Tag: heated

  • Trump’s Gaza relocation proposal sparks heated debate among Palestinians: ‘no life left here’

    Trump’s Gaza relocation proposal sparks heated debate among Palestinians: ‘no life left here’

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    President Donald Trump’s suggestion that Palestinians should leave Gaza to rebuild their lives after months of war has triggered a wave of reactions, exposing deep divisions within the enclave and across the Arab world.

    Speaking alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House last week, Trump outlined his vision for Gaza’s future, describing it as “the Riviera of the Middle East.” His proposal to relocate 1.8 million Palestinians sparked outrage among Palestinian leaders and drew mixed reactions from Gazans.

    While some Gazans have rejected emigration, others see it as their only hope.

    “I’m asking Donald Trump himself to relocate us as he suggested. And I’ll be the first one to go,” one young man told the Center for Peace Communications team in Gaza during a camera interview. The man described his bleak reality, saying, “I want to leave because there’s no life left here. Life here is gone. I mean, just look around you.”

    THE HISTORY OF GAZA AMID TRUMP’S PLAN TO REBUILD ENCLAVE

    A view of the widespread destruction in Gaza, Jabalia, on February 5, 2025.  (YOUSSEF ALZANOUN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

    Another Gazan called on neighboring Arab countries to provide an escape route. “To our brotherly Egyptian and Jordanian people and King Abdullah—we hope they open the crossing for the youth who are leaving, for the wounded, for the sick, and the elderly who need treatment.”

    Jordan’s King Abdullah is set to meet with President Trump on Tuesday, having rejected his plan for annexing Gaza and displacing Palestinians, Reuters reported.

    Jordanian King Abdullah meets President Trump on Tuesday having already rejected his plan for Gaza.   (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

    Jordanian King Abdullah meets President Trump on Tuesday having already rejected his plan for Gaza.   (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

    The Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research poll conducted before the October 7 terror attacks found that 31% of Gazans were already considering emigration—44% among young people. The most popular countries were Turkey, followed by Germany, Canada, the United States and Qatar.

    The poll’s authors said, “The main drivers seem economic, political, educational, security and concerns about corruption.”

    Palestinians flee Rafah

    Displaced Palestinians arrive in central Gaza after fleeing from the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Thursday, May 9, 2024. (AP/Abdel Kareem Hana)

    Joseph Braude, founder and president of the Center for Peace Communications, told Fox News Digital that the number has grown significantly due to the ongoing devastation. “Through our daily contact with Gazans from all walks of life across the coastal strip, we have seen that proportion grow, amid the destruction of the present war, to a substantial majority of the population.”

    Ayman Khaled, a Palestinian journalist, echoed similar sentiments, pointing to the grim prospects for rebuilding Gaza after months of relentless Israeli bombardment. “Gaza will need to go through a very long period of reconstruction. In that long period of time, where will the youth go? Where will the wounded go? We have more than 100,000 wounded. Even before the last war, a stream of people were leaving Gaza—workers, students, business people. That’s how it looked then. Now, those trends will double. There is no hope for the reconstruction of Gaza, not in a year nor 10 nor 15.”

    ‘LEVEL IT’: TRUMP SAYS US WILL ‘TAKE OVER’ GAZA STRIP, REBUILD IT TO STABILIZE MIDDLE EAST

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump sit in the Oval Office

    U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meet at the White House in Washington, D.C., Feb. 4, 2025. (REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz)

    He also warned that as long as Hamas remains in power, cycles of violence will continue, pushing more people to flee. “If Hamas remains on the scene, this will keep happening. Every day, we’ll have new killings. After every battle, they say they are victorious—but what is this victory? If we don’t seriously address the issue of Hamas leaving the political scene, we cannot talk about anything else. If Hamas remains, people will emigrate, whether willingly or unwillingly.”

    Hamas described Trump’s plan as a “recipe for creating chaos and tension in the region,” and for many Gazans, leaving is unthinkable. Speaking to The Associated Press, Mustafa al-Gazzar, a displaced Gazan, dismissed the idea of leaving. “You think you’ll expel me abroad and bring other people in my place? I would rather live in my tent, under rubble. I won’t leave. Put that in your brain.”

    Amna Omar, 71, who has been sheltering in central Gaza, was equally defiant. “Gaza is our land, our home. We as Gazans… I don’t want to die in Egypt.”

    Another woman in Deir al-Balah told Israeli news agency TPS-IL, “We clung to our destroyed homes and we clung to the soil of Palestine.” While voluntary emigration has been quietly discussed for years, Trump’s endorsement has turned it into a divisive issue. Arab governments, wary of being seen as complicit in Palestinian displacement, have been quick to condemn it.

