Yarden Bibas is back in Israel more than 480 days after Hamas terrorists ripped him from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz and dragged him to the Gaza Strip. Bibas’ return, however, is bittersweet as his wife, Shiri, and their two young children, Ariel and Kfir, remain in Gaza. Their fate is unknown, and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has made it clear that there are ‘grave concerns about their wellbeing.’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu celebrated Yarden Bibas’ return, while saying the nation’s thoughts are with Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas.

‘Our thoughts are now with Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas, and all of our abductees. We will continue to work to bring them home,’ Netanyahu wrote on X.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog also commented on Yarden’s release, calling it ‘heartbreaking.’

‘Yarden’s reunion with his family is simply heartbreaking. We all remain deeply concerned for the fate of our beloved Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas – as an entire nation we hold them in our hearts. The people of Israel stand by Yarden and the whole family, with great concern and in heartfelt prayer,’ Herzog wrote in a post on X.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum also celebrated Yarden Bibas’ return, and vowed to continue demanding that his wife and two sons be released.

Early Saturday, Bibas was freed alongside American-Israeli Keith Siegel and French-Israeli Ofer Kalderon in the fourth round of hostage releases as part of phase one of Israel and Hamas’ ongoing ceasefire deal.

‘From the moment Hamas launched its barbaric attack on October 7th, we have remained committed to one mission—bringing every hostage home,’ IDF International Spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani wrote on Substack. ‘We cannot and will not forget for a moment, the 79 hostages that remain in Hamas captivity.’

The release of Bibas, Siegel and Kalderon looked different from previous hostages’ releases, which saw shocking scenes of crowds mobbing the captives as they were transferred to the Red Cross. This change is likely due to Netanyahu’s demand that mediators guarantee the hostages safe exits following the chaotic scenes.

While in captivity, Bibas was forced to make a hostage film in which he was seen breaking down as Hamas claimed his wife and children had been killed. Hamas often uses these types of videos as part of what the IDF calls ‘psychological terror.’ However, the terror organization included Shiri, Kfir and Ariel on the list of 33 hostages set to be released in the first phase of the ceasefire deal.

Upon his release, Yarden’s family said that ‘a quarter of our heart has returned to us after 15 long months… Yarden has returned home, but the home remains incomplete.’

As images and videos of Hamas’ brutal attacks on Oct. 7 began to spread, the Bibas family quickly became a symbol of the terror group’s cruelty. A video of Shiri Bibas holding her two red-headed children in her arms was spread across the globe. Those calling for the Bibas’ family’s release often used the color orange to symbolize the infant and toddler’s bright red hair.

At the time of their kidnapping, Kfir was 9 months old and Ariel was 4 years old. They are the only child hostages remaining in Gaza. Ariel is now 5 years old and Kfir marked his second birthday in Hamas captivity, where he has spent his two and only birthdays.

As of Saturday, 79 hostages remain in Gaza, 35 of whom have been declared dead and whose bodies remain in the hands of Hamas. Keith Siegel, who was freed on Saturday, is the first Israeli-American to be released. There are still six American citizens in Gaza, only two of whom are believed to be alive.  

LGBT activists and groups are already mobilizing to block gender-related executive orders President Donald Trump signed since taking office to fulfill one of his key campaign promises to crack down on ‘gender ideology extremism.’ And more legal challenges are expected in the coming weeks.

The executive orders, signed in late January, include a reinstatement of the ban on transgender troops in the military, a ban on federal funding for sex changes for minors and a directive requiring federal agencies to recognize only ‘two sexes,’ male and female, in official standard of conduct.

‘This ban betrays fundamental American values of equal opportunity and judging people on their merit,’ Jennifer Levi, director of Transgender and Queer Rights at GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD Law), said in a statement about the trans military ban 

‘It slams the door on qualified patriots who meet every standard and want nothing more than to serve their country, simply to appease a political agenda.’

