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Taiwan conducts defensive military drills as Chinese warships, planes loom
Almost every day, Chinese warships sail in waters around Taiwan and warplanes fly toward the island before turning back. What if they suddenly attacked?
Taiwan's military conducted a two-day exercise at sea, on land and in the air this week to practice defending against such a surprise attack. As journalists looked on from fast escort boats, a mine layer released at least a half dozen dummy mines from a chute in its stern.
Maj. Gen. Sun Li-fang, the chief defense ministry spokesperson, told reporters at Zuoying Naval Base in southern Taiwan that China's recent actions threaten to spark a conflict that could have devastating effects on the entire region, where billions of dollars in trade pass the 100 mile-wide waterway separating Taiwan from China.
CHINA SENDS SEVERAL WARPLANES, NAVY SHIPS TOWARD TAIWAN AFTER US-CHINA TALKS
"Any unilateral irrational action could very easily escalate tensions and sabotage stability in the Taiwan Strait region," Sun said. "So the Chinese Communists should immediately cease these sorts of undermining actions."
China claims the self-governing island of 23 million people as its own territory and says it must come under Beijing's control. The long-running divide is a flashpoint in U.S.-China relations. As relations between the rivals have deteriorated in recent years, fears have grown that America could get pulled into a war if hostilities break out.
Later in the day, journalists witnessed a simulated attack by China at a military base in the eastern county of Taitung.
Troops in red helmets representing the People's Liberation Army parachuted in, while Taiwanese army drones buzzed overhead. Taiwanese troops soon rolled onto the training course, fighting back with M60 Patton tanks, a model first introduced to the U.S. Army in 1959 but significantly upgraded by Taiwan. Taiwan is gradually replacing some of them with M1 Abrams tanks and the HIMARS rocket system that has been so effective Ukraine.
Taiwan’s defense ministry, in a daily report, said that seven Chinese warplanes and four naval vessels were detected around the island in the 24-hour period ending at 6 a.m. on Wednesday. It also reported a Chinese balloon off its northern coast.
A Chinese government spokesperson criticized Taiwan’s government for "creating political hype" about recent balloon sightings. Chen Binhua from the Taiwan Affairs Office said that balloons are common around the world, usually belong to private companies and are mostly used for purposes such as weather monitoring.
"They have been around for a long time and are nothing new," he said Wednesday according to a transcript of a regular briefing in Beijing.
The annual exercise comes less than three weeks after voters elected Lai Ching-te as their next president, giving a third straight four-year term to the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, which is opposed by China.
The drills are aimed in part at boosting public confidence in the island’s ability to defend itself, particularly during next month's Lunar New Year holiday.
"I wish to assure all our people that our forces remain at their posts during the Lunar New Year to guard the nation to allow the people of Taiwan to rest assured that they will have a peaceful holiday," Maj. Gen. Tan Yung, the head of the Taitung Defense Command, told reporters. Along with live firing exercises, such simulations are an important facet of training, Tan said.
Taiwan also uses such drills, and the press tours that often accompany them, to burnish the image of the armed forces, which has difficulty recruiting and relies heavily on conscripts.
Capt. Huang Chin-ya, of several dozen soldiers who took part in the drill, seemed to touch on both issues in her remarks.
"By this exercise, I proudly believe that citizens can realize there are always soldiers protecting our beautiful homeland," she said.
While its military is dwarfed by China’s, Taiwan has been buying high-tech weaponry from the United States, revitalized its domestic arms industry and extended the length of mandatory military service from four months to one year.
In another sign of the tensions across the Taiwan Strait, the island’s government protested Tuesday after China’s aviation authority announced changes to a southbound route for passenger flights that is expected to bring planes closer to Taiwan’s shores.
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Taiwan first objected to the flight path when it was opened in 2015, citing air safety and sovereignty concerns, and China agreed to move the route seven miles closer to its side. But China’s Civil Aviation Administration said it would cancel the "offset measure" starting Thursday.
China also said that planes would be allowed to join the flight path from two coastal cities across from Taiwan. Previously, planes were allowed to use the flight path to reach those cities, but could not join it from them, which entails flying toward Taiwan.
Taiwan's Civil Aviation Administration strongly protested the move, which it said "blatantly contradicts a consensus reached between both sides ... in 2015," according to Taiwanese media.
A Chinese government spokesperson called the changes routine and said they were meant to ease air traffic and ensure flight safety in a crowded flight corridor.
US taxpayer-funded UN agency's long history of enabling Hamas exposed
JERUSALEM — The shocking revelation that some employees of the U.N. agency UNRWA were part of the Oct. 7 massacre and transported Hamas terrorists in U.N. vehicles is just the most recent example of the heavily U.S.-subsidized agency's relationship with Hamas.
"UNRWA is a horror show that is decades in the making co-produced by the United States taxpayer," Richard Goldberg a senior advisor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies(FDD,) said during testimony to a subcommittee of the House Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday.
Fox News Digital has been digging over the years into the scandal-plagued history of UNRWA, an acronym for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
According to a dossier that Israel’s government submitted to the Biden administration in late January, 12 UNRWA employees allegedly aided Hamas in different capacities Oct. 7.
Seven U.N. staffers crossed into Israel Oct. 7 while others were accused of "participating in a terror activity" or coordinating vehicle movements. The Biden administration has given UNRWA $1 billion of taxpayer money since 2021.
AUSTRIA SUSPENDS PAYMENTS TO UNRWA AMID ISRAELI ALLEGATIONS UN WORKERS HELPED, CELEBRATED HAMAS
Just weeks before Israel claimed UNRWA employees took part in the Oct. 7 massacre in southern Israel, Fox News Digital reported a Telegram channel used by more than 3,000 teachers for UNRWA in Gaza was found replete with posts celebrating Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, praising the terrorists who raped and murdered civilians as "heroes."
The Telegram channel is intended for UNRWA teachers and contains files with staff names, ID numbers, schedules and curriculum materials. In one post highlighted in the U.N. Watch report, UNRWA teacher Waseem Ula shared a video glorifying the Hamas attacks and posted a photo of a suicide bomb vest wired with explosives. The caption said, "Wait, sons of Judaism."
