The three Israeli hostages freed in the first phase of the cease-fire deal with Hamas were all spotted carrying paper ‘gift bags’ with the terror organization’s logo. The bags reportedly contained a map of Gaza, photos of the women from their time in captivity, and certificates reading ‘release decision,’ according to Hebrew-language media.

Emily Damari, Romi Goren and Doron Steinbrecher, all of whom were kidnapped by Hamas during the deadly Oct. 7 attacks, returned to Israel on Sunday as part of a cease-fire deal. All three women have been reunited with their families after spending over 15 months in captivity.

A representative for Goren’s family says her bag also contained a necklace, CNN reported, adding that the Israel Security Agency confiscated the items Hamas gave the women.

‘I am relieved to report that after her release, Emily is doing much better than any of us could ever have anticipated. I am also happy that during her release the world was given a glimpse of her feisty and charismatic personality,’ Mandy Damari, mother of Emily Damari, said in a statement released by the Hostage and Missing Families Forum on X. ‘In Emily’s own words, she is the happiest girl in the world; she has her life back.’

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer thanked Netanyahu for securing the release of Damari, who is also a British citizen.

The Hostage and Missing Families Forum also released a statement by Steinbrecher’s family in which they thanked the people of Israel and President Donald Trump for his support.

‘A special thank you to the people of Israel for their warm embrace, unwavering support, and the strength they gave us during our darkest moments. We also extend our gratitude to President Trump for his significant involvement and support, which meant so much to us.’

A Hamas official confirmed that four of the seven remaining Israeli female hostages will be released on Saturday, Jan. 25, according to reports.

The cease-fire and hostage deal involves Hamas gradually releasing 33 Israeli hostages held in Gaza over the next six weeks in exchange for Israel releasing nearly 2,000 prisoners and detainees from the West Bank and Gaza.

As part of the deal, Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Damari, Goren and Steinbrecher. Crowds of Palestinians in the West Bank cheered and some reportedly waved Hamas flags in celebration of the detainees’ return.

On Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) leadership announced a shakeup as Chief of the General Staff, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said he handed in his resignation and requested to leave his role later this year.

‘I informed the Minister of Defense today (Tuesday) that by virtue of my recognition of my responsibility for the IDF’s failure on October 7th, and at a time when the IDF has significant achievements and is in the process of implementing the agreement to release our hostages, I have requested to leave my role on March 6th, 2025,’ Halevi said in a statement released by the IDF.

‘Until then, I will complete the IDF’s inquiries into the events of October 7th and strengthen the IDF’s readiness for security challenges.’

In response, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said ‘I would like to express my appreciation to the Chief of Staff and thank him for his contribution to the IDF throughout his years of service as a fighter and as a commander, and for his part in the great achievements of the IDF in the difficult war that was forced upon us.’

Netanyahu also commended Halevi on his years of service and credited him for some of the country’s ‘great achievements.’

A federal judge on Tuesday blocked the release of the second volume of former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report on his investigation into President Trump.

Judge Aileen Cannon had allowed the first volume to be released to a small group within Congress. The first volume relates to Smith’s investigation into alleged election interference by Trump, while the second relates to the classified documents investigation.

‘Release of Volume II to Congress under the proposed conditions—without any enforcement mechanism to prevent public dissemination, and without any valid countervailing reason justifying a break from traditional norms—presents a substantial and unacceptable risk of prejudice to Defendants,’ Cannon wrote.

Trump co-defendants Waltine Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira had filed motions to block the release of both volumes of Smith’s report. Cannon ruled against that motion for the first volume last week.

It is customary for special counsels to release a final report, detailing the findings of their investigation and explaining any prosecution or declination decisions they reached.

In Smith’s case, the prosecution decision is immaterial, given Trump’s status as president and long-standing Justice Department policy against bringing criminal charges against a sitting president.

Trump has blasted Smith’s work as a ‘fake report.’

