A couple separated and taken hostage by Hamas from the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, 2023, were reunited Monday after more than two years apart.

Avinatan Or was released from captivity after two years and was reunited with his partner, Noa Argamani, who had also been held hostage in Gaza. Footage posted on social media showed Or getting out of a van and waving to supporters upon his release.

Other videos showed him reuniting with his parents.

‘Noa Argamani and Avinatan Or are reunited at last,’ an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) post on X stated, accompanied by an image of Or kissing Argamani on the cheek. 

Argamani, a 27-year-old Israeli student born in China, was rescued in June 2024 during an IDF operation after eight months in Hamas captivity.

Video footage of Argamani being abducted at the festival and screaming while being taken on a motorcycle into Gaza quickly went viral and spread across the globe. Argamani’s mother, who was suffering from brain cancer when her daughter was kidnapped, worried she would not see her again.

Three weeks after Argamani was rescued, her mother passed away.

After her release, Argamani advocated for the release of the remaining hostages.

‘Being here today is a miracle, but I’m here to tell you we have no time,’ Argamani told the U.N. Security Council in February. She spoke about witnessing horrors, not receiving medical care, and being held in dire conditions.

Monday’s return of the remaining hostages in Gaza came after President Donald Trump secured a peace deal with Hamas following more than two years of fighting between the terror group and Israel.

On Monday, he traveled to Egypt, where he and several world leaders signed a historic Gaza peace plan following a summit.

The president called it a ‘tremendous day for the world’ and a ‘tremendous day for the Middle East.’

Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania marked the release of the remaining living hostages held by Hamas, the terror group that perpetrated the heinous October 7, 2023, attack in Israel.

He credited President Donald Trump with helping to negotiate the peace agreement that led to the release of the captives kidnapped during the attack.

‘The nightmare finally ends. May the hostages have a full recovery and may we never forget those who didn’t make it out alive. Credit to @POTUS for a breakthrough ceasefire of this awful war,’ Fetterman noted in his post on X.

Fetterman began his post with a quote from former hostage Eli Sharabi, who was released back in February. That two-word quote, ‘Now, life,’ comes from Sharabi’s memoir, ‘Hostage.’

Fetterman has been a steadfast and ardent supporter of Israel in the wake of the horrific 2023 attack and the war that followed.

‘I congratulate @POTUS on this historic peace plan that releases all the hostages. Now, enduring peace in the region is possible. Our parties are different but we have a shared ironclad commitment to Israel and its people,’ he noted in a post on X last week.

Fetterman also marked the 250th anniversary of the Navy on Monday.

‘250 years of defending freedom and protecting prosperity—and the finest sailors of the strongest naval force in the world. Proud to be the grandson of Lt. Commander Donald Fetterman, who served in the Pacific Theater of WWII. Happy 250th Birthday, @USNavy!’ he noted in a post on X, adding the American flag emoji and a black-and-white photo presumably his grandfather.

The Senate is set to return on Tuesday to again vote on whether to reopen the government, but like many times before, the plan is expected to fail again as a deal remains elusive.

Lawmakers in the upper chamber are expected to vote for an eighth time on the House GOP’s continuing resolution (CR), as the government shutdown inches closer to its third week. But after a long weekend away from Washington, D.C., it’s unlikely either party has shifted from their positions.

Senate Republicans want to pass the House’s ‘clean’ short-term funding extension, which would reopen the government until Nov. 21. Included are millions in spending for lawmaker security and a budget fix for D.C.’s local government.

But Senate Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., remain adamant that they will not provide Republicans and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., the needed votes to reopen the government unless there is a firm deal to extend expiring Obamacare subsidies.

Both sides are talking, breaking up into small groups that are focused on some of the Democrats’ demands, like extending the subsidies or putting guardrails on future rescissions and impoundments of federal funding.

Still, no concrete negotiations or an off-ramp out of the shutdown have materialized.

‘I think Leader Schumer’s checked out,’ Thune told reporters on Friday. ‘I don’t think this is going to happen. I think this is going to happen organically with enough reasonable Senate Democrats who care enough about doing the right thing for their country and not what’s in the best interests of their left-wing political base to come forward and help us find a solution.’

So far only three Senate Democratic caucus members, Sens. John Fetterman, D-Pa., Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., and Angus King, I-Vt., have consistently crossed the aisle to reopen the government.