Fox News Digital reported on an August video titled "Askar—UNRWA: Cradle of Killers" purportedly showing Palestinian children inciting hatred against Jews and Israel at the Askar refugee camp near the West Bank city of Nablus.
In 2019, Fox News Digital reported that UNRWA schoolbooks were tainted with "systematic hatred" of Israel. UNRWA has faced years of criticism for allowing school text books to be filled with antisemitic chapters in its schools while also glorifying terrorists.
Two years earlier, in 2017, a Hamas terrorism tunnel was found beneath two UNRWA schools in Gaza.
Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, told Fox News Digital by email, "As for donors, 15 donors announced funding suspension to UNRWA since 26 January (as of 29 Jan), namely: Australia, Austria, Canada, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Italy, Iceland, Romania Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, U.K. and the USA."
When asked if the secretary-general will urge UNRWA’s Commissioner Philippe Lazzarini to resign, Dujarric said, "Regarding Mr. Lazzarini, he continues to work with the full confidence of the secretary-general as he deals simultaneously with the allegations against UNRWA staff, on which he took swift and proactive action and continue[s] to lead the humanitarian response to what is unfolding in Gaza."
When pressed if UNRWA is no longer tenable as an organization and beyond reform, Dujarric referred Fox News Digital to his Monday press briefing.
"The contracts of the staff members directly involved have been terminated," he said. "An investigation by the U.N.'s Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) was immediately activated.
"The secretary-general is personally horrified by the accusations against employees of UNRWA, but his message to donors, especially those who have suspended their contributions, is to at least guarantee the continuity of UNRWA’s operations, as we have tens of thousands of dedicated staff working throughout the region."
During a briefing Tuesday, Dujarric claimed "UNRWA does not work with Hamas. We have operational contacts with de facto authorities like we do in every other place in the world where they are de facto authorities."
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken described evidence that 12 UNRWA employees participated in the Oct. 7 massacre "highly credible."
Despite calls for a wholesale revision of UNRWA, Blinken noted that UNRWA plays an "indispensable" role in furnishing aid to civilians in the Gaza Strip and that "no one else can play the role that UNRWA has been playing, certainly not in the near term."
"This is the time to put stringent controls over UNRWA in the areas of education and [the] inspection of weapons," UNRWA critic David Bedein, director of the Center for Near East Policy Research and an expert on UNRWA's curriculum.
Bedein told Fox News Digital that the Palestinian Fatah party and the terrorist organizations Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas "are controlling the workers’ unions" for UNRWA teachers.
"You can stop that," Bedein said.
Fox News Digital reported in 2012 that Palestinians voted UNRWA elected candidates linked to Hamas to 25 out of 27 seats on a union board that represents 10,000 UNRWA workers.
Bedein said there must be a plan to overhaul UNRWA. First, "Cancellation of the new UNRWA curriculum, based on Jihad, martyrdom and ‘right of return by force of arms,’ which have no place in U.N. education, whose theme is ‘Peace Begins Here."
He insisted "UNRWA dismiss employees affiliated with Hamas, Islamic Jihad or Fatah in accordance with laws of donor nations that forbid aid to any agency that employs members of a terrorist organization."
Bedein notes that the "current UNRWA policy is that any Arab refugee resettlement would interfere with the ‘right of return’ to pre-1948 Arab localities."
The refugee classification by UNRWA impedes the Israel-Palestinian peace process because it provides endless refugee status to generations of Palestinians who were not born in Israel.
According to Israel, the Palestinian demand to return all refugees is an impossible proposal because it would create a non-Jewish state.
Bedein argued that it was time to implement standards "to advance resettlement of fourth- and fifth-generation refugees from the 1948 war who have spent seven decades relegated to refugee status," while calling for an audit of all donor funds from the 68 nations who support the agency.
The FDD's Richard Goldberg concluded his congressional testimony by telling the committee that, "October 7th is the logical conclusion of UNRWA. It is of course what they have been training generations to do with the resources we've provided going to these terrorist organizations to carry out that mission."
UNRWA did not respond to multiple Fox News Digital questions.
Fox News' Lawrence Richard and Bradford Betz contributed to this report.
US F-16 fighter jet crashes into Yellow Sea; pilot recovered after ejecting safely
A U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon assigned to the 8th Fighter Wing crashed into the Yellow Sea on Wednesday morning after experiencing an in-flight emergency.
According to the 8th Fighter Wing’s public affairs office, the plane crashed at about 8:40 a.m. on Wednesday.
The 8th Fighter Wing is based out of Kunsan Air Base in the Republic of Korea.
The pilot of the jet was able to eject safely and was recovered at about 9:30 a.m.
US F-16 CRASHES INTO YELLOW SEA FOLLOWING IN-FLIGHT EMERGENCY; PILOT RESCUED AFTER EJECTING SAFELY
Officials said the pilot is conscious and was taken to a medical facility to be assessed.
Both the U.S. and Republic of Korea mission partners worked together to locate and recover the pilot.
"We are very thankful to the Republic of Korea rescue forces and all of our teammates who made the swift recovery of our pilot possible," Col. Matthew C. Gaetke, 8th FW commander said. "Now we will shift our focus to search and recovery of the aircraft."
Further information about the cause of the crash will not become available until the conclusion of safety and accident investigations, officials said.
Israel flooding tunnels in Gaza to drive out Hamas terrorists: IDF
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) has confirmed that it has been flooding tunnels in Gaza with large volumes of water in its effort to attack the terrorist infrastructure of Hamas.
The IDF says that its forces along with the Israeli Ministry of Defense have been using various tools to flood the subterranean network of tunnels Hamas has been using in the Gaza Strip in order to drive out terrorists hiding there. The flooding had been considered an open secret for weeks but the IDF finally confirmed the strategy on Tuesday.
"These capabilities consist of installing pumps and pipes, the materialization of engineering developments and the ability to locate tunnel shafts suitable for the deployment of these tools," the IDF said in a statement.
"The capability was developed in a professional capacity, including analysis of the soil characteristics and the water systems in the area to ensure that damage is not done to the area's groundwater. The pumping of water was only carried out in tunnel routes and locations that were suitable, matching the method of operation to each case."
The IDF said this strategy represents a significant engineering and technological breakthrough in combating the threat of Hamas’ underground terror infrastructure and is the result of a collaborative effort between various bodies in Israel’s security establishment.
