U.S. special envoy Jared Kushner issued a blunt warning to Hamas on Monday, insisting the group must adhere to its promises to disarm in Gaza or risk an Israeli military intervention to “complete the mission.”

In an exclusive conversation with Fox News’ chief foreign correspondent, Trey Yingst, Kushner outlined the intense diplomatic engagements undertaken in Egypt and Israel over the past two days. These efforts are part of President Donald Trump’s strategic plan for peace in Gaza, striving to bridge gaps amidst ongoing conflicts between Israel and Hamas.

Despite an agreed ceasefire in October, Israel has conducted air strikes and expanded its control in Gaza while Hamas remains unwilling to relinquish its arms, as detailed by a Reuters report on Monday.

Kushner’s initial meeting took place in Cairo with Hamas and included the National Committee, the new technocratic Palestinian government set to assume leadership.

Kushner told Yingst that the group reaffirmed its commitment to Trump’s 20-point peace plan and to the “15-point roadmap that we’ve been working on with them for the last four months, where they commit to giving up their weapons.”

“Time will tell whether that’s going to be implemented,” he added, before stating that Washington feels it could be “very close to knowing, and we’re making a lot of progress towards trying to get to the next steps.”

“If they don’t follow through now on their commitment, everyone will see that they’re not genuine about peace, and then Israel will have a lot more support from the U.S. and others to go and finish the job in the appropriate way,” Kushner also told Yingst of the militant group.

The warning from Trump’s son-in-law followed the rare face-to-face meeting — only Kushner’s second known meeting with the group.

“They said all the right things, but obviously, it’s very, very hard to trust, you know, a terrorist organization that committed these terrible atrocities,” Kushner continued. “But we had a very cordial meeting, and they said all the right things, and so we’re going to give them a chance to perform. 

“It’s going to have to be based on actions and steps, and I hope it will be true.”

The U.S.-led “Board of Peace” proposal centers on a phased ceasefire, demilitarization of Gaza, Israeli troop withdrawal, Palestinian technocratic governance and international reconstruction efforts.

On Monday, Kushner also traveled to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for further talks whereby the central sticking point remains the roadmap execution timeline.

Israel demands full demilitarization before withdrawing further or allowing reconstruction, while Hamas insists withdrawal and disarmament must happen in parallel.

Netanyahu, facing political pressure ahead of Israel’s upcoming elections, appears cautious about phased compromises.

Despite the friction, Kushner expressed optimism following a four-hour session with Israeli officials.

“I think today we had a very, very good meeting,” Kushner said. “I think there were some valid concerns that they raised that we were able to address, and we were able to go through some of the misunderstandings and misinformation that’s been out about it as well.”

Kushner emphasized that Washington’s support for reconstruction remains tied to demilitarization.

“We will not allow Gaza to be rebuilt until demilitarization occurs,” Kushner warned. “We’re also not going to restrict Israel’s right to defend itself if there are any imminent threats. And so we had to clarify what that means.”

Outlining a clear timeline, Kushner highlighted the urgency of Hamas laying down its weapons. 

“We could be seeing progress, you know, in as much as in as little as 30 days,” Kushner said. “Hopefully, on starting to take some of the weapons out, and hopefully, you know, filling in some of the tunnels as well in the next 60 to 90 days as well.”

“For Israel, we think this is a win-win situation because if Hamas actually gives over the weapons and the tunnels willingly over the next 60 to 90 days, that obviously would be the elimination of a huge security threat for Israel, almost an unthinkable achievement,” he added.

The conflict — triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack that killed nearly 1,200 people in southern Israel and saw more than 240 taken hostage — has dragged on for nearly three years.

“Israel has a strong desire to live in peace,” Kushner told Yingst.

“They’ve been through three years of war. It’s been very, very hard for the country, very hard for the people. I think there’s a lot of emotion in Israel and in the region.”

“As I travel around the region, I do think people are tired of war. I think they’re ready for something new,” he continued. “But it’s just sometimes hard. You know, who’s going to take the first step, and how do you build trust when there’s so little trust that’s now been eroded?”

Kushner also voiced confidence in President Trump’s ability to broker a lasting deal.

“We see a lot of positive indications, and President Trump has pulled off miracles before in the Middle East,” Kushner said. “He’s very committed to continuing to do things that nobody thinks are possible.”

