Secretary of State Antony Blinken exchanged a warm greeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday.

The pair met in Amman, Jordan, to discuss the humanitarian situation in Gaza. Blinken remained silent when reporters asked whether he was hopeful that aid would begin flowing in the near future, however.

While the U.S. has fully endorsed Israel’s right to defend itself and to retaliate against Hamas terrorists, President Biden’s administration has distinguished between Hamas and the Palestinian people.

Blinken smiled and shook Abbas’ hand as they joked that the U.S. official should buy a house in Amman given how much time he had been spending in the region.

Abbas and Blinken’s meeting comes as Israel is poised to begin a ground invasion of Northern Gaza. The Israeli military has spent nearly a week warning Gaza residents to flee toward the south, though Hamas has sought to obstruct that movement.

Blinken held a similar meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday. There, he reiterated America’s support for Israel, but also highlighted the humanitarian situation.

Israel has not set a date for its invasion of Gaza, though it has been delayed from initial plans.

The Biden administration’s push for aid for Palestinians has received some criticism at home. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., has argued that the aid will simply fall into the hands of Hamas. Several Republican 2024 presidential candidates have also stated that the U.S. must not accept any refugees from Gaza.

Egypt, Jordan and Gaza’s other Arab neighbors have also refused to accept refugees from the conflict.

Biden is scheduled to travel to Israel personally later Tuesday.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, faces an unclear path to the speakership after securing the GOP nomination.

In the chaotic fight to replace recently ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., Jordan has been making calls to shore up support for his bid after House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., the initial nominee, bowed out due to a lack of support in the divided Republican caucus.

However, Jordan does not necessarily need to get the required House majority to take the gavel. The House has elected a speaker a few times in history on a plurality rather than an outright majority.

The House is allowed to decide how the speaker election is held, according to House Practice, so changing the threshold is an option on the table.

In fact, there have been two plurality elections to decide the House speaker in American history.

In 1856, during the 34th Congress ahead of the Civil War, the House faced a fractured chamber after concessions and dividing lines over slavery had been burned into the sand.

A fledgling Republican Party, a decimated Democratic Party, the nativist American (Know-Nothing) Party and a declining Whig Party could not decide on a top House lawmaker.

When voting began, 21 members received votes backing them for speaker on the first ballot, throwing the House into a deadlock that lasted two months.

Amid the votes, American Party Rep. Felix Zollicoffer of Tennessee introduced and passed a House resolution having the three top candidates for speaker to ‘publicly state their opinions of Congress’ recent actions on the spread of slavery to the western territories.’

Even after the questioning session the House could not decide on a speaker.

That deadlock was broken when the House voted to reduce the threshold to elect the speaker from the traditional simple majority to a plurality election.

After 133 votes, Speaker Nathaniel Banks of the Know-Nothings was elected as speaker of the 34th Congress with 103 votes backing him.

Before then, during the 31st Congress in 1849, the House was without a speaker for 19 days with neither the Whigs and Democrats holding a House majority and the Free Soil Party splitting the votes further.

The first ballot was a split one that did not yield a speaker, leading to several weeks of elections to determine the leader of the House. 

After 13 ballots, then-Rep. Andrew Johnson of Tennessee proposed a resolution to lower the speaker election threshold to a plurality as well as an amendment to ballot the election.

The resolution and amendment passed, and Georgia Democrat Rep. Howell Cobb was elected speaker via plurality after 63 votes, three votes after the rules had been changed.

Jordan, the House Judiciary Committee chairman, has made headway, flipping key no votes to support him, but there is still a real chance that his bid will be dashed on the House floor.

Scalise faced a problem that Jordan is working to solve: Getting the numbers up in a slim majority to propel him behind the gavel.

Historically, there is precedent for a plurality speaker election, but the move is risky if the math does not add up.

Any miscalculation on votes in a plurality election would run the risk of the GOP inadvertently handing the speakership to the Democrats, should GOP members break from the party.

However, should the GOP need a nuclear option to choose a new speaker, historical precedent provides one.

Fox News Digital’s Aubrie Spady and Matteo Cina contributed reporting.

The House Democrats’ campaign arm sent a memo to blue members with messaging guidance on ‘GOP extremism’ under a potential speakership helmed by current House Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.

Fox News Digital obtained the memo sent out by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) with talking points and communications guidance as Jordan continues his quest for the speaker’s gavel.

