At least 26 Americans held hostage abroad have been freed since President Donald Trump entered the Oval Office in January. Those who gained their freedom include a ballerina, a teacher and a mechanic, among others.

Ryan Corbett and William McKenty

On Jan. 21, 2025, just one day after Trump’s second term began, Ryan Corbett and William McKenty were released from Taliban captivity in Afghanistan. While Corbett and McKenty were freed under Trump, the deal that secured their release was completed by the Biden administration.

Corbett and his family moved to Afghanistan in 2010, where they lived in Kabul and Jalalabad. According to a website set up by his family, Corbett did work for NGOs, which focused on education, birth and life-saving skills. He also started a project in 2017, Bloom Afghanistan, with the goal of strengthening the country’s private sector. In 2021, the Corbett family evacuated as the Taliban took control of the country. Corbett returned to Afghanistan a year later and was captured by the Taliban, which his family suspects was because of his ‘value as political leverage.’

There aren’t many details on McKenty or exactly why he was in Afghanistan. According to the BBC, his family asked for privacy.

Anastasia Nuhfer

Anastasia Nuhfer, who was detained in Belarus during the Biden administration, gained her freedom Jan. 26, 2025. While Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Nuhfer’s release, he did not give details on when she was detained or why. However, according to The Associated Press, a former high-ranking Belarusian official said the arrest was linked to 2020 protests against Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. 

Six unnamed American citizens

Special envoy Ric Grenell secured the release of six Americans after meeting with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Grenell posted a photo of himself and the men on a plane and said that they ‘couldn’t stop thanking’ Trump when speaking to him on the phone. The men were not identified.

Keith Siegel

After spending 484 days as a hostage in Gaza, Keith Siegel was released as part of a ceasefire deal Feb. 1, 2025. Siegel was taken from Kibbutz Kfar Aza during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks. His wife, Aviva, was also taken hostage but was released in November 2023. 

On April 8, Siegel, who has credited Trump with saving his life, thanked the president during an NRCC event in Washington, D.C.

‘President Trump, I am here, and I am alive. President Trump, you saved my life,’ Siegel said. He also asked Trump to continue working to secure the freedom of the 59 remaining hostages in Gaza.

Marc Fogel

American schoolteacher Marc Fogel was released from Russian captivity Feb. 11, 2025, more than three years after he was detained. Fogel was carrying less than one ounce of medical marijuana, according to his family’s website, which he used for severe pain. The Fogel family criticized former President Joe Biden’s handling of Marc’s case, especially in light of his work to release WNBA player Brittney Griner, who was also arrested for having marijuana. 

On July 13, 2024, Fogel’s mother, Malphine, attended a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Marc’s hometown. She spoke with Trump, who promised to bring her son home.

Trump invited Marc and Malphine to attend his address to a joint session of Congress in March 2025.

Unnamed American

On Feb. 12, 2025, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that an American ‘unjustly detained in Belarus’ had been released. The statement did not include details or identifying information about the hostage. In a press release, Rubio affirmed the administration’s commitment to releasing Americans held hostage across the globe.

Sagui Dekel-Chen

On Oct. 7, 2023, Israeli American Sagui Dekel-Chen was taken hostage by Hamas terrorists from his home at Kibbutz Nir Oz. He was shot in the shoulder during the massacre and endured torture while in captivity.

Dekel-Chen spent almost 500 days as a hostage in Gaza and gained his freedom in February 2025. While he was in captivity, his wife gave birth to their third child. He only learned about his daughter’s birth after being released.

10 unnamed Americans

On March 13, 2025, 10 unidentified Americans, including veterans and military contractors, were released from captivity in Kuwait. According to The Associated Press, the American citizens were detained on drug charges.

George Glezmann

Delta Airlines mechanic George Glezmann spent more than two years as a hostage in Gaza after being detained by the Taliban in December 2022. According to senators John Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, both Democrats from Georgia, Glezmann went to ‘Afghanistan for a five-day trip to explore the cultural landscape and rich history of the country.’ The two senators advocated for Glezmann’s release, which eventually occurred March 20, 2025.

