Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has commanded Iranian forces to launch a ‘direct’ attack against Israel, according to a report Wednesday.

Three Iranian officials confirmed the situation to the New York Times. The news comes hours after Hamas’s leader, Ismail Haniyeh, was assassinated in Tehran on Wednesday.

The White House has been unable to independently verify Haniyeh’s death as of Wednesday afternoon, but Tehran is placing the blame on the Israel Defense Forces, Israel launched a strike on Beirut, Lebanon, on Tuesday, but has neither claimed responsibility nor denied killing Haniyeh.

‘The criminal, terrorist Zionist regime martyred our dear guest in our territory and has caused our grief, but it has also prepared the ground for a severe punishment,’ Khamenei’s English-language X account said on Wednesday.

‘Martyr Haniyeh was willing to sacrifice his honorable life in this dignified battle for many years. He was prepared for martyrdom and had sacrificed his children and loved ones on this path.’

Commanding Officer of the Israeli Air Force Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar issued an ominous statement later on Wednesday, promising that there is nowhere ‘too far’ for Israel to strike if needed.

‘The Israeli Air Force defends and operates in all arenas of the war, enveloping the state of Israel with dozens of aircraft, manned and unmanned, ready and prepared within minutes for any scenario, in any arena,’ the statement read. ‘We will act against anyone planning to harm the citizens of the state of Israel, there is nowhere that is too far for us to strike.’

Earlier on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that his country is in a fight ‘against Iran’s axis of evil.’

‘This is an existential war against a stranglehold of terrorist armies and missiles that Iran would like to tighten around our neck,’ Netanyahu said, later adding that Israel has heard ‘threats from all sides,’ after Israel’s recent strike against Beirut.

‘We are prepared for any scenario, and we will stand united and determined against any threat,’ the leader said. ‘Israel will exact a very heavy price for aggression against us from whatever quarter.’

Fox News’ Trey Yingst contributed to this report.

This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.

A vocal anti-Israel activist, who has made several donations to Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s, D-Mich., House campaigns, mourned the assassination of a top Hamas leader on Wednesday, saying his ‘martyrdom is not in vain.’

Zahra Billoo, a disgraced former Women’s March leader and the executive director of Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in San Francisco, took to social media after it was reported that Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran, Iran, prompting Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to vow ‘revenge’ for the attack.

 ‘Never say that those martyred in the cause of Allah are dead—in fact, they are alive! But you do not perceive it,’ Billoo said in the first part of her post, appearing to quote the Quran. 

‘Tonight, we mourn Ismail himself but know his martyrdom is not in vain,’ she continued, using a controversial phrase pushed by anti-Israel activists to mean the elimination of Israel. ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.’

‘I mourn yesterday’s martyrs because I can see the horrific path killing peace negotiators leads to,’ Billoo added in a follow-up X thread, accusing Israel of a ‘genocide.’

Billoo’s initial post immediately drew backlash from social media users, with some people mocking the Quran quote and saying the Hamas leader is definitely ‘not alive.’ 

‘Probably important to remember this, too, whenever you see the name CAIR,’ journalist Bari Weiss said.

Billoo, who has donated almost $1,000 to multiple Tlaib campaigns, has been a lightning rod of controversy in recent years over her anti-Israel rhetoric, which led to the left-wing Women’s March board severing ties with her in 2019 after only serving two days. She posted a 25-post Twitter thread at the time blaming her ouster on an ‘Islamophobic smear campaign’ and ‘right-wingers.’

Despite the backlash, Tlaib came to Billoo’s defense the day after the ouster, posting, ‘#FreePalestine always sis! They won’t silence us for speaking out against human rights violations.’

‘They will lie, smear our names and call us anti this and that, but we always be pro-humanity & we have the truth on our side. Stay strong,’ she continued.

Several of Billoo’s controversial posts were circulating on social media shortly after she was announced as a Women’s March board member.

‘If you support Israel, you are no doubt supporting baby killers,’ Billoo wrote in one unearthed 2014 post that was circulating ahead of the ouster. In other posts she described Zionism as ‘racism’ and said she was a ‘proud anti-Zionist.’

‘In looking at the tweets in question, I acknowledge that I wrote passionately. While I may have phrased some of my content differently today, I stand by my words,’ Billoo said in 2019 about several of her controversial posts.

Prior to the Women’s March controversy, Billoo took a ‘selfie’ with Tlaib outside her Washington, D.C., congressional office in early 2019 and said, ‘Not all sheros wear capes, some like Rep. [Tlaib] wear Congressional pins!’

‘So good to see you sis! I will always speak truth to power because I got you to protect,’ Tlaib responded.

Billoo was also in attendance at a Tlaib fundraising event in California in 2021, according to a Facebook post.

This is not the first time a CAIR leader has ignited backlash on social media. Last December, Nihad Awad, the executive director and co-founder of CAIR, said he was ‘happy to see’ the Oct. 7 Hamas invasion of Israel and that the Jewish state did not have a right to self-defense because it is an ‘occupying power.’

‘And yes, the people of Gaza have the right to self-defense — have the right to defend themselves. And yes, Israel as an occupying power does not have that right to self-defense,’ he said.

In addition to Billoo’s anti-Israel rhetoric, she has also repeatedly attacked Memorial Day and smeared the U.S. military, questioning why fallen soldiers should be remembered.

‘You think we should honor people who commit war crimes?’ she asked in one post.

‘Did not and does not celebrate #MemorialDay,’ Billoo posted in a long 2019 thread. ‘There cannot be any honor earned through participation in dishