The Israeli military revealed a network of tunnels underneath Gaza City that they said extended below the United Nations’ headquarters in the region on Sunday.

The IDF escorted foreign reporters through the tunnels, entering through a shaft that pierced the surface next to a school. Israel argues that the tunnels are even more evidence that the U.N.’s mission in Gaza was compromised by Hamas terrorists.

‘Everything is conducted from here. All the energy for the tunnels, which you walked through them, are powered from here,’ an Israeli officer told reporters during the tour.’This is one of the central commands of the intelligence. This place is one of the Hamas intelligence units, where they commanded most of the combat.’

UNRWA denied knowledge of the tunnels and said it vacated the headquarters on the surface as early as Oct. 12.

‘UNRWA does not have the military and security expertise nor the capacity to undertake military inspections of what is or might be under its premises,’ the organization said in a statement.

‘In the past, whenever a suspicious cavity was found close to or under UNRWA premises, protest letters were promptly filed to parties to the conflict, including both the de facto authorities in Gaza and the Israeli authorities,’ the statement continued.

Meanwhile, senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri argued that Israel’s claims of a connection between the UNRWA and the tunnels were ‘lies.’

News of the tunnels comes amid Israeli allegations that hundreds of UNRWA employees expressed support for or were complicit in Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre in Israel.

Several Western nations have paused funding for UNRWA, which overseas aid for Gazans, amid the allegations.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called UNRWA ‘Hamas with a facelift’ this weekend. He argued on Saturday that it was time for the world to ‘dismantle UNRWA’ and create an alternative mechanism for providing aid to civilians in the war-stricken Gaza Strip.

‘I think the world needs to wake up and address this issue in a different way, while also addressing Gaza’s needs,’ Gallant told Fox News Digital. ‘UNRWA is a group of terrorists who receive salaries from many countries – these countries gave money to people who raped, murdered and took people into captivity.’

Fox News’ Ruth Marks Eglash and Reuters contributed to this report

The clock is ticking yet again for congressional lawmakers to find a way to avoid a government shutdown.

House and Senate leaders came together in mid-January to pass a short-term extension of last year’s government spending levels, known as a continuing resolution (CR), to give themselves more time to hash out a deal for the remainder of fiscal year 2024.

It was the third CR passed since the previous fiscal year ended Sept. 30 and preserved funding for some agencies through March 1 and others through March 8.

The House left for an extended weekend Wednesday and is not due back until Tuesday. 

The Senate was in session last week but is expected to be on recess next week. That recess may be interrupted for work on a foreign aid package outside of the regular discretionary government spending debate.

As things stand now, the House and Senate are only expected to be in session at the same time for two more days this month.

One House GOP leadership aide said of the government spending fight, ‘We are doing nothing on that right now. Just fighting the battles in front of us.

‘At this point we had to know this was going to be the outcome. The floor is nearly impossible to navigate.’

A second senior House GOP aide said, ‘The fact that we haven’t passed any appropriations bills in months as we’re barreling toward another shutdown is beyond alarming

‘We know the deadline is in less than a month, but we’re governing like the deadline is years away. It’s the same self-inflicted wound over and over again. Standard operating procedure for this Congress.’

If they fail to either extend current funding levels or reach an agreement on new levels, the government could fall into a partial shutdown, with federal programs on pause and thousands of federal workers potentially furloughed. 

On the House side, Republicans have spent much of the last month on a push to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over the border crisis, which culminated in a failed vote this week, though Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., vowed to hold another attempt.

Hillary Clinton weighed in on concerns surrounding President Biden’s age, saying it’s a ‘legitimate issue.’

‘I talked to people in the White House all the time, and you know, they know it’s an issue, but as I like to say, ‘look, it’s a legitimate issue,’’ Clinton told MSNBC’s Alex Wagner on Wednesday. 

The former Democratic presidential nominee noted that it is also a ‘legitimate issue’ for former President Donald Trump in his campaign for the Republican nomination.

‘It’s a legitimate issue for Trump who’s only three years younger, right?’ Clinton said. ‘So it’s an issue.’

The former first lady continued, saying that she is for Biden because of his ‘merits.’