GLAD Law and the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), were among the first groups to file a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration for its military ban. The lawsuit, Talbott v. Trump, was brought forward on equal protection grounds by six active-duty service members and two individuals attempting to enlist, according to the groups’ announcement.

The plaintiffs include a Sailor of the Year honoree, a Bronze Star recipient and several who were awarded meritorious service medals. They were identified as U.S. Army Reservist Lt. Nicolas Talbott, Army Maj. Erica Vandal, Army Sgt. First Class Kate Cole, Army Capt. Gordon Herrero, Navy Ensign Dany Danridge, Air Force Master Sgt. Jamie Hash, Koda Nature and Cael Neary. The latter two are civilians who are seeking to enlist in the military.

Another lawsuit, filed by a transgender inmate receiving taxpayer-funded medical treatments, is challenging Trump’s executive order that ends medical transgender treatments – such as hormones, sex changes and grooming accommodations – for federal prisoners.

The unnamed inmate, who goes by ‘Maria Moe’ in court documents and is represented by GLAD Law, NCLR and Lowenstein Sandler LLP, is claiming Trump and the Bureau of Prisons are violating the Fifth and Eighth amendments and claims to be ‘at imminent risk of losing access to the medical care she needs to treat her gender dysphoria.’

U.S. District Judge George O’Toole in Boston temporarily blocked BOP officials from transferring ‘Maria Moe’ to a men’s prison, according to a ruling released by the inmate’s attorney Thursday. The temporary restraining order was issued Sunday, the same day the suit was filed.

Prison officials are expected to keep the inmate in the women’s prison general population and maintain her transgender medical treatments, NBC first reported. 

Multiple lawsuits have been filed against Trump’s other executive orders, too, especially Trump’s immigration-related policies. More are expected in the coming weeks. 

A memo released Wednesday by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management provided guidance on directing federal agencies to acknowledge that women are biologically female and men are biologically male, Reuters reported. Trump said last week federal funds would not be used to promote ‘gender ideology.’ 

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment on the litigation but did not hear back before publication.

Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano contributed to this report. 

The country began to see the effects of President Donald Trump’s policies in his second week in office, with the White House implementing tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China; border crossings plummeting; diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs shuttering; the federal workforce being faced with the decision to return to the office or to resign; and more. 

As promised, Trump’s administration has been moving at warp speed to implement his agenda — signing more than 200 executive actions just hours after taking the Oath of Office. 

Trump immediately cracked down on immigration, and by the beginning of his second week in office migrant encounters dropped significantly. The number of migrants arriving at the southern border plummeted by 63% as of Monday, Fox News Digital previously reported. 

There were 7,287 migrant encounters at the southern border in the first seven days of the Trump administration  — from Jan. 20 through Jan. 26, with a daily average of 1,041 encounters a day.

That compares to 20,086 encounters a day during the final days of former President Joe Biden’s presidency — from Jan. 13 through Jan. 19. 

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem this week participated in an immigration enforcement raid in New York City Tuesday targeting ‘murderers, kidnappers, and individuals charged of assault and burglary.’ The operation continued through Friday. 

And Border czar Tom Homan said that as of Monday the Trump administration had removed and returned 7,300 illegal immigrants and had deported them to Mexico, Jordan, Brazil and El Salvador. 

The president on Wednesday also signed the Laken Riley Act into law — the first piece of legislation to become law in his second administration. 

The measure, which advanced through the House and Senate in January, directs Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain illegal immigrants arrested or charged with theft-related crimes, or those accused of assaulting a police officer. 

The law also allows states to sue the Department of Homeland Security for harm caused to their citizens because of illegal immigration.

The law’s name honors a nursing student who was killed during a jog on the University of Georgia’s campus by an illegal immigrant, Fox News Digital previously reported. Jose Ibarra, who previously had been arrested but never detained by ICE, received a life prison sentence for killing 22-year-old Laken Riley. 

Beyond the border, the president’s action to end DEI programs across the federal government has continued. Last week, the Office of Personnel Management ordered agency heads and directors to close their DEI offices. 