Trump has blasted Smith’s work as a ‘fake report.’

Read Judge Cannon’s full ruling below

Attorney General Merrick Garland has opted to release the reports from two other special counsels whose investigations concluded during his tenure – publishing both the summary reports submitted by John Durham, who was tapped by then-Attorney General Bill Barr in 2019 to review the origins of the Trump-Russia probe, as well as the final report from Robert Hur, a former U.S. attorney whom he tapped in 2023 to investigate President Biden’s handling of classified documents.

President Donald Trump pulled the security clearances of more than 50 national security officials who said Hunter Biden’s laptop had ‘all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.’

A total of 51 former national security officials released a public letter in 2020 claiming that even though the laptop did not have ‘any evidence of Russian involvement,’ it looked like a ‘Russian information operation.’

The letter came after the New York Post reported they had emails showing Hunter Biden coordinated for Joe Biden to meet with a top executive at Ukrainian energy company Burisma months before pressuring Ukrainian officials to oust a prosecutor investigating the company. 

Included on the list are former director of National Intelligence James Clapper Jr., former directors of the Central Intelligence Agency Michael Hayden, John Brennan, former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, and former National Security Advisor John Bolton. 

Fox News Digital previously reported that federal investigators with the Department of Justice were aware that Hunter Biden’s laptop was not manipulated and contained ‘reliable evidence.’ 

Republican lawmakers including Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina have previously suggested withdrawing the security clearances of these officials. 

The order was one of more than 200 executive orders Trump approved on Inauguration Day, joining directives like withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement that the U.S. initially entered under former President Barack Obama’s administration in 2015. 

Trump previously withdrew the U.S. from the agreement during his first term in 2020. 

Other executive orders Trump signed on day one include rescinding nearly 80 executive orders and memoranda issued under Biden, issuing a regulatory and hiring freeze upon the federal government, preventing ‘government censorship’ of free speech, and directing every department and agency to address the cost of living crisis. 

David Spector contributed to this report. 

Donald Trump supporters who attended the president’s inauguration parade at Capital One Arena in downtown D.C. on Monday shared their experiences braving the cold in the nation’s capital.

Trump supporters told Fox News Digital they arrived as early as 4:30 a.m. Monday and stood for hours in the cold weather to secure a seat at the arena for the inaugural parade, noting that the line to get in had already formed by the time they arrived bright and early. Reports indicated that supporters had begun lining up as early as the night before. The parade got moved indoors amid concerns about the cold weather, but one supporter noted that it wasn’t as cold as she had expected. 

‘This morning we got up at 4. We got on the train at 5 [in the morning] and got here, and already the line was forming,’ a supporter who traveled from Texas said. ‘We stayed in the cold weather for five hours.’

‘We got here [Sunday] night, but we stayed closer to the airport just to not fight traffic,’ added Kaitlin Rogers, who traveled from Delaware. ‘Ubered in, got here at what? 6:30 [in the morning]? Stood in line for four and a half hours.’

Gina Raper, a Trump fan from North Carolina, said she arrived as early as Friday to attend Trump’s Sunday rally ahead of the formal swearing-in ceremony and ‘stood out all day in the rain’ to secure a seat there as well.     

‘We were there 5 o’clock yesterday morning and stood out all day in the rain. We got in, it was awesome,’ said Raper. ‘Then we were there at, like, 4:30 or 5 this morning, all day.’

When asked if their experience was worth braving the cold, the answer was a resounding yes. 

‘We’re so thankful,’ Raper said after gaining entrance to Capital One Arena on Saturday. 

‘It wasn’t as cold as we thought it was going to be. It was definitely worth the wait,’ added Andrea Rogers, who was traveling with Kaitlin from Delaware. ‘We are so happy to be here.’

