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Iraq, Jordan, Egypt condemn Israel for attacking Gaza as Holy Land fends off strikes from Syria, Lebanon

Several Middle Eastern countries and other regional authorities have weighed in on the war between Israel and Hamas forces in Gaza, which started when Hamas terrorists, which rule the Gaza Strip, carried out a massacre of Israeli civilians in border towns and at a music festival on Saturday. It has claimed more than 2,200 lives on both sides in just five days.

Leaders in Iraq, Syria, Jordan and a prominent school in Egypt have expressed support for fighters in Gaza and have condemned Israel, where more than 1,200 people, including 155 soldiers, have died. The Gaza Health Ministry says more than 1,050 of their own people have been killed.

The war is expected to escalate as Israel has amassed forces near its border with Gaza, ahead of a potential ground operation. The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) has also moved troops to its northern border, which it shares with Syria and Lebanon, after the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah fired anti-tank missiles at Israeli soldiers.

Rocket fire from Gaza continued to fall onto Tel Aviv Wednesday and, as night falls on the region, additional rocket fire is expected.

ISRAEL AT WAR WITH HAMAS AFTER SURPRISE ATTACKS, MORE THAN 1,200 ISRAELIS DEAD

Other leaders, including the Vatican, have called for an end of the warring and the killing of innocent civilians.

Palestinian factions based in the Syrian capital of Damascus have expressed their support to fighters in Gaza, promoting the claim that Hamas is helping liberate their land.

The officials, from factions including the “Palestinian Islamic Jihad” and the “Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command,” have called for Arab foreign ministers, who are meeting in Cairo on Wednesday, to clearly state their support for the Palestinian people in Gaza.

ISRAEL RESPONDS TO HEZBOLLAH ATTACK FROM LEBANON DEPLOYING ‘TENS OF THOUSANDS’ TO NORTHERN BORDER

An IDF spokesman said Wednesday that Israel received rocket-fire from Lebanon and Syria and was mobilizing “tens of thousands” of troops toward its northern border in response.

Spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus did not say whether the rockets were fired by a Syrian militant group, Hezbollah or another faction. IDF returned fire, striking where the rockets were fired, he said.

There have been concerns this third front — in addition to fighting in Gaza and, separately, in Lebanon — heightened tensions and could escalate into a regional war.

The Kata’ib Hezbollah, a prominent Iranian-backed terrorist group in Iraq, released a statement Wednesday threatening to attack American bases if the United States intervenes in the current Israel-Hamas war.

“Our missiles, drones, and special forces are ready to direct qualitative strikes at the American enemy in its bases and disrupt its interests if it intervenes in this battle,” Ahmad al-Hamidawi, head of the Kataib Hezbollah militia also known as “Abu Hussein,” said in a statement.

US AMMO ARRIVES IN ISRAEL AHEAD OF EXPECTED GROUND OPERATION IN GAZA

Al-Hamidawi also threatened to launch missiles directly at Israeli targets and has called on Iraqis to demonstrate their support for the Hamas military campaign. They are also collecting money for to support Hamas.

Iraq does not share a border with Israel as it is separated by Jordan and Syria.

King Abdullah II of Jordan has called for peace between Gaza and Israel but said Israeli-Palestinian relations could never be stable without a “two-state solution.”

Such a proposal includes Palestinian people getting their own land and country, which Israel opposes.

AT LEAST 40 BABIES, SOME BEHEADED, FOUND BY ISRAEL SOLDIERS IN HAMAS-ATTACKED VILLAGE

“There will be no security, no peace, no stability without just and total peace that comes through a two-state solution,” King Abdullah II told the Jordanian parliament Wednesday, calling for a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The King of Jordan has also mobilized medical and humanitarian aid teams to the blockaded Gaza Strip through Egypt.

