JERUSALEM – As the U.S. leads a united effort with other nations and international agencies aimed at getting more aid into the war-torn Gaza Strip, critics say the aid coordination is a mess and convoys are being attacked, with the bulk of what is being sent not even reaching the most vulnerable.

Over the past two weeks, more than 500 bundles containing hundreds of thousands of meals have been airdropped into the enclave by countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt and France, as well as the U.S. On Tuesday, a ship packed with almost 200 metric tons of food set sail for the Strip from Cyprus. Facilitated by the World Central Kitchen, an NGO that provides food aid, the ship is set to reach the enclave’s shores on Thursday, though it is unclear how it will unload with no pier or harbor.

Israeli and U.N. officials have expressed concern that both the airdrops and the maritime efforts are inefficient and ineffective, and do not negate the need for someone on the ground to ensure it reaches those who really need it. There has also been criticism from Gazans, who say the aid is self-serving and, in some cases, not appropriate for their needs. 

‘I don’t think anyone really knows what is going on, and we are only hearing complaints that it is not enough, that it is not going to the right people and that it is too little too late,’ Khaled Abu Toameh, a Palestinian affairs analyst based in Jerusalem, told Fox News Digital. 

‘I haven’t seen one person saying that this is great and now we are happy,’ he said, adding that there have only been complaints from the people in Gaza that the food being sent is expired or that it is not Halal, he claimed.

Multiple videos shared online over the past week showed Palestinians criticizing the airdrop initiative, complaining that the food being dropped was not appropriate and that it was being done for each country’s own self-interest. 

One video showed a Palestinian man complaining about the items contained inside the airdropped packages, saying the food being distributed by the U.S. was not suitable for Arabs. In another short clip, a man identified as Ibrahim from Gaza filmed himself throwing the American aid package into the trash, stating: ‘I don’t want aid from a country that is an accomplice to our starvation and genocide.’

Another video showed Palestinian men running to retrieve the airdropped packages and there were reports from inside the Strip that at least one person had been killed by the falling aid. 

Wes J. Bryant, a retired master sergeant and senior special operations joint terminal attack controller (JTAC) in the elite special warfare branch of the U.S. Air Force, said that based on video footage, the airdrops appeared to have been carried out hastily and over significant urban areas, which was in contrast with standard U.S. Air Force protocols. 

‘This is a concern and would not be done in any setting that a U.S. Drop Zone controller were present – unless absolutely needed,’ he said. ‘These packages are typically pallets with loads of boxes of supplies, secured by netting, and with a chute that deploys upon being pushed out the aircraft ramp. They are very heavy and even when chutes are deployed, they still come in hard and can be deadly.’

Bryant said he was confused by footage of the drops and believes that a trusted source should have been solicited on the ground, ‘not only assist with any drops but corral populace for safety.’

Jamie McGoldrick, the U.N.’s humanitarian coordinator ad interim for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, told Fox News Digital that while he welcomed any initiative to get more food into the Strip, especially into the north, via whatever means, the sea and air efforts were not cost-effective or efficient. 

‘A plane load of 20 or 18 tons of aid costs about $180,000, that is very expensive, and it is about half the weight of an average truck that can take about 20 and 30 kilos of aid, or about 20-30 metric tons, so you can see the cost differentials,’ he said. ‘Trucks are much, much cheaper, and you can get much more for your money.’

McGoldrick said the problem with the airdrops was there was no guarantee where the packages would land and if the people who really needed them would be able to intercept them. He also said that while the maritime initiative was ‘great,’ there would also be a need to transfer the aid using trucks and on roads that were ‘prone to looting and ransacking.’ 

He said a more effective option would be for Israel to open up more land crossings in order for Gaza to be ‘flooded’ with food aid, which would reduce the overall basic needs of the people, reducing the need for looting and thus allowing aid agencies to help those who are more vulnerable. 

On Tuesday, COGAT, the Israeli military unit that coordinates civilian matters with the Palestinian Authority, announced that it had allowed six trucks filled with aid to enter Gaza via a newly opened crossing in the northern part of the Strip. 

A statement by the World Food Program confirmed that enough food for 25,000 people had been successfully delivered to Gaza City for the first time since Feb. 20, but also warned that this – as well as other aid efforts – were not enough. 