In a startling development, a man from Virginia who was acquitted of a 2019 murder due to insanity has fled the U.S., boarding a one-way flight to Tajikistan during a sanctioned leave from a state mental health facility, as revealed in court documents.

Abdulloi Toshpulodzoda departed from the Northern Virginia Mental Health Institute (NVMHI) on a 48-hour pass on July 6. Although expected to return two days later, he failed to do so, according to a FOX 5 report citing court documents.

Instead of returning, Toshpulodzoda made his way to Washington Dulles International Airport, where he boarded a Turkish Airlines flight heading to Istanbul, eventually continuing to Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, as per court records.

“The Acquittee failed to return to NVMHI on July 8, 2026, as required,” states the court filing, highlighting the breach in protocol.

Toshpulodzoda had been under the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services’ supervision since 2022, following his acquittal on insanity grounds for the murder of his landlord, Mohammad Hemmatian, FOX 5 reported.

His departure came shortly after a judge determined he remained mentally ill and needed inpatient treatment.

“On June 29, 2026, this Court found that the Acquittee remained mentally ill and in need of inpatient hospitalization,” court documents state.

Despite that finding, Virginia law allows mental health facilities to grant certain committed patients unaccompanied community visits lasting up to 48 hours, according to FOX 5.

NVMHI authorized Toshpulodzoda to leave on July 6. Court records show he left the approved placement and headed to Dulles instead of returning to the facility.

Airline records attached to the court filing show a Turkish Airlines itinerary from Dulles to Istanbul and then to Dushanbe.

FOX 5 reported that Toshpulodzoda had previously been allowed to travel to Washington, D.C., in 2024 to obtain a passport, with support from the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office.

After Toshpulodzoda failed to return, NVMHI placed him on escape status, revoked his pass and issued a facility warrant.

Virginia State Police and federal authorities were notified, and US Customs and Border Protection issued an alert in case he attempted to return to the United States.

A bench warrant was later issued for his arrest, according to FOX 5.

“Abdulloi Toshpulodzoda was found by clinicians to be insane at the time he killed Mohammad Hemmatian – a legal finding that means the Commonwealth would be unable to secure a conviction at trial,” the Fairfax County Commonwealth Attorney’s office said in a statement.

“Following that 2022 finding, prosecutors have opposed his release at annual review hearings, including in June of this year, where a judge ordered that he continue to be confined in a state behavioral health facility. A bench warrant was issued immediately following notice that he had escaped custody, so if he enters the U.S., he will be arrested and brought to Virginia.”

The Fairfax County Commonwealth Attorney’s office, the Northern Virginia Mental Health Institute and Turkish Airlines could not immediately be reached by Fox News Digital for comment.

The passing of actress Hayden Panettiere has left her mourning ‘second mom’ shattered. The actress, known for her roles in “Heroes” and “Nashville,” succumbed to struggles at only 36, despite her relentless efforts to confront the challenges that haunted her life.

On a somber Sunday afternoon, Panettiere was found unresponsive in her Greenville, South Carolina, residence. An acquaintance, upon discovering her condition, called emergency services, reporting her in cardiac arrest.

Although responders did everything to revive her, Panettiere was tragically pronounced dead at the scene.

Authorities disclosed that their initial inquiry revealed no evidence of foul play or suspicious elements, and an autopsy confirmed that there was no trauma-related cause contributing to her untimely demise.

As of now, the official cause and specifics surrounding her death remain undisclosed.

Now Lynsey Lonberg, 73, a longtime family friend whom Panettiere described in her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, as her ‘second mother,’ has spoken of her anguish at losing the little girl she watched grow into a Hollywood star.

Sitting at the bar of a restaurant in Piermont, New York, on Monday afternoon, Lonberg remembered the animal-loving child who played at her home, the fiercely focused actress she became – and the painful struggles she believes ultimately overwhelmed her.

‘She referred to me in her book as her second mother,’ Lonberg told the Daily Mail. ‘She was like a child to me.’  

Lonberg, still living in Rockland, knew Hayden since she was a toddler and has kept in touch with her over the years, remaining close with Hayden’s father, Alan ‘Skip’ Panettiere.

After the news broke Sunday night, she called Hayden’s father and left a message offering her condolences.

‘I can’t imagine losing a child, but for him to lose both of his children, I can’t imagine how difficult that must be for a parent. It’s just so devastating.