Faye Hall

The Taliban released Faye Hall in March 2025, though it is unclear when she was detained. CBS News reported that Hall was arrested on charges of using a drone without authorization.

The Trump administration posted a video of Hall thanking the president for her release. In the video, Hall said she had ‘never been so proud to be an American citizen.’

Ksenia Karelina

Russian American ballet dancer Ksenia Karelina was released from detention April 10, 2025, after being wrongfully detained for over a year. Karelina was arrested and sentenced to 12 years in a penal colony after donating approximately $50 to a Ukrainian charity.

‘Mr. Trump, I’m so, so grateful for you bringing me home,’ a teary-eyed Karelina said upon her arrival in the U.S. ‘I never felt more blessed to be American.’

Christopher Guly contributed to this report.

Delegates from the United States and Iran are holding talks in Oman on Saturday in a delicate effort to restart negotiations over Tehran’s controversial nuclear program. 

The talks, between a mediator to Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff, come nearly seven years after President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers in 2018. Since then, indirect talks between the two adversaries have made zero progress.

Trump has imposed new sanctions on the Islamic Republic as part of his ‘maximum pressure’ campaign and has suggested military action remained a possibility. Despite this, the president has said he still believed a new deal could be reached by writing a letter to Iran’s 85-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which he sent early last month. 

Khamenei, meanwhile, has warned that Iran would respond to any U.S.-led attack with an attack of its own.

‘They threaten to commit acts of mischief, but we are not entirely certain that such actions will take place,’ the supreme leader said. ‘We do not consider it highly likely that trouble will come from the outside. However, if it does, they will undoubtedly face a strong retaliatory strike.’

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei called such threats against Iran ‘a shocking affront to the very essence of International Peace and Security.’

‘Violence breeds violence, peace begets peace. The US can choose the course…; and concede to CONSEQUENCES,’ he wrote on X.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has rejected direct negotiations with the United States over Tehran’s nuclear program.

‘We don’t avoid talks; it’s the breach of promises that has caused issues for us so far,’ Pezeshkian said in televised remarks during a Cabinet meeting. ‘They must prove that they can build trust.’

Once allies, both countries have been hostile to one another for nearly half a century, following the 1979 Islamic Revolution that saw the creation of a theocratic government led by Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, whose rule was cemented in a CIA-led coup in 1953, had fled Iran before the revolution, ill with cancer, as demonstrations swelled against his rule. Late in 1979, university students overran the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, seeking the shah’s extradition and sparking the 444-day hostage crisis that severed diplomatic relations between Iran and the U.S.

In the decades since, Iran-U.S. relations have see-sawed between enmity and grudging diplomacy, with relations peaking when Tehran made the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers before Trump withdrew from the deal, sparking more tensions in the Mideast that persist today.

Under the original 2015 nuclear deal, Iran was allowed to enrich uranium up to 3.67% purity and to maintain a uranium stockpile of 661 pounds. The last report by the International Atomic Energy Agency on Iran’s program put its stockpile at 18,286 pounds as it enriches a fraction of it to 60% purity.

U.S. intelligence agencies assess that Iran has yet to begin a weapons program, but has ‘undertaken activities that better position it to produce a nuclear device, if it chooses to do so.’

Iran has insisted for decades that its nuclear program is peaceful. However, its officials increasingly threaten to pursue a nuclear weapon. Iran now enriches uranium to near weapons-grade levels of 60%, the only country in the world without a nuclear weapons program to do so.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The latest ridiculous lie from Democrats about how Republicans are driving the country towards fascism is out, and it is a doozy. This time, we are meant to believe that Trump and the GOP are banning married women from voting.

Spoiler Alert: They aren’t.

Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., and others took to video this week to make the nonsensical and logically tortured claim, saying, ‘House Republicans’ so-called ‘SAVE Act’ blocks nearly 70 million women from registering to vote—just because they changed their name after marriage.’

Here is what failed glass-ceiling breaker Hillary Clinton had to say: ‘The House just passed the Republican voter suppression measure that threatens voting access for millions of Americans, including 69 million women whose married names don’t match their birth certificates.’