Israeli army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari confirmed to Fox News Digital on Thursday reports that the army was working on a plan to ‘flood’ Gaza with humanitarian aid and was consulting with CENTCOM on how exactly to do this. 

‘With people in northern Gaza on the brink of famine, we need deliveries every day and we need entry points directly into the north,’ the U.N. agency said in a statement. 

Shimon Freedman, COGAT’s international media spokesperson, told Fox News Digital that Israel had not placed ‘any limits on the amount of aid going in’ and that the main barrier was in distributing the aid. 

‘In terms of what is standing in the way of more aid, it is an issue of distribution not inspection,’ he said, adding that COGAT, which monitors the situation on the ground from its base in southern Israel, was ‘happy to coordinate more convoys to the north.’ 

Israel currently inspects all aid going into Gaza at two land crossings – one in Nitzana, where the aid then enters the Strip via the Rafah crossing from Egypt, and the other at Kerem Shalom, on the border with Israel. Once inside, it is up to international aid agencies, including those affiliated with the United Nations, to distribute the goods among the needy even as the situation on the ground has become more volatile with armed groups, including Hamas, stealing the aid. 

He said Israel has been working to increase and streamline its inspections and now had the ability to process as many as 44 trucks an hour. More aid trucks are entering Gaza than previously, Freedman said, describing how over the past few weeks up to 200 truckloads of aid were just left waiting for aid agencies to distribute the goods. 

Freedman said that over the past two weeks, Israel had coordinated with the U.S. and its partners more than 30 airdrops with some 500 packages reaching the northern part of the Strip. 

On Wednesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, perhaps reacting to the criticism regarding aid deliveries, spoke to the press following a video conference call with representatives from Cyprus, the U.N. and other interested parties, and noted that they were coordinating efforts to get the maritime corridor ‘up and running.’ 

Blinken told reporters that ‘The bottom line is we need to see – as we’ve described it, we need to see flooding the zone when it comes to humanitarian assistance for Gaza.’

The U.S. has been the largest provider of aid to Gaza, handing out more than $180 million in assistance to Palestinians there since Oct. 7.  

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson says the lower chamber of Congress will fiercely pressure the Senate to approve the bipartisan bill targeting TikTok. 

The bill — which would force Chinese company Bytedance to divest from the social media app or ban it entirely — sailed through the House of Representatives easily yesterday with a 352-65 bipartisan vote.

Its future in the Senate is unknown, as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has remained uncommitted to the idea of bringing it to the floor.

‘Let’s see what the House does,’ Schumer told reporters on Tuesday before the bill’s success in the lower chamber. ‘I’ll have to consult — and intend to consult — with my relevant committee chairmen to see what their views would be.’

The overwhelming bipartisan support for the bill thus far will make it difficult for Schumer and other senators to ignore.

‘We’re gonna apply every amount of pressure that we can because we think that that’s the right thing,’ Johnson told the New York Post just hours after the successful vote. 

President Biden has publicly stated he would sign the proposed TikTok divestment legislation if it reached his desk.

By contrast, former President Donald Trump shocked both parties by completely flipping his views on the app since his term in the Oval Office. He urged against the bill, claiming it would only empower other tech giants such as Facebook.

The bill was led in the lower chamber by House China select committee Chair Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and ranking member Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill.

TikTok’s critics have long warned that the social media app poses a national security threat. Lawmakers have cited concerns about the Chinese government’s ability to leverage its power over Bytedance to access sensitive user data.

China hawks have also warned that the app’s popularity among young Americans gives the ruling Chinese Communist Party a platform for a mass influence campaign.

An American nonprofit that has raised millions of dollars for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East – commonly known as UNRWA, – is being sued by 10 survivors and family members of slain victims of the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks on southern Israel who argue the U.S.-based group knowingly provided material support for Hamas and terrorist activities for years.  

The lawsuit was filed earlier this month in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware on behalf of Lishay Lavi, Noach Newman, Adin Gess, Maya Parizer, Natalie Sanandaji, Yoni Diller, Hagar Almog, David Bromberg, Lior Bar Or and Ariel Ein-Gal against the UNRWA USA National Committee., claiming that UNRWA USA and UNRWA are ‘[i]nextricably [l]inked’ in supporting Hamas.