When asked what they hope to see out of the new Trump administration, the supporters who spoke to Fox News Digital highlighted Trump’s plans to secure the border and ‘rebuild’ the military. One supporter said he was hoping to see the new Trump administration challenge the pharmaceutical and food industries, which are priorities of Trump’s nominee for Health and Human Services secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 

‘Good leaders train good leaders, and he’s got the best team I have ever – well, everybody would agree, everybody in America – this is the best team,’ said Raper.

‘Trump will fix it!’ one supporter said.

Two more of President Trump’s nominees will face questions from senators Tuesday, while a third, Treasury nominee Scott Bessent, will get a committee vote.

Former Rep. Doug Collins, an Air Force Reserve chaplain, will testify before the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee as he seeks confirmation to lead the Veterans Affairs Department. And Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., will appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as Trump’s nominee to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

The Senate Finance Committee, meanwhile, will convene at 10:15 a.m. and vote on whether to advance Bessent’s nomination to be secretary of the Treasury. 

Collins will be the first potential cabinet official to receive a hearing after Trump’s whirlwind of a first day in office. After announcing that a ‘Golden Age of America’ had begun in his inaugural address, the president swiftly took more than 200 executive actions on Monday to see his policy vision come to life. It remains for the Senate to confirm the key officials who will carry out Trump’s orders.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio became the first of Trump’s cabinet picks to receive congressional approval late Monday with a unanimous vote by the Senate. His confirmation was not surprising, as many of his colleagues on both sides of the aisle praised his strong foreign policy background as a longtime member of the Senate Foreign Relations and Intelligence Committees. 

Collins is likewise not expected to face a difficult confirmation fight. A former congressman from Georgia and Navy veteran, as VA secretary he would be tasked with overseeing a beleaguered system of healthcare and benefits for the nation’s veterans. Long wait times to see providers, lack of access to community care, inadequate mental health support and budget shortfalls are just a few of many problems that have plagued secretaries past in both Republican and Democratic administrations.

A report published by the VA last month showed that there were more than 6,400 suicides among veterans in 2022, fewer than 12 of 14 previous years but slightly more than in 2021. Ending veteran suicide was a top priority for the Biden administration. In November, the VA announced that veteran homelessness had fallen to the lowest number on record under President Biden, although more than 32,000 former service members remained on the streets between Jan. 2023 and Jan. 2024. 

Under Trump’s direction, the next VA secretary will likely also be tasked with rooting out diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in the department, as well as ending Biden-era policies that provide abortions and transgender medical procedures.

Collins was due to receive a confirmation hearing last week, but an incomplete background check delayed the proceeding.

While the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee convenes to question Collins at 10 a.m., the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will meet elsewhere in the Dirksen Senate Office Building to consider Stefanik’s nomination to represent the U.S. at the U.N.

Stefanik, the fourth-ranking Republican in the U.S. House, is likely to face questions about her relative lack of foreign policy experience and adamant support for Israel, as well as her views on the war between Russia and Ukraine.

In her opening remarks, excerpts of which were obtained by Fox News Digital, Stefanik will say that Trump sees great promise in the U.N. ‘if it focuses on its founding mission of international peace and security. President Trump has long advocated for peace and no new wars.’ 

Stefanik is expected to sail to confirmation in the U.N. role. Sen. John Fetterman, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, has already said he will vote for her – they are both strong Israel supporters. She served on the Intelligence and Armed Services Committees, but she went viral for her work on the other side of the table last year when she questioned university presidents and their policies surrounding pro-Gaza protests during Education Committee hearings.

Meanwhile, the Senate Finance Committee will vote on whether to advance the nomination of Bessent, a Wall Street investor and hedge fund manager, to lead the Treasury Department. 

During his confirmation hearings, Bessent said the U.S. must extend the 2017 tax cuts Trump signed into law in his first term. 

‘This is the single most important economic issue of the day,’ Bessent told senators. ‘This is pass-fail. If we do not fix these tax cuts, if we do not renew and extend, then we will be facing an economic calamity, and as always, with financial instability that falls on the middle and working class.’

Democrats pressed Bessent on the impact Trump’s tax cuts have had on the federal deficit and whether they disproportionately benefit the rich at the expense of the poor and middle classes. They also asked whether Trump’s proposed tariffs on foreign imports would increase inflation, but Bessent insisted they would not.

The Treasury nominee, who hails from South Carolina, emphasized that Trump’s policies would prioritize Main Street over Wall Street.

‘I believe Wall Street has done great the past few years, and that Main Street has suffered. I think it’s Main Street’s time,’ Bessent said.

Fox News Digital’s Alec Schemmel and Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.

Britain’s head of state King Charles III sent a personal message of congratulations to President Trump on his inauguration, Buckingham Palace has confirmed.

The message reflected the ‘enduring special relationship between the U.K. and the U.S.,’ a spokesperson for Buckingham Palace told Fox News Digital.

The letter was delivered as Trump was sworn in for a second term as commander-in-chief at the Capitol Rotunda on Monday, capping a remarkable return to office.

Further details about the contents of the message have yet to be revealed. 

It’s not the first time the monarch has written to Trump. King Charles also wrote to the president in July in the aftermath of the failed assassination attempt on his life in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Trump has often spoke about his strong admiration for the monarchy and previously referred to King Charles as ‘a wonderful guy.’

During his state visit to the U.K. in 2019, President Trump said he had an ‘automatic chemistry’ with Queen Elizabeth II and described her as a ‘spectacular woman.’

Trump and Charles are no strangers – the two leaders have met several times over the years.

They first crossed paths in 2005, when Charles and Queen Camilla visited the U.S. They met again at President George H.W. Bush’s funeral in 2018.

In 2019, the two met to discuss climate change, and a meeting that was scheduled to last 15 minutes lasted an hour and a half, according to comments Trump made at the time. He added then that Charles, a longtime environmentalist, ‘did most of the talking.’

Following the visit, Clarence House said Trump and Charles have a ‘good working relationship.’

It is unclear if President Trump will be invited back to the U.K. for a state visit during his second term. The Telegraph reported last month that any such visit would be unlikely to happen until at least 2026, given the schedule of King Charles.

King Charles and Queen Camilla may receive an invitation to Washington, D.C., next year to attend the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

King Charles has made the acquaintance of 10 of the 14 U.S. presidents who have held office since he was born in 1948, according to the Associated Press.

He was just 10 when he checked off his first president in 1959. That was when Dwight Eisenhower visited Queen Elizabeth II and her family at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, where she died on Sept. 8, 2022, after a 70-year reign. Charles then ascended the throne after the queen’s passing.

Charles never met Harry Truman, Gerald Ford, Lyndon Johnson and John F. Kennedy.

Last month, President Trump and Prince William shook hands at the re-opening ceremony of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and afterward held a sit-down meeting at the British Embassy. 

Trump and William also separately met with world leaders at Notre Dame, including French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. 

Meanwhile, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer posted a video message of congratulations to President Trump on Monday. He spoke about the deep ties both nations share and said he looked forward to taking ‘our partnership to the next level.’

‘For centuries, the relationship between our two nations has been one of collaboration, cooperation and enduring partnership. It is a uniquely close bond,’ Starmer, who met President Trump in September, said. 

‘Together we have defended the world from tyranny and worked towards our mutual security and prosperity.’ 

Fox News’ Emily Trainham and Brie Stimson, as well as The Associated Press, contributed to this report. 

The White House has brought back the famous Diet Coke button so that President Trump can order his drink of choice easily from the Oval Office. 

The red button, which is hidden in a wooden box and was used by Trump during his first term, was again spotted on the Resolute Desk after he was sworn in as the 47th president Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported. 

The Oval Office, where presidents meet with foreign heads of state, congressional leaders and deliver the presidential address, is an area of the White House often personalized to reflect the values and goals of the incoming commander in chief. 

