reflected in Article 51 of the United Nations Charter.  The United States stands ready to take further action, as necessary and appropriate, to address further threats or attacks."

The military action comes against Syria comes amid the war in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas.

More than 8,400 people have been killed and thousands more wounded in Gaza and Israel since Hamas launched its largest attack against Israel in decades on Oct. 7, leading Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to declare war on the terrorist group.

Israel intensified its airstrikes in Gaza ahead of an imminent ground invasion as the United States continued to push for humanitarian pause to try to negotiate the release of hostages, two U.S. officials told Fox News Digital on Friday.

On Friday morning, the Israeli military’s plan was to send a division into Gaza as airstrikes intensified, but it has held off on a large-scale offensive, instead sending in a smaller force.

There is no progress on hostage negotiations with Hamas as of Friday but the U.S. continues to push for humanitarian pauses if hostage releases would be successful, the officials said.

They also said that Israel “has heard our concerns” about taking every attempt to mitigate civilian casualties. 

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III also spoke with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant in a Friday call in which they discussed Israel's operations in Gaza, according to a readout.

Austin "underscored the importance of protecting civilians during the Israel Defense Forces’ operations and focusing on the urgency of humanitarian aid delivery for civilians in Gaza" while stressing the importance of Hamas releasing all hostages, the readout said.

Fox News Digital's Jacqui Heinrich contributed to this report.

Hamas is trying to prevent people from leaving northern Gaza and is shielding itself behind civilians despite warnings from Israel to leave the area amid its airstrikes, a Palestinian activist told Fox News Digital.

"Unfortunately, sometimes we have more and more casualties among the Palestinians because of such kind of attitude and behavior of Hamas," Palestinian human rights activist and political analyst Bassem Eid said, accusing the group of physically restraining and blocking people from leaving.

Hamas continues to hide underneath homes and hospitals in the Gaza City, Israel alleges.

"They are physically … and trying even sometimes by force to push people back, closing the entrances of the villages or the cities or the neighborhoods over there, just standing over there and not allowing for people to move out," Eid said. "So I can say that they are forcing people – they never ask people to remain in their places, but they are forcing people not to get out of their homes." 

Israel has told residents they should be safe in southern Gaza. 

Fox News' Peter Aitken contributed to this report.

Grand Central Terminal in New York City has temporarily closed due to protests inside the station, the Metro Transit Authority said just before 8 p.m. Friday.

The closure came after Pro-Palestine protesters packed the station, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Videos of the protests shared to social media show demonstrators wearing shirts that said “Cease fire now” and "Not in our name" and chanting "Free Palestine" while some held banners, including one that said “Palestinians should be free.”

A video from Freedomnews.tv showed an officer on a bullhorn being drowned out by cheering protesters as he told them they were "occupying this premises unlawfully" and that they would be arrested if they didn't disperse.

Police confirmed to Fox News Digital that arrests were made but didn't yet have the exact numbers of how many.

The protests started around 6 p.m., WABC-TV reported.

Jewish Voice for Peace confirmed on X, formerly Twitter, that it had organized the rally.

"HAPPENING NOW AT NYC'S GRAND CENTRAL STATION: THOUSANDS OF JEWS AND ALLIES HOLD AN EMERGENCY SIT-IN, DEMANDING A CEASEFIRE IN GAZA," a post from the group said. "WE'RE TAKING OVER THE GRAND CONCOURSE. WE'RE REFUSING TO ALLOW A GENOCIDE BE CARRIED OUT IN OUR NAMES. CEASEFIRE NOW! NEVER AGAIN FOR ANYONE!"

The MTA said subway riders should allow extra time and take the subway to Harlem-125 St for train service.

On Friday, the UN adopted a non-binding resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza without condemning Hamas’ attacks, which the U.S. voted against and Israel rebuked it.

Israel on Friday also said it was expanding its ground activity in Gaza. 

Tulane University in New Orleans called a rally held without permission that descended into violence Thursday a "dark day for our community."

Three students were assaulted during the brawl that the university said involved many people who weren't affiliated with the school.

Video of the incident shows police and what appears to be school administrators trying to calm the competing crowds of protesters, who at times come to blows. The pro-Palestinian protesters also carry banners that read, "From the River to the Sea Palestine Will Be Free," which many have interpreted and understood to mean a call for the end of Israel's existence as a state.

"This rally was not approved or sanctioned by Tulane," the statement from University President Michael A. Fitts read. "There were approximately 40 plainclothes and uniformed New Orleans, Tulane, Loyola and State Police officers, including mounted police, who made arrests."

He added, "Everyone who committed an illegal act on this day will be held accountable for their actions ... Symbols and acts of hatred, anti-Semitism, deliberate provocation and preying upon the fears of others are not part of who we are."

Fox News' Peter Aitken contributed to this report.

Israel condemned the Untied Nations’ non-binding resolution that was passed on Friday as “empty words” that refused to call out “murderous terrorists by name.”