‘He’s a strong man. But how do you pull through this? I don’t know how.’

She said Hayden and her brother Jansen, who died in 2023 at age 28, were close friends with her own children growing up.

That bond appears to have stretched back decades. After Jansen’s death in 2023, Lonberg shared a childhood photograph from 1999 showing Jansen in Palisades, New York.

‘Little Friends,’ she captioned the touching throwback.

Hayden would regularly stop by to visit her children and her animals.

‘We grew up with a lot of animals in our house, miniature horses, chickens, turkeys, donkeys.’ Lynsey recalled. ‘Hayden used to come down here and play with them. She loved them so much. Once we had a baby chicken who died, and she became hysterical.

‘She’s always been very emotional,’ she added.

Lynsey was struggling to understand Hayden’s death. 

She said she was aware of Hayden’s struggles in her adult life, including with the birth of her daughter in 2014.

’When she had her child, she had a very difficult delivery, and really hard postpartum,’ she said.

‘Not a week of being depressed. It went on for a very long time.

‘It took her a long time to get herself back together,’ Lynsey continued. ‘I think working organized things for her. She was a hard worker, focused.’

Hayden had also told her about challenges she faced with drugs.

‘She tried and tried and tried to get past her struggles,’ she said, ‘but she was an actress. She told me that when you go working on a set, all kinds of pills, liquor, all kinds of things are available where you can get anything you want.

‘This kid didn’t have a chance,’ she said. ‘I don’t think she would have gone down the road she went down if it hadn’t been for Hollywood.’

Panettiere’s daughter went to live with the father in Ukraine.

‘She did the best she could for her daughter,’ she said. ‘It was impossible for her keep up what she was doing as an actress and trying to take care of her daughter.

‘She was trying to overcome the problems she had with drugs.’

Hayden would continue to visit her father, who lives with his second wife in Piermont.

They live just a few doors down from the restaurant where she was sitting, Sidewalk Bistro.

‘She comes to visit her father, and she comes in here because it’s safe,’ she said. ‘She was a celebrity, but most people here would leave her alone here. She’s always felt comfortable.’

In Spain, the discovery of mysterious injuries on one of the world’s most ancient orcas has prompted an investigation, sparking concerns about the possibility of an attack on the renowned killer whale. This incident comes amidst years of fraught interactions between orcas and boats.

Toñi, the oldest recorded Iberian orca, recently surfaced in the Strait of Gibraltar with several fresh wounds spanning her dorsal fin and back—suspected by conservationists to be inflicted by shotgun pellets. Just a few weeks prior, photos of Toñi showed no such injuries.

Currently, Spanish officials, informed by Spain’s Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO), are examining the injuries on the orca known as Toñi. The marks she bears this week are being assessed for compatibility with pellet shot damage.

The Ministry became aware of Toñi’s condition on August 11, thanks to information provided by the marine conservation group WeWhale. This organization, which collaborates with government authorization, operates within the area.

Officials opened preliminary investigative proceedings the next day to determine what happened and potentially identify those responsible.

While Spanish authorities have stopped short of concluding that Toñi was shot, conservation groups WeWhale and Iberian Orca Guardians said their teams believe the appearance, number and distribution of the wounds point to a shotgun discharge.

The groups said the injuries appeared suddenly. They had photographed and observed Toñi only weeks earlier, when the wounds were not present.

WeWhale said its team counted roughly 10 apparent pellet impacts on the left side of her dorsal fin. At least two or three projectiles appear to have passed straight through the fin, while others may still be lodged inside, according to the group.

At an estimated 60 years old, Toñi could face added risks from the injuries. WeWhale said the fin has a rich blood supply and helps the animal regulate its body temperature, meaning the wounds could lead to tissue damage, swelling or infection. If pellets remain lodged inside, the group warned that an infection could, in the worst case, become life-threatening.

For now, however, there are encouraging signs. WeWhale said Toñi appears to be swimming and hunting normally, and its team will continue watching her closely.

“We know Toñi. We were with her a few weeks ago and these wounds were not there,” Janek Andre, founder and president of WeWhale and the Iberian Orca Guardians Foundation, said in a statement.

Andre said the groups are now seeing “multiple impact wounds” across the animal’s dorsal fin and back that they believe are consistent with a shotgun blast.