One key deadline, which was expected to make Democrats squeamish as the shutdown continued on, was met over the weekend. While lawmakers were away, President Donald Trump authorized Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to use ‘all available funds’ to pay military service members by Oct. 15.

But Schumer has remained steadfast that he and Democrats want more than just a guarantee on the expiring subsidies and demands that Thune, Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., come to the negotiating table.

‘We Democrats want to end this shutdown as quickly as we can,’ Schumer said on the Senate floor. ‘But Donald Trump and Republicans need to negotiate with us in a serious way to fix the health care premiums crisis. We can and should do both. It’s not either or, like Republicans think.’

But Senate Republicans have countered throughout the shutdown that Democrats routinely voted for CRs under former President Joe Biden, and that the only difference between then and now is that Trump is in office.

‘A political game is being played by the Democrats because they think that every day gets better for them,’ Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said. ‘And this isn’t right versus left. This is right versus wrong. That’s what we’re facing in this country today.’

And there’s still another deadline on Capitol Hill fast approaching, this time to pay Senate staff.

‘I’m concerned about everybody going without pay,’ Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., said. ‘We need to open the government back up, and I think people need to sit down and talk to each other. And so far, the president has been unwilling to talk, the leadership in both houses have been unwilling to talk.’ 

President Donald Trump told Fox News in an exclusive interview Monday that he credits the U.S. strikes on key Iranian nuclear sites for making the Israel-Hamas peace deal possible.

Trump made the comments to Fox News’ Trey Yingst in Israel after Hamas freed the remaining 20 living Israeli hostages from captivity in Gaza. 

‘I think it really started when we took out the nuclear capability of Iran,’ Trump said, referring to the June strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites. ‘When you look at what they had, you couldn’t have made this deal with someone sitting over there with a nuclear weapon over your head.’

Trump said that other countries around the Middle East were ‘fantastic’ in helping the U.S. broker the peace deal, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Egypt.

‘That’s the amazing thing,’ Trump said. ‘Everybody came together at this point. If you go back six months or seven months, you would have said a thing like this was impossible.’

Trump added that even with his impact as the U.S. president, the deal wouldn’t have happened if the dozens of countries that make up the Middle East did not want it to.

‘They all wanted this to happen,’ Trump said, ‘and it’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.’

Yingst said Trump emphasized that the Gaza deal is only the beginning of what he hopes will become a wider movement toward peace across the Middle East.

When asked about the state of Iran’s nuclear program today, Trump said it is nonexistent.

‘They don’t have a nuclear program,’ Trump said of Iran. ‘It was obliterated.’

In June, the U.S. launched Operation Midnight Hammer, the longest large-scale B-2 bombing mission in history, striking Iran’s nuclear sites with 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs.

Trump had immediately proclaimed Iran’s nuclear program had been ‘completely and totally obliterated,’ though skeptics and opponents of the strikes voiced caution about declaring the mission a success before a final damage assessment was finished.

Trump also told Yingst that he believes Iran is going to be a country that ‘wants to get back into the world of good economies.’ Trump added that Iran has shown signs of being open to diplomacy and that he has since spoken to Iran’s leadership, though he declined to specify which leader.

‘The last thing they’re going to do is get into the nuclear world again because look what it’s gotten them, and I would just have to do it again,’ the president said of Iran and the strikes.

Trump arrived in Israel Monday morning to coincide with the prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas.

The 20 living Israeli hostages were released as part of an agreement intended to end the conflict that began with the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas terrorists. Hamas terrorists killed more than 1,200 people and took around 240 hostages in southern Israel during the attack. Two years of fighting in Gaza followed, which resulted in tens of thousands estimated dead.

In exchange for the remaining living hostages, Israel began releasing around 2,000 Palestinian detainees, including approximately 250 identified as terrorists.

This is a breaking news story; check back for updates.

Fox News Digital’s Morgan Phillips and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., delivered a stark warning during a Monday press conference on Day 13 of the government shutdown.

‘We’re barreling toward one of the longest shutdowns in American history unless Democrats drop their partisan demands and pass a clean, no-strings-attached budget to reopen the government and pay our federal workers,’ the leader of the House of Representatives said.