‘Once you say that, you need to also talk about what is at stake in this election,’ Clinton continued. ‘And I’m for Joe Biden because of the merits.’

‘I think he has done a really good job as president,’ she added.

Clinton suggested that the president should focus more on the wisdom he has gained over the years and ‘kid’ about his age.

‘I think Biden also should lean into the fact that he’s experienced, and that experience is not just in the political arena,’ she said. ‘It’s like, the stuff of, you know, human experience, character, wisdom.

‘I think he should be willing to really pull that out … and I think he should kid more about it,’ Clinton said.

Hillary’s comment came as former President Bill Clinton’s lead strategist, James Carville, argued Saturday that the White House has little confidence in President Biden after he turned down a Super Bowl Sunday interview.

Carville, a long-time Democrat, gave his take on the situation while being interviewed on CNN on Saturday.

‘It’s the biggest television audience, not even close, and you get a chance to do a 20-25-minute interview on that day,’ Carville began.

‘And you don’t do it? That’s a kind of sign that the staff or yourself doesn’t have much confidence in you,’ Carville continued. ‘There’s no other way to read this.’

Earlier this week, former Bill Clinton strategist and CNN political commentator Paul Begala admitted that Special Counsel Robert Hur’s indictment of President Biden’s memory and Biden’s response was ‘terrible for Democrats.’

‘Oh yeah. Look, I’m a Biden supporter, and I slept like a baby last night: I woke up every two hours crying and wet the bed,’ Begala quipped on CNN last Friday.

‘This is terrible for Democrats. And anybody with a functioning brain knows that,’ he declared. 

The top democratic strategists’ comments came after Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report revealed that Biden willfully retained classified U.S. documents as a private citizen.

The report recommenced no charges against the 46th president over his actions, partly because he would have a defense at trial as a ‘sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.’

Fox News’ Andrea Vacchiano and Gabriel Hays contributed to this report.

Michelle O’Neill, the recently elected First Minister of Northern Ireland, said on Thursday that the terrorist organization, Hamas, would eventually be regarded as the ‘future partner for peace’ in the Middle East.

In an interview on Tonight with Andrew Marr on British broadcaster, LBC, O’Neill stressed the importance of communication, comparing the ongoing Israel-Hamas war to ongoing peace talks within Northern Ireland.

In the interview, Marr asked her if the terrorist organization Hamas would ‘eventually’ become regarded as a ‘partner for peace.’

‘A long time ago the [Irish Republican Army] IRA was seen as a terrorist organization. The British Government and everybody else could not ever talk to them,’ Marr said. ‘Do you think that Hamas, although regarded as a terror organization by many people around the world, is going to eventually have to be a partner for peace?’

‘Yes,’ O’Neill said, ‘I think you only have to look at our own example to know how important dialogue is and that’s the only way you’re ever going to bring an end to conflict.’

‘If republicans didn’t talk to the British government or the British government didn’t talk to the republicans, in the past in Ireland we would not be in the scenario we are in today, enjoying a peaceful and far more equal society today,’ the first nationalist First Minister of Northern Ireland continued.

She also called for an immediate ceasefire and for the application of international law in Gaza.

‘And I really only hope that in the coming days and weeks that we can get to a point where we see a ceasefire in the first instance, that we have dialogue, and that we get to the ultimate position of having the Palestinian state recognized and a two-state solution that the international community stands for,’ O’Neill said.

O’Neill argued that Israel was bombarding the Palestinian people and not defending themselves against the Hamas terrorists.

‘Anybody can stretch Israel’s position of being one of defense because this is bombardment, day after day, slaughter of the Palestinian people,’ O’Neill continued.

‘This needs to stop, and we need the international community to stand strong and to stay firm in the court of international law. That’s where everybody must be,’ she said.

‘And I really only hope that in the coming days and weeks that we can get to a point where we see a ceasefire in the first instance, that we have dialogue, and that we get to the ultimate position of having the Palestinian state recognized and a two-state solution that the international community stands for.’

O’Neill also condemned the unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, saying that they had violated international law by taking hostages.

‘From day one, we’ve said that what happened on October 7 was wrong, and that does not apply in international law in any shape or fashion, the hostages taken was wrong,’ she said.

