President Biden said Monday a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip is close and hoped to see one materialize by ‘the end of the weekend.’   

The seemingly casual comments, carrying massive geopolitical significance, came during the president’s stop at an ice cream parlor near Peacock Network’s headquarters, where he had just wrapped up an interview with Seth Meyers on the ‘Late Night’ show. 

Asked by a reporter when he expected the ceasefire to begin, Biden, with a mint ice cream cone in hand, said he hoped by at least ‘the end of the weekend.’ 

‘At least, my national security advisor tells me that we’re close. We’re close. It’s not done yet,’ Biden said. ‘And my hope is by next Monday, we’ll have a ceasefire.’ 

Biden also spoke about his planned trip to the southern border this Thursday where he will meet with border agents and discuss the need for bipartisan legislation. 

Biden joked that ‘my good friend’ would be making a border stop as well, a subtle nod to GOP rival, former President Trump, who is traveling to the border as well. 

Biden’s visit comes after the murder of Augusta University student Laken Riley on the University of Georgia campus in Athens last week allegedly at the hands of an illegal immigrant. Her murder has reinvigorated calls for Biden to take more stringent border measures. 

The stop in Van Leeuwen came after a taped interview with Meyers, where dozens of pro-Palestinian activists were arrested for demonstrating in the lobby. 

Negotiations are underway for a weekslong cease-fire between Israel and Hamas to allow for the release of hostages being held in Gaza by the Iranian-backed terrorist group in return for Israel releasing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. The proposed six-week pause in fighting would also include allowing hundreds of trucks to deliver desperately needed aid into Gaza every day.

Negotiators face an unofficial deadline of the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan around March 10, a period that often sees heightened Israeli-Palestinian tensions.

Israel launched airstrikes Monday deep into Lebanon, killing at least two people, prompting the terror group to responded by firing 60 rockets towards the Jewish state. 

The Israeli attack came in response after Iran-backed Hezbollah shot down an Israeli drone hours earlier. Israeli warplanes struck Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, its deepest attack into the territory of its northern neighbor. 

Hezbollah responded by firing 60 Katyusha rockets at an Israeli army headquarters in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, near Syria.

The attacks marked an escalation in violence between heavily armed Hezbollah and Israel since their 2006 war, which has fueled concerns of a potential regional spillover of the Gaza war.

The strike on Baalbek, because of its location deep inside Lebanon, is the most significant one since the early January airstrike on Beirut that killed top Hamas official Saleh Arouri.

As it battles Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces have also had to contend with strikes from Hezbollah on its northern front since Hamas terrorists attacked Israeli communities on Oct. 7. 

Hezbollah and Hamas are allies. Both are backed by Iran.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has vowed to step up attacks on Hezbollah even if a cease-fire is reached with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. He said those who think a temporary cease-fire for Gaza will also apply to the northern front are ‘mistaken.’

Hezbollah’s deputy leader Shiekh Naim Kassem warned in a speech Monday that the group has many more weapons to use if Israel expands the war.

‘If the Israelis go too far, we will retaliate more. All what we have used until now in the fighting is the minimum of what we own,’ he said in a reference to Hezbollah’s huge arsenal including precision-guided missiles and explosive drones.

The Associated press contributed to this report. 

China has stepped up its diplomatic and military pressure against Taiwan, alarming U.S. officials and allies in the region that Beijing is looking to take back the island by force.

If projections of a Chinese military invasion to retake Taiwan are accurate, the U.S. can utilize artificial intelligence (AI) and other technology that will indicate to forces in the region that China isn’t engaging in yet another provocative military exercise but is launching the invasion so many predict.

According to experts, AI and machine learning (ML) can help the U.S. and its allies in the region improve the speed and efficiency of war plan development, intelligence assessments and targeting effectiveness.

Retired Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery, who serves as senior director of the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital AI and ML can help U.S. intelligence experts process the immense amount of surveillance data covering China and the Western Pacific Ocean the U.S. is ingesting. 