The IDF did not go into further detail about the flooding of the tunnels.
However, the Wall Street Journal reported last month that Israel had constructed five large seawater pumps completed in November about one mile north of the Al-Shati refugee camp. Each pump is capable of drawing water from the Mediterranean Sea and can move thousands of cubic meters of water per hour, which would flood the tunnels within weeks, the report said.
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According to that report, Israel had identified about 800 tunnels beneath Gaza that Hamas had been using to move fighters, store weapons and plan terror attacks on Israel. However, Israeli officials believe the tunnel network is much larger.
A report sent by IDF troops earlier this month said it was likely Hamas "used more than 6,000 tons of concrete and 1,800 tons of metal to build hundreds of miles of underground infrastructure."
It is unclear how many tunnels have been flooded by Israeli forces and how many Hamas terrorists have been caught or killed as part of the operations.
Israel is seeking to eradicate the Palestinian terror group after it took some 240 people captive during the Oct. 7 attack on Israel and brought them back to the Gaza Strip. Hamas released 105 hostages in a November truce.
Israel says that about 1,200 people were killed in the Oct. 7 surprise attack. A U.N. report last week estimated that about 16,000 people had been killed as a result of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.
The IDF said the flooding of tunnels forms part of a range of tools deployed by the IDF to neutralize the threat of Hamas.
Other efforts include air strikes, underground combat operations and special operations with technological assets, the IDF said.
The Israeli military blew up a tunnel underneath a cemetery in Gaza after discovering that Hamas terrorists were using the tunnel for its activities, the IDF said Monday.
Fox News’ Chris Pandolfino contributed to this report.
Egypt pyramid renovation proposal at Giza sparks backlash: ‘straightening the Tower of Pisa,’ critic says
A proposal to renovate one of the three iconic pyramids in Giza is getting some pushback from critics, one of whom likened such a venture to "straightening the Tower of Pisa."
The project concerns the Pyramid of Menkaure, the smallest of the Giza pyramids, built more than 4,000 years ago. The aim is to restore the pyramid to how it may have looked when it was originally built.
Built around 2,500 B.C., the Pyramid of Menkaure stood more than 200 feet tall but has since been whittled down by erosion and vandalism. Roughly one-third of the structure was clad with granite blocks.
Set to coincide with the opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum, Mostafa Waziri, head of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, described the restoration plan as "a gift from Egypt to the world."
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Waziri shared a video last Friday of the project already underway. Workers can be seen setting blocks of granite at the base of the pyramid.
The video prompted a flurry of divided opinions.
Critics, such as Egyptologist Monica Hanna, have argued that the structure should be preserved as is, rather than trying to create its original appearance, per AFP.
"When are we going to stop the absurdity in the management of Egyptian heritage?" she said, comparing such ventures to "straightening the Tower of Pisa" in Italy.
The backlash has prompted the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities to form a committee of experts to evaluate the project. A verdict is expected in the coming days, per reporting from The Telegraph.
The renovation proposal is part of a larger "project of the century" initiative to develop the Giza Pyramids area. This includes opening the Grand Egyptian Museum and upgrading local infrastructure – efforts aimed at boosting Egypt’s tourism industry to help the country’s beleaguered economy.
Jamaica spike in murders triggers travel warning to Americans visiting Caribbean island nation
For the second time in as many weeks, the State Department is citing increased crime on a Caribbean island nation and warning American citizens to "reconsider travel" to Jamaica.
The warning, issued on Jan. 23, is listed as Level 3, one level below the "do not travel" advisory.
"Violent crimes, such as home invasions, armed robberies, sexual assaults, and homicides, are common. Sexual assaults occur frequently, including at all-inclusive resorts," the advisory issued by the U.S. Embassy in Jamaica states.
"Local police often do not respond effectively to serious criminal incidents," it continues. "When arrests are made, cases are infrequently prosecuted to a conclusive sentence. Families of U.S. citizens killed in accidents or homicides frequently wait a year or more for final death certificates to be issued by Jamaican authorities."
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Jamaica experienced 65 murders since the new year, according to data released by the Jamaica Constabulary Force. The number of killings is short of the 81 reported in the same time frame in 2023.
The latest warning comes amid a spike in murders in the Bahamas since Jan. 1. Last week, the U.S. Embassy in Nassau issued a warning and travel advisory to U.S. travelers, citing 18 murders that have occurred on the island nation since the new year.
"Murders have occurred at all hours including in broad daylight on the streets," the warning states. "Retaliatory gang violence has been the primary motive in 2024 murders."
A Level 2 advisory was issued Friday, warning visitors to exercise increased caution.
The State Department said Jamaica's murder rate has consistently been among the highest in the Western Hemisphere going back several years. U.S. citizens visiting the island are urged to purchase traveler's insurance, including medical evaluation insurance.
US ISSUES TRAVEL WARNING FOR BAHAMAS OVER SPIKE IN MURDERS SINCE NEW YEAR
In response to the uptick in crime, Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis said authorities will put up roadblocks and initiate more police action, The Nassau Guardian reported.
"We will not violate anyone’s civil liberties, but you are likely to be impacted by more roadblocks and unannounced police action," he said. "This may make you late for your appointments, or delay plans you have, but this is a small price to pay for the collective benefit of having our streets made safer, and our lives less blighted by murder and other violent crimes."
Biden response to China skirting sanctions on Iranian oil panned: 'feckless'
To state the obvious: a primary function of sanctions on Iranian oil is to tighten Iran’s budget so the Islamic Republic cannot fund the proxy militaries, like the group that killed US soldiers in Jordan, or Hamas and Hezbollah who attack Israel.
"Without Iran’s export of oil, it cannot operate its budget much less successfully fund and arm its proxies, "says former Ambassador Mark Wallace, who heads the group United Against Nuclear Iran.
"Without proxies, the Middle East is a much more stable place."
AT WAR OR NOT? US CONFLICT WITH IRAN-BACKED MILITIAS BLURS LINE
Everything from the Gaza war to almost 170 attacks on US targets in the region show it’s anything but stable. The proxies appear well funded and in the face of US sanctions, Iranian Oil revenue is booming.