“If someone has deliberately fired a shotgun at her, this is not only an act of extreme cruelty against an individual animal,” Andre said. “It is an attack on one of the last remaining members of a critically endangered population.”

Toñi, also known as “La Abuela,” or “the grandmother,” is the oldest known member of the Iberian orca population, according to the conservation groups. Her population in the Strait of Gibraltar and Gulf of Cádiz is classified as vulnerable under Spain’s Catalog of Endangered Species.

The stakes for anyone found responsible could be steep. Spanish law prohibits killing, capturing, pursuing or disturbing protected species, and violations of regulations protecting the orcas can carry penalties of up to 2 million euros, equivalent to about $2.3 million, along with potential criminal liability, according to MITECO.

The ministry’s General Directorate of Biodiversity, Forests and Desertification is investigating the incident.

The investigation comes amid years of documented interactions between Iberian orcas and boats off the Iberian Peninsula.

Since 2020, orcas in the region have repeatedly interacted with vessels in Atlantic waters, prompting Spanish authorities to issue guidance aimed at protecting boaters, vessels and the animals. Officials advise sailors not to use deterrent measures that could kill, injure or disturb the cetaceans.

WeWhale said the apparent shooting should not be viewed as an acceptable response to those encounters.

“There has been enormous public discussion about Iberian orcas and their interactions with vessels,” Andre said. “Whatever someone’s opinion about those interactions may be, shooting at these animals can never be an acceptable response.”

The conservation groups said they are preserving their original photographs and observational records and will continue monitoring Toñi’s physical condition and behavior as the government investigation moves forward.

Authorities have not announced a suspect or identified anyone who may be responsible for the injuries.

DEAR ABBY: At 54, I’ve reconnected with “Neil,” my best friend from childhood, after 40 years apart, and we’re now engaged. While I don’t have children, Neil has two daughters, aged 11 and 13. The younger one is currently in therapy and on medication for depression and anxiety. I care for them deeply, as though they were my own. Their mother, however, is largely absent and neglectful, a fact that Neil can’t stand.

Unfortunately, Neil’s own behavior isn’t exemplary. He struggles with intense anger issues and has lashed out at me with harsh insults, often in front of his daughters. Despite seeking help through couples therapy, Neil still battles with his temper and excessive drinking, and is unable to set boundaries or enforce discipline, leaving the children without proper guidance from either parent.

I’m deeply unhappy and considering ending the relationship, yet after nearly five years together, the thought of leaving is wrenching. Not only would Neil be shattered, but the girls too, especially the younger one whose reaction I fear. Leaving would be as much a blow to me as it is to them.

I am dealing with bipolar disorder, and the strain on my mental and emotional well-being is palpable. The stress is also taking a toll on my physical health, causing issues like weight loss, psoriasis, and digestive problems. I’m lost, as my therapist hasn’t been very supportive. What should I do? — OVER MY HEAD IN NEW YORK

DEAR OVER: It seems your first step should be finding a new therapist who better suits your needs. Once you’ve regained some stability, remember that you do not have to shoulder Neil’s problems. Al-Anon meetings could provide you with support and clarity, helping you recognize that his struggles with anger and alcohol are not your burden to bear.

Neil’s children are not and should not be your responsibility. If you haven’t been able to establish a healthy, stable environment for them (at least when they are staying with their dad), accept that it isn’t likely to happen. Explain to the children that it is not their fault that you are leaving, and then move on.

** ** **

DEAR ABBY: My husband and I have been married for 26 years. I have often felt as if we were growing apart, often finding interests in different things. We seem unable to discuss our emotions without one of us getting hurt feelings and the talk devolving into awful arguments. There has never been any real question of extramarital affairs.

One night, I playfully asked if I could go through his computer. He immediately became defensive, saying he just doesn’t like people getting into his computer, messing with his stuff. I get that. I wouldn’t want just anybody getting into my computer, either. However, I am not just anybody; I’m his wife. He has full access to all of my computers, phones and digital accessories. Why do I feel like he’s got something to hide? I don’t know what to do. — PRESUMPTION OF GUILT

DEAR PRESUMPTION: Pressing your husband on this issue right now will only lead to more arguments. If you want to repair the marriage, you both need to learn to communicate more effectively. Without mentioning his computer, invite your husband to see a licensed family therapist with you. If he refuses, go without him. If he agrees, work on the basics now and save the privacy issues and your suspicions for future sessions.