‘501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations generally do good work. They feed the hungry, help the poor, and house the homeless. But on some very rare occasions, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization finances an international terrorist plot that kills over 1,200 innocent people,’ the lawsuit says. ‘This case involves one of those rare occasions.’ 

More than 1,200 Israelis were killed, more than 6,900 civilians are estimated to have been injured, and hundreds more were taken hostage when Hamas launched a surprise attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. 

‘During this attack, Hamas terrorists brutally beat, tortured, raped and murdered men, women, and children. But Hamas did not carry out these attacks alone. Rather, they were financed and aided by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and Defendant UNRWA USA National Committee, Inc. (‘UNRWA USA’),’ the suit says.

Earlier this year, the Israeli government accused 12 UNRWA employees of having directly participated in the Oct. 7 attacks, prompting the U.S. and at least a dozen other countries to temporarily suspend funding to the agency amid a United Nations investigation. 

But Mark Goldfeder, one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs, told Fox News Digital that UNRWA USA did not suspend sending money to UNRWA until March 1. 

‘Way too little, way too late. They funded it up until the point, even after the reports came out of UNRWA staff literally participating in the massacre,’ Goldfeder said Wednesday. ‘Even after the United States suspended its own UNRWA donations, even after all of that, they continued fundraising, and they continued sending money.’ 

‘This is the largest private donor to UNRWA, and they have been materially and knowingly, actively, systematically using their quote unquote, charity, to operate a terrorist financing scheme in violation of federal law,’ Goldfeder said. ‘And it’s gotten to the point where the evidence is so overwhelming that even UNRWA USA has now suspended donations to UNRWA because they couldn’t deny it publicly anymore, but they knew all along what they were doing, and they need to be held accountable.’ 

The complaint alleges that UNRWA USA ‘has been and is fully aware that UNRWA works with and for Hamas, providing operational and financial support for their activities, and UNRWA USA aids, abets, and provides material support for those activities under the guise of humanitarian assistance.’ 

‘UNRWA USA collects donations in the United States and then transfers nearly all its funds to UNRWA, which has significant operations in the Gaza Strip,’ the lawsuit says. ‘Once the funds reach the Gaza Strip, UNRWA redistributes those funds to Hamas members on their payroll, some of whom are directly engaged in acts of terrorism, including but not limited to, the October 7th atrocities; to schools that are used to store Hamas’s weapons and other equipment; and to the production of educational materials that promote violence against Jews, including the destruction of the state of Israel.’ 

Fox News Digital reached out to UNRWA USA for comment on the lawsuit, but they did not immediately respond.

The lawsuit alleges that UNRWA USA ‘raises and transfers such funds knowingly, willfully, and with the intention that the funds be used by a designated foreign terrorist organization and its members for terrorist purposes’ and ‘knowingly, willfully, and intentionally works directly and indirectly in confederation and agreement with UNRWA, Hamas, and other terrorist organizations to provide material support to the designated foreign terrorist organizations and their members and for their terrorist activities.’ 

The complaint also states that in addition to having ‘common missions, finances, and activities,’ UNRWA USA and UNRWA ‘also employ overlapping staff.’ It cites posts on social media platform X in which UNRWA USA described an UNRWA employee as a freelance content producer for UNRWA USA and described UNRWA employees as ‘colleagues.’ The lawsuit also states that UNRWA USA board member Karen AbuZayd was appointed UNRWA commissioner-general in 2005, and that in April 2006 she ‘stated that she commonly met with Hamas and would continue to do so.’

The plaintiffs accuse UNRWA USA of violating the Anti-Terrorism Act and the Alien Tort Statute. 

A group of seven Republican senators penned a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland last month demanding the Justice Department open a criminal investigation into UNRWA USA, its principals and its leadership ‘for knowingly providing material support to foreign terrorist organizations, including Hamas.’ 

‘This support facilitated and continues to facilitate terrorism, including the October 7 terrorist attack,’ the letter penned by Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Roger Marshall, R-Ks., Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., Rick Scott, R-Fla., Pete Ricketts, R-Nebraska, and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said. 

