Iran Guards recruiting children as young as 12, putting them on front lines of war

Iran is ramping up the recruitment of children as young as the age of 12 into military-linked roles tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), according to new reports by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.

The reports underscore mounting pressure inside Iran’s war effort. As U.S. and Israeli strikes intensify, rights groups and analysts say recruiting children points to manpower shortages and a growing reliance on paramilitary forces to hold the home front. It also escalates the human cost of the conflict, placing minors in direct danger while exposing Iran to potential war crimes liability. 

Human Rights Watch said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has launched a campaign called "Homeland Defending Combatants for Iran," lowering the minimum recruitment age to 12 and encouraging minors to sign up in mosques and through Basij, a volunteer paramilitary force under the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. 

The roles go beyond support tasks and include "operational patrols," staffing checkpoints and intelligence activities, putting children directly in harm’s way as fighting intensifies across the country.

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Amnesty International said the recruitment and deployment of children under 15 "constitutes a war crime," and backed its findings with verified visual evidence and eyewitness accounts.

The organization analyzed 16 photos and videos published since Saturday, showing children carrying weapons, including AK-pattern rifles, and deployed alongside Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Basij forces at checkpoints, on patrols and during state-organized rallies in Iranian cities including Tehran, Mashhad and Kermanshah.

Amnesty also documented the fatal consequences. On Sunday, 11-year-old Alireza Jafari was killed at a checkpoint in Iran while accompanying his father, a Basij member, the group said. Authorities said he was killed "while serving" following an Israeli drone strike.

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According to Amnesty, the boy’s mother told the Iranian newspaper Hamshahri that her husband had reported a shortage of personnel at checkpoints and took their two sons with him. She said he told their son he "must get prepared for the days ahead," adding that children as young as 15 and 16 are commonly involved in checkpoint duties.

Eyewitness accounts reviewed by Amnesty describe children visibly struggling to handle weapons. One person in Tehran wrote: "I saw a child at a checkpoint near our house … I think he was about 15… It seemed like he was struggling to breathe from the effort of lifting the gun."

Another witness in Karaj, Iran, reported seeing a child "holding a Kalashnikov rifle," while a third in Rasht said some appeared to be "13 years old at most," warning they could "fire randomly."

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In one video cited by Amnesty, filmed March 30 in Mashhad, Iran, two children wearing Basij uniforms and balaclavas were seen carrying assault rifles while positioned on a moving vehicle during a state-organized rally, elevated above a cheering crowd.

The recruitment campaign itself has been promoted through official channels, including posters depicting children alongside armed adults under the slogan "Basij with people, for people," accompanied by a quote attributed to Iran’s Supreme Leader calling for Basij forces to remain central to the revolution.

Iranian officials have defended the policy by pointing to what they describe as strong demand among teenagers.

In a televised interview with Iranian state media, IRGC official Rahim Nadali said the minimum age was set at 12 because "teenagers and the youth repeatedly have come and said that they want to take part." 

"There is no excuse for a military recruitment drive that targets children to sign up, much less 12-year-olds," Human Rights Watch’s Bill Van Esveld said.

The reports come as the United Nations classifies the recruitment of children in armed conflict as a "grave violation," with international law prohibiting the enlistment of children under 15 and setting 18 as the standard for participation in hostilities.

Both organizations called on Iranian authorities to immediately halt the recruitment of minors and release those already serving. 

Iran's mission to the United Nations declined Fox News Digital's comment request. 

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Jewish communities on high alert as Passover begins amid rising security threats nationwide

As Jewish families across the United States celebrate Passover, an intensifying threat environment is shaping how communities approach the holiday and beyond. Tensions tied to the war with Iran, attacks against Jews and Jewish institutions have led to concerns over the community’s safety and security.