Legendary political strategist James Carville argued Saturday that the White House has little confidence in President Biden after he turned down a Super Bowl Sunday interview.

Biden recently declined to take part in the Super Bowl Sunday interview for the second year in a row. The interview is a tradition that began in 2009 with President Obama.

The interview is generally seen as a way for the president to connect with a massive audience that doesn’t usually tune into political conferences. Last year, the Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles saw 115 million viewers.

Carville, a long-time Democrat, gave his take on the situation while being interviewed on CNN on Saturday.

‘It’s the biggest television audience, not even close, and you get a chance to do a 20-, 25-minute interview on that day,’ Carville began.

‘And you don’t do it? That’s a kind of sign that the staff or yourself doesn’t have much confidence in you,’ Carville continued. ‘There’s no other way to read this.’

Biden is not the first president to turn down the chance to speak to Super Bowl audiences. In 2018, President Trump declined to sit down with NBC for a Super Bowl interview.

The consultant also opined about Biden’s advanced age, days after the president held a press conference about his mental competence. 

‘And he’s not going to do debates,’ Carville said. ‘He is old, I know what it is because I’m almost as old as he is, and it’s never going to get better.’

On Thursday, Biden lashed out at reporters in a press conference after the release of Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report doubting the president’s mental acuity.

‘I’m well-meaning, and I’m an elderly man, and I know what the hell I’m doing,’ Biden said to a question asked by Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy. ‘I’ve been president and I put this country back on its feet. I don’t need his recommendation.’

‘How bad is your memory? And can you continue as president?’ Doocy asked. 

‘My memory is so bad [that] I let you speak,’ Biden fired back. 

Fox News Digital’s David Rutz and Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.

Texas GOP Rep. Ronny Jackson, a former White House physician, said special counsel Robert Hur’s report ‘validates’ what he and many have known for years: President Biden has ‘serious issues.’

Hur, who had been tasked with investigating Biden’s mishandling of classified documents, described the president in a report this week as appearing like a ‘sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.’

‘It validates what most of us have known,’ Jackson told Fox News Digital. ‘I’ve been saying since he was candidate Joe Biden that this man is not cognitively fit to be our president, our commander in chief and our head of state. I’ve been saying that over and over. 

‘I watched the man every day, you know, in and around the West Wing for eight years when he was vice president. There’s a drastic, drastic difference between then and now.’

‘Go back and look at the videos from whenever he was first vice president and compare them to now. It’s not even the same person,’ Jackson added. ‘He’s got some serious issues. I’ve been saying that for a long time. Now the report says that — the special counsel report came out and said exactly that. That was a special counsel appointed by the Biden DOJ, and they’re saying the same thing that I and many Americans have been saying for a long time now.’

Despite the rampant concern over his mental acuity, Biden told Americans from the White House Thursday evening his memory is ‘fine’ and defended his re-election campaign, saying he is the ‘most qualified person in this country to be president.’

Biden’s address to the nation came just hours after Hur released his report, which did not recommend criminal charges against the president for mishandling classified documents. Those records included classified documents about military and foreign policy in Afghanistan, among other records related to national security and foreign policy that Hur said included ‘sensitive intelligence sources and methods.’

Addressing Biden’s follow-up speech to the report, Jackson said the president made ‘all kinds of gaffes and proved in real time to the entire world that the report is accurate, that everything we’ve been thinking for the last three years is accurate.

‘He’s cognitively unfit to be our commander in chief, and it’s going to be a problem for us,’ Jackson said.

‘It’s a real national security issue. I mean, it’s always been a national security issue, but it’s a national security issue that just gets worse by the day.

‘We have lots of stuff going on overseas. Our adversaries absolutely, positively have no respect for us. They have no fear of us and our allies. I mean, they don’t trust us, and they don’t really know if we’re going to be there if something bad happens.’

Aside from Biden’s memory and mental acuity, Jackson said he believes the report ‘validates that the government has been weaponized for political purposes.’

‘The Democrats have weaponized the government against Donald Trump. Anybody just has to beat Donald Trump for political purposes — the FBI, the DOJ,’ he said.