"Really, we have seen a renaissance in the Iranian oil industry since President Biden came into office. We’ve seen their (Iranian) numbers go up dramatically. They’re producing the most amount of oil they’ve had since the Iranian Revolution," says energy market analyst Phil Flynn.
In the Trump years, the US engaged in what the administration called the maximum pressure campaign and ended sanction waivers with the goal of stopping Iran exports altogether.
"We are going to zero," said then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in 2019. "How long we remain there, at zero, depends solely on the Islamic Republic of Iran’s senior leaders."
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Now, anywhere from 300-560 tankers, dubbed "the ghost armada" or "dark fleet," sail the seas obfuscating their locations and delivering sanctioned, Iranian crude primarily to China.
On China’s east coast north of Shanghai and south of Beijing an estimated 150 small semi-independent so-called "teapot" refineries operate.
Industry analysts and Iran watchers say the teapot refineries turn Iranian crude into useable petrochemicals.
The same analysts say the Biden administration, eager to woo Iran back into the JCPOA nuclear deal, isn’t doing anything to disrupt this black market which has earned Iran upwards of $80 billion.
"The reality is a feckless strategy of oil sanctions and enforcing those sanctions, both against the transport and shipping of that oil and its end users," says Wallace.
An analyst with the Foundation for Defense of Democracy says the failure to disrupt the revenue that funds the proxies, means the administration needs to take blame for the US service members killed in Jordan.
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"With the deaths of three US soldiers, it is a direct result of appeasement policy towards Iran," says Richard Goldberg.
United Nations spox insists ‘UNRWA does not work with Hamas’ despite claims employees participated in Oct. 7
A spokesman for the United Nations insisted Tuesday that UNRWA, facing allegations that at least a dozen of its employees participated in the Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel, "does not work with Hamas."
The remarks came from Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, during a press briefing when a reporter asked whether Guterres is planning to ask for a broader investigation of UNRWA's employees' affiliation with Hamas. The reporter noted how it's estimated, according to one intelligence report, that up to 10% of the 13,000 UNRWA employees working in Gaza are affiliated with Hamas. "Is he asking for a more intensive examination of the vetting procedures?" the reporter asked.
Dujarric responded by noting how Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees, "himself has said UNRWA would commission an independent review of its work to look at risk, to look at how it does its operations."
"So that's something they themselves want to do, while I think in any context I don't know how you examine people's thoughts. Right?" Dujarric said. "What is clear is that any action that contravenes the U.N., U.N. principles, that violates our rules is dealt with. And I think Mr. Lazzarini did it. Furthermore, I think it's also important to clarify something. Every year, UNRWA shares its list of staff with the host countries where it works. Right? So UNRWA works in Jordan, works in Lebanon, works in Syria."
"For the work that it does in Gaza and the West Bank," he said, UNRWA "shares the list of staff with both the Palestinian Authority and with the Israeli government as the occupying power for those areas. And as far as I'm told by UNRWA, concerns have not been raised when the list of staff has been shared."
"But have they shared this list with the de facto power in charge in Gaza, which would be Hamas? And then they asked Hamas for a list of their own members?" the reporter pressed back, arguing that the terror organization would be unlikely to release that information.
"I think you can imagine the answer to the scenario which you're laying out. Our counterpart for the occupied Palestinian territory is the Palestinian Authority," Dujarric said.
The reporter interjected, saying, "But UNRWA works with Hamas."
WHITE HOUSE DEFENDS UNRWA AMID TERRORIST ALLEGATIONS: 'DON'T IMPUGN THE WHOLE AGENCY'
"UNRWA does not. I don't agree with the terminology. UNRWA does not work with Hamas. We have operational contacts with de facto authorities like we do in every other place in the world where they are de facto authorities," Dujarric responded, before moving onto other reporters' questions.
The exchange comes amid Israel’s allegations that 12 UNRWA employees were involved in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, which led the United States and several other countries to cut off funding for the agency and reignited debate over Gaza’s biggest humanitarian aid provider.
In Gaza, UNRWA employs thousands of staffers to provide aid across the Middle East, and has been the main supplier of food, water and shelter to civilians during the Israel-Hamas war.
Israel, whose allegations were detailed in a document provided to the Biden administration Monday, has long railed against the agency, accusing it of tolerating or even collaborating with Hamas and of perpetuating the situation of Palestinian refugees.
The Israeli government has accused Hamas and other militant groups of siphoning off aid and using U.N. facilities for military purposes.
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UNRWA denies those allegations and says it took swift action against the employees accused of taking part in the attack. The United States and other top donors that together provided more than half of UNRWA’s budget in 2022, nevertheless suspended their funding to the agency. Guterres says 2 million Palestinians in Gaza, or 87% of the population, rely on UNRWA services that would be scaled back as soon as February if the money is not restored.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
DOD casts doubt on Iran-backed militia’s claim to halt strikes on US troops: ‘actions speak louder than words’
An Iran-backed militia group in Iraq says it is suspending attacks on U.S. troops after a drone attack killed three soldiers early Sunday, but the Department of Defense is casting doubt on those claims.
The Iraq-based Kataeb Hezbollah said Tuesday it was suspending "military and security operations against the occupying forces to avoid any embarrassment for the Iraqi government."
The group is one of multiple Iranian proxies in the region that are believed responsible for carrying out attacks on U.S. targets in Iraq, Syria, and, most recently, Jordan over the past several months. The groups say the attacks are in retaliation for U.S. support of Israel in its ongoing offensive against Hamas militants in Gaza and the mounting death toll of Palestinian civilians.
Since Oct. 17, there have been at least 165 attacks on U.S. targets in Iraq, Syria, and Jordan. Of these, 66 were in Iraq, 98 were in Syria, and one was in Jordan. Meanwhile, Houthi militants stationed in Yemen have been firing upon commercial vessels in the Red Sea – prompting retaliatory strikes from the U.S. and its allies.
Per Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin, Kataeb Hezbollah said it would support Palestinians in Gaza in other ways and told its fighters not to respond even if the U.S. were to strike.
Asked for his reaction to the group’s message, Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said, "actions speak louder than words."