From Miami to New York, officials are responding to what they describe as a sustained and evolving threat landscape. At a pre-Passover security strategy briefing at the NYPD, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told Jewish community leaders, "It is clear that we will be in a heightened state of alert for the foreseeable future," a warning that comes as policymakers and security experts point to a widening gap between the level of threat facing Jewish communities and the federal resources available to protect them.

Despite security fears, funding for houses of worship in the United States remains below what experts say is needed to meet the current threat, even as antisemitic incidents continue to rise.

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According to data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, anti-Jewish hate crimes have consistently accounted for the largest share of religion-based crime incidents in the United States in recent years.

The gap between risk and resources has become a central concern for those working directly with affected communities. Scott Feltman, Preventative Security Analyst and Executive Vice President at One Israel Fund, said no religious group should have to choose between remaining open and ensuring safety.

"No one should feel unsafe walking into a synagogue, church, mosque or temple in New Jersey or anywhere in America," Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N., told Fox News Digital, who in recent weeks has been advocating for an increase in federal Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) funding to $1 billion in fiscal year 2027, a proposal currently under consideration in Congress.

Recent attacks underscore the urgency. In Michigan, a man rammed a vehicle into a synagogue in West Bloomfield and opened fire while more than 100 preschool children were inside. In California, two Jewish men speaking Hebrew were reportedly assaulted in a restaurant while the attacker shouted antisemitic slurs.

Jesse Arm, Manhattan Institute vice president for external affairs, told Fox News Digital, "What the latest attempted massacre made clear — when an Islamist from Dearborn via Lebanon tried to ram an explosive-laden truck into a synagogue preschool in my hometown of West Bloomfield, Michigan — is that security works. The presence of trained, armed guards helped save the lives of 140 American children and their caretakers.

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"But the broader lesson for the Jewish community is that safety cannot be outsourced entirely to the federal government or to any administration. It requires a cultural shift: normalizing lawful firearm ownership and training, hardening facilities at every level, and investing in the day schools, camps and identity-forming institutions that build communities confident and rooted enough to defend themselves." 

Arm had praise for the administration in its fight against antisemitism: "President Trump has been a godsend for American Jewry. His administration has been unambiguous in its commitment to Jewish safety — naming antisemitism as a serious national security threat, taking a hard line on campus radicalism and prioritizing the kind of border security and counter-jihadist vigilance that the previous administration routinely soft-pedaled. American Jews should recognize that and be immensely grateful for it."
 

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The federal Nonprofit Security Grant Program, administered by FEMA, currently allows at-risk institutions to apply for up to $200,000 per location. In practice, however, many organizations receive less than that amount, often after delays that can stretch one to three years, and demand for the program has exceeded available funding in recent years, with applications far outpacing the number of grants awarded, according to federal data.

Security experts add that the delay between identifying a threat and receiving funding can leave institutions without the protections recommended by security professionals during periods of heightened risk.

To address those gaps, experts recommend layered security measures including trained personnel, reinforced entry points, surveillance systems, controlled access and emergency response training, which they estimate require between $400,000 and $500,000 in funding per location, roughly double the current federal cap. Security experts say both the funding level and the timeline for distribution have become central concerns as incidents continue to rise.

Steven Ingber, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Detroit, said much of the financial burden for security continues to fall on the Jewish community itself rather than being fully addressed through government support.

As that debate continues, officials are urging institutions to remain vigilant and maintain close coordination with local law enforcement, particularly during periods of increased tension tied to global events.

Fox News Digital reached out to FEMA for comment but did not receive a response.

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Nepal probe exposes $20M fraudulent rescue scheme involving lacing Mt Everest hikers' food: report

An investigation has exposed a nearly $20 million insurance scam in Nepal involving guides who allegedly fake or induce mountainside rescues, including by lacing the food of some hikers near Mt. Everest, according to a report by The Kathmandu Post.

Kathmandu is the capital of Nepal, where some adventurous individuals go to climb Mount Everest, the world's highest peak. 

The mountain sits on the border of Nepal and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

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The Kathmandu Post reported that after it highlighted the fraud in 2018, the government established a fact-finding committee, issued a 700-page report and declared reforms. 