The government entered into a shutdown nearly two weeks ago on Oct. 1 after Senate Democrats rejected the GOP’s federal funding plan. They have since blocked consideration of the same bill six more times. 

During his press conference, Johnson referenced former President Barack Obama telling a crowd over a decade ago, ‘There is one way out of this reckless and damaging Republican shutdown: Congress has to pass a budget that funds our government with no partisan strings attached.’

‘What I just read was a direct quote. Those are not my words. They belong to President Barack Obama. He was speaking there in 2013 when our government was shut down for 16 days,’ he said. ‘This would be the third-longest government shutdown in American history, that one would be.’

He added, ‘If Democrats keep up their obstruction here today, that’s where we’re going to be headed.’

The longest shutdown in U.S. history lasted 35 days between December 2018 and January 2019, during President Donald Trump’s first term.

The second-longest was a 21-day shutdown under former President Bill Clinton between December 1995 and January 1996, followed by the shutdown under Obama.

At this point, the 2025 shutdown is the fifth-longest in history, just behind the 1978 shutdown under former President Jimmy Carter.

Republicans proposed a seven-week bill extending fiscal year (FY) 2025 federal funding levels through Nov. 21 called a continuing resolution (CR). It’s aimed at giving congressional negotiators more time to strike a longer-term agreement on FY2026, which began on Oct. 1.

It’s largely free of policy riders — save for an added $88 million in security funding for lawmakers, the White House and the judicial branch — and it has bipartisan support.

It passed the House along mostly partisan lines on Sept. 19. But Democrats in the House and Senate were largely infuriated by being sidelined in federal funding talks and are now demanding that any spending deal also include an extension of COVID-19 pandemic-era enhanced Obamacare subsidies that are set to expire at the end of this year.

Following Hamas’ release of all 20 remaining living hostages held in Gaza on Monday, pictures and videos are pouring in of their families’ reunifications. 

The hostages have arrived back in Israel, where they will undergo medical checks after 738 days in captivity. Their release was part of a deal aimed at ending two years of war.

When Guy Gilboa-Dalal met his family at the initial reception point following his release, his family shouted and hugged him so tightly they were hanging off of him as they went into another room. Moments later, the group posed for a photo.

Israeli twins Gali and Ziv Berman, 28, were all smiles when they were handed over to the IDF and saw each other face to face. Hostages previously released had said the twins from Kfar Aza were held separately.

Photos of the first seven hostages to be freed Monday showed them looking pale but less gaunt than some of the hostages freed in January.

‘Generations from now, this will be remembered as the moment that everything began to change,’ President Donald Trump declared to the Israeli Knesset during a longer than 40-minute address on Monday. 

Trump spoke with families at the Knesset building as they expressed their gratitude for helping to bring them back together with their loved ones.

While Israel started to free hundreds of Palestinians from its prisons, major questions remain unanswered over what happens next, raising the risk of sliding back into war — even as the world pushes for peace.

The war began when Hamas-led militants launched a surprise attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in which some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and 251 were taken hostage.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

A new House GOP proposal would withhold funding from U.S. jurisdictions that celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day instead of Columbus Day.

It comes after President Donald Trump signed a proclamation last week declaring Oct. 13 Columbus Day in honor of the famed explorer as well as the heritage of Italian Americans across the U.S.

‘This is about every son and daughter of Italy, every Knights of Columbus, every pasta dinner on Sunday, and every communion — everything that makes our culture who we are, from Philadelphia to San Francisco,’ Rep. Michael Rulli, R-Ohio, told Fox News Digital in an interview.

‘Every Little Italy neighborhood of this country celebrates Christopher Columbus. It’s so much more than the man. It’s the people.’

Rulli’s new bill would both reaffirm Columbus Day as a federal holiday and punish cities and states that replaced the celebration of it with Indigenous Peoples Day.

‘We are not going to allow any American municipality to think that they have power over the federal government,’ he said.

In 2021, then-President Joe Biden formally recognized the second Monday in October as both Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples Day.

The move was lauded by progressive activists and historians who saw Christopher Columbus as the harbinger of a genocide against the land’s indigenous people, millions of whom were killed amid American colonization.

But Rulli argued that Columbus Day was about honoring Italian Americans’ heritage, pointing out that part of the motivation for its founding in 1892 was the extrajudicial lynching of 11 Italian Americans in New Orleans after the death of a local police chief.