“Today is a day that will go down in infamy,” Israeli Gilad Erdan said after the 120-14 vote with 45 abstentions.

The U.S. voted against the resolution after supporting a Canadian amendment to condemn Hamas that failed to pass.

Erdan continued, “We have all witnessed that the UN no longer holds even one ounce of legitimacy or relevance. This organization was founded in the wake of the Holocaust for the purpose of preventing atrocities, yet the spectacle we just saw proves beyond a doubt that the UN is committed, not to preventing, but ensuring, further atrocities.”

He said it the duty of the U.N. to “call out murderous terrorists by name, not hide them behind empty words! Why are you defending murderers? Why are you defending terrorists that deliberately beheaded children and abducted babies?”

The ambassador added that Israel is committed to eradicating Hamas’ capabilities for the “purpose of preventing future atrocities.”

“We all know, that if given the chance, Hamas – and Hezbollah – would commit the October 7th Massacre again, and again, and again, until there is not a single Israeli left to murder, or a single citizen to terrorize and drive away from Israel,” he added.

“And the only way to destroy Hamas, is to root them out of their tunnels and subterranean city of terror.”

He noted that the resolution doesn’t even name Hamas.

“As if this war started on its own!” he said. “Even when discussing our hostages, the drafters could not even bring themselves to name the Hamas terrorists responsible for this blatant war crime.”

Erdan added that Israel will continue to defend itself and will do “what must be done” to stop Hamas’ capabilities.

“This is a dark day for the UN and for mankind," he added.

In a statement on X, formerly Twitter, Eli Cohen, Israel’s foreign minister said, “We reject outright the UN General Assembly despicable call for a ceasefire. Israel intends to eliminate Hamas just as the world dealt with the Nazis and ISIS.”

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres stressed the importance of Iran’s contribution toward the “unconditional and immediate” release of hostages being held in Gaza, in a Friday meeting with Iran’s foreign minister H.E. Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

“The Secretary-General expressed to the Foreign Minister the importance of the Iranian contribution towards the unconditional and immediate release of hostages held in Gaza, and for the efforts being made to avoid a regional spill-over of the conflict and, in particular, in relation to Lebanon,” a readout of the meeting said.

On Thursday, Amir-Abdollahian accused Israel of “war crimes” and said the U.S. should stop supporting “genocide” in Gaza.

“Unfortunately this is the state of our world today,” he said. “This is the situation of the Security Council, which was supposed to try to establish world peace and security,” he said.

Friday afternoon, the UN General Assembly adopted a non-binding resolution calling for a for "durable and sustained humanitarian truce" in Gaza 120-14 with 45 abstentions.

The resolution didn't condemn Hamas for its unprovoked "terrorist attacks" that Canada had offered in a rejected amendment to the resolution. The U.S. backed the amendment and voted against the resolution.

In response to the resolution, Israel’s ambassador Gilad Erdan said, “today is a day that will go down in infamy.”

“We have all witnessed that the UN holds not even one ounce of legitimacy,” he said. “The UN is committed to ensuring further atrocity. According to the family of nations, Israel has no right to defend itself.”

The United Nations on Friday adopted a non-binding resolution 120-14 with 45 abstentions for a “humanitarian truce” in Gaza that failed to condemn Hamas for its unprovoked attacks on Israel at the start of the war.

The U.S. was among the 14 who voted against the resolution.

It was the first U.N. response since Hamas Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.

A Canadian amendment backed by the Untied States to condemn Hamas’ “terrorist attacks” was rejected before the resolution was adopted.

In response to the resolution, Israel’s ambassador Gilad Erdan said, “today is a day that will go down in infamy.”

“We have all witnessed that the UN holds not even one ounce of legitimacy,” he said. “The UN is committed to ensuring further atrocity. According to the family of nations, Israel has no right to defend itself.”

“People are very scared inside” Gaza “at this hour,” Fox News reporter Trey Yingst said in a video posted to X, formerly Twitter, live from Southern Israel late Friday local time, citing a source within Gaza.

Airstrikes could be heard and seen in the video behind him.

He added, “We do expect it to be a very active front in the hours to come.”

Earlier, Yingst called Friday night the “next phase of the war.”

“I cannot confirm a ground invasion has begun but a new phase has begun,” he reported live on air. "This is unlike any other night we have covered."

The war between Israel and Hamas has entered the “next phase,” Fox News reporter Trey Yingst reported from Southern Israel on Friday evening local time.

“I cannot confirm a ground invasion has begun but a new phase has begun,” he reported live on air.“

Tonight there will be Israeli forces inside the Gaza strip” whether or not it is a full ground invasion, he added.

He stressed, “We have not seen anything like this,” adding that Friday evening is “unlike any other night we have covered."

He said a source inside Gaza told him that “Gaza tonight is alone” and the millions of “innocent bystanders” there feel “terrified.”