But last year, the Nepal Police’s Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) reopened the matter and discovered that the fraud was increasing.

The outlet indicated that the CIB probe points out two main fraudulent scenarios.

One involves guides suggesting to tired adventurers who do not want to walk back that if they feign illness, a chopper will pick them up, according to The Kathmandu Post.

The outlet reported that, in the other scenario, guides and hotel staff, according to the CIB probe, have been coached to scare trekkers at high altitude, where altitude sickness can occur. They allegedly claim that the trekkers are in danger of dying and that only immediate evacuation will spare them. 

In some instances, investigators discovered that Diamox (acetazolamide) tablets, utilized to prevent altitude sickness, were given in conjunction with excessive water intake to cause the symptoms that would give grounds for a rescue, the outlet reported. 

In at least one instance noted in the investigation, guides allegedly laced food with baking powder to cause people to be unwell, the outlet stated.

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Police recorded a case in which four individuals were picked up on one chopper flight, but insurance claims were filed as more than one separate rescue, the report noted.

The framework tying the system of mass fraud together was detailed in police interrogations, according to the outlet, which reported that hospitals shell out 20% to 25% of the insurance money to trekking businesses and 20% to 25% to chopper rescue operators in return for patient referrals. 

Trekking guides and their businesses get a boost from inflated invoices, the outlet suggested. In some instances, tourists are offered money to join in the scam, The Kathmandu Post added.

In the period between 2022 and 2025, investigators found a whopping 4,782 foreign patients serviced at implicated hospitals, with 171 cases verified as fraudulent rescues, the outlet reported. During that span, Era International Hospital raked in deposits of over $15.87 million for such activities and Shreedhi International Hospital got more than $1.22 million, the outlet reported.

Mountain Rescue Service carried out 171 fake rescues from an overall 1,248 charter flights, scoring around $10.31 million from insurers, the outlet reported, adding that Nepal Charter Service executed 75 fake rescues out of 471 flights, claiming $8.2 million. Everest Experience and Assistance was allegedly tied to 71 suspicious rescues out of 601 flights, with claims of $11.04 million.

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CIB charged 32 people last month with offenses against the state and organized crime, the outlet reported, noting that nine individuals were arrested while others were said to be absconding.

Individuals from Mountain Helicopters, Altitude Air and Manang Air, which was rebranded as Basecamp Helicopters, as well as physicians and administrators with Swacon International Hospital, Shreedhi International Hospital and Era International Hospital were among the individuals who have been charged, the outlet indicated.

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Iran regime uses war to mask 'brutal' execution surge against political opponents

The Islamic Republic of Iran is on track to exceed the record number of executions it carried out against opponents in 2025, with 657 executions in the first three months of the year, according to the Iran Human Rights Society.  

Hiding behind the war with the U.S. and Israel, critics say the regime appears desperate to eliminate opposition, particularly following anti-regime demonstrations that shook the nation's rulers and resulted in tens of thousands being murdered by the country's security forces and militias.

In March, the regime was met with condemnations, including from President Donald Trump, over the execution of 19-year-old wrestler Saleh Mohammadi.

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On Iran's latest killing spree, a State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital, "This latest barbaric act is more evidence of why the regime can never be allowed the advanced capabilities that we are destroying."

The United Nations special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mai Sato, said that since the start of the war at least six executions have taken place as of March 30 and noted on her X account that an additional two executions took place on March 31.

Sato described the regime’s known victims as protesters, an accused spy for Israel, and individuals charged with "armed rebellion" against the regime. Sato said that "due to the internet blackout, it is unclear who else has been executed or are at risk of execution." She said, "What is clear is that the death penalty is being used as a tool for suppressing political opposition in wartime conditions."