He added his legislation was not meant to undercut the significance of Native Americans — whom he said deserve their own day of significance.

‘I mean, the Native Americans are some of the most amazing, dynamic cultural people that make up the fabric of America. But they need their own special day,’ Rulli said. ‘And I would be willing to do that. I’m saying right now, I would be willing to get the Indigenous people their own day, but not this day.’

He further accused the Biden administration of undercutting the legacy of both peoples by declaring both holidays on the same day, while praising Trump for restoring Columbus Day’s original meaning.

‘I don’t care what party you’re in … if you come from Italian-American descent, you love what President Trump did. It was a wonderful olive branch to all Italian Americans,’ Rulli said.

‘By no means, no way, shape or form, is this bill meant to offend any of the indigenous people. They deserve their own day. We will get them their own day, but not Columbus Day. This has already been embedded in our fabric for 130 years,’ he said.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned that if the U.S. supplies Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles, that ‘could end badly for everyone … most of all, for Trump himself,’ according to a Google translation of his Russian-language Telegram post.

‘It’s been said a hundred times, in a manner understandable even to the star-spangled man, that it’s impossible to distinguish a nuclear Tomahawk missile from a conventional one in flight,’ Russian Security Council deputy chair Medvedev noted.

While speaking aboard Air Force One on Sunday, President Donald Trump raised the prospect of supplying Ukraine with the long-range weapons if the Russia-Ukraine war is not going to be settled.

The U.S. commander-in-chief described Tomahawks as a ‘very offensive weapon,’ noting, ‘honestly, Russia does not need that.’

Trump has been seeking to help broker peace between the two warring foreign nations.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.

During an appearance on the Fox News Channel, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy indicated that Tomahawks would be utilized for ‘only military goals,’ asserting that Ukraine never attacks Russian civilians.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday praised President Donald Trump as the ‘greatest friend’ Israel has ever had, as Hamas released the last 20 living hostages under the new peace deal.

‘No American president has ever done more for Israel,’ Netanyahu said. ‘It ain’t even close.’

He thanked Trump for ‘standing up for Israel’ at the United Nations, recognizing Israel’s rights in the West Bank — or the Judea and Samaria  — and withdrawing from the ‘disastrous’ Iran nuclear deal.

‘Thank you for supporting Operation Rising Lion and for your bold decision to launch Operation Midnight Hammer,’ Netanyahu said, referring to the June strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites. ‘Boy, you got to hear this — this is the most fitting name ever given to a military operation, because a little after midnight, you really hammered them.’

Netanyahu announced that he has nominated Trump to be the first non-Israeli recipient of the Israel Prize, which he described as the nation’s ‘highest award.’

During his own speech, Trump said of Netanyahu with a smile, ‘He’s not easy — not the easiest guy to deal with — but that’s what makes him great.’

After Hamas terrorists attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing more than 1,200 people and taking around 240 hostages, which resulted in two years of fighting in Gaza and left tens of thousands estimated dead, Israel and Hamas agreed to a breakthrough peace deal last week after months of mediation by Trump administration officials. 

The prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas began Monday, with Hamas releasing the final 20 living hostages in exchange for Israel freeing 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. The release was part of a sweeping 20-point peace plan aimed at ending the conflict and rebuilding Gaza. So far, only four of the 28 presumed dead hostages have been returned.

Under the agreement, Israel halted military operations and withdrew to pre-defined lines while preparations began for a complete hostage exchange. Hamas members who renounce violence will be granted amnesty or safe passage, while those who continue resistance will be excluded from Gaza’s future governance.

Humanitarian aid — including critical supplies, infrastructure repair, and medical support — will flow freely into Gaza under the supervision of the United Nations, the Red Crescent, and other neutral organizations.

Gaza’s governance will transition to a technocratic Palestinian committee overseen by an international ‘Board of Peace’ chaired by Trump, alongside former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and other global leaders. This body will manage Gaza’s redevelopment until a reformed Palestinian Authority is prepared to take control.

A Trump-led economic development plan will seek to attract international investment and transform Gaza into a ‘thriving modern miracle city,’ supported by a special economic zone with preferential trade terms. The plan promises that no residents will be forced to leave Gaza, emphasizing voluntary participation in rebuilding efforts.