‘This data needs to be rapidly processed, evaluated and disseminated, and AI and ML can make that a more agile and efficient process. This, in turn, can give the U.S. military and policymakers decision-making advantages,’ Montgomery added.

Decision-makers can easily misinterpret the intentions of hostile forces, mistaking training exercises as an actual prelude to military action. New technology can prevent the possibility that miscalculation will lead to an unnecessary armed confrontation. 

‘When we are left in a spot where we can no longer derive enemy intentions — would-be enemy intentions — from their disposition in the field, we must go deeper, and that requires data, compute, talent. … What are those indications and warnings?’ Adm. Samuel Paparo, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet who was recently nominated to lead U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, told a conference hosted by the Defense Innovation Unit, as reported by Breaking Defense. 

Paparo said the erosion of strategic, operational and tactical warnings is a real concern.

‘It presents a challenge to the joint force in our ability to go deeper, to find those indications and warnings that will enable us to be postured to support our allies and partners, and — if so — called by the commander in chief and answer to the readiness to defend Taiwan should the PRC decide to settle matters by the use of force,’ Paparo was quoted as saying in a Breaking Defense article.

The growing fear among policymakers in Washington is that China is preparing to invade Taiwan and reunify it with the mainland by force, reversing decades of democratic self-rule. China ramped up its military activities in the Taiwan Strait following Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi’s controversial visit to Taiwan in August 2022. China sent 727 aircraft in and toward Taiwan’s airspace in 2022 and sent 850 planes in the first half of 2023, according to the Stimson Center.

Some in Beijing perceived the former House speaker’s visit as the U.S. moving away from its long-held recognition of the ‘One-China’ policy that has undergirded the approach to Taiwan since 1979. Several military officials have warned recently that China plans on invading Taiwan in the coming years. 

‘Taiwan is clearly one of their ambitions, and I think the threat is manifest during this decade, in fact, in the next six years,’ Adm. Philip Davidson, commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, told a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in 2021.

It’s not just policymakers and observers of the region saying China will attack Taiwan. Chinese President Xi Jinping is on record and been candid about his ambitions toward Taiwan ahead of the 100th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China.

In his 2023 New Years address, Xi said reunification with Taiwan was inevitable and that the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation will be achieved by 2049, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the PRC. As far back as 2012, Xi said ‘achieving rejuvenation is the dream of the Chinese people.’

And a resolution adopted by the CCP Central Committee in November 2021 stated, ‘Resolving the Taiwan question and realizing China’s complete reunification is a historic mission and an unshakable commitment of the Party.’

A recent war game conducted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies predicted a U.S. victory over China, with staggering deaths and casualties, including ‘dozens of ships, hundreds of aircraft and tens of thousands of service members,’ for the U.S. and its allies. 

Other war games conducted by the Department of Defense, the House Select Committee on China and various other think tanks resulted in similar conclusions. 

The Pentagon came under a barrage of criticism Monday following the release of an internal review that investigated its failure last month to notify the president about Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s hospitalization for complications from prostate cancer surgery.

The review, carried out by Austin’s subordinates, largely absolves anyone of wrongdoing for the secrecy surrounding his hospitalization, which included several days in the intensive care unit. The review states flatly that there was ‘no indication of ill intent or an attempt to obfuscate.’

At a press conference Monday, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder fielded multiple questions from reporters who pressed for answers on perceived gaps in the review.  

Ryder said Secretary Austin’s staff decided to transfer authority to Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks on January 2 as he was in the ICU. He said the secretary was never unconscious, though it remained unclear why his staff made that call. 

Hicks, who was on vacation in Puerto Rico, did not learn of Austin’s hospitalization until three days later, after he was transported to an intensive care unit at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. 

Asked by Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin why Hicks was not told it would be a good idea to return to D.C., Ryder said Austin’s staff was faced with an ‘unprecedented situation.’ 