‘A Speaker Jordan means extremism and far-right priorities will govern the House of Representatives,’ the guidance reads.

‘It is imperative that our caucus makes clear to voters just how extreme Congressman Jordan is and how his Speakership would negatively impact working families across the country, threaten democratic norms, and weaken relationships with our allies,’ the memo continues.

Jordan was selected as the GOP nominee for speaker on Friday after weeks of deliberations that saw the initial nominee — House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., — drop out of the race.

The ‘messaging guidance’ gives Democrat members several talking points against a Jordan speakership, including that it ‘appears there are no more moderates left in the Republican conference capable of standing up to the far right.’

‘Jordan will only win the speakership if so-called ‘moderates’ continue to cave and get him there,’ the guidance reads. ‘Every Republican who votes for Jordan for Speaker is simply following Trump’s marching orders– it’s clear Republicans are incapable of governing themselves and instead look to the indicted former president for guidance on everything.’

The talkers also suggest members say ‘Jordan has shown voters just how extreme he is and there is no indication that he’ll moderate himself in any way if he becomes speaker’ and that Jordan will ‘pull the entire Republican caucus even further to the right.’

‘House Democrats stand ready to work across the aisle to lower costs for working families and make our communities safer,’ the last talking point reads. ‘With a Speaker Jordan, that isn’t likely. Jim Jordan is one of the least bipartisan members of Congress, coming nearly dead last on the Lugar Center’s bipartisanship score.’

The messaging memo also highlighted controversies about Jordan, including that the speaker nominee ‘sought to overturn the 2020 presidential election and has refused to comply with multiple subpoenas seeking to uncover details of the January 6 insurrection.’

‘Jordan is a conspiracy theorist who has espoused talking points associated with the Great Replacement Conspiracy Theory in official government hearings,’ the memo reads.

‘Jordan is a founding member of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, whose ‘our way or no way’ approach has torpedoed comprehensive immigration reform, sought repeatedly to kill the Affordable Care Act, and led the charge on multiple government shutdowns,’ it continues.

The DCCC did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the memo.

The Democrats’ messaging memo comes as Jordan potentially closes in on the speaker’s gavel.

The House is convening on Tuesday for the first expected ballot on Jordan’s bid for the big chair.

Jordan has been making calls for days since getting the nomination to shore up support for his candidacy— but nothing in Washington is guaranteed.

A U.S. official confirmed to Fox News the United States secretly sent the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) to Ukraine and that Ukraine has successfully used them. 

The missiles have a range of about 100 miles. 

In an evening address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy himself later confirmed Tuesday that the United States has quietly delivered the long-range ballistic missiles that Kyiv said it urgently needed and that President Biden promised last month. 

‘Thank you to everyone who is fighting and working for Ukraine!’ he said in the video shared on his Telegram account. ‘Thank you to everyone who is helping us! And today I am especially grateful to the United States. Our agreements with President Biden are being implemented. And they are being implemented very accurately – ATACMS have proven themselves.’ 

‘ATACMS. More to come,’ Ukraine’s defense ministry wrote on X, accompanied by American and Ukrainian flags.

The delivery of the ATACMS, was shrouded in secrecy, with the expectation that the first public acknowledgment would come when the missiles were used on the battlefield. That intense secrecy is a marked change from previous U.S. weapons sent by the Biden administration. In nearly all other cases, the U.S. has publicly announced its decision prior to the weapons and equipment being shipped overseas.

However, the Pentagon has said before not every weapon sent to Ukraine is listed in the official PDA announcement.

Because of lingering U.S. concerns about escalating tensions with Russia, the ATACMS version that went to Ukraine will have a shorter range than the maximum distance the missiles can have, according to The Associated Press, which cited sources of their own to confirm the U.S. shipment. While some versions of the missiles can go as far as about 180 miles, the ones sent to Ukraine have a shorter range and carry cluster munitions, which, when fired, open in the air, releasing hundreds of bomblets rather than a single warhead.

Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces claimed that a nighttime attack on targets in eastern and southern Ukraine destroyed nine Russian helicopters and other military equipment and personnel at two airfields in Russia-occupied regions.

Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces also claimed to have hit military equipment, an air-defense system, ammunition warehouses and runways, a statement said. Dozens of Russian military personnel were injured in the attack codenamed Operation Dragonfly, it said.