Security arrangements include the creation of a U.S.-led International Stabilization Force (ISF) to train Palestinian police, secure borders, and oversee disarmament. Israel will not occupy or annex Gaza but will gradually withdraw as security milestones are met. Regional partners, including Egypt and Jordan, will help ensure compliance and prevent the resurgence of militant threats.

Galvanized by President Donald Trump’s sweeping second-term agenda, a new generation of progressive Democrats is working to redefine the party’s future.

The original ‘Squad,’ a group of young, left-wing lawmakers, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2018 as a referendum on Trump’s first term. 

Now, with Trump back in the Oval Office and Republicans controlling both the House and Senate, a new wave of progressive candidates is emerging across the country.

Zohran Mamdani

Zohran Mamdani’s Democratic primary win shocked the political establishment in June when the self-identified democratic socialist handily defeated former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in New York City’s mayoral primary.

The New York assemblyman has centered his campaign around affordability, successfully using social media to build a broad coalition of support among New Yorkers. 

Mamdani’s platform includes ambitious campaign promises like freezing the rent, free childcare, fast and free buses, city-run grocery stores, raising the minimum wage and ‘Trump-proofing’ New York City. 

He plans to pay for his ambitious campaign promises by raising taxes on corporations and the top 1% of New Yorkers. 

Mamdani has been endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America. 

Trump has labeled Mamdani a ‘100% Communist Lunatic’ and ‘My Little Communist,’ but Mamdani has maintained that he is a democratic socialist. 

Omar Fateh

Dubbed the ‘Mamdani of Minneapolis,’ Minnesota state Sen. Omar Fateh is running for Minneapolis mayor this year. 

Like Mamdani, Fateh is a self-identified democratic socialist and has been endorsed by the DSA. 

Fateh, the son of immigrant parents from Somalia, has committed to raising the city’s minimum wage, increasing the supply of affordable housing and combating what he calls police violence. 

Similar to Mamdani, Fateh has called for replacing some of the police department’s duties with community-led alternatives. He also wants to issue legal IDs to illegal immigrants.

Kat Abughazaleh

Kat Abughazaleh, 26, is the progressive Gen Z candidate running for Illinois’ 9th Congressional District next year. 

A viral video of an ICE agent shoving Abughazaleh to the ground outside the Broadview U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility on Sept. 19 has become a flash point in the divisive debate over Trump’s deportation rollout. 

Abughazaleh is a former journalist and activist who frequents protests outside the ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois. 

She recently accused Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem of perpetrating ‘crimes against humanity.’

Abughazaleh garnered national attention earlier this year for questioning why it’s controversial that illegal immigrants should have access to taxpayer-funded healthcare. 

‘I don’t have health insurance, and I’m running for Congress,’ the young progressive’s campaign website reads. 

Aftyn Behn

Aftyn Behn, a former healthcare community organizer and current Democrat state representative, on Tuesday secured the Democratic nomination to represent Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District.

The Dickson County Democratic Party described Behn as ‘our very own AOC of TN,’ referring to ‘Squad’ member Ocasio-Cortez, according to The Tennessee Star.

On her campaign website, Behn describes herself as a ‘pissed-off social worker,’ who was inspired to run for the House of Representatives after Congress passed Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act earlier this year. 

Behn is running in the special election to replace Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., who retired from Congress earlier this year. 

Mallory McMorrow

Mallory McMorrow has long been considered a rising star in the Democratic Party.

She announced her bid for U.S. Senate in Michigan earlier this year, framing herself as an outsider and calling for a new generation of leaders in Washington ahead of next year’s midterm elections. 

McMorrow has said she would not vote for Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to continue as the party leader, adding that it is time for him to step back.

The 38-year-old Michigan state senator garnered national attention for her viral speech to the Michigan state Senate in 2022, where she pushed back on allegations from a Republican lawmaker that she was ‘grooming’ and ‘sexualizing’ children. 

‘I am the biggest threat to your hollow, hateful scheme,’ McMorrow said, calling out Republican state Sen. Lana Theis for invoking her name in a fundraising email. ‘We will not let hate win.’

Fox News Digital reached out to the Democratic National Committee, Mamdani, Fateh, Abughazaleh, Behn and McMorrow but did not receive responses. 

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.