World
Israeli forces rescue two hostages during operation in Rafah, officials say
Israeli forces successfully rescued two Israeli hostages held in the Gaza city of Rafah, officials announced early Monday.
In a joint operation conducted overnight by the Israeli Defense Forces, Israeli Securities Authority and Israeli police rescued Fernando Merman, 60, and Louis Har, 70, and evacuated them in a helicopter to the Sheba Tel Hashomer hospital inside Israel. Both are said to be in good medical condition.
Merman and Har were kidnapped by Hamas terrorists from the Nir Yitzhak kibbutz on Oct. 7, the day Hamas launched its attack against Israel.
Security forces said they will continue to work toward returning the hostages home.
NETANYAHU DECLARES ‘VICTORY IS WITHIN REACH’ AS HAMAS REDUCED TO ‘LAST REMAINING BASTION’
Israeli forces completed a successful rescue operation early Monday in which two Israeli hostages held in the Gaza city of Rafah were freed. (IDF)
Forces from the IDF Navy SEALs, the Shin Bet special operations unit and the Israeli police counterterrorism unit arrived at a building in Rafah to carry out the rescue operation, according to the IDF. The operation took place at around 1 a.m. local time.
An IDF spokesperson told reporters in a briefing that the forces managed to covertly reach the building and enter the second floor before blowing up the door of the apartment with an explosive and killing the three militants holding the two hostages.
The IDF and Shin Bet had been working on the operation for several weeks based on intelligence, an IDF official told Axios. The Israeli Air Force conducted heavy strikes in Rafah as a diversion to allow the rescue.
The Ministry of Health in Hamas-run Gaza said dozens of Palestinians were killed in the bombardment, Al Jazeera reported.
Israeli officials notified the Biden administration of the operation following its completion, according to Axios.
UN CHIEF BREAKS SILENCE ON HAMAS TERRORISTS’ SEXUAL VIOLENCE, AGREES TO INVESTIGATE OCT 7 ATTACK
Fernando Merman, 60, and Luis Har, 70, were rescued from Rafah. (IDF)
As of Monday, 134 of the more than 240 hostages abducted on Oct. 7 remain in Gaza. More than 100 were freed as part of a hostage deal in November. This includes Har’s wife, who is also Merman’s sister, and Merman’s other sister and niece.
Qatar and Egypt have been attempting to mediate a new hostage deal, but Israel and Hamas have yet to reach an agreement.
President Biden warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday against expanding the ground operation in Gaza without a plan for evacuating Palestinian civilians.
World
Video: Owner of Swiss Bar Detained in Fire Investigation
new video loaded: Owner of Swiss Bar Detained in Fire Investigation
By Meg Felling
January 9, 2026
World
Greenland leaders push back on Trump’s calls for US control of the island: ‘We don’t want to be Americans’
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Greenland’s leadership is pushing back on President Donald Trump as he and his administration call for the U.S. to take control of the island. Several Trump administration officials have backed the president’s calls for a takeover of Greenland, with many citing national security reasons.
“We don’t want to be Americans, we don’t want to be Danes, we want to be Greenlanders,” Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen and four party leaders said in a statement Friday night, according to The Associated Press. Greenland, a self-governing Danish territory and a longtime U.S. ally, has repeatedly rejected Trump’s statements about U.S. acquiring the island.
Greenland’s party leaders reiterated that the island’s “future must be decided by the Greenlandic people.”
“As Greenlandic party leaders, we would like to emphasize once again our wish that the United States’ contempt for our country ends,” the statement said.
TRUMP SAYS US IS MAKING MOVES TO ACQUIRE GREENLAND ‘WHETHER THEY LIKE IT OR NOT’
Greenland has rejected the Trump administration’s push to take over the Danish territory. (Thomas Traasdahl/Ritzau Scanpix / AFP via Getty Images; Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Trump was asked about the push to acquire Greenland on Friday during a roundtable with oil executives. The president, who has maintained that Greenland is vital to U.S. security, said it was important for the country to make the move so it could beat its adversaries to the punch.
“We are going to do something on Greenland, whether they like it or not,” Trump said Friday. “Because if we don’t do it, Russia or China will take over Greenland, and we’re not going to have Russia or China as a neighbor.”
Trump hosted nearly two dozen oil executives at the White House on Friday to discuss investments in Venezuela after the historic capture of President Nicolás Maduro on Jan. 3.
“We don’t want to have Russia there,” Trump said of Venezuela on Friday when asked if the nation appears to be an ally to the U.S. “We don’t want to have China there. And, by the way, we don’t want Russia or China going to Greenland, which, if we don’t take Greenland, you can have Russia or China as your next-door neighbor. That’s not going to happen.”
Trump said the U.S. is in control of Venezuela after the capture and extradition of Maduro.
Nielsen has previously rejected comparisons between Greenland and Venezuela, saying that his island was looking to improve its relations with the U.S., according to Reuters.
A “Make America Go Away” baseball cap, distributed for free by Danish artist Jens Martin Skibsted, is arranged in Sisimiut, Greenland, on March 30, 2025. (Juliette Pavy/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
FROM CARACAS TO NUUK: MADURO RAID SPARKS FRESH TRUMP PUSH ON GREENLAND
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on Monday that Trump’s threats to annex Greenland could mean the end of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
“I also want to make it clear that if the U.S. chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, then everything stops. Including our NATO and thus the security that has been provided since the end of the Second World War,” Frederiksen told Danish broadcaster TV2.
That same day, Nielsen said in a statement posted on Facebook that Greenland was “not an object of superpower rhetoric.”
Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen stands next to Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen during a visit to the Danish Parliament in Copenhagen on April 28, 2025. (Liselotte Sabroe/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller doubled down on Trump’s remarks, telling CNN in an interview on Monday that Greenland “should be part of the United States.”
CNN anchor Jake Tapper pressed Miller about whether the Trump administration could rule out military action against the Arctic island.
“The United States is the power of NATO. For the United States to secure the Arctic region, to protect and defend NATO and NATO interests, obviously Greenland should be part of the United States,” he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
World
What Canada, accustomed to extreme winters, can teach Europe
Euronews spoke to Patrick de Bellefeuille, a prominent Canadian weather presenter and climate specialist, on how Europe could benefit from Canada’s long experience with snowstorms. He has been forecasting for MétéoMédia, Canada’s top French-language weather network, since 1988.
-
Detroit, MI7 days ago2 hospitalized after shooting on Lodge Freeway in Detroit
-
Technology4 days agoPower bank feature creep is out of control
-
Dallas, TX5 days agoDefensive coordinator candidates who could improve Cowboys’ brutal secondary in 2026
-
Dallas, TX2 days agoAnti-ICE protest outside Dallas City Hall follows deadly shooting in Minneapolis
-
Iowa4 days agoPat McAfee praises Audi Crooks, plays hype song for Iowa State star
-
Delaware1 day agoMERR responds to dead humpback whale washed up near Bethany Beach
-
Health6 days agoViral New Year reset routine is helping people adopt healthier habits
-
Nebraska4 days agoOregon State LB transfer Dexter Foster commits to Nebraska