And over at the Justice Department, Trump administration officials fired more than a dozen key officials who worked on Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team prosecuting Trump, after Acting Attorney General James McHenry said they could not be trusted in ‘faithfully implementing the president’s agenda.’ 

On Monday, an Office of Management and Budget memo was released, which aimed to freeze funding to various federal programs that were focused on DEI. 

The memo issued a pause on all federal grants and loans aiming to eradicate ‘wokeness’ and the ‘weaponization of government’ to improve government efficiency. 

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt held her first-ever press briefing in the James S. Brady room on Tuesday and fielded many questions from reporters on the memo. She maintained that programs including Social Security benefits, Medicare, food stamps, welfare benefits and other assistance going directly to individuals would not be impacted. 

But by Tuesday evening, a federal judge imposed an administrative stay, pausing the Trump administration’s action. 

And on Wednesday, the White House opted to rescind the memo, but stressed to Fox News Digital that it was committed to freezing federal grants and loans aimed at woke programs.’ 

‘In light of the injunction, OMB has rescinded the memo to end any confusion on federal policy created by the court ruling and the dishonest media coverage,’ Leavitt told Fox News on Wednesday. ‘The Executive Orders issued by the President on funding reviews remain in full force and effect and will be rigorously implemented by all agencies and departments.’ 

Leavitt told Fox News that rescinding the memo ‘should effectively end the court case and allow the government to focus on enforcing the President’s orders on controlling federal spending.’ 

Also this week, the Office of Personnel Management sent a note to federal workers offering them the option to resign and receive full pay and benefits through Sept. 30. That option, which the administration referred to as a ‘Fork in the Road,’ came after the administration demanded that all federal workers return to in-person, in-office work. 

Federal workers have until Feb. 6 to decide if they will return to work or if they will resign. 

The only federal workers who do not have the option are postal workers, members of the military, immigration officials, some national security officials, and any positions agency heads decide to carve out. 

But the rapid changes came to a quick halt on Wednesday night around 9 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, after an American Airlines plane and Army helicopter collided near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport outside of Washington, D.C. 

The flight had left Wichita, Kansas, earlier that day. All 67 people onboard both aircraft are presumed dead.

Those aboard the plane included ‘several members’ of U.S. Figure Skating, including athletes, coaches and family members who had just attended the U.S. Figure Skating Championships held in Wichita, Kansas, from Jan. 20 to Jan. 26. 

Trump Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy was confirmed on Tuesday and quickly took charge, immediately getting over to the Federal Aviation Administration building and launching an investigation into the horrific incident. 

The president said that the deadly midair collision was a ‘confluence of bad decisions that were made and you have people that lost their lives, violently lost their lives.’ 

The president signed two executive orders appointing a new Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) deputy administrator, Chris Rocheleau, and ordering an immediate assessment of aviation safety and an elevation of ‘competence’ over DEI. 

Meanwhile, the president also signed an executive order to create a Task Force 250 — a White House task force focused on coordinating the plans and activities surrounding the celebration of the 250th anniversary of American independence. 

The president also signed a memo that would lift the collective bargaining agreements that former President Joe Biden put into effect before leaving office — agreements that White House officials said were designed to ‘constrain’ the Trump administration from reforming the government.  

And as for the Cabinet, Duffy was confirmed as Transportation secretary; Doug Burgum was confirmed as secretary of the Interior; Lee Zeldin was confirmed as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency; and Scott Bessent was confirmed as Treasury secretary. 

Over in the Senate, Trump’s nominee for secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.; nominee for FBI director Kash Patel; and nominee for director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard faced tough questions from senators during confirmation hearings. 

And, at the end of the week, the White House confirmed that by Saturday the president would roll out tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China. 

The president is imposing a 25% tariff on Mexico; a 25% tariff on Canada, and a 10% tariff on China. 

‘These are promises made and promises kept,’ White House press secretary Leavitt said at a press briefing Friday. 

And it’s only the end of week two. 

Fox News Digital’s Adam Shaw, Diana Stancey, Bill Melugin and Emma Colton contributed to this report. 