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The secretariat of the NCRI provided a written statement to Fox News Digital describing the recent executions of four members of the Iranian dissident organization People’s Mohahedin Organization of Iran (PMOE/MEK). The NCRI said members Mohammad Taghavi and Akbar Daneshvarkar were transferred from Ghezel Hesar prison on March 29 and executed the following morning. Four additional members of the group, Babak Alipour, Vahid Bani Amerian, Abolhassan Montazer and Pouya Ghobadi, were transferred as well. On March 31, the regime executed Alipour and Ghobadi.

Ali Safavi, a member of the NCRI’s Foreign Affairs Committee, called for "urgent action" to save the lives of Amerian and Montazer.

Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the NCRI, posted on X that the execution conducted on March 31 "reflects the clerical regime’s fear and desperation." She called on the United Nations and its member states to engage in "practical and effective measures, including the closure of embassies and the expulsion of the regime’s terrorist diplomats and agents."

Before the Islamic Republic killed thousands of its own people during January protests, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights stated that the Islamic Republic carried out "at least" 1,500 executions in 2025. According to the high commissioner, "the scale and pace of executions suggest a systematic use of capital punishment as a tool of State intimidation, with disproportionate impact on ethnic minorities and migrants."

Amnesty International has raised similar concerns, and additionally noted that five "young protesters" now "face the imminent risk of execution," having been transferred from Ghezal Hesar "to an unidentified location" as of March 31.

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Israeli paramedic delivers baby, rushes it to bomb shelter during Iran attack

Dr. Gal Rosen is an Israeli paramedic who has saved lives under the threat of missile attacks.

Racing from emergency to emergency, heart pounding, but calm under fire — "don't think, just act."

He said he lost his mother when he was a child at the hands of a murderous terrorist. He saved lives as an army paramedic, but he continues to do it now as a civilian — defiantly choosing to live in Israel and work at Tel Aviv's Magen David Adom (MDA) while under threat and emergencies from multiple-front wars.

He saves lives in the "dark" of war. He sees lives go, sometimes after making difficult split-second decisions.

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"We need to choose sometimes," he says, speaking to Fox News Digital during a rare moment off between emergencies. "And this is hard."

But, today, he is sharing a story of "light': a stark contrast from the stories he usually refuses to share with his family to spare them the horrifying realities of war — even if they live those themselves.

Last Thursday, Rosen delivered a healthy baby boy into the world and, in sudden threat of a missile attack and blaring sirens, carried that son away from the mother in the ambulance as he and the father raced to reach a bomb shelter.

This is his fifth emergency delivery of a newborn as a paramedic. It was his first under the threat of a missile attack and blaring sirens.

"It was so surrealistic situation, in my opinion, never happened to me, something like this," he said, able to smile about the gravity of it all one week later, after finally finding sleep and time to reflect.

"This is an amazing thing to share at home," Rosen said. "Most of my stories are not like this, most of our stories I share are really hard things for my family to hear. This is why, usually, I'm not sharing with my family stories from my work: 'Sorry, I'm not doing it.'

"Car accidents or about the CPRs or about really difficult situations that I had to deal with."

Just two days after bringing one life into the world, he saw five go.

"I had, like last Saturday, five cases of death in the shift," he said. "I don't want to get home and tell about it in my family, right? But this story is amazing.

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"I went to my grandma," he continued, "and said, 'You have to hear it.'

"She was so proud of me and also my family and my father and my friends and my partner. Of course, this is a really nice story to tell to everyone."

The call came around 6:30 a.m. local Tel Aviv time on a Thursday morning: a woman was in labor, getting an assist on emergency delivery over the phone as if it was a movie.

But this was real life, a new life, and war.

By the time the MDA paramedic team arrived, the baby was still inside and the husband was helping his wife through the final moments of delivery. Dr. Rosen stepped in for the last few minutes and helped safely deliver the boy.

Then came the alert.

Within moments, a warning sounded that a missile attack on Tel Aviv was expected in about 10 minutes. The paramedic suddenly had to balance the urgency of a wartime emergency with the delicate, critical first steps of childbirth.