The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act requires prrof of citizenship to cast a vote in federal elections. Among the acceptable documents for demonstrating proof of citizenship are: A REAL ID-compliant driver’s license, a valid U.S. passport, and a military ID.

You would think the driver’s license requirement would be simple enough, but then again, blue-state Democrats screwed that up when they insisted on giving driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants whose supporting documents could not be verified. Now, the rest of us have to get extra verification for our driver’s licenses so they can be distinguished from the ones handed out like candy to illegal aliens.

So now, Democrats are seriously suggesting that married women in our country are all but incapable of obtaining verified identification and therefore will be disenfranchised by Republicans, presumably while they twist their handlebar mustaches and kick some puppies.

I’d like to ask Rep. Swalwell, if married women are incapable of getting IDs such as a driver’s license, then why is there an almost endless line of them in cars in front of me at the school pick-up line?

Furthermore, I am given to understand that married women quite regularly travel abroad. If they can’t get a passport, then how is this happening? Are their husbands bribing border officials?

… there are approximately 70 million married women in the United States who may have taken their spouse’s last name, which means there are 70 million Americans who know damn well how easily they can obtain valid ID.

If, in fact, there is some intractable issue preventing married women from getting ID, then we should fix it. But given that nobody had ever heard of this ‘major problem’ until Republicans brought up a voter ID law, it is, well, suspicious.

This is especially true, given that up to 80% of Americans support showing valid ID to vote, yet instead of honoring the will of the people, the left, once again, goes charging towards facile identity politics.

You have to hand it to the Democrats. When they latch onto a message, they immediately start yelling it in unison with all the subtlety of a sky-writing competition, like last month, when they all started cursing like Andrew Dice Clay one day.

As cosmically stupid and demonstrably false as it is, this claim that married women will be disparately impacted, or uniquely disadvantaged by the voter ID law is par for a very dangerous course that the Democrats run over and over.

According to the Democrats, we can’t have safer streets because minorities or the poor will be arrested more often, we can’t protect women in sports because that violates trans rights and now we can’t secure the vote because married women don’t know how to get IDs.

This is all ‘disparate impact ad absurdum.’ if there is one non-white, non-straight, non-cis person in America who faces a negative consequence from legislation, then the whole thing has to be tanked. 

Meanwhile, Democrats push policies like student debt relief that clearly disadvantages Americans who never went to college, but in this case somehow the discrimination is enlightened.

The final nail in the coffin of this insane notion that the GOP wants to disenfranchise everyone with ‘Mrs.’ in front of her name, or in Democrats opinion, his or her name, is that married women lean Republican in their voting.

In fact, recent polling has shown that with full voter participation, the Republicans and Trump would have won by even more in 2024, so why on earth would the GOP want to leave those votes on the table?

Ultimately, what the Democrats have here is a reality problem. As Swalwell pointed out, there are approximately 70 million married women in the United States who may have taken their spouse’s last name, which means there are 70 million Americans who know damn well how easily they can obtain valid ID.

So get out there and vote, married ladies. There is literally nothing stopping you.

— In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, Republican South Carolina Senator and former presidential candidate Tim Scott shared his views on his first hundred days as Senate Banking Committee chairman, breaking down a trade war with China, the future of cryptocurrency and controversial debanking policies.

With Republicans holding power in both chambers of Congress and President Donald Trump in the White House, party leaders and supporters across the country had high expectations of the GOP’s policy agenda and ability to pass critical legislation swiftly and effectively. 

However, it has not been a perfect start to the 119th Congress. Republicans in the House of Representatives hold a slim 7-seat majority, and GOP infighting has forced internal debates that have delayed key pieces of legislation, like Trump’s ‘big, beautiful’ tax bill, which passed last Thursday just 216 to 214. 

On the Senate side, Republicans hold an 8-seat majority over Democrats. With just 100 members in the upper chamber, the same principle of internal harmony must exist for legislation to move forward. 

Despite the narrow margins, Scott says some of the policy goals the committee has set they have ‘been able to accomplish.’

‘I wanted within the first hundred days to have some crypto or digital asset legislation marked up and run through our committee,’ Scott told Fox News Digital. ‘Good news is the GENIUS Act is stamped. Done. Heading to the Senate floor. Number two, the FIRM Act. Focusing on debanking. Done. Heading onto the Senate Floor. Number three, our ability to listen to President Trump, the leader of not only our party, but of our country.’