According to its 2021 annual report, UNRWA USA dispersed nearly $5 million in donations to UNRWA that year, making the organization UNRWA’s largest institutional donor. In 2004, the senators also noted, the then-UNRWA Commissioner-General Peter Hansen said in an interview, ‘I am sure there are Hamas members on the UNRWA payroll and I don’t see that as a crime.’ 

‘That assessment is incorrect. It is in fact a crime,’ the Feb. 15 letter from the senators said.

In tandem with the civil litigation seeking monetary damages, Goldfeder told Fox News Digital he hopes the DOJ picks up the criminal probe and holds UNRWA USA accountable. 

On Feb. 13, the Senate passed a controversial $95 billion national security supplemental package to assist Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific. It contains a provision that would block funding from going to UNRWA. The Biden administration said it was waiting on the results of the United Nations’ investigation into UNRWA to decide on whether to resume funding.

Growing bipartisan opposition to the relief agency prompted the White House to explore alternative ways to provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza should Congress permanently halt UNRWA funding. The U.S. is UNRWA’s largest donor, usually contributing between $300 million to $400 million annually. 

Lavi, an Israeli citizen, is suing after her husband, Omri Miran, was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7 and still remains held hostage. Newman’s brother, David Yair Shalom Newman, was killed by Hamas terrorists at the Nova music festival. They both are and were U.S.-Israeli dual citizens. 

Diller, Parizer, Bromberg and Or, dual U.S.-Israeli citizens, and Sanandaji, a U.S. citizen visiting from New York, all managed to escape Hamas’ attack on the Nova festival after fleeing by car and foot – in some cases for hours – while under heavy gunfire and were forced to witness friends and fellow attendees being massacred. Ein-Gal, an Israeli citizen, was asleep on Zikim Beach when swarms of terrorists began infiltrating the coast by boat but managed to escape the attack alive. Gess, a U.S. citizen, and Almog, an Israeli citizen, were not home on their kibbutzes when Hamas attacked but witnessed the massacre of their community members on a shared WhatsApp group loved ones used to beg for help. 

‘They have been through hell. Each of them have been through their own individual hell, and they are still, many of them, in hell,’ Goldfeder said of the plaintiffs.

Around 10% of UNRWA’s Gaza employees have links to the Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organizations, and 50% have close relatives who belong to those groups, according to UN Watch. 

‘UNRWA has demonstrated time and time and time again that they are utterly, morally bankrupt. UNRWA is Hamas. In 2004, they admitted that they have Hamas on their payroll and they don’t think that’s a crime. Well, they’re wrong. Under American law, that is a crime. That’s material support for terror,’ Goldfeder said. 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has called on Israel to elect a new prime minister to replace Benjamin Netanyahu in order to move towards a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians in the form of a two-state solution. 

In what was billed as a major speech on a two-state solution, Schumer said on the Senate floor on Thursday that Netanyahu was one of four obstacles to this solution. 

The majority leader said he believed that ‘Prime Minister Netanyahu has lost his way by allowing his political survival to take the precedence over the best interests of Israel.’

Along with Netanyahu, Schumer listed ‘Hamas, and the Palestinians who support and tolerate their evil ways, radical, right-wing Israelis in government and society, [and] Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ as the other obstacles. 

According to Schumer, who is Jewish, Israeli elections are ‘the only way to allow for a healthy and open decision-making process about the future of Israel.’ He added that he believed a majority of Israelis also recognize a need for change in their government. 

In his reasoning for calling on elections to potentially replace Netanyahu, Schumer explained: ‘He has put himself in coalition with far-right extremists like Ministers Smotrich and Ben-Gvir, and as a result, he has been too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza, which is pushing support for Israel worldwide to historic lows.’

Schumer emphasized that Israel will not be able to overcome such a poor public image. ‘Israel cannot survive if it becomes a pariah,’ he said.

After Schumer’s speech, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R–Ky., took to the floor and addressed the remarks of his Democratic colleague, but did not call him out by name.

‘The Jewish state of Israel deserves an ally that acts like one,’ he said, condemning the call for new Israeli elections as ‘unprecedented.’

‘Israel’s unity, government and security cabinet deserve the deference befitting a sovereign democratic country.’ 

The Kentucky Republican added that ‘foreign observers’ who aren’t able to recognize these important distinctions should not give their own prescriptions. McConnell additionally claimed the Democratic Party’s issue is not with Netanyahu, but with the state of Israel itself.