    Al-Shifa hospital

    Smoke rises during an Israeli strike in the vicinity of the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on March 28, 2024 amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas terrorists. (AFP via Getty Images)

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    However, with Gaza in ruins and no reconstruction in sight, the debate over emigration is no longer theoretical. The question is not whether Gazans want to leave, but whether they will have the opportunity to do so.

    A Gazan man interviewed on-camera by the Center for Peace Communications said “In the end, people will accept reality. They’ll emigrate because they want to live. They want to live in a country that protects and supports them. A country where you can hold your head up high. If our country isn’t looking out for us, where should we go?”

    Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this article.

  • Trump health secretary nominee RFK Jr survives heated hearings ahead of crucial confirmation votes

    Trump health secretary nominee RFK Jr survives heated hearings ahead of crucial confirmation votes

    The back-to-back combustible Senate confirmation hearings are over.

    But Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), still faces crucial committee and full Senate confirmation votes in his mission to lead 18 powerful federal agencies that oversee the nation’s food and health. 

    Testifying in front of the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday and the Health Committee on Thursday, the vaccine skeptic and environmental crusader who ran for the White House in 2024 before ending his bid and endorsing Trump faced plenty of verbal fireworks over past controversial comments.

    And while most of the tough questions and sparring over his stances on vaccines, abortion, Medicaid and other issues, came from Democrats on the two committees, Thursday’s hearing ended with the top Republican on the Health panel saying he was “struggling” with Kennedy’s nomination.

    RFK’S CONFIRMATION HEARING QUICK GOES OFF THE RAILS

    Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Trump’s nominee for HHS secretary, testifies during a Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions confirmation hearing on Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey Jr.)

    “Your past of undermining confidence in vaccines with unfounded or misleading arguments concerns me,” GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy told the nominee.

    The physician from Louisiana, who is a crucial vote and who has voiced concerns over Kennedy’s past stance on vaccines, asked whether Kennedy can “be trusted to support the best public health.”

    And the senator told Kennedy, who seeks to lead key health agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, that “you may be hearing from me over the weekend.”

    HEAD HERE FOR LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING ON PRESIDENT TRUMP’S FIRST 100 DAYS BACK IN THE WHITE HOUSE

    Kennedy faced two days of grilling over his controversial past comments, including his repeated claims in recent years linking vaccines to autism, which have been debunked by scientific research.

    And Democrats have also spotlighted Kennedy’s service for years as chair or chief legal counsel for Children’s Health Defense, the nonprofit organization he founded that has advocated against vaccines and sued the federal government numerous times, including a challenge over the authorization of the COVID vaccine for children.

    Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks during the confirmation hearing for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Jan. 30, 2025.

    Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks during the confirmation hearing for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey Jr.)

    One of Thursday’s most heated exchanges came as independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont pushed Kennedy over his past of linking vaccines to autism.

    Sanders stated that “vaccines do not cause autism” and asked Kennedy “do you agree with that?”

    After the nominee didn’t answer, Sanders responded, “I asked you a simple question, Bobby.”

    Kennedy replied, “Senator, if you show me those studies, I will absolutely … apologize.”

    “That is a very troubling response because the studies are there. Your job was to have looked at those studies as an applicant for this job,” Sanders said.

    Later in the hearing, the two also clashed over political contributions to the pharmaceutical industry, with Kennedy referring to Sanders simply as “Bernie.”

    Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies during his confirmation hearing on Jan. 30, 2025.

    Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies during his confirmation hearing on Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey Jr.)

    “Almost all the members of this panel, including yourself, are accepting millions of dollars from the pharmaceutical industry and protecting their interests,” Kennedy said.

    Sanders immediately pushed back, “I ran for president like you. I got millions and millions of contributions. They did not come from the executives, not one nickel of PAC [political action committee] money from the pharmaceutical [companies]. They came from workers.”

    Another fiery moment came as Democrat Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire appeared to fight back tears as she noted her son’s struggles with cerebral palsy amid accusations that “partisanship” was behind the Democrats’ blistering questions to Kennedy.

    Hassan, who at Wednesday’s hearing charged that Kennedy “sold out” to Trump by altering his position on abortion, on Thursday accused the nominee of “relitigating settled science.”

    But many of the Republicans on the panel came to Kennedy’s defense, including conservative Sen. Rand Paul.

    The ophthalmologist from Kentucky defended Kennedy and took aim at comments about vaccines not causing autism. 

    “We don’t know what causes autism, so we should be more humble,” Paul said to applause from Kennedy supporters in the committee room audience wearing “Make America Healthy Again” garb.

    The 71-year-old Kennedy, a scion of the nation’s most storied political dynasty, launched a long-shot campaign for the Democrat presidential nomination against President Joe Biden in April 2023. But six months later, he switched to an independent run for the White House.