‘And so they executed a transfer of authority in the same way that they had previously done,’ Ryder said, adding that national HIPAA laws, which protect individuals’ medical records and other individually identifiable health information, prevented medical providers from sharing candid information with the secretary’s staff about Austin’s condition. 

‘[Austin’s staff] were hesitant to pry or share information that was in a state of flux,’ Ryder said, insisting that there were never gaps in command and control. 

Several reporters complained that the internal review did not adequately provide new information that wasn’t already known and that some questions remain unanswered.

‘We still have questions about the timeline here. And with all due respect, this answers none of them,’ one reporter said, adding that the ‘glaring question that remains is where was the vulnerability, here?’ 

The 30-day examination of the lapse in leadership says procedures must be improved and information shared better when the defense secretary must transfer decision-making authorities to the deputy.

Austin is set to appear before House lawmakers on Thursday for a hearing on the matter and is expected to face sharp criticism. The Defense Department’s inspector general is also conducting a review, which has not yet been completed.

Austin was diagnosed with prostate cancer in early December and went to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for surgery on Dec. 22. On Jan. 1, he was taken back to Walter Reed by ambulance after experiencing significant pain and was moved to the intensive care unit the next day.

Although he transferred decision-making authorities to Deputy Secretary Kathleen Hicks during his initial surgery and then again when he was in intensive care, he did not tell her why and he did not inform the White House.

Pentagon officials have acknowledged that public affairs and defense aides were told on Jan. 2, that Austin had been hospitalized but did not make it public and did not tell the military service leaders or the National Security Council until Jan. 4. Only then did President Joe Biden find out. It took four more days before the reason for his hospitalization was disclosed.

The 30-day review was finished and submitted to Austin on Feb. 8, but only parts of it were publicly released. The Pentagon has argued that portions of the report are classified.

Austin, in a press briefing after he returned to work, told reporters that he never told his staff to keep his surgery and hospitalization secret from the White House, but acknowledged he should have handled it differently and he apologized for keeping Biden and others in the dark for weeks. He denied there was a culture of secrecy in his office, and also said that staff members may have perceived that ‘they’re doing things in my best interest.’

House Democrats have found a new political cudgel for the November 2024 elections after the Alabama Supreme Court’s recent ruling triggered a stoppage to IVF treatment around the state.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), House Democrats’ campaign arm, held a press conference on Monday morning to tie House Republicans to the ruling, even as top GOP figures continue to speak out for IVF access and accuse Democrats of twisting the issue.

‘House Republicans have furthered this agenda at every turn. They want a national abortion ban, full stop. With their razor-thin majority, they have pushed anti-abortion, anti-freedom policies, including legislation that would double down on the Alabama court’s ruling and ban IVF nationwide,’ DCCC Chair Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., told reporters.

It’s a similar playbook to the one Democrats followed after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022.

Indeed, DelBene pointed to Democratic victories in states where abortion access was on the ballot and suggested the left would keep that momentum up in the wake of Alabama’s ruling.

‘It has proven to be a losing issue for Republicans, whether in New York, Wisconsin, Ohio, Kansas, or dozens of other states across the country, we’ve seen voters head to the ballot box to defend their rights,’ DelBene said. ‘And in this election, we’re fighting for our rights, our freedoms, our families, and Republicans keep making clear that they’re willing to do anything to rip those away.’

A cornerstone of House Democrats’ push is the GOP’s Life At Conception Act, which says life starts at the moment of conception and which critics warn could lead to nationwide abortion restrictions. With no mention of IVF, Democrats have argued that the bill’s lack of protections for the procedure could allow for its restriction as well. 

But Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., one of the 125 Republicans supporting the bill who is also one of the right’s leading voices on reproductive health access, said the accusation is ‘a leftist myth.’

‘Some people are getting knocked for signing on to the Life of Conception Act, but that act doesn’t do anything to ban or prohibit access to IVF. That’s a leftist myth. What it does do is, it says the scientific fact that life begins at conception. That’s basic science, most people feel that way,’ Mace said.