The ATACMS would be key in Ukraine’s ability to hit the airfield in Berdyansk since it is within striking distance of the shorter-range version of the missile, and the cluster munitions would be effective in hitting multiple targets. The closest Ukrainian troop positions on the western bank of the Dnieper River are just about 100 miles from Berdyansk.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, lost the first-round vote to be House speaker on Tuesday after 20 Republicans joined all Democrats to shoot down his candidacy.

Seven Republicans voted for Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., who was the previous speaker-designate before being forced to withdraw due to mounting opposition. Six GOP lawmakers voted for ousted ex-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and three moderate New York Republicans voted for former GOP Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York.

Additional votes were cast for House Rules Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Calif., and Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky.

Jordan told reporters later on Tuesday that he intended to hold another vote later in the day. 

‘We need to get a speaker as soon as possible to get back to work for the American people,’ he said. 

But there appears to be some friction going on behind closed doors. A source familiar with discussions told Fox News Digital that Jordan and Scalise met after the vote. During the meeting, Jordan asked for Scalise’s support for speaker, but Scalise would not commit, the source said. 

A spokesperson for Scalise told Fox News Digital that the report was ‘not accurate.’

‘Leader Scalise has been the only candidate throughout this process who has publicly declared he will be supportive of whomever the conference nominates for Speaker, and his position has not changed. He voted for Jim Jordan on the floor and will continue to do so,’ the spokesperson said.

Jordan was selected to be the House GOP’s candidate for speaker in an anonymous vote last week, but it became immediately clear that it would be an uphill battle to win the support of moderates and other wary establishment Republicans.

The latter had been Republicans’ original speaker-designate after McCarthy’s ouster two weeks ago. But opposition, primarily from Jordan allies who insisted they would vote for the Ohio Republican no matter what, forced him to drop out just a day later.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday morning, Jordan would not answer when asked how many rounds of voting he was willing to hold.

‘We need to get a speaker as soon as possible,’ he said instead.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is leading a resolution Tuesday to deport foreigners and cancel their visas if they support the Islamic militant group Hamas.

Rubio’s office told Fox News Digital he would be hotlining the resolution — meaning he will request unanimous consent to pass the resolution without going through the usual formalities of a full debate and vote on the floor.

According to the resolution text, it requests that the president ‘revoke visas and initiate deportation proceedings for any foreign national who has endorsed or espoused the terrorist activities of Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah,’ or other terrorist groups in the attacks against Israel last week.

The resolution also states that Hamas ‘terrorists operated death squads tasked with exterminating Jews, as well as hostage-taking squads tasked with abducting Jews for ransom, propaganda, and torture, if not [for] simply sadistic pleasure.’ 

Citing a former Hamas leader’s call for a ‘Day of Rage’ on Oct. 13, the resolution said some in the U.S. responded to this call and ‘incited others’ to endorse Hamas. ‘Antisemitic’ protests and riots in South Florida, Washington, D.C., New York City, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon, were also cited.

‘America is the most generous nation on earth, but we cannot allow foreign nationals who support terrorist groups like Hamas and march in our streets calling for ‘intifada’ to enter or stay in our country,’ Rubio said in a statement. 

The resolution comes as universities including Harvard, University of California, Los Angeles, Columbia University and the University of Virginia blamed Israel for the attacks. Harvard alone had 34 student groups write in a letter the ‘Israeli regime’ was ‘entirely responsible’ for the ‘unfolding violence’ in Israel.

The Harvard student organizations’ statement, released on the day of the Hamas attacks, also said the events did not occur ‘in a vacuum.’

A pro-Palestinian chapter at the University of California, Berkeley also said they ‘invariably reject Israel’s framing as a victim.’

Rubio’s resolution follows his letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday, in which he first called for visas to be revoked from foreigners who support Hamas. 

In a separate letter sent to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Monday, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., also demanded the department take immediate action to remove the foreign nationals, who the GOP lawmaker says have ‘no place’ in the U.S.

‘I write to urge you to immediately deport any foreign national — including and especially any alien on a student visa — that has expressed support for Hamas and its murderous attacks on Israel. These fifth-columnists have no place in the United States,’ Cotton wrote.

More than 4,200 people have been killed in Gaza and Israel since Hamas launched its Oct. 7 attack against the Jewish State, 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.

‘They should never have been allowed in,’ Rubio said on Fox News on Sunday. 