He quickly placed the newborn on the mother’s chest for skin-to-skin contact, a key step for bonding and early development. He had the father cut the umbilical cord and helped the mother nurse the baby for the first time.

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"I tried to do something as close as possible to reality for them," he said, wanting to preserve the intimacy of a normal birth even though they were far from a hospital delivery room.

With the help of the father and her team, he then moved the family into the building’s shelter. There, in the middle of blaring alarms and the sounds of missile interceptions overhead, relatives from the apartment building — a grandmother, an aunt and others — came downstairs and saw the baby for the first time.

"It was the first time they met the baby, while there were alarms," he said. 

"Adrenaline" and former army paramedic instinct took over.

"I put the helmet, I put the vest and everything, I took the baby, and we stopped by the side and I ran with the baby to a public shelter," he recalled. "So me and the father, we're running together, I'm taking the baby with me, running to a shelter and just a random building and there was no shelter there.

"'OK, this is not good.' We need to go out.

"And we're going out. There is still alarms; I know that we have like maybe 20 seconds left, going to another building, and then we're getting into a public shelter. There is 50 people there in the shelter and they closed the door. We were still there standing in the shelter, so I gave the father the baby.

"I didn't want the idea for the father also — you know in the future — to think about the situation that a stranger held his baby while there is a missile attack."

In the shelter, with the postpartum mother still in the ambulance under the Iron Dome, the unmistakable sound of war came with a shock.

"We also heard the interception with the Iron Dome," Rosen said.

The sound, he said, was impossible to ignore: "a boom," followed by a shock wave you could feel.

The air was vibrating.

The grateful father and mother, identified by MDA as Nikola and Violet, said the experience was frightening but that the emergency team helped keep them calm.

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"It wasn’t a simple experience," they wrote in a joint statement, preferring to keep privacy but permitting Dr. Rosen to share the war story out of praise and thankfulness.

"The labor started at home, and just minutes after the MDA team delivered the baby, the siren caught us, and we went down to a shelter. The team functioned amazingly, calmed us, and treated us in the best possible way. This isn’t the ideal experience, but we’re happy everything ended safely, and we’re grateful to the team who helped us so much."

In that cramped shelter of about 50 huddling Israelis, surrounded by strangers and the threat of falling missiles, the room broke into applause. People congratulated the father and shouted "Mazal tov."

Mother was still in the ambulance with members of the MDA team, still at risk postpartum, as the Iron Dome was busting missiles overhead.

"And after 10 minutes that we sat there, we went out, and we walked in the street with a baby, 30 minutes old, crossing the intersection together, going to the ambulance," Rosen said. "They put a helmet on her and a vest on the mother, and one of my teammates stayed with her, because she couldn't come to the shelter. It was too much time, too risky for her.

"And, you know, in these moments, I didn't think so much. So I just act.

"I realized that it would be better to protect the son; it would better to go to find a shelter. And we didn't think about the idea that maybe we'll be in alarms, because we were in the situation, we were at the moment, we're with the family, with the delivery, with everything, and you can't imagine something like this — even though it's Israel, and now we can actually imagine everything.

"Still, it was really, really, really exciting — excitement and happiness – and a good thing because most of our days right now are dark."

Despite losing his mother to a murderous terrorist and living under the threat of multiple-front wars and shrieking Iron Dome sirens and missile attacks, Rosen would choose no other life.

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"My mother was murdered in a terror attack when I was a kid, when I was a child, and to choose to still be here with my family, to live here: This is our home and to choose, going to a different path, not hate.

"I will save lives, and I will do my best to help other families going through these situations, and I will do my best to make sure there are no other families that will need to suffer from a loss.

"So I think this is the mentality of Israelis in general. But still, see, this is one of the only places in the world that people are getting rescued by a flight to come back to Israel.

"In a war," he deadpanned.