Trump’s role in working with congressional leaders was first demonstrated as every cabinet member that reached the Senate so far for confirmation was approved at the fastest pace in more than 20 years.

‘We’ve been running these folks through our committee,’ said Scott. ‘It is a lightning-fast approach, but the good news is President Trump and the American people deserve his team in place. Promises made, promises kept. We are well on our way.’

Outside the nominees, several prominent issues have made their way through the banking committee in the first hundred days. And one of the hottest items in banking today is the implementation of cryptocurrency into U.S. markets and day-to-day life. Notably, the GENIUS Act, a bill ‘to provide for the regulation of payment stablecoins,’ would be a major advancement for crypto markets, showing the federal government is taking the digital asset market more seriously.

But Scott blamed the Biden administration for the lack of enthusiasm to get pro-crypto legislation signed into law. 

‘There’s no doubt that under the Biden administration and Gensler at the SEC, they just… didn’t like crypto. What I’ve said very often is simply this: we must innovate before we regulate. That means allowing innovation to happen here at home in the digital asset space is critical to American economic dominance across the globe,’ he explained. 

The GENIUS Act passed through committee in March and now heads to the Senate Floor. Scott predicted the timeline as to when the bill would be signed into law, telling Fox he believed the legislation would be ‘passed into law by August.’

The bill made its way through committee with an 18-6 as Senators Mark Warner, D-Indiana, Andy Kim, D-New Jersey, Ruben Gallego, D-Arizona, Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Pennsylvania and Angela Alsobrooks, D-Maryland all voted with Republican against the wishes of Ranking Leader Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts. 

But crypto markets, along with U.S. stocks, have been highly volatile in the past weeks, largely due to Trump’s controversial tariffs policies and trade standoffs. 

When asked about the mounting pressure between the U.S. and China, Scott backed Trump’s strategy, telling Fox News Digital, ‘This is about a country, China, that lies, cheats, and steals. Not on the watch of President Trump. He is going to use every tool in his toolkit to make sure that the Chinese government does not continue to take advantage of the American economy. I am thankful that we finally have a president with a backbone made of steel to stand up to President Xi and protect not just America’s present but America’s future.’

Scott argued that establishing economic dominance ‘requires hard conversations and a tariff regime to push China into the smallest corner of the global economy if they’re going to lie, cheat, and steal against us.’ 

He added, ‘We are not going to give them full and unfettered access to our market. That’s called common sense.’

On Friday, China raised tariffs on U.S. imports to 125%, which Trump has maintained that a 145% tariff will be placed on China’s imports.

As for the remainder of the 119th Congress and heading into what will be a critical midterm election year, Scott remains optimistic about the policies in progress and the legislation yet to come.

‘Thank God Almighty President Trump is in the White House,’ the former presidential candidate added.

Preston Mizell is a writer with Fox News Digital covering breaking news. Story tips can be sent to Preston.Mizell@fox.com and on X @MizellPreston

President Donald Trump ramped up steep tariffs against Chinese imports to the U.S. this week while alleviating them for other countries during trade negotiations this week. He also signed a series of executive orders aimed at repealing Biden-era restrictions. 

The Trump administration announced Wednesday it would lower reciprocal tariffs on other countries, while also revealing that the administration would immediately hike tariffs on Chinese goods to 145%. In response, China has raised its tariffs on U.S. goods to 125%. 

Trump disclosed historic tariffs in a ceremony at the White House’s Rose Garden for a ‘Make America Wealthy Again’ event on April 2, asserting that these new duties would generate new jobs for U.S. workers.

The tariff plan established a baseline tax of 10% on all imports to the U.S., along with customized tariffs for countries that place higher tariffs on U.S. goods. The baseline tariffs of 10% took effect Saturday, while the others took effect Wednesday at midnight.

But Trump announced in a post on Truth Social Wednesday that reciprocal tariffs announced last week would remain paused for 90 days, during which period the countries would only face the baseline 10% tariff. 