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is continuing his efforts to investigate the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, and he wants answers from Dr. Anthony Fauci.   

In his new position as chairman of the Senate’s Homeland Security committee, Paul issued subpoenas to 14 agencies from the outgoing Biden administration aimed at building on past congressional investigations into the COVID-19 virus and risky taxpayer-funded gain-of-function research. It is unclear who exactly from each agency will ultimately be deposed, but a Fauci deposition is possible. 

‘In the wake of Anthony Fauci’s preemptive pardon, there are still questions to be answered,’ Paul said in a statement after announcing the issuance of his subpoenas. ‘Subpoenas were sent from the Committee to NIH [National Institutes of Health] and 13 other agencies regarding their involvement in risky gain-of-function research. The goal of the investigation will be to critique the process that allowed this dangerous research, that may have led to the pandemic, to occur in a foreign country under unsafe protocols and to ensure that there is sufficient oversight and review going forward, making sure a mistake of this magnitude never happens again.’

While former President Joe Biden preemptively pardoned Fauci to protect him from political retribution under the new Trump administration, legal experts have questioned the validity of such a pardon. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Baily suggested to Fox News that since Biden’s own Justice Department indicated he lacked the mental faculties to be held criminally liable for improper handling of classified documents, it could be argued he also lacked the mens rea to issue pardons to people like Fauci. Additionally, the pardon Fauci received only covers his actions from January 2014 to the date of his pardon. As a result, a refusal to comply with a congressional subpoena could also potentially result in criminal charges.

Paul’s investigation will build on a previous bipartisan probe launched by the Senate’s Homeland Security committee last year looking into the national security threats posed by ‘high-risk biological research and technology in the U.S. and abroad.’ 

A second investigation being launched by Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., the chairman of the Permanent Select Subcommittee on Investigations, will similarly probe concerns in the new Congress surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and will include a review of email communications from Fauci.  

Since the pandemic began, Paul has sent dozens of requests for information related to the origins of the COVID-19 virus and gain-of-function research. Last year, his efforts revealed documents that he said show that government officials from at least 15 federal agencies knew in 2018 that China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) was working on creating a coronavirus similar to COVID-19.

The WIV has been a centerpiece in the debate over the origins of COVID-19, as it was eventually discovered that American scientist Peter Daszak’s EcoHealth Alliance was using taxpayer dollars to conduct risky research on the novel bat virus out of the WIV prior to the COVID-19 outbreak. Earlier this month, the Department of Health and Human Services barred Daszak and EcoHealth Alliance from receiving federal funding for five years. 

Meanwhile, Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), told Congress in May 2021 that the NIH ‘has not ever and does not now fund gain-of-function research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology.’

The Trump administration is reportedly preparing an executive order to halt all U.S. funding going towards gain-of-function research. 

Federal officials remain split on where the COVID-19 virus originated from. Three agencies — the Department of Energy, the FBI and the CIA — have determined that the most likely origin narrative is the lab leak theory, but others in the intelligence community and throughout the federal government say they can either not conclude that a lab leak was the most likely scenario, or they say that a natural origin scenario is most likely. A declassified intelligence report from 2021, published by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, posited that if a lab leak did turn out to be the catalyst of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was likely the result of an accident.

Representatives for Paul declined to comment for this report, while Fauci did not respond to a request for comment. 

Nearly three months after Democrats’ major setbacks up and down the ballot in the 2024 elections, the party gathers on Saturday to choose new leadership.

It’s the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) first formal step to try and emerge from the political wilderness and rebound in upcoming elections after President Donald Trump recaptured the White House and Republicans flipped the Senate, held onto their fragile majority in the House and made major gains with working-class, minority and younger voters.

And with no clear leader in the party, the next DNC chair will become the de facto face of Democrats from coast to coast and will make major decisions on messaging, strategy, infrastructure and where to spend millions in political contributions.