"I don’t think that we could be any more clear that we have called on the Iranian proxy groups to stop their attacks. They have not. And so we will respond in a time and manner of our choosing," he said. "When I say, ‘actions speak louder than words, there have been three attacks – to my knowledge – since the 28th of January. And I’ll just leave it there."
IRANIAN AND 2 CANADIANS CHARGED IN MARYLAND MURDER-FOR-HIRE PLOT: ‘ERASE HIS HEAD FROM HIS TORSO’
President Biden has faced mounting pressure to respond after three U.S. soldiers were killed and more than 40 were injured in an overnight drone strike at a base in Jordan near the Syrian border.
Biden blamed the attack on Iran-backed militias and vowed that the U.S. "shall respond." At the same time, administration officials have repeatedly said the U.S. has no desire to escalate tensions with Iran.
The attack marked a significant escalation of violence in the onslaught of attacks since Oct. 17 as it was the first time U.S. troops had been killed by enemy fire.
Congressman calls out China at International Religious Freedom Summit, says Uyghurs need more protection
The International Religious Freedom (IRF) Summit kicked off Tuesday in Washington, D.C., with a leading breakout session on the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA).
The bipartisan law presumes all goods produced in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) of China are made with forced labor unless proven otherwise.
An estimated 100,000 Uyghurs and other ethnic minority ex-detainees in China may be working in conditions of forced labor following detention in re-education camps, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., a longtime advocate for human rights, says there are gaps in UFLPA that need to be filled.
The law allows shipments under $800 to avoid the need for any proof, allowing some companies to avoid the regulation by importing goods in small shipments.
"Who's opening up the packages to see if these crates are $800 or less? They don't get inspected. So, that is a very serious flaw that we have to correct," Smith said.
Rushan Abbas, an Uyghur American activist and IRF Summit speaker, told Fox News Digital she shares a similar opinion on the legislation.
"We really need to implement it more strongly. … Chinese companies and many other companies are still profiting off the Uyghur peoples' blood, sweat and tears. [They are] still using the de minimis part of the UFPLA to ship goods in small packages," she said.
After President Xi Jinping visited San Francisco in November for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference at the invitation of President Biden, Smith condemned the Chinese leader.
"That was the most disgusting display of corporate malfeasance, maybe ever. They were paying huge amounts of money to have dinner with Xi Jinping, who should be at The Hague for crimes against humanity and genocide," Smith said. "Huge amounts of money just to have access to a market. Well, let's have a free China then talk about access."
Abbas says the welcoming of President Xi by leaders in the business world sends a message to dictators that it is OK to continue undermining human dignity and human rights. She adds that "none of these CEOs, none of these people can claim ignorance today" with all the information that is out there on China’s grave human rights violations.
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She has witnessed firsthand the suppression of the Chinese government after her sister, Gulshan Abbas, was jailed six days after Rushan made her first public speech addressing Uyghur human rights violations.
"[She is] in jail today because I exercised my freedom of speech. … I am an American citizen. As an American citizen, [it] is my First Amendment right."
Abbas says each year attending the International Religious Freedom Summit is important to her to share her story.
"If we don't hold the Chinese Communist government accountable today, it will be … democratic countries who are taking the consequences of an illiberal world where China is intimidating everybody who speaks out, everybody who defends human rights. ... This is about the future of the free world," said Abbas.
Latvian lawmaker investigated as possible Russian spy by EU Parliament
The European Parliament has opened an investigation into news reports that a Latvian member of the assembly, Tatjana Ždanoka, has been working as a Russian agent for several years, officials said Tuesday.
The president of the European Union’s legislative body, Roberta Metsola, "takes these allegations very seriously," her office said in a statement. Metsola is asking a parliamentary committee that handles the code of conduct for EU lawmakers to handle the case.
Russian, Nordic and Baltic news sites reported Monday that Ždanoka has been an agent for the Russian Federal Security Service, or FSB, since at least 2004.
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Following a joint investigation, the independent Russian investigative journalism site The Insider, its Latvian equivalent Re:Baltica, news portal Delfi Estonia, and Swedish newspaper Expressen published a number of emails they said were leaked showing her interactions with her handler.
Expressen claimed that Ždanoka "spread propaganda about alleged violations of the rights of Russians in the Baltics and argued for a pro-Kremlin policy. In the EU Parliament, she has refused to condemn Russia’s attack on Ukraine."
Metsola also plans to discuss the case with leaders of the political groups in the parliament on Wednesday. Ždanoka is an independent member of the assembly and is not aligned with any of its political groups.
The parliament declined to comment further on the issue and referred further inquiries to the Latvian authorities.
Latvia, a Baltic nation of 1.9 million people, and neighboring Estonia are both home to a sizable ethnic Russian minority of about 25% of the population due to their past as part of the Soviet Union. Over the past years, Moscow has routinely accused Latvia and Estonia of discriminating against their Russian-speaking populations.
Latvia and Estonia have vehemently condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine, bolstering defenses on their borders with Russia.
Ždanoka did not immediately reply to emailed questions sent by The Associated Press on the accusations. Her representative, Zhanna Karelina, told the Latvian news portal Delfi on Tuesday that Ždanoka was currently consulting lawyers over the possibility of suing the four news outlets.
Posted on the European Parliament's website, the resume of Ždanoka, aged 74, lists her as the president of the EU Russian-Speakers’ Alliance, a non-governmental organization, since 2007.
In Riga, Latvia's security service, the VDD, said it was planning to probe Ždanoka's alleged cooperation with Russian intelligence and security services.
KREMLIN AIDE MOCKS CIA VIDEO TO RECRUIT RUSSIAN SPIES; SHOULD HAVE POSTED ON 'THE BANNED X'
In a statement, the VDD stressed that "until 2016 Latvia’s legislative framework did not stipulate a criminal liability for assistance to a foreign state or foreign organization which was drawn against the Republic of Latvia."
"That is why the historical episodes published in media referring to 2005 until 2013 are not qualified as a criminal activity," the VDD said.
Therefore, "it was not possible to call a person to criminal liability for such activities" in Latvia, the agency said, adding that Ždanoka's "status as the deputy of European Parliament and her legal immunity ensured by her status, was a significant aspect that contributed to her activities to support Russia’s geopolitical interests."
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the accusations against Ždanoka a "witch hunt."