‘We probably didn’t know that about them. No one’s going to tell you, ‘I’m a Hamas supporter,’ on the way in. But once we know you are, our laws say you shouldn’t have a visa, and you need to go. … We should not have people inside of our country who are here as visitors, foreign nationals, who then take to the streets and call for supporting this terrorist organization that just butchered babies, slaughtered innocents, and took hostages, including Americans, into Gaza,’ he said.

Fox News’ Landon Mion contributed to this report.

Israel’s national security adviser on Tuesday predicted U.S. ‘involvement’ in the escalating Israel-Hamas war if Iran and Hezbollah join to fight alongside Hamas.

Tzachi Hanegbi, head of the National Security Council of Israel, made the comments during a televised briefing, pointing to President Biden’s public warning to Hezbollah and Iran to keep out of the fighting and the deployment of U.S. Navy carrier strike groups to the Eastern Mediterranean.

‘He is making clear to our enemies that if they even imagine taking part in the offensive against the citizens of Israel, there will be American involvement here,’ Hanegbi said of Biden’s support.

‘Israel will not be alone. … A U.S. force is here and it is ready,’ he added, without elaborating, according to Reuters.

The Pentagon has said no U.S. troops have been deployed, and it has not signaled that U.S. troops would be sent to the battlefield.

On Monday, the U.S. Department of Defense issued ‘be ready to deploy’ orders for 2,000 troops, though it said no decisions have been made to deploy any forces at this time. Top officials emphasized that these U.S. troops would be used in advisory roles and provide medical support for Israeli forces.

Biden is preparing to visit the region as he and other world leaders work to prevent the war from spilling into a broader regional conflict.

Meanwhile, Iran’s supreme leader on Tuesday maintained that his country will not step in to stop Hamas and threatened that should Israel fail to end its airstrikes, which he called ‘crimes,’ resistance forces will be ‘impatient’ and no one will be able to stop them. 

‘If the crimes continue, Muslims will be impatient, resistance forces will be impatient, and nobody will be able to prevent them,’ Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said. ‘Bombardments should be immediately stopped, Muslim nations are angry.’

Fox News’ Liz Friden and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Former President Trump’s legal team formally appealed the partial gag order issued against him on Monday by the federal judge presiding over Special Counsel Jack Smith’s case related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

Judge Tanya Chutkan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Monday imposed a partial gag order against Trump, blocking him from making statements targeting Smith, his staff, potential witnesses and court personnel.

Trump attorneys pushed back against the order in court on Monday, arguing that by imposing the partial gag order, the court ‘would be embracing new ground in respect to the First Amendment that would regulate campaign speech.’

‘What’s going to happen if Trump says something about Pence during [the] debate?’ Trump attorney John Lauro asked.

Former Vice President Mike Pence, also a 2024 Republican presidential contender, could be called as a witness in the trial. 

‘Depends what he says,’ Chutkan replied, saying that she was ‘not confident that without some kind of restriction’ the speech would be limited.

Chutkan said Monday that the former president is able to criticize the Justice Department in general terms and has the right to post his view that the case against him is politically motivated. However, the judge said Trump cannot post attacks against prosecutors or court staff.

‘No other criminal defendant would be allowed to do so, and I’m not going to allow it in this case,’ Chutkan said, adding that, if necessary, she would impose sanctions if Trump violates the partial gag order.

The Trump campaign on Monday said in a statement that the decision to impose the partial gag order ‘is an absolute abomination and another partisan knife stuck in the heart of our Democracy by Crooked Joe Biden, who was granted the right to muzzle his political opponent, the leading candidate for the Presidency in 2024, and the most popular political leader in America, President Donald J. Trump.’

‘President Trump will continue to fight for our Constitution, the American people’s right to support him, and to keep our country free of the chains of weaponized and targeted law enforcement,’ the spokesperson added.

Trump pleaded not guilty in federal court to all four federal charges stemming from Smith’s investigation into 2020 election interference and the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

Trump, the current 2024 GOP front-runner, is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.

The judge presiding over the New York Trump Organization trial also imposed a partial gag order to prevent all parties from engaging in any verbal attacks against court staff after Trump criticized a member of the judge’s office on social media.

Judge Arthur Engoron this month issued an order that he said applies to both the defense and New York Attorney General Letitia James’ team. The gag order only applies to verbal attacks on staff.