‘At some point, hopefully in the near future, China will realize that the days of ripping off the U.S.A., and other Countries, is no longer sustainable or acceptable,’ Trump posted on his Truth Social media platform on Wednesday. 

Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said that the tariffs suggest that China is at odds with the rest of the world. 

‘China is the most imbalanced economy in the history of the modern world,’ Bessent told reporters Wednesday. ‘They are the biggest source of the U.S. trade problems, and indeed they are the problem for the rest of the world.’ 

Here’s what also happened this week: 

Shipbuilding, water pressure executive orders

Trump also signed an executive order this week aimed at reinvigorating the shipbuilding industry in the U.S., amid concerns that China is outpacing the U.S. in production. 

China is responsible for more than 50% of global shipbuilding, compared to just 0.1% from the U.S., according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. 

The executive order requires agencies to craft a Maritime Action Plan and instructs the United States Trade Representative to provide a list of recommendations to deal with China’s ‘anticompetitive actions within the shipbuilding industry,’ among other things. 

Trump also signed an executive order to reverse Obama- and Biden-era conservation measures that limited water pressure in showers in an attempt to ‘make showers great again.’ Former President Barack Obama initially imposed the water pressure restrictions, and Trump sought to ease some of them during his first term. 

However, former President Joe Biden reinstated the measure, which limited multi-nozzle shower heads from releasing more than 2.5 gallons of water per minute. 

‘I like to take a nice shower, take care of my beautiful hair,’ Trump said Wednesday. ‘I have to stand in the shower for 15 minutes until it gets wet. Comes out drip, drip, drip. It’s ridiculous.’

Gearing up for talks with Iran 

The Trump administration also unveiled plans this week for upcoming talks to negotiate with Iran on Saturday. While Trump has reiterated that these discussions will be ‘direct’ nuclear talks, Iran has pushed back on that description and characterized them as ‘indirect’ negotiations instead. 

Middle East envoy Stever Witkoff will travel to Oman on Saturday and is slated to potentially meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. However, Iran has maintained that the discussions will be held through a third party instead. 

‘The ultimate objective is to ensure that Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon,’ Leavitt told reporters Friday. ‘The president believes in diplomacy, direct talks, talking directly in the same room in order to achieve that goal. But he’s made it very clear to the Iranians, and his national security team will, as well, that all options are on the table and Iran has a choice to make. You can agree to President Trump’s demand, or there will be all hell to pay. And that’s how the president feels. He feels very strongly about it.’

Fox News’ Bonny Chu, Danielle Wallace, and Caitlin McFall contributed to this report. 

Nearly a month into Israel’s renewed ground operation, U.S. backing appears to be shaping the conflict on multiple levels—militarily, diplomatically and politically. Israeli officials have suggested the chances of a hostage deal have significantly increased, with some anticipating developments within the next two weeks.

On Monday, sitting beside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump told reporters, ‘We are trying very hard to get the hostages out. We’re looking at another ceasefire. We’ll see what happens.’ The remarks highlighted Trump’s dual-track approach: continued diplomatic pressure on Iran and direct support for Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. 

With what Israeli officials describe as a ‘free hand’ to operate, Israel has expanded its offensive into Rafah and the strategically significant Morag Corridor. The stated aim is to increase pressure on Hamas and help secure the release of the remaining 59 hostages.

A senior Israeli security official told Fox News Digital that the campaign is being carried out in close coordination with the United States. ‘Everything is coordinated with the Americans — both the negotiations and the operational activity. The goal is to bring the hostages home. We now have a free hand to act, and no longer facing the threat of a veto at the UN Security Council, unlike during the previous administration.’

The same official pointed to a shift in humanitarian policy that, in their view, has enhanced Israeli leverage. ‘Unlike the previous administration, the U.S. is not forcing 350 aid trucks into Gaza every day. That gives us leverage,’ the official said, adding that limiting aid reduces Hamas’s ability to control the population.