‘We’re going to be going over to the beautiful Oval Office, one of the great offices in history, even if it wasn’t beautiful, it’s the Oval Office, but it is beautiful, and we love the Oval Office,’ Trump said at the Capitol One Arena on Monday following the inauguration ceremony at the Capitol. ‘Wars start and then there. Everything starts and ends at the Oval Office.’ 

Trump has a well-known affinity for Diet Coke and has repeatedly shared that he does not drink alcohol given his brother, Fred Trump Jr., died from complications of alcoholism in the early 1980s. 

On Monday, the Journal noted that a portrait of George Washington was now hanging over the fireplace in the Oval Office, and portraits of Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson were on each side. 

Biden had removed military flags for each service branch from the Oval Office four years ago, and Trump’s team had them reinstated there on Monday. 

When he was sworn in as president in 2021, Biden had a bust of Winston Churchill removed from the Oval Office. Churchill’s bust was returned on Monday and spotted in the same place it was four years ago on a table near the fireplace. 

Trump and Biden both displayed a bust of Martin Luther King Jr. in the Oval Office, and it remained there Monday at the start of Trump’s second term, according to the Journal. 

The Oval Office also has new silver eagle figures on the fireplace mantel as of Monday. 

Like he had during his first term, Trump again has a portrait of Andrew Jackson in the Oval Office. The one from four years ago was on loan from the U.S. Naval Academy, while the one added on Monday is from the White House art collection, the Journal reported, citing a White House aide. Trump has resonated with Jackson, whose populist, anti-establishment movement landed him in the White House despite critics of the time. 

Trump kept Biden’s addition of a Benjamin Franklin portrait, which the Democrat initially chose to represent a focus on science. 

Donald Trump supporters who attended the president’s inauguration parade at Capital One Arena in downtown D.C. on Monday shared their experiences braving the cold in the nation’s capital.

Trump supporters told Fox News Digital they arrived as early as 4:30 a.m. Monday and stood for hours in the cold weather to secure a seat at the arena for the inaugural parade, noting that the line to get in had already formed by the time they arrived bright and early. Reports indicated that supporters had begun lining up as early as the night before. The parade got moved indoors amid concerns about the cold weather, but one supporter noted that it wasn’t as cold as she had expected. 

‘This morning we got up at 4. We got on the train at 5 [in the morning] and got here, and already the line was forming,’ a supporter who traveled from Texas said. ‘We stayed in the cold weather for five hours.’

‘We got here [Sunday] night, but we stayed closer to the airport just to not fight traffic,’ added Kaitlin Rogers, who traveled from Delaware. ‘Ubered in, got here at what? 6:30 [in the morning]? Stood in line for four and a half hours.’

Gina Raper, a Trump fan from North Carolina, said she arrived as early as Friday to attend Trump’s Sunday rally ahead of the formal swearing-in ceremony and ‘stood out all day in the rain’ to secure a seat there as well.     

‘We were there 5 o’clock yesterday morning and stood out all day in the rain. We got in, it was awesome,’ said Raper. ‘Then we were there at, like, 4:30 or 5 this morning, all day.’

When asked if their experience was worth braving the cold, the answer was a resounding yes. 

‘We’re so thankful,’ Raper said after gaining entrance to Capital One Arena on Saturday. 

‘It wasn’t as cold as we thought it was going to be. It was definitely worth the wait,’ added Andrea Rogers, who was traveling with Kaitlin from Delaware. ‘We are so happy to be here.’

When asked what they hope to see out of the new Trump administration, the supporters who spoke to Fox News Digital highlighted Trump’s plans to secure the border and ‘rebuild’ the military. One supporter said he was hoping to see the new Trump administration challenge the pharmaceutical and food industries, which are priorities of Trump’s nominee for Health and Human Services secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 

‘Good leaders train good leaders, and he’s got the best team I have ever – well, everybody would agree, everybody in America – this is the best team,’ said Raper.

‘Trump will fix it!’ one supporter said.