Jackson, who previously served as the White House physician to former presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, faced criticism from Obama for his critique of Biden’s cognitive health on the 2020 campaign trail.

In his 2022 memoir, Jackson detailed a ‘scathing’ email he received from Obama about comments he had made on Twitter about Biden’s mental state when Biden was a presidential candidate.

‘I have made a point of not commenting on your service in my successor’s administration and have always spoken highly of you both in public and in private. You always served me and my family well, and I have considered you not only a fine doctor and service member but also a friend,’ Obama wrote in the email to Jackson.

‘That’s why I have to express my disappointment at the cheap shot you took at Joe Biden via Twitter. It was unprofessional and beneath the office that you once held. It was also disrespectful to me and the many friends you had in our administration. You were the personal physician to the President of the United States as well as an admiral in the U.S. Navy. I expect better, and I hope upon reflection that you will expect more of yourself in the future.’

Last February, after Biden had his annual physical, Jackson told Fox News, ‘The majority of Americans can see that Biden’s mental health is in total decline. Yet there is no transparency from the White House on what’s going on, if anything, to address this issue and his inability to do his job.’

He also took issue at the time with there being no mention of the president undergoing a cognitive test amid his ‘deteriorating mental health.’

‘Nowhere in the report was there mention of Biden’s deteriorating mental health,’ the GOP lawmaker said. ‘This is alarming, considering I have already sent three letters to the White House demanding that Biden receive a cognitive test and that the results be made public, all of which have been ignored. Everyone can see something is wrong — the cover-up needs to end.’

A Monmouth University poll released in October found that 76% of voters viewed Biden, who was 80 at the time, as ‘too old’ to serve another term, compared to just 48% who said the same about Trump, 77.

Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

At least 31 Palestinians, including 10 children, were killed in Israeli airstrikes in the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip early Saturday as President Benjamin Netanyahu gears up for a ground invasion there to take out several Hamas battalions. 

Three airstrike strikes killed 28 people, including multiple members of three families, with the youngest victim being three months old, according to a health official and The Associated Press journalists who saw the bodies arriving at hospitals.

Later on Saturday, another strike killed three senior officers in the civil police, according to Rafah city officials.

Israel says that Rafah, which borders Egypt at the southern end of the Gaza Strip, is the last remaining Hamas stronghold in Gaza after more than four months of war. Israel has carried out airstrikes in Rafah almost daily.

Rafah’s population stood at 264,000 in early 2022, but since the onset of the conflict, the population has ballooned to around 1.4 million as people seek shelter there, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. More than half of Gaza’s population is now packed into the city with some of the recent arrivals living in tents. It is unclear where they would be able to flee to next.

Netanyahu’s office has ordered the military to develop a plan to evacuate the population of Rafah and destroy four Hamas battalions it says are deployed there. Netanyahu said he asked the military to plan for the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people from the city ahead of a ground invasion.

Earlier this week, Netanyahu vowed that Israeli forces would fight on until ‘total victory,’ including in Rafah, after cease-fire talks failed. 

A timeline for a potential ground invasion is not known. 

On Saturday, Saudi Arabia warned Israel of ‘extremely dangerous repercussions’ if it launches a military operation in Rafah and called for the United Nations Security Council to intervene.

At least 28,000 Palestinians have been killed and 67,600 others have been injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since Oct. 7, the health ministry in Gaza said on Saturday, according to Reuters.

The conflict has been raging for four months and was sparked after a surprise terrorist attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, in which militants crossed the border from Gaza and massacred some 1,200 people. 

Saturday’s strikes come just two days after President Biden described Israel’s actions in its war against Hamas as being ‘over the top.’

‘I’m of the view, as you know, that the conduct of the response in the Gaza Strip has been over the top,’ Biden told reporters at the White House.

He said that he has been pushing for a deal to normalize Saudi Arabia-Israel relations, increased humanitarian aid for Palestinian civilians, and a temporary pause in fighting to allow the release of hostages taken by Hamas.

‘I’m pushing very hard now to deal with this hostage cease-fire,’ Biden said. ‘There are a lot of innocent people who are starving, a lot of innocent people who are in trouble and dying, and it’s gotta stop.’

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.