‘It’s an important opportunity for us to not only refocus the party and what we present to voters, but also an opportunity for us to look at how we internally govern ourselves,’ longtime New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Ray Buckley told Fox News.

Buckley, a former DNC vice chair, said he’s ‘very excited about the potential of great reform within the party.’ And he emphasized he hoped for ‘significantly more support for the state parties. That’s going to be a critical step towards our return to majority status.’

Eight candidates are vying to succeed DNC Chair Jaime Harrison, who decided against seeking a second straight four-year term steering the national party committee.

The next chair, as well as vice chairs and other officers, will be chosen by the roughly 450 DNC voting members gathered for the party’s winter meeting, which is being held this year at National Harbor just outside Washington, D.C.

Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party Chair Ken Martin, a DNC vice chair who has led the association of state Democratic Party chairs, is considered to be the frontrunner for chair heading into Saturday’s election, with Wisconsin Chair Ben Wikler close behind. 

Martin recently told Fox News Digital that if he becomes chair, the first thing he would do is ‘figure out a plan to win. And we need to start writing that plan, making sure we’re looking underneath the hood. How much money do we have at the party? What are the contracts? What contracts do we need to get rid of? And, frankly, bringing all of our stakeholder groups together. That’s the biggest thing.’

Wikler, in a Fox News Digital interview, emphasized that the party needs to show voters ‘that we’re fighting for them against those who would try to rig the economy for those at the very top and deliver that message in places where people aren’t paying attention to politics much. But they know what they’re struggling with in their own lives.’

Wikler, who pointed to the success of Democrats in his home state, a crucial battleground, added, ‘That means communicating in clear language in a way that shows people that we see them. And with our actions showing that we’re fighting for them to bring costs down and make sure that working people have a fair shot in this country.’

Also considered competitive is Martin O’Malley, the former two-term Maryland governor and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate who served as commissioner of the Social Security Administration during former President Biden’s last year in office.

O’Malley told Fox News Digital he’s running for DNC chair ‘because I love my country, and the only way we’re going to save the Republic is if the Democratic Party gets itself battle-ready as quickly as possible.’ 

Pointing to his past steering the Democratic Governors Association, he noted, ‘I’m the only candidate that’s actually chaired a national committee — the Democratic Governors — and I’m the only candidate that’s actually run for office and been elected to office, city council, mayor, governor. And we need to recruit people all across the ballot in order to bring our party back.’

Among the longer-shot candidates for chair are late entry Faiz Shakir, who ran the 2020 Democratic presidential campaign of progressive champion Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and Marianne Williamson, who ran unsuccessfully for the 2020 and 2024 Democratic presidential nominations.

‘This party’s not going to rise up unless there’s some deeper honesty,’ Williamson told reporters Thursday after the final chair election forum, as she took aim at the Democrats’ establishment.

The debate during the three-month DNC campaign sprint has mostly focused on the logistics of modern political campaigns, such as media strategy and messaging, fundraising and grassroots organizing and get-out-the-vote efforts. On those nuts-and-bolts issues, the candidates are mostly in agreement that changes are needed to win back blue-collar voters who now support Republicans.

But the final forum included a heavy focus on systemic racism and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, issues that appeared to hurt Democrats at the ballot box in November.

And the forum, moderated and carried live on MSNBC and held at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., devolved into chaos early on as a wave of left-wing protesters repeatedly interrupted the primetime event, heckling over concerns of climate change and billionaires’ influence in America’s elections before they were forcibly removed by security.

The chair election comes as a new national poll spells more trouble for the Democrats.

Only 31% of respondents in a Quinnipiac University survey conducted over the past week had a favorable opinion of the Democratic Party, with 57% seeing the party in an unfavorable light.

‘This is the highest percentage of voters having an unfavorable opinion of the Democratic Party since the Quinnipiac University Poll began asking this question,’ the survey’s release noted. 

Meanwhile, 43% of those questioned had a favorable view of the GOP, with 45% holding an unfavorable opinion, which was the highest favorable opinion for the Republican Party ever in Quinnipiac polling.