Michael Herzog, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S., posted his reaction to the news on X, formerly Twitter:

‘Israel is a sovereign democracy. It is unhelpful, all the more so as Israel is at war against the genocidal terror organization Hamas, to comment on the domestic political scene of a democratic ally. It is counterproductive to our common goals.’

As recently as January, Netanyahu rejected the prospect of two states, claiming, ‘I will not compromise on full Israeli security control over all the territory west of Jordan — and this is contrary to a Palestinian state.’ 

The Palestinian Authority has also reiterated its desire for the territories of Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, with Jerusalem as the capital. 

JERUSALEM – Despite heightened security concerns in and around Jerusalem due to the ongoing war in Gaza, Israeli officials said this week that there would be no additional restrictions to freedom of worship for Muslims during the holy month of Ramadan. However, they warned, of an increase in incitement online, along with fake news reports, contradicting what is really happening on the ground.

‘Most of the people coming to pray, want to come and pray quietly,’ Mirit Ben Mayor, head of communications in the Israel Police told reporters in a briefing this week. 

However, she added, there was always a small number of people – usually youngsters – trying to destabilize the area and ‘get our attention.’ Ben Mayor emphasized that like in previous years – and during all other religious holidays in the holy city – the Israeli police was beefing up its forces to maintain order and reduce the chances of terror. 

Tal Heinrich, a spokeswoman for the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, told Fox News Digital that Israel was a nation ‘that takes great pride in welcoming all faiths and protects freedom of religion and worship.’ 

She said it was important to note ‘that the only time, in hundreds of years, when there has been freedom of religion and access to holy sites across our lands has been since 1948 – with the establishment of the State of Israel.’

‘In the coming weeks we’ll see three celebrations of the world’s major religions when Muslims mark Ramadan, Christians celebrate Easter and the holiday of Purim celebrated by the Jews,’ Heinrich said.

The holy month of Ramadan, where Muslims are required to fast from dawn till dusk and attend additional prayer services, traditionally draws hundreds of thousands of worshippers to the Old City of Jerusalem, the location of the al-Aqsa Mosque – Islam’s third-holiest site. 

The sensitive site, known to Muslims as the Haram al-Sharif, or holy sanctuary, and which also contains the Dome of the Rock, sits on top of an area Jews refer to as the Temple Mount – a raised esplanade where the first and second Jewish temples once stood. It is considered the holiest site for Jews. 

Every year on Ramadan, tensions in Jerusalem reach their peak and police officers flood the 0.35-square-mile Old City in order to maintain calm. Restrictions are placed on certain individuals who are deemed a security risk by Israel and some are prevented from entering the holy compound out of a fear they will launch violent attacks against Jews, who continue to pray at the Western Wall just below it. 

The war in Gaza, which was sparked by Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack in which 1,200 people were brutally killed and a further 240 taken hostages, has served to only increase tensions – as have efforts by radical Jewish groups who are pushing Israeli authorities to increase their access to the sacred compound.

‘As we do every year, the Israeli police have made a lot of arrangements and are very ready to enable this holiday and to enable our Muslim friends to practice freedom of religion on their holiday,’ Ben Mayor said. 

‘Hundreds of police officers are right now spread over in the Old City in order to enable the thousands of worshipers to safely arrive at the compound and practice the prayers,’ she said, adding that the level of readiness was even higher for Friday prayers and describing the police’s role as ensuring freedom of worship for all religions that view Jerusalem as holy. 

‘During this month of a Muslim holiday, there are also holidays of the Jewish people and of Christians and in this respect, we are preparing ourselves to enable the practice of these holidays to take place as well,’ Ben Mayor said. 

According to official Israeli sources, there are currently no restrictions on Israel’s Muslim population who want to enter the al-Aqsa compound, although for Palestinians – who must cross through a checkpoint from the West Bank into Jerusalem – only men over 55, women over 50 and boys below the age of 10 are permitted. 

Heinrich, from the prime minister’s office, said hundreds of thousands of Muslims were expected to arrive in Jerusalem’s Old City for Ramadan’s Friday prayer service and that while the ‘overwhelming majority will come to pray and to practice holiday traditions peacefully,’ there were attempts by terror organizations such as Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad to ‘inflame the region.’  