Yingst added that Israel’s military said it is increasing air strikes and continuing with plan to completely destroy Hamas. 

Mark Regev, a senior advisor to Prime Minister Netanyahu also told Fox, "We are beefing up the pressure on Hamas. Hamas is feeling Israel's might.”

Dr. Phil McGraw strongly condemned university leaders for their tepid response to "disturbing" student protests after the Hamas terror attack, saying there was an "ivy-covered intellectual rot" on college campuses.

The no-nonsense television host began his message scolding those who were softening language in describing the Hamas terrorists.

"The Hamas invaders were not soldiers; they were assassins," McGraw said in a video posted by the Dr. Phil Show and TBN Israel. "The Hamas charter calls for the ultimate annihilation of all Israeli Jews, followed by the annihilation of Jews around the world. Sound familiar?" he remarked while photos from the Holocaust played in the background. "Sadly, some people, including some right here in America, actually celebrated the slaughter and blame those being murdered, raped, and kidnapped," he said.

McGraw called out Harvard, Yale, Georgetown, UCLA and Stanford among the dozens of other universities which he said have "indulged" and "sanctioned" protests in recent weeks. "These student organizations' response to the Hamas attack revealed a disturbing degree of ivy-covered intellectual rot," he warned.

McGraw turned his ire onto university leaders who've allowed demonstrations which he claimed were "celebrating the murder" of Israelis.

"The leadership of these supposedly highly sophisticated schools are so busy virtue-signaling and coddling students who think that words are violence, but violence, horrific, inhumane violence, is social justice, that they have forgotten it is their job to teach their students to think and to test reality," he ranted.

"Instead of training tomorrow’s leaders," he added, "they are profoundly demagnetizing our culture’s moral compass among the college population."

He went on to say that "enlightened, woke" universities were failing miserably at educating students and training them in critical thinking.

Fox News Digital's Kristine Parks contributed to this update.

A Hamas spokesperson stormed out of a BBC interview on Thursday when asked about how the terror group justified killing civilians in its Oct. 7 attack against Israel.

During an interview with BBC Middle East reporter Hugo Bachega, Deputy Foreign Minister for Hamas, Ghazi Hamad, insisted that his group’s attack on Israel that resulted in the murders of around 1,400 people was focused on military targets.

He claimed that there was "no command" to kill innocent people.

When Bachega pressed him on the fact that Hamas fighters targeted civilians during their invasion into neighborhoods in southern Israel, Hamad refused to continue with the discussion and left.

Prompting the sparring between the spokesman and BBC reporter in the now viral clip, Hamad claimed that Oct. 7’s attack "was a military operation." 

"It was directed for military purposes, for the military sites," he insisted, before Bachega cut him off, stating, "But hundreds of civilians were killed." 

Hamad sidestepped the interruption and pressed on, adding that Hamas’ attack was also against the "military soldiers who imposed sanctions and collective punishment against our people."

Again, the Hamas spokesperson said the attack was not aimed at civilians, stating, "And I think from the first moment, we declared that this operation was not directed to the civilians. But I can confirm and assure again and again that there was no command, no command to kill any civilians."

When Bachega pressed him on the fact that Hamas fighters targeted civilians during their invasion into neighborhoods in southern Israel, Hamad refused to continue with the discussion and left.

Prompting the sparring between the spokesman and BBC reporter in the now viral clip, Hamad claimed that Oct. 7’s attack "was a military operation." 

"It was directed for military purposes, for the military sites," he insisted, before Bachega cut him off, stating, "But hundreds of civilians were killed." 

Hamad sidestepped the interruption and pressed on, adding that Hamas’ attack was also against the "military soldiers who imposed sanctions and collective punishment against our people."

Again, the Hamas spokesperson said the attack was not aimed at civilians, stating, "And I think from the first moment, we declared that this operation was not directed to the civilians. But I can confirm and assure again and again that there was no command, no command to kill any civilians."

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

United Nations Secretary General António Guterres issued a dire warning about the imminent "total collapse" of the humanitarian situation in Gaza as Israel intensifies its bombing campaign. 

"The humanitarian system in Gaza is facing a total collapse with unimaginable consequences for more than 2 million civilians," Guterres said in a statement.

He lamented that only 12 aid trucks per day have been permitted to enter Gaza through the Rafah border crossing, emphasizing there is greater need for fuel, medicine and food now amid war than ever before. 

"Given the desperate and dramatic situation, the United Nations will not be able to continue to deliver inside Gaza without an immediate and fundamental shift in how aid is going in," Guterres said, calling for additional aid trucks to be admitted to Gaza.

"I welcome the growing global consensus for a humanitarian pause in the conflict. I repeat my call for a humanitarian ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages, and the delivery of life-saving supplies at the scale needed," he continued. 

"Misery is growing by the minute.

"Without a fundamental change, the people of Gaza will face an unprecedented avalanche of human suffering."