    Kennedy made major headlines again last August when he dropped his presidential bid and endorsed Trump. While Kennedy had long identified as a Democrat and repeatedly invoked his late father, former Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, and his late uncle, former President John F. Kennedy – who were both assassinated in the 1960s – Kennedy in recent years built relationships with far-right leaders due in part to his high-profile vaccine skepticism.

    Trump announced soon after the November election that he would nominate Kennedy to his Cabinet to run HHS.

    RFK Jr, left, with Donald Trump

    Now-President Donald Trump welcomes Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to the stage at a campaign rally on Oct. 23, 2024, in Duluth, Ga. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

    Kennedy, whose outspoken views on Big Pharma and the food industry have also sparked controversy, has said he aims to shift the focus of the agencies he would oversee toward promotion of a healthy lifestyle, including overhauling dietary guidelines, taking aim at ultra-processed foods and getting to the root causes of chronic diseases.

    “Our country is not going to be destroyed because we get the marginal tax rate wrong. It is going to be destroyed if we get this issue wrong,” Kenendy said Thursday as he pointed to chronic diseases. “And I am in a unique position to be able to stop this epidemic.”

    The Finance Committee, which will decide on whether to send Kennedy’s nomination to the full Senate, has yet to schedule a date for a confirmation vote.

    With Republicans controlling the Senate by a 53-47 majority, Kennedy can only afford to lose the support of three GOP senators if Democrats unite against his confirmation.

    And besides Cassidy, two other Republicans on the Health Committee – Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska – are potential “no” votes on Kennedy.

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    Collins on Thursday questioned Kennedy about vaccines, herd immunity as well as his views on Lyme disease. Kenendy pledged that there’s “nobody who will fight harder for a treatment for Lyme disease.”

    A 50-50 vote in the full Senate would force Vice President JD Vance to serve as the tiebreaker to push the Kennedy nomination over the top, as the vice president did last week with the confirmation of another controversial nominee, now-Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

  • Trump HHS nominee RFK Jr returns to Capitol Hill for round 2 after heated first day of hearings

    Trump HHS nominee RFK Jr returns to Capitol Hill for round 2 after heated first day of hearings

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    Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is back on Capitol Hill for a second day of Senate confirmation hearings after a grilling by Democrats during a contentious first day on Wednesday.

    Kennedy will take questions on Thursday in front of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

    On Wednesday, in front of the Senate Finance Committee, which will vote on Kennedy’s confirmation, there were plenty of verbal fireworks over past controversial comments by the vaccine skeptic and environmental crusader who ran for the White House in 2024 before ending his bid and endorsing Trump.

    But Kennedy’s uneven performance didn’t appear to do damage to his confirmation, as no Republican on the panel voiced opposition to his nomination to lead 18 powerful federal agencies that oversee the nation’s food and health. Those agencies include the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

    MULTIPLE OUTBURSTS AT COMBUSTIBLE RFK JR CONFIRMATION HEARING

    Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies during a Senate Finance Committee hearing on his nomination to be HHS secretary on Jan. 29, 2025. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

    Democrats on the committee repeatedly pointed to Kennedy’s controversial vaccine views, including his repeated claims in recent years linking vaccines to autism, which have been debunked by scientific research.

    They also spotlighted Kennedy’s service for years as chair or chief legal counsel for Children’s Health Defense, the nonprofit organization he founded that has advocated against vaccines and sued the federal government numerous times, including a challenge over the authorization of the COVID vaccine for children.

    “Mr. Kennedy has embraced conspiracy theories, quacks and charlatans, especially when it comes to the safety and efficacy of vaccines. He’s made it his life’s work to sow doubt and discourage parents from getting their kids life-saving vaccines,” Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the panel, charged in his opening statement.

    WATCH: RFK JR WARNS THAT AMERICA’S HEALTH IS IN ‘GRIEVIOUS CONDITION’

    The senator also pointed to past Kennedy vaccine comments in podcasts, including one from 2020 when he said he would “pay anything” to be able to go back in time and not vaccinate his kids.

    “Are you lying to Congress today when you say you are pro-vaccine? Or did you lie on all those podcasts?” Wyden asked.

    Pushing back in a heated exchange, Kennedy said the statements he made on podcasts have “been repeatedly debunked.”

    And he vowed he would do nothing to prevent Americans from obtaining certain vaccines.

    “I support the measles vaccine. I support the polio vaccine. I will do nothing as HHS secretary that makes it difficult or discourages people from taking anything,” Kennedy said.

    Democrat Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado accused Kennedy of “peddling half-truths, peddling false statements.”

    RFK JR ACCUSES DEMOCRATS OF PUSHING DISHONEST NARRATIVE

    And Democrat Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, who has known Kennedy for decades, dating back to their days as law school students and roommates at the University of Virginia, told his friend, “Frankly, you frighten people.”