‘They’ve already called for attacks on Israelis and Jews during Ramadan, and they already have plans to attack us,’ she said, pointing out that over the past week, Israeli forces had succeeded in preventing a suicide bombing.

The Israeli police spokeswoman also commented on the sharp increase in incitement online and the fake news reports shared in the Arabic language media since Oct. 7.

‘It’s a part of what we believe Hamas is doing in order to broaden the war and draw in Israeli Arabs and others who are not taking any part in this war,’ she said. ‘They are working tirelessly to incite, and we are working tirelessly to find these people who are inciting.’ 

House Republican leaders are blasting Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and demanding he apologize for urging Israel to hold new elections while criticizing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The top four GOP lawmakers held an impromptu press conference during their annual retreat this year at the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia, immediately after Schumer’s statement.

‘As we were in a work session here within the last half hour, there was a buzz among the audience as people were seeing notices come across their phone as something that was rather shocking to us,’ Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said. 

‘We saw the remarks from Sen. Chuck Schumer calling for new elections in Israel. And we want to speak very clearly and concisely to say that this is not only highly inappropriate, but just plain wrong for an American leader to play such a divisive role in Israeli politics, while our closest ally in the region is in an existential battle for its very survival.’

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said Schumer’s comments were ‘disturbing’ in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel, in which terrorists invaded the southern part of the country and killed over 1,200 people – mainly civilians.

‘Sen. Schumer owes an apology to the people of Israel, who elected their leadership,’ Scalise said. ‘This isn’t a time for games. This is a time to stand with our friends who are under attack and show no daylight between the United States and Israel.’

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., accused Schumer and fellow Democrats of choosing Hamas over Israel.

‘Our Democrats, Chuck Schumer, et al., the White House, they have a problem. But it’s not with Netanyahu. It is with the anti-Israel members of their own party that have taken over the woke left. While they choose Hamas, House Republicans will continue to stand with Israel,’ Emmer said.

They left without taking questions from reporters. It comes just as House Republicans are expected to hear from Israeli Ambassador Michael Herzog at their multi-day retreat.

Back in Washington, Schumer took to the Senate floor on Thursday morning, where he condemned both Hamas and Israel for the high death toll of Palestinians and the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza as Israel responds to the Oct. 7 attack.

He called on Palestinians to throw off their leader, President Mahmoud Abbas, and for Israelis to demand a new election to elect a less ‘radical’ government.

‘Hamas and the Palestinians who support and tolerate their evil ways, radical right-wing Israelis in government and society, President Abbas, Prime Minister Netanyahu – these are the four obstacles to peace, and if we fail to overcome them, then Israel and the West Bank and Gaza will be trapped in the same violent state of affairs they’ve experienced for the last 75 years,’ Schumer said.

‘These obstacles are not the same in their culpability for the present state of affairs. But arguing over which is the worst stymies our ability to achieve peace.’

More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s military response, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians.

Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Herzog charged that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership is ‘unhelpful’ as the Jewish state continues its war against Hamas in response to the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks that left over 1,200 dead and hundreds more taken hostage. 

‘Israel is a sovereign democracy. It is unhelpful, all the more so as Israel is at war against the genocidal terror organization Hamas, to comment on the domestic political scene of a democratic ally. It is counterproductive to our common goals,’ Herzog wrote on X. 

The highest ranking Jewish elected official in the U.S., Schumer, D-N.Y., excoriated Netanyahu in a speech on the Senate floor on Thursday. 

‘I believe in his heart, his highest priority is the security of Israel,’ Schumer said. ‘However, I also believe Prime Minister Netanyahu has lost his way by allowing his political survival to take precedence over the best interests of Israel.’

‘He has been too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza, which is pushing support for Israel worldwide to historic lows. Israel cannot survive if it becomes a pariah,’ Schumer added. 

The speech came a day after the No. 3 Senate Republican, John Barrasso, of Wyoming, invited Netanyahu to speak at a GOP retreat in Washington. Herzog spoke in Netayahu’s place due to a ‘scheduling conflict,’ the New York Times reported.