On Saturday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced the IDF had completed the takeover of the Morag Axis. The Morag Corridor — which separates Rafah from Khan Younis — is part of an effort to establish a new buffer zone and degrade Hamas’s operational capabilities. ‘The logic is that the more territory Hamas loses, the more likely it will be to compromise on a hostage deal,’ the official said.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir reinforced that strategy during a visit to front-line units this week. ‘I expect you to defeat the Rafah Brigade and lead to victory wherever you are fighting,’ he told troops. The IDF had previously declared the Rafah Brigade dismantled in September, but forces have returned to key strongholds, where tunnel networks remain.

In the same statement on Saturday, Katz warned Gazans, ‘Hamas is unable to protect the residents or the territory. Hamas leaders are hiding in tunnels with their families or living in luxury hotels abroad, with billions in bank accounts, using you as human shields. Now is the time to rise up, to get rid of Hamas, and to release all the Israeli hostages — that is the only way to stop the war.’

In their Oval Office meeting, Trump and Netanyahu reiterated their alignment on core issues. Netanyahu stated that Gazans should be ‘free to choose to go wherever they want,’ in what some analysts view as a reference to renewed discussions about third-country resettlement. Trump went further, floating the idea of a U.S. presence in the Strip, noting, ‘Gaza is an incredible piece of important real estate. Having a peace force like the United States there, controlling and owning the Gaza Strip would be a good thing.’

Javed Ali, a former senior director at the U.S. National Security Council and now a professor at the University of Michigan, offered a more measured view of the current military strategy. ‘Now that we’re almost a full month into the resumption of high-intensity IDF operations in the Gaza Strip against Hamas, Israel’s military strategy appears to be focused on clearing and holding remaining pockets of known Hamas elements, which at the same time is displacing Palestinians throughout the territory.’

Ali said it remains unclear how Israel intends to manage or govern areas it clears. He drew comparisons to the U.S. experience in Iraq and Afghanistan. ‘The U.S. encountered its own challenges in the post-9/11 wars with similar ‘clear and hold’ approaches, since insurgent and jihadist elements in both conflicts utilized guerrilla warfare tactics and terrorist attacks.’

While the Biden administration had previously emphasized humanitarian access, Ali noted that the current White House has not publicly pressed Israel to scale back its operations. ‘That could change,’ he said, particularly as humanitarian conditions worsen or if negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program progress. ‘If those talks gain momentum, Iran may pressure the U.S. to rein in Israel’s campaign against Hamas to preserve what remains of the group. Whether the U.S. team, led by Steve Witkoff, entertains such demands will be a key regional development to watch.’

On the ground, Israel has moved to reshape the humanitarian landscape in Gaza. The decision to restrict Hamas’s access to aid reflects a broader policy shift under IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, who reversed his predecessor’s stance and authorized the military to directly oversee the distribution of supplies. ‘Hamas will not regain control over the aid, because that was its lifeline,’ an Israeli security official explained. ‘It’s what allowed it to maintain control over the territory throughout this period. People in Gaza know that Hamas controls the aid; if they realize that Hamas no longer does, its control within the Strip becomes ineffective.’

Humanitarian organizations and international leaders continue to condemn Israel. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, speaking on April 8, condemned the ongoing blockade of aid. ‘More than an entire month has passed without a drop of aid into Gaza. No food. No fuel. No medicine. Gaza is a killing field — and civilians are in an endless death loop,’ he said.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Oren Marmorstein, strongly rejected the Secretary-General’s claims. ‘As always, you don’t let the facts get in the way when spreading slander against Israel,’ he posted on X. ‘There is no shortage of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip — over 25,000 aid trucks have entered during the 42 days of the ceasefire. Hamas used this aid to rebuild its war machine. Yet, not a word in your statement about the imperative for Hamas to leave Gaza. The people of Gaza are braver than you — they’re calling, loud and clear, on Hamas to leave and stop abusing them.’

Eugene Kontorovich, a senior legal scholar at the Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital: ‘One doesn’t need the Israeli Supreme Court to say there is no starvation in Gaza — this was admitted by the UN’s own Food Security Phase Classification, which in June found that prior UN reports were inaccurate and that there is no famine. There is no serious evidence of starvation in Gaza, and what food scarcity does exist can be attributed to Hamas pillaging and hoarding aid. As the truth comes out, it becomes clear that the starvation claims were designed to halt Israel’s legitimate self-defense against a genocidal attack.’