Alabama’s conservative Supreme Court ruled earlier this month that three couples trying in vitro fertilization (IVF) who lost their frozen embryos in an accident at a storage facility in the state are able to sue the medical providers for wrongful death of a child.

Since then, three Alabama medical facilities have stopped providing IVF treatment.

It’s prompted pushback from key national Republicans like Mace, who told Fox News Digital she plans to introduce a resolution to support IVF access on a federal level.

‘It’s a lie,’ Mace said of the left-wing efforts to lump Republicans together on reproductive rights. ‘I’ve always believed that life begins at conception, that’s a belief of mine. That doesn’t mean I want to ban IVF.’

Mace warned fellow Republicans on Monday that IVF could be a ‘huge issue’ and urged them to be ‘on board’ with speaking out in support of the procedure.

She dismissed concerns that it could be an election problem for Republicans, however, pointing to IVF access’ support from high-level Republicans like former President Donald Trump. Trump said at a rally over the weekend that he would ‘strongly support the availability of IVF.’

‘I really liked seeing Donald Trump’s comments at the rally at Rock Hill on Friday. He’s spot on, 100%. That is where we need to be as a party,’ Mace said.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., also spoke out in favor of IVF access, as have a large share of establishment and moderate Republicans.

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) told Fox News Digital, ‘Republican mothers, grandmothers, and foster parents all looked voters directly in the eyes and said they support IVF access. Democrats are cynically twisting a serious family issue and expecting voters to believe their lies; they’re going too far, and it will blow up in their faces.’

The NRCC also pointed out that Republicans targeted by the DCCC over the IVF ruling have spoken out in favor of the procedure.

President Biden is calling all four congressional leaders to the White House on Tuesday as the federal government stares down the barrel of a partial shutdown at the end of this week.

The president is convening the meeting with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., to discuss the ongoing negotiations on how to fund the government, which appear to have gotten rocky over the last several days. 

Johnson and Schumer were expected to announce some kind of deal on Sunday to fund government agencies and departments whose current dollars expire on March 1. The remaining funding expires March 8.

However, no compromise was announced over the weekend; instead, both Johnson and Schumer released public statements blaming the other side for the delays.

Johnson’s office confirmed to Fox News Digital that he accepted Biden’s invitation and will be at the White House on Tuesday.

It comes after the speaker accused Senate Democrats of making last-minute demands in the government spending negotiations. In a Sunday evening statement to Fox News Digital, he said ‘many of the points still being debated come from new Democrat demands’ that Senate appropriators did not include in their versions of fiscal year 2024 spending bills.

‘At a time of divided government, Senate Democrats are attempting at this late stage to spend on priorities that are farther left than what their chamber agreed upon,’ Johnson said.

A source familiar with negotiations told Fox News Digital that one of the main delays has to do with a supplemental nutrition benefits program for low-income women, infants and children under age 5, known as WIC. Senate Democrats want $7 billion for the program, the source said, higher than House Republicans’ proposed $6 billion and Biden’s budgetary request for $6.3 billion.

Schumer’s office did not immediately return a request for comment on the WIC issue or on the White House meeting.

The Senate Democratic leader wrote a letter to colleagues on Sunday fully pinning the blame for the delay – and a potential shutdown – on House Republicans.

‘Unfortunately, extreme House Republicans have shown they’re more capable of causing chaos than passing legislation,’ Schumer said.

‘It is my sincere hope that in the face of a disruptive shutdown that would hurt our economy and make American families less safe, Speaker Johnson will step up to once again buck the extremists in his caucus and do the right thing. While we had hoped to have legislation ready this weekend that would give ample time for members to review the text, it is clear now that House Republicans need more time to sort themselves out.’

If no deal is reached on new federal funding or an extension of current levels by March 1, the government will fall into a partial shutdown.

Fox News Digital’s requests for comment to the White House and the offices of Schumer, McConnell and Jeffries were not immediately returned.

A House Republican who has been critical of rushing to impeach President Biden is calling for his removal over questions about his mental fitness for the job.

Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., told Fox News Digital that he plans to introduce a resolution on Monday to call on Biden’s Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment of the Constitution. 

His most-cited reason was Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report on Biden’s handling of classified documents. The report did not recommend any charges for the president but repeatedly painted him as an aging leader with a poor memory.

Buck said the report ‘addressed what many Americans have long witnessed with their own eyes – that President Biden is no longer fit to successfully discharge the critical duties of his office.’

‘Numerous instances were articulated in the report, and have played out in full public view, showing President Biden’s apparent cognitive decline and lack of mental stamina,’ he told Fox News Digital.

‘The societal challenges and security threats our country faces are innumerable and require a chief executive with both strong mental and physical faculties. The time has come for the vice president and the Cabinet to put our country first and move forward on invoking the 25th Amendment.’

In his resolution text, Buck also cited Biden’s verbal stumbles and public gaffes as evidence of mental decline. It pointed out that Biden recently confused French President Emmanuel Macron with a predecessor who died decades prior, and that he also mixed up German leaders’ names and mistakenly referred to the president of Egypt as the president of Mexico.

Biden and his allies have vigorously denied that his mental acuity is suffering.

But Buck’s resolution is a significant addition to the growing pressure for Biden officials to address scrutiny over the president’s mental fitness. 

The Colorado Republican, who is retiring at the end of this term, is one of the few House GOP lawmakers who have publicly expressed wariness over the push to impeach Biden over allegations that he and his family’s businesses profited off of his political weight.

Buck voted along with the rest of the House GOP Conference to formalize the Biden impeachment inquiry in December, but just last week he criticized the probe’s leaders for relying on allegations made by FBI informant Alexander Smirnov, who was recently indicted for lying to the bureau.

‘We’ve always been looking for a link between what Hunter Biden received in terms of money and Joe Biden’s activities or Joe Biden receiving money. This clearly is not a credible link at this point,’ Buck said in a CNN interview.

He told the network in September, ‘I want to make sure we don’t ruin this institution over a tit-for-tat impeachment. If the evidence is there… I will absolutely vote for impeachment. I don’t see the evidence at this point.’

Section 4 of the 25th Amendment allows the vice president and a majority of the White House Cabinet to declare the president unfit to perform his duties, transferring power to the vice president. 

The president is able to take those powers back by writing to Congress that he is able to serve. The Cabinet would then have four days to refute that, after which Congress would vote on whether the president could remain in power.

Buck is one of several Republican lawmakers who have called for the constitutional amendment to be invoked in the wake of Hur’s report, including Sens. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Mike Lee, R-Utah, as well as Reps. Mary Miller, R-Ill., and Mike Collins, R-Ga.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment on Buck’s resolution.

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel will formally resign her position after the March 5 Super Tuesday primaries, weeks after former President Trump asked her to step down.

The announcement comes weeks after Trump revealed his recommendations for changes within the RNC earlier this month. He proposed that North Carolina GOP chair Michael Whatley take over as chairman, while his daughter-in-law Lara Trump and campaign senior adviser Chris LaCivita also receive leadership positions.

‘It has been the honor and privilege of my life to serve the Republican National Committee for seven years as Chairwoman to elect Republicans and grow our Party,’ McDaniel said in a statement. ‘I have decided to step aside at our Spring Training on March 8 in Houston to allow our nominee to select a Chair of their choosing. The RNC has historically undergone change once we have a nominee and it has always been my intention to honor that tradition.’

‘I remain committed to winning back the White House and electing REpublicans up and down the ballot in November,’ she added, before thanking her husband, family and RNC staff.

As he has moved closer to securing the Republican presidential nomination, Trump has been ramping up his calls for changes and new leadership at the GOP’s national party committee. 

The former president met with McDaniel at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida in early February.

Trump wrote in his Truth Social platform following the meeting that McDaniel was a ‘friend’ but that he would be urging changes at the RNC after the Feb. 24 South Carolina GOP presidential primary.

Fox News’ Greg Wehner and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report