Al-Azhar al-Sharif, the Sunni world’s foremost seat of religious learning, released a strongly-worded statement Wednesday alleging Israel has committed “genocide and war crimes” against civilian Palestinians in Gaza.

The Cairo-based religious institution called for Arab and Islamic countries to take “a serious and unified position against the West’s inhuman rally.” It also condemned its “inhuman siege” of Gaza and claimed Israel’s attacks were killing “innocent Palestinian civilians,” which Israel has denied.

The statement called for an investigation into the alleged actions.

ISRAEL LAUNCHES MASSIVE AIRSTRIKES ON DOWNTOWN GAZA CITY, NETANYAHU SAYS: ‘WE HAVE ONLY STARTED’

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi warned about “grave security and humanitarian repercussions” in a statement Wednesday amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.

He said his government, which has mediated previous cease-fires between Israel and Palestinian militants, is seeking to “contain the situation,” according to the Egyptian leader’s office.

Egypt has closed the Rafah border, which it shares with Israel and the Gaza Strip, according to an Egyptian security official.

On Wednesday, Pope Francis called for the immediate release of hostages taken by Hamas.

On Saturday, Hamas fighters carried out the most serious assault on Israel in its 75-year history. The attack, which took place on a religious holiday in Israel, included Hamas terrorists killing 260 Israelis at a music festival and the taking of more than 130 hostages. These hostages include Americans and European nationals.

Pope Francis said he is praying for those who saw “a day of celebration transformed into a day of mourning.” He also said that he is following events in Israel and the occupied territories with “pain and apprehension,” with “many dead and injured.’’

The pope clarified that “whoever is attacked has the right to defend himself” but said he was “very worried about the total siege under which the Palestinians in Gaza are living, where there are also many innocent victims.”

Thousands of people on both sides, Israel and Gaza, have been wounded. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

At least 20 people killed in 'apocalyptic' crash after bus plunges from bridge

At least 20 people are dead after a bus veered off an overpass near Venice, Italy, on Tuesday evening, authorities said.

Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro told Italian state TV channel Rai News24 that there were “at least 20 dead” after a bus veered off the road and fell a few meters close to railway lines in Mestre, a suburb of Venice. Following the crash near railway tracks, the bus caught on fire.

“There are at least 20 dead, but some people are still trapped in the wreckage,” Brugnaro said.

Venice prefect Michele Di Bari said that there were 15 survivors from the crash. 

LOSS OF 12 NEWBORNS SPARKS OUTRAGE AND INQUIRY IN INDIAN HOSPITAL

The cause of the incident is still unclear with emergency crews on the scene accessing the damage.

Following the crash, Brugnaro wrote on X, in a translated post, that the scene of the crash was “apocalyptic” and that he had already ordered the “city to mourn” for the “numerous victims” who were on the bus.

VOLCANIC TREMORS STOKE MASS EVACUATION FEARS IN ITALY

“A huge tragedy struck our community this evening” Brugnaro wrote. “I immediately ordered the city to mourn, in memory of the numerous victims who were on the fallen bus. 

“An apocalyptic scene, there are no words,” he said.

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, gave her condolences to residents, saying that she is close with local government during this time of “profound pain.”

“My deepest condolences to the families of the victims and those injured in the serious accident in Mestre,” Von der Leyen wrote in a translated X post. “I am close to President Mattarella, President Meloni and the mayor of Venice Brugnaro in this moment of profound pain.”

Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Idaho student murders: Kohberger's legal team asks judge to ban cameras from courtroom

Bryan Kohberger’s legal team is asking an Idaho judge to ban cameras from the courtroom for the remainder of proceedings, arguing that operators haven’t followed a directive to avoid focusing strictly on the quadruple murder suspect.

His lawyer, Anne Taylor, made a motion to remove cameras from the courtroom Friday afternoon.

Five people lived at the King Road residence in Moscow, Idaho, including three of the victims — Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Madison Mogen. Another victim, Ethan Chapin, was dating Kernodle and was staying at the home on Nov. 13, 2022, when all four were allegedly killed by Kohberger, who allegedly entered the home at around 4 a.m.