"Do you remember there was McCarthyism in the United States? How many people were arrested and jailed on charges of being connected to communists or the KGB? This is the same," Peskov said. "We strongly denounce this. Of course, it doesn’t comply in any way with the so-called ideals of democracy in its interpretation that dominates now in Europe."
Peskov's daughter Elizaveta Peskova worked as an intern at the European Parliament for six months in 2018-2019, raising questions of security among several of the assembly's lawmakers. Officials said at the time she had access only to public files.
Under the assembly's rules, members of the European Parliament "shall be free and independent," and they shall also "vote on an individual and personal basis. They shall not be bound by any instructions and shall not receive a binding mandate."
The code of conduct, which is non-binding, requires that lawmakers "shall act solely in the public interest and conduct their work with disinterest, integrity, openness, diligence, honesty, accountability and respect for the European Parliament’s dignity and reputation."
Legislators are also obliged to submit a detailed declaration of their private interests to the parliament and a separate declaration when they are aware that they might have conflicts of interest.
North Korea fires multiple cruise missiles in 3rd test within a week, South Korea says
North Korea fired multiple cruise missiles into the waters off its western coast on Tuesday, South Korea’s military said, the third time Pyongyang has test-launched missiles in less than a week.
The missiles were detected around 7 a.m., South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, adding that the South Korean and U.S. militaries are analyzing the launches.
No details were immediately provided about how many missiles were fired, how far they flew or whether they were launched from land or sea.
The launches followed tests on Jan. 24 and Jan. 28 of the Pulhwasal-3-31 cruise missile North Korea says is designed to be fired from submarines.
US WILL ‘PROTECT OUR ALLIES’ FROM NORTH KOREAN AGGRESSION, KIRBY SAYS
The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) previously said both missiles launched on Jan. 28 flew over the sea of the country’s east coast for over two hours – 7,421 seconds and 7,445 seconds – before hitting an unspecified island target.
After the first test flight of the cruise missile on Jan. 24, the state media outlet said the missile could eventually carry nuclear weapons.
KING JONG UN ADMITS LACK OF ‘BASIC LIVING NECESSITIES’ IS ‘SERIOUS POLITICAL ISSUE' IN NORTH KOREA
Tensions in the region have increased in recent months as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un continues to accelerate his weapons development and provocative threats to the U.S. and its Asian allies. In response, the United States, South Korea and Japan have been continuing their combined military exercises, which Kim condemns.
Over the past few months, North Korea has tested several types of weapons, including ballistic missile systems being developed and an underwater drone.
Fox News’ Greg Wehner and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Reporter's Notebook: Into the heart of the Gaza war with the IDF
As part of a small group of journalists, Fox News embedded with the Israeli military in Gaza. I joined the IDF in Khan Younis, a current focal point of the Israeli operation.
Loading into vehicles, soldiers pull on gaiters and goggles to protect themselves on the dusty drive ahead.
Within a quarter of a mile into Gaza, troops stop to show the press the latest tunnel destroyed the night before. The ground’s been excavated. Wires are exposed. The IDF doesn’t elaborate on how it blew up this specific tunnel.
ISRAELI MILITARY SEES HAMAS WAR LASTING THROUGH ALL OF 2024: REPORT
Climbing down into the crater, soldiers show the soft texture of the soil. This tunnel was only narrow enough to fit one or two people.
It’s fortified with cement. The IDF says the narrow entrance without a lid, meant it would’ve been easy to climb in or out quickly.
Driving deeper into Gaza, rubble lines the road. The war has flattened the suburbs of Khan Younis.
The piercing sound of artillery is constant.
The few buildings still standing are riddled with bullet holes. Troops stop at one such building. It’s a primary school.
PENTAGON SAYS ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR ISN'T SPREADING DESPITE US SOLDIERS KILLED IN JORDAN, RED SEA ATTACKS
The IDF says a gun battle played out here. Israeli soldiers claim Hamas stashed weapons here and dug a tunnel under the playground.
"We had a Hamas squad hiding in the basement of the school. They popped up and started shooting at us. And this is literally the story of this war," says Lt. Col. Anchy with the 55th Brigade.
There’s no front line in this war.
New plumes of smoke reveal the ground battles in every direction.
"We're just working very systematically, one zone after the other, dismantling their infrastructure," Anchy says.
The IDF recently announced it had encircled the city of Khan Younis, as it urges civilians to flee south.
The war has displaced nearly 2 million people. According to the United Nations, half of the strip’s population is now sheltering in the southern city of Rafah.
Belgian farmers block roads to Zeebrugge container port as protests rage on
Belgian farmers angry about rising costs, EU environmental policies and cheap food imports plan blocked access roads to the Zeebrugge container port on Tuesday.
Farmers organising the protest told Reuters they planned to bar access to the North Sea port, the country's second-largest, for at least 36 hours. They said the port was targeted because they feel it receives economic support at the expense of farmers.
A port authority spokesman said protesters had blocked five roads to trucks, but were letting cars through. He said it was not yet clear what the consequences on the operations of the port would be, and the port was indirectly in touch with the organisers through the police.
ROMANIAN TRUCKER CONVOY CONTINUES AS GOVERNMENT NEGOTIATION ATTEMPTS FALL THROUGH
The Algemeen Boerensyndicaat (ABS, General Farmers Syndicate) union has called on its members to join the protest.
"The farmers are desperate, really desperate. We've warned the government for years that this would happen," ABS policy officer Mark Wulfrancke said.
Wulfrancke urged policymakers to ensure the price of food reflects the additional costs European farmers face to comply with Europe's rising environmental standards.
"We want respect from our government, the European government. The only way to show that respect is to make a policy that is farmer friendly, food friendly. We need a correct price," he told Reuters.
The Belgian protest movement has been boosted by similar action in France, where farmers have set up dozens of roadblocks and disrupted traffic around Paris, putting the government under pressure.
Belgian farmers also disrupted traffic during the morning rush hour on Tuesday. One of the blockades was close to the Dutch border on the E19 highway, media said.
Prime Minister Alexander De Croo is set to meet with farmers' associations on Tuesday.
"It is important that they are listened to," De Croo told reporters, referring to the challenges farmers face.
He said Belgium, which currently holds the six-month presidency of the Council of the EU, will discuss a number of European agricultural rules with the European Commission.