But, with everything happening under the stress of war, Rosen kept the calm, precision and resolve of an army paramedic, knowing the best medicine for a baby born under stress is skin-to-skin and mother's milk.

"I learned in med school, I learned these two things are the most important: Put the baby on the skin, give them the bond, help her to nurse," he said. "It also can help the mother a lot when she nursing the baby. It's also helping with postpartum bleeding. And a lot of things.

"So this situation, it's hard to do when we are in this missile attack."

But all is well that ended well and — in the case of Nikola and Violet's newborn — began as well as could be under the circumstances.

"I was so excited I couldn't sleep for — like the delivery, it was something like 17 hours into my shift," he recalled. "So I worked 16 hours. It was after 17 hours shift.

"Now and after 17 hours shift, I went back home, I tried to sleep, I couldn't sleep, and then I had to go to another shift. So I was awake for at least 24 hours."

One week later, the adrenaline and excitement have not worn off. And the baby boy, mother, father and MDA paramedic team live on to tell an all-timer.

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Turkey’s NATO role under scrutiny amid new report on Hamas, Muslim Brotherhood ties

FIRST ON FOX: A new report is raising concerns about Turkey’s role in the Middle East, arguing that under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the country has moved away from its traditional Western alignment and toward deeper engagement with Islamist movements, including the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Foundation for Defense of Democracies report, led by senior fellow Sinan Ciddi and titled "Islamist Domination of Turkey: A Forward Base for Muslim Brotherhood-Aligned Jihadism," argues that Turkey has ties to Hamas — the U.S.-designated terrorist group responsible for the Oct. 7 massacre — as well as to the Muslim Brotherhood — an Islamist movement whose affiliates have recently been designated as terrorist organizations by the United States — placing Turkey’s policies under renewed scrutiny as it prepares to host a NATO summit.

Ciddi told Fox News Digital the shift reflects a broader transformation in how Turkey defines threats.

"What we have is Turkey has completely rewritten the rules of how you interpret what a jihadist terrorist entity may be," Ciddi said. "Erdoğan has reinvented what is interpreted as a terrorist entity … groups such as Hamas or al-Nusra fall into line with his pan-Islamist view of the world."

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A central focus of the report is Turkey’s relationship with Hamas, which the United States designates as a terrorist organization, and yet Hamas expanded its presence in Turkey after 2011, establishing offices and networks inside the country.

"From 2011 onward … Hamas used this opportunity inside of Turkey with a friendly government to establish offices, engage in recruitment (and) fundraising," Ciddi said.

U.S. authorities have taken action against some of those networks. The Treasury Department has designated Hamas-linked individuals and entities operating in Turkey, a point Ciddi said underscores longstanding concerns.

"The United States Treasury has been tracking and designating Hamas-affiliated NGOs and individuals inside of Turkey," he said.

The report also alleges that some Hamas operatives have been able to travel using Turkish-issued documents and that senior figures have been publicly received by Erdoğan.

Beyond Hamas, the report describes Turkey as a hub for Muslim Brotherhood figures from across the region, including Egypt and Yemen, many of whom relocated there following crackdowns in their home countries.

Across parts of the Arab world, the Muslim Brotherhood has been banned or restricted for years. 

Egypt outlawed the movement in 2013, accusing it of inciting unrest and undermining state institutions. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates later designated it a terrorist organization, describing it as a threat to national stability, while Bahrain adopted a similar stance. 

Jordan dissolved its local chapter this year following arrests authorities said were linked to illicit weapons activity.

Some European countries also have taken steps targeting networks linked to the movement. 

Austria, for example, has pursued legal action against individuals and organizations it says are connected to Brotherhood-linked activity as part of its counter-extremism policies.

Officials in these countries have argued that the Brotherhood operates through a mix of religious outreach, political activism, charitable organizations and media platforms to influence public opinion and challenge state authority.