Taylor argued that “camera-weilding courtroom observers have failed to obey” a directive by Judge John Judge which was given on June 27. 

IDAHO STUDENT MURDERS: KOHBERGER WAIVES RIGHT TO SPEEDY TRIAL, DELAYING START OF TRIAL

Judge referenced the recent Chad Daybell trial during the June 27 hearing, a case where cameras were asked to leave the courtroom for focusing too much on the defendant.

Judge said cameras in the Moscow courtroom needed to show a wide shot of the courtroom and avoid focusing strictly on Kohberger in order to stay for the rest of the proceedings.

Taylor cited Fox News Digital’s reporting in Friday’s filing.

Kohberger’s lawyer argued that “press observers have thus far failed to comply with the court’s direction, as the continued publication of images such as those shown below continues to the present day,” citing three pictures made available by Reuters and the Associated Press.

BRYAN KOHBERGER JUDGE ISSUES WARNING TO MEDIA AT START OF HEARING ON IDAHO STUDENT MURDERS

She argued that the pictures are “a blatant violation of the Court’s directive to cease focusing exclusively on Mr. Kohberger in their own right.” She added that the pictures were later included in articles with “blatantly sensationalistic and prejudicial headlines and content.”

Taylor also argued in the filing that the continued failure of camera operators to comply with the June 27 directive creates the potential for a jury pool to be tainted.

“Observers’ continued failure to comply with the Court’s June 27th directive compounds this problem and results in the potential jury pool’s constant inundation with conclusory accusations and sensationalistic nonsense guised as factual reporting and analysis,” Taylor wrote. “The images and videos provided above were taken during pre-trial court proceedings, but pose no less danger. To the contrary, they gradually poison the potential jury pool prior to trial even occurring, winnowing the number of jurors able to render a just, unbiased verdict.”

Taylor’s motion to remove cameras from the courtroom comes after Kohberger waived his right to a speedy trial during a Wednesday afternoon court hearing, which delays the trial’s start, originally set for Oct. 2.

Fox News Digital’s Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.

Dangerous 'fire whirls' add fury to vast wildfire spreading into Nevada from Mojave National Preserve

Crews battled “fire whirls” in California’s Mojave National Preserve this weekend as a massive wildfire crossed into Nevada amid dangerously high temperatures and raging winds.

The York Fire was mapped at roughly 120 square miles on Monday with no containment. The blaze erupted Friday near the remote Caruthers Canyon area of the vast wildland preserve, crossed the state line into Nevada on Sunday and sent smoke further east into the Las Vegas Valley.

Wind-driven flames 20 feet high in some spots charred tens of thousands of acres of desert scrub, juniper and Joshua tree woodland, according to an incident update.

A fire whirl — sometimes called a fire tornado — is a “spinning column of fire” that forms when intense heat and turbulent winds combine, according to the National Park Service.

The vortexes — which can be anywhere from a few feet tall to several hundred feet high, with varying rotational speeds — were spotted Sunday on the north end of the York Fire.

FIREFIGHTERS MAKE PROGRESS AGAINST LARGE WILDFIRE, SMALLER BLAZES IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

“While these can be fascinating to observe they are a very dangerous natural phenomena that can occur during wildfires,” the park service wrote.

The blaze was about 20% contained on Monday. Crews expected to face limited visibility due to the fire’s thick smoke. The cause of the York Fire remains under investigation.

To the southwest, the Bonny Fire burned about 3.6 square miles in the rugged hills of Riverside County.

More than 1,300 people were ordered to evacuate their homes Saturday near the community of Aguanga that is home to horse ranches and wineries.

One firefighter was injured in the blaze.

Gusty winds and the chance of thunderstorms into Tuesday will heighten the risk of renewed growth, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said in a statement.