A group of farmers blocking a square in central Brussels with tractors said they would stay put until at least Thursday, when EU government leaders meet in the city.
"We are asking them to review their laws," said Nicolas Fryers, a farmer at the protest. "They talk about being greener but if that happens then there will be land which isn't worked any more and it's difficult enough as it is."
The European Commission appeared poised to offer some policy changes in response, by proposing an exemption on Thursday on rules requiring farmers to leave part of their land fallow if they apply for EU subsidies.
The rules on fallow land were part of the grievances that led to protests in France and elsewhere in recent weeks.
UAE appoints first ambassador to Syria in 13 years
The first United Arab Emirates ambassador to Damascus in nearly 13 years took up his post on Tuesday as Syria has been reintegrating into mainstream regional acceptance.
Syrian state media said the country’s Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad received Ambassador Hassan Ahmad al-Shihi's credentials.
The UAE embassy was re-opened in Syria in late 2018 and a charge d’affaires has been in charge of the diplomatic mission since then. Al-Shihi arrived in Damascus on Monday, reported the pro-government daily Al-Watan.
Syrian President Bashar Assad visited the Gulf country in March 2022, the first Arab country to receive him since Syria's civil war erupted nearly 13 years ago. Following the Feb. 6, 2023 earthquake that killed more than 50,000 in Turkey and about 8,000 in Syria, the UAE sent dozens of planes loaded with aid to Syria.
In May, the 22-member Arab League agreed to reinstate Syria, ending a 12-year suspension and taking another step toward bringing Assad, a long-time regional pariah, back into the fold. Assad, who visited the UAE twice since 2022, took part in the Arab League summit in Saudi Arabia in May.
Al-Shihi's arrival came as Syria is in the grips of a severe economic crisis, part of it as a result of the conflict that has killed half a million people, displaced millions of others and left large parts of the country destroyed.
The reconciliation between Damascus and oil-rich Arab countries is not likely to lead to a flow of money into the war-torn country because of Western sanctions, which, along with the war and widespread corruption have led to Syria’s severe economic crisis.
The U.S. dollar now is worth 16,000 Syrian pounds. At the start of the conflict in March 2011, the dollar was trading at 47 pounds.
The United Nations estimates that 90% of Syrians in government-held areas live in poverty. More than half the population — some 12 million people — struggle to put food on the table, the U.N. estimates. Things could get worse now that the World Food Program said it will end in January its main assistance program across Syria.
The United Arab Emirates was a supporter of the Syrian opposition, which is now largely confined to the northwestern Idlib province after losing its strongholds elsewhere.
The UAE recalled its ambassador from Syria in 2011 after the start of the popular uprising against Assad. The Syrian Embassy in the UAE remained open.
Last month, Syria’s deputy foreign minister, Ayman Soussan, was named as the country’s new ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
Belarusian journalist receives sentence on charges related to work covering protests
A Belarusian journalist was sentenced to three years in prison Tuesday on an extremism charge related to his work covering protests, the latest move in a sweeping government crackdown on dissent.
The Minsk City Court convicted photojournalist Alyaksandr Zyankou on charges of "participation in an extremist group," an accusation widely used by authorities to target opposition members, civil society activists and independent journalists.
Zyankou has been in custody since his arrest in June, and his health has deteriorated behind bars, according to the independent Belarusian Association of Journalists.
"It's absurd that they sentenced a photographer to three years in prison for fulfilling his professional duty of taking pictures," said the association’s head, Andrei Bastunets. "The situation with freedom of speech in Belarus is the worst in Europe."
Zyankou refused to testify against himself during the trial held behind closed doors.
A total of 35 Belarusian journalists are in prison either awaiting trial or serving sentences.
PUTIN, LUKASHENKO TALK RUSSIA-BELARUS ALLIANCE IN ST. PETERSBURG
Belarusian authorities have cracked down on opponents of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko after huge protests triggered by the August 2020 election that gave him a sixth term. The balloting was viewed by the opposition and the West as fraudulent.
Protests swept the country for months, bringing hundreds of thousands into the streets. More than 35,000 people were arrested, thousands were beaten in police custody and hundreds of independent media outlets and nongovernmental organizations were shut down and outlawed.
More than 1,400 political prisoners remain behind bars, including leaders of opposition parties and renowned human rights advocate and 2022 Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski.
Spanish Parliament to vote on controversial amnesty bill for Catalan separatists
Spain's lower house of Parliament is to debate and vote Tuesday on an enormously divisive amnesty law that aims to sweep away the legal troubles of potentially hundreds of people who were involved in Catalonia’s unsuccessful 2017 independence bid.
Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez agreed to push through the law in exchange for parliamentary support from two small Catalan separatist parties, which enabled him to form a new minority leftist government late last year.
The bill could pave the way for the return of fugitive ex-Catalan President Carles Puigdemont — head of one of the separatist parties — who fled Spain to Belgium after leading the failed illegal secession bid in 2017 that brought the country to the brink.
SPAIN'S SÁNCHEZ DEFENDS CONTROVERSIAL AMNESTY DEAL BROKERED WITH CATALAN SEPARATISTS
A key question is whether Puigdemont's party will manage to include clauses in the bill that would cover him against all possible legal challenges if he returns. If it can´t, then it may shoot the bill down.
Puigdemont and the Catalan independence issue are anathema for many Spaniards, and the amnesty bill has roused the ire of the conservative and far-right opposition parties that represent roughly half the country’s population. Many in the judiciary and police are also opposed, as well as several top figures in Sánchez's own party.
Opposition parties have staged at least seven major demonstrations in recent months against the law.
Even if the bill is approved Tuesday, it is not known when the law might come into effect as it would have to go to the Senate, where the fiercely conservative leading opposition Popular Party has an absolute majority. The party has pledged to do all in its power to stall the bill in the Senate and challenge it in court.
Sánchez acknowledges that if he had not needed the Catalan separatists’ parliamentary support he would not have agreed to the amnesty. He also says that without their support, he could not have formed a government and the right wing could have gained office, having won most seats in the 2023 elections.
He now says that the amnesty will be positive for Spain because it will further calm waters inside Catalonia, and he boasts that his policies for Catalonia since taking office in 2018 have greatly eased tensions that existed between Madrid and Barcelona when the Popular Party was in office.