As military and diplomatic tracks converge, Israeli officials remain cautiously optimistic that talks may soon produce results.

American and Iranian officials sat down for a first round of direct talks Saturday in Oman, a major step after years of rising tensions and stalled diplomacy that will continue with further discussions next weekend, according to a statement released by the White House. 

The meeting between U.S. Special Envoy Steven Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was the first face-to-face exchange since President Donald Trump returned to office as Iran continues to expand its nuclear program.

The White House described the discussions as ‘very positive and constructive,’ adding, ‘the United States deeply thanks the Sultanate of Oman for its support of this initiative.’

Witkoff, joined by U.S. Ambassador to Oman Ana Escrogima, told Araghchi Trump had personally instructed him to try to resolve differences through diplomacy, if possible. 

The talks took place on the outskirts of Oman’s capital, Muscat, and lasted just over two hours. Omani Foreign Minister Said Badr hosted the meeting. 

Iranian state TV later confirmed the sides exchanged several rounds of messages, and there was a short, direct conversation between the American and Iranian diplomats.

Military pressure appears to be a big reason Iran came to the table. Rebecca Grant, a senior fellow at the Lexington Institute, told the ‘Fox Report’ Saturday the U.S. has sent a clear signal by moving powerful military assets into the region.

‘All the options are not only on the table. They’re all deployed to the Middle East,’ Grant said. ‘Somewhere between four and six B-2 stealth bombers [are] forward in Diego Garcia, [along with] two aircraft carriers. That has really gotten Iran’s attention.’

Grant said Iran now faces a choice. 

‘Iran either has to talk or get their nuclear facilities bombed,’ she said.

Tensions between the two countries have been high since 2018, when Trump pulled the U.S. out of the 2015 nuclear deal. 

That agreement placed strict limits on Iran’s nuclear program. Since then, Iran has been enriching uranium at much higher levels. The latest report from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says Iran is enriching uranium to 60% purity, just below weapons-grade, and has stockpiled over 18,000 pounds of it. Under the original deal, Iran was limited to 3.67% purity and a much smaller stockpile.

While U.S. intelligence agencies do not believe Iran has started building a nuclear weapon, they warn the country is getting closer to being able to do so if it decides to.

Gen. Jack Keane, a Fox News military analyst, said Iran’s leaders now believe Trump is serious about using military force if they don’t agree to limit Iran’s nuclear program.

‘They’ve come to the conclusion that the president is dead serious about supporting an Israeli-led, U.S.-supported strike on Iran to take down their nuclear enterprise,’ Keane said.

Grant explained that the U.S. and its allies are ready for such a strike if talks fail. 

‘Israel took out a lot of Iran’s air defenses last year,’ she said. ‘Then you have two [U.S.] carriers, land-based fighters in the region and B-2 bombers with bunker-busting bombs. That’s the threat display.’

She added that Iran has no real need to enrich uranium since it can buy nuclear fuel on the open market. 

‘It is time for them to start to make a deal,’ she said. ‘And I think, maybe, due to our military pressure and Trump’s resolve, they’re beginning to realize it.’

Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has said he’s not open to direct negotiations on the nuclear program but has also blamed the United States for breaking past promises. 

‘They must prove that they can build trust,’ Pezeshkian said in a recent Cabinet meeting.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei warned of consequences if threats continue. 

‘Violence breeds violence, peace begets peace,’ he wrote on social media. ‘The US can choose the course… and concede to consequences.’

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Fox News no deal can happen unless Iran gives up its nuclear weapons plans. 

‘We have to fully, verifiably eliminate their nuclear weapons program for there to be any agreement,’ he said. ‘All we ask is that they behave like a normal nation.’

Grant said any future deal will need strict terms. 

‘It’s going to have to include real inspections,’ she said. ‘It’s going to have to include them giving up, frankly, some of that enriched uranium. There will have to be some limits on their ballistic missile development.’

The two nations are scheduled to meet again April 19 in Oman, according to the White House statement.

Fox News Digital’s Bradford Betz and The Associated Press contributed to this report.