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The report also examines Turkey’s role in Syria, where the country backed opposition forces during the civil war, supporting a range of armed factions, including groups that later formed the Syrian National Army.

"The Syrian National Army … was a hodgepodge collection of militias that Turkey directly armed, paid and organized," he said.

The report links Turkish support to groups such as al-Nusra and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, raising questions among analysts about whether such ties could expose Turkish officials to potential sanctions under U.S. law.

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Despite these concerns, other analysts say Turkey’s relationship with the United States continues to act as a constraint on its behavior, while the relationship between Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been characterized by renewed trust, with Trump praising Erdoğan's role in Gaza diplomacy.

As Trump celebrated the Gaza ceasefire agreement in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt in October 2025, he singled out one leader for extraordinary praise — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, whose leadership he credited for helping deliver the Gaza ceasefire.

"A guy who’s been a friend of mine for a long time. I don’t know why I like the tough people better than the soft, easy ones," Trump said about Erdoğan at the Sharm el-Sheikh summit in October 2025. "This gentleman from a place called Turkey is one of the most powerful in the world … He’s a tough cookie — but he’s my friend."

Hişyar Özsoy, a Turkish politician and academic, described the relationship between Erdoğan and Trump as "transactional," noting Washington often relies on Turkey for regional coordination.

In a policy webinar hosted by the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, Turkish academic Hüseyin Bağcı emphasized that Ankara remains closely tied to Washington.

"The Turkish state is not interested in fighting with Israel because the Turkish government has very good relations with (the) United States of America," he said. "You cannot be good with America and then be in conflict with Israel."

Bağcı also suggested Turkey has at times limited Islamist actors domestically.

"Today do you hear anything about" the Muslim Brotherhood, he said. "No … because the president said stop." 

Turkey, a NATO member since 1952, remains a key partner for the United States, providing logistical access, military capabilities and diplomatic reach.

But Ciddi argued Turkey's current trajectory increasingly diverges from alliance priorities.

"There is an established track record … where Turkey significantly undermines the transatlantic alliance’s core security concerns," he said.

He pointed to U.S. sanctions on Turkish entities accused of supplying dual-use goods to Russia, as well as Ankara’s broader strategy of maintaining ties with competing powers.

As far as Turkey’s positioning itself amid tensions with Iran, Ciddi said Turkey is likely to favor a weakened Iranian regime rather than a complete collapse that could produce a more pro-Western government. 

"A weakened Iranian regime is Erdoğan’s safest bet," he said.

Bağcı offered a similar assessment of the rivalry.

"Iran is not an enemy of Turkey, but not necessarily its best friend. Turkey and Iran are two regional competitors," he said.

The report recommends potential U.S. policy responses, including sanctions and increased scrutiny of Turkey’s financial system, steps that could reshape relations between Washington and Ankara.

Fox News Digital reached out multiple times to the Turkish government and to the State Department for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.

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Israel approves sweeping death penalty legislation targeting terrorism, EU condemns move

JERUSALEM: Israel’s Parliament, the Knesset, on Monday passed a law mandating the death penalty for Palestinian terrorists convicted of deadly acts of terrorism, sparking anger from European countries and an Israeli opposition leader.

Lawmakers voted 62-47 in favor of far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s legislation to prescribe the death penalty by hanging. Ben Gvir and his party, Otzma Yehudit, proposed the measure.

Otzma Yehudit lawmaker Tzvika Foghel, who chairs the National Security Committee and advanced the bill through the committee under his leadership, told Fox News Digital that Israelis are fed up with policies of containment and compromise.

NETANYAHU URGES COURT TO REVOKE PALESTINIANS' ISRAELI CITIZENSHIP AFTER CONVICTIONS FOR VIOLENT CRIMES

"For too many years, we have tried to please the entire world, even when we were being murdered in our streets. Since October 7, we have shifted to an offensive approach so that we can dictate the reality in the future," he said.