    Kennedy was also heckled multiple times near the start of the hearing.

    As Kennedy delivered his opening comments and said, “News reports have claimed that I am anti-vaccine or anti-industry. I am neither. I am pro-safety,” a protester shouted, “You lie.”

    The heckler was led out of the hearing room by Capitol Police, as was a second protester minutes later.

    And another protester was spotted in the audience holding a sign reading, “Vaccines Save Lives, No RFK JR.” 

    woman holding up sign to protest RFK Jr at hearing

    A protester holds up a sign reading, “Vaccines save lives,” as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies during his Senate confirmation hearing on Jan. 29, 2025. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

    The 71-year-old Kennedy, a scion of the nation’s most storied political dynasty, launched a long-shot campaign for the Democrat presidential nomination against President Joe Biden in April 2023. But six months later, he switched to an independent run for the White House.

    Kennedy made major headlines again last August when he dropped his presidential bid and endorsed Trump. While Kennedy had long identified as a Democrat and repeatedly invoked his late father, former Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, and his late uncle, former President John F. Kennedy – who were both assassinated in the 1960s – Kennedy in recent years built relationships with far-right leaders due in part to his high-profile vaccine skepticism.

    Trump announced soon after the November election that he would nominate Kennedy to his Cabinet to run HHS.

    RFK Jr, left, with Donald Trump

    Now-President Donald Trump welcomes Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to the stage at a campaign rally on Oct. 23, 2024, in Duluth, Ga. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

    In the two months since Trump’s announcement, it’s not just Democrats who’ve raised questions about Kennedy’s confirmation. Social conservative Republicans took issue with his past comments in support of abortion rights.

    “My belief is we should leave it to the woman. We shouldn’t have the government involved, even if it’s full term,” Kennedy said as he ran for president. 

    But since endorsing Trump, Kennedy has walked back his stance on abortion. And in an exchange Wednesday with Democrat Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Kennedy said, “I agree with President Trump that every abortion is a tragedy.”

    Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a former two-time Democrat presidential candidate, argued that Kennedy made a “major U-turn” on abortion.

    Kennedy was also questioned about how he would reform Medicare and Medicaid, the massive government healthcare programs used by millions of older, disabled and low-income Americans.

    “I don’t have a broad proposal for dismantling the program,” Kennedy said of Medicaid.

    And he said Trump hadn’t asked him to cut the program but rather “asked me to make it better.”

    Kennedy, whose outspoken views on Big Pharma and the food industry have also sparked controversy, vowed that “if confirmed, I will do everything in my power to put the health of Americans back on track.”

    While Democrats may find common ground with Kennedy’s aim to shift the focus of the agencies he would oversee toward promotion of a healthy lifestyle, including overhauling dietary guidelines, taking aim at ultra-processed foods and getting to the root causes of chronic diseases, Kennedy lamented that they oppose him because he’s Trump’s nominee.

    Now they’re against me because anything that President Trump does, any decision he makes, has to be lampooned, derided, discredited, marginalized, vilified,” Kennedy said.

    RFK JR LIKELY TO BE CONFIRMED AS HEALTH SECRETARY, FOX NEWS MEDICAL ANALYST PREDICTS

    With Republicans controlling the Senate by a 53-47 majority, Kennedy can only afford to lose the support of three GOP senators if Democrats unite against his confirmation. During Wednesday’s hearing, no Republicans appeared to oppose the nomination.

    Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina appeared to lean into the Democrats’ attacks on Kennedy by asking, “I got a real quick question for you: Are you a conspiracy theorist?”

    Kennedy answered that it “is a pejorative that’s applied to me mainly to keep me from asking difficult questions of powerful interests.”

    GOP Sen. Steve Daines of Montana, a chemical engineer, noted that there were several Republican doctors on the committee.

    “We believe in science. I’m thankful that you do, too,” Daines said.

    Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a physician who said he had a “frank conversation” with Kennedy about immunizations when they met this month, didn’t ask about vaccines during the committee hearing. Instead, he kept his questions about federal healthcare programs, including Medicare.

    Meanwhile, GOP Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin took aim at Democrats on the committee for what he claimed was “hostility on the other side. … I’m disappointed with it.”

    Following Wednesday’s hearing, Democrats kept up their criticism.

    “I think you saw today that he’s not backing down from any of his really crazy, loony conspiracy beliefs,” Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut told reporters.

    And Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, who is thought to be one of the few Democrats who may support Kennedy’s confirmation, said, “I don’t think it went well for him.”

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    But GOP Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas, who sits on the Finance Committee, pointed to Democrats on the panel and said, “I understand their concerns about vaccines. I think Bobby put those concerns to bed.”

    And Republican Sen. Jim Banks of Indiana told reporters that Kennedy “did great today. I expect him to do great tomorrow.”