Along with Netanyahu, Schumer listed ‘Hamas, and the Palestinians who support and tolerate their evil ways, radical, right-wing Israelis in government and society, [and] Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ as the other obstacles. The Senate majority leader said that Israeli elections are ‘the only way to allow for a healthy and open decision-making process about the future of Israel.’ He added that he believed a majority of Israelis also recognize a need for change in their government. 

‘The Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after Oct. 7. The world has changed – radically – since then, and the Israeli people are being stifled right now by a governing vision that is stuck in the past,’ Schumer said. 

He promoted a two-state solution with a ‘a demilitarized Palestinian state living side by side with Israel in equal measures of peace, security, prosperity and dignity.’ 

‘As a democracy, Israel has the right to choose its own leaders, and we should let the chips fall where they may,’ Schumer said. ‘But the important thing is that Israelis are given a choice. There needs to be a fresh debate about the future of Israel after Oct. 7.’

As recently as January, Netanyahu rejected the prospect of two states, claiming, ‘I will not compromise on full Israeli security control over all the territory west of Jordan – and this is contrary to a Palestinian state.’ The Palestinian Authority has also reiterated its desire for the territories of Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, with Jerusalem as the capital. 

After Schumer’s speech, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R–Ky., took to the floor and addressed the remarks of his Democratic colleague, but did not call him out by name.

‘The Jewish state of Israel deserves an ally that acts like one,’ he said, condemning the call for new Israeli elections as ‘unprecedented.’

‘Israel’s unity government and security cabinet deserve the deference befitting a sovereign democratic country.’ 

Fox News’ Julia Johnson contributed to this report. 

House Republicans are accusing President Biden of building a temporary aid port for Gaza in a bid to win back progressive voters ahead of November, and they’re worried it will put American lives at risk.

Biden unveiled a plan to build a temporary floating port off the coast of Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinians who were displaced as a result of the war between Israel and Hamas. 

International groups and several nations have raised concerns about the spread of famine and disease while struggling to get food and medical aid to the population there.

The initiative is expected to take several weeks, and it still remains unclear what the cost would be to taxpayers.

Though the administration announced it would not require American troops to set foot in Gaza, lawmakers raised concerns about their proximity to the war zone.

‘It is clearly putting our troops in harm’s way,’ Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., a member of the House Armed Services Committee, told Fox News Digital earlier this week. ‘[Biden] doesn’t seem to understand their hatred for the American soldiers, sailors and airmen and Marines, and if he puts them within range of Iranian proxies’ rockets, then Iranians proxy rockets are going to be flying at our people.

‘I think it’s got more to do with his politics and trying to appease a faction of the Democratic Party.’

Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, who is also on the committee, chalked up the Gaza port plan to Michigan Democrats’ backlash against Biden in the recent primary election. Arab and Muslim leaders in the state urged voters to choose ‘uncommitted’ instead of the president in protest of him not taking a harsher public stance against Israel.

‘I think he’s worried about losing Michigan in November, so he wants to throw [something] … to Muslim American voters, particularly in Michigan,’ Fallon said, adding the plan was ‘not in our nation’s best interest.’

‘That aid in Gaza has been used by Hamas as currency,’ Fallon added.

A third Armed Services Committee member, Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., said, ‘We’re going to be a target out there, and it will help Hamas in the end. Let Israel defeat Hamas, then let us help out with humanitarian aid. We didn’t do aid to Germany in 1944. We did it after [the Nazis] were defeated.’

Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, also accused Biden of launching the Gaza port effort for political reasons.

‘He’s doing that, in my opinion, because he had a lot of uncommitted voters out there. These American Palestinians that could vote for him are saying, ‘What the hell, you ain’t supporting us enough.’ So, he’s going to try to do what government does, throw some money at it,’ Nehls said.

Biden made his announcement as the U.S. joined other countries in airdropping aid into Gaza. 

‘Tonight, I’m directing the U.S. military to lead an emergency mission to establish a temporary pier in the Mediterranean on the Gaza coast that can receive large ships carrying food, water, medicine and temporary shelters,’ Biden said during the State of the Union March 7. ‘No U.S. boots will be on the ground.

‘This temporary pier would enable a massive increase in the amount of humanitarian assistance getting into Gaza every day.  But Israel must also do its part. Israel must allow more aid into Gaza and ensure that humanitarian workers aren’t caught in the cross fire.’

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment for this story but did not immediately hear back.