Sánchez's previous government granted pardons to several jailed leaders of the Catalan independence movement that helped heal wounds.
The vote needs to be passed by 176 lawmakers in the 350-seat lower house. Sánchez's minority coalition commands 147 seats but in principle has the backing of at least 30 more lawmakers.
Russian troops could disappear as Kremlin touts 'invisibility cloak'
Russia has developed and deployed new camouflage technology for its troops that many have nicknamed "invisibility cloaks," local news has reported.
"This new ‘cloak-nevidimka’ is part of the Russian - and previously Soviet - doctrine of ‘maskirovka’ (translated literally as ‘disguise’ but conceptually, the etymology is ‘masquerade’), which is the foundational principle of the Russian military doctrine," Rebekah Koffler, a strategic military intelligence analyst and the author of Putin's Playbook, told Fox News Digital.
"The idea is to fool the adversary about everything you do - mislead him about the presence, position and size of troops, timing and place of attack, prevent him from distinguishing types of military hardware," Koffler said.
"They place the premium on controlling and manipulating the adversary’s perception of what’s going on the battlefield," she continued. "The Russians spend a tremendous amount of resources on executing ‘maskirovka’ activities. Yes, they may not design an adequate military uniform to keep their soldiers warm, but they’d spend money on 'cloak-nevidimka.'"
Russian outlet TASS released an interview with HiderX on Jan. 19, when the company described many aspects of the new military tech, including the fact that it weighs 350 grams – or roughly three-quarters of a pound – can fold up and fit in a person’s pocket and works through concealing a heat signature.
"We design a completely new product – a camouflage suit that dilutes the silhouette," Russian firm HiderX told TASS of its new product. "It is a completely Russian technology that coats the fabric with a specific mixture."
ZELENSKYY WILL FACE ‘RECKONING’ WHEN WAR WITH RUSSIA ENDS, EXPERT SAYS
"It is our knowhow and we shall not disclose the details," the company claimed. "The suit screens the surrounding temperature of the objects. It effectively camouflages Russian soldiers against hostile heat seekers."
HiderX claimed that trials are "ongoing and have to be completed by the end of January."
EUROPEAN UNION LEADERS GROW FRUSTRATED AS HUNGARY BLOCKS $54 BILLION IN AID FOR UKRAINE
Current tech allows for Russian troops to "isolate heat" but has proven "ineffective," according to HiderX, who claims their tech works on the "heat exchange [that] goes naturally as the fabric breathes."
Koffler provided Fox News Digital with further details of the tech, noting that all such info derives from Russian sources, including TV Zvezda and Military review.
First and foremost, Koffler clarified that "trials" included battlefield testing in Ukraine. The full suit includes a hood, cap and "special glasses" and provides effective cover as close as two meters away from the soldier using it.
"The material itself has three layers: first, an internal layer, reflecting infrared (IR) radiation from the user's body; second, the middle layer, absorbing IR radiation; and an external, layer, reflecting IR radiation from the external environment," Koffler explained. "Cloak-Nevidimka was created at the RKhBZ Academy, which stands for Radiological Chemical Biological Defense."
"There’s a reason why the Russians want us to know that they’ve got this," Koffler stressed. "It doesn’t mean they are lying."
France's Macron receives ceremonious welcome as state visit to Sweden commences
French President Emmanuel Macron was welcomed Tuesday with pomp and ceremony at the start of a two-day state visit to Sweden during which he will meet Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and the Scandinavian country’s monarch, King Carl XVI Gustaf.
Macron and his wife, Brigitte, were greeted by the king in the inner courtyard of the downtown Stockholm royal castle that is the official residence of the Swedish royals. There, Macron and Carl Gustaf reviewed members of the Grenadier Guards that had lined up.
Macron noted that it had been too long since a French president visited Sweden — the last time was in 2014, when François Hollande traveled to the Scandinavian country.
PROTESTING FRENCH FARMERS PLAN 'SIEGE OF THE CAPITAL' IN PARIS, REJECTING GOVERNMENT CONCESSIONS
Later Tuesday, Macron is to discuss the future of European security at a military academy in Stockholm, together with Kristersson and the king. Russia's war on Ukraine and Sweden’s NATO application are likely to be on the table.
After more than a year of delays, Turkey earlier this month completed its ratification of Sweden’s bid to join NATO, meaning Hungary is now the last member of the military alliance not to have given its approval. All NATO countries must agree before a new member can join the alliance.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Sweden and neighboring Finland abandoned their traditional positions of military nonalignment to seek protection under NATO’s security umbrella. Finland joined the alliance last year.
On Wednesday, Macron and his wife are to travel to Malmö, Sweden’s third-largest city, in southern Sweden, where they will visit a European multidisciplinary research facility under construction and visit a company to discuss green technologies.
At home, Macron's government faces angry farmers who have camped out around Paris. They demand better pay, fewer constraints and lower costs. On Monday, they encircled Paris with traffic-snarling barricades, using hundreds of tractors and hay bales to block highways leading to the capital.
The French president initially was to travel to Sweden in late October, but the visit was postponed due to the Gaza war that began with Hamas’ attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7.
UK police fatally shoot crossbow-wielding suspect
A man reportedly armed with a crossbow was fatally shot by officers in London on Tuesday as he broke into a home where he had threatened the occupants, the Metropolitan Police said.
The suspect, believed to be in his 30s, was reportedly armed and threatened people in the home in the Southwark part of the city. He was trying to break into the house when officers arrived.
UK MAN WHO KILLED 2 COLLEGE STUDENTS, JANITOR SENTENCED TO HIGH-SECURITY HOSPITAL
When the man threatened officers who attempted to speak with him, armed police were called in. He was shot as he got inside the property. The man died at the scene after officers and paramedics tried to provide first aid.
Two of the people inside the building received minor injuries, police said but did not disclose how those people were injured.
Police said the Independent Office for Police Conduct, or IOPC, was conducting an independent investigation into the shooting.
"I understand the local community will be concerned at the events that have taken place this morning," Detective Chief Superintendent Seb Adjei-Addoh said. "We will fully support the IOPC investigation into the full circumstances of what happened."