Foghel said the death penalty for terrorists is part of a broader shift in Israel, driven by the recognition that no other country faces a reality in confronting radical Islamic terrorism in Gaza, Lebanon, Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), as well as in Yemen and Iran.

"The death penalty for terrorists who burned, raped, mutilated and abused children and parents is the same punishment we established for the Nazis," he said.

Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said, "The EU has a principled position against the death penalty in all cases and in all circumstances. Israel had long upheld a de facto moratorium on both executions and capital punishment sentencing, thereby leading by example in the region despite a complex security environment."

She added, "The approval of the Death Penalty Bill by the Israeli Parliament marks a grave regression from that practice and from Israel’s own commitments. We are deeply concerned about the de facto discriminatory character of the Bill."

ANALYSTS SAY GAZA 'CIVILIAN' DEATHS INCLUDE HAMAS, OTHER TERROR MEMBERS WORKING AS MEDICS, MEDIA WORKERS

Israel has applied the death penalty only once in the state’s history for the Nazi mass murderer Adolf Eichmann in 1962. The death penalty exists on the books in Israel, but Israeli courts have limited latitude to apply execution to cases beyond penalties for Nazi war criminals.

Former Prime Minister and current leader of the centrist Yesh Atid party, Yair Lapid said the legislation is fundamentally flawed because it does not apply to Hamas terrorists involved in the Oct. 7, 2023 massacre that killed 1,200 people.

"This law is not a show of force; it is a sign of panic. This law is more extreme than anything in the United States, and they know it will get struck down by the law. It isn’t a law for justice or for deterrence, it is a law for public relations," he added.

Likud lawmaker Dan Illouz, a supporter of the legislation, told Fox News Digital that the events of Oct. 7 underscored, in his view, the need to prevent terrorists from viewing the kidnapping of civilians as a viable means of securing the release of imprisoned militants.

"The death penalty shatters that equation. It serves as the ultimate deterrent, ensuring that terrorists know their actions lead only to their own demise, not a negotiated release. We are a life-loving nation, but to protect life, we must deal decisively with those who seek to destroy it," he said.

"Prime Minister Netanyahu's vote in favor was crucial. It projects an unmistakable message of strength and moral clarity from the very top of Israel's leadership. By personally casting his vote, the Prime Minister showed our enemies, and the entire world, that our government is completely united and unyielding in our resolve to eradicate terrorism and defend our citizens," he added.

MICHIGAN SYNAGOGUE ATTACKER WAS INSPIRED BY HEZBOLLAH, SOUGHT TO KILL AS MANY JEWISH PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE: FEDS

The Israeli Channel 12 political commentator, Amit Segal, wrote that he supports "executing terrorists who attempt to murder civilians — especially the monsters of October 7," but was critical of Ben Gvir’s legislation.

He wrote in his newsletter, "The law defines terrorism as acts ‘to negate the existence of the state,’ a definition that could apply to groups such as extremist Haredi factions and violent members of the ‘Hilltop Youth’ (which Ben-Gvir supports.)

Segal said that "while Ben-Gvir’s law is essentially a campaign stunt, a more responsible law is making its way through the system. Proposed by MKs Simcha Rotman and Yulia Malinovsky, the law establishes the practical mechanisms — procedural and evidentiary — to secure convictions of Nukhba terrorists, after which the death penalty could be imposed."

Another Likud lawmaker, Amit Halevi, told Fox News Digital that the central element of the legislation is the distinction between criminal offenses and crimes against the state or against humanity.

"A terrorist commits his crimes as part of an ideology aimed at killing, oppressing and controlling all Jews. These terrorists, if they could, would kill every one of us. They are ideological murderers, in a different category from ordinary criminals, and that is a critical point of the bill," he said.

Halevi added that further efforts are needed to clearly delineate crimes against the state, including what falls within that category and what does not.

"Generally speaking, this legislation is a step in the right direction. Much of the criticism I hear relates to ordinary criminals. People do not understand the enemy — who he is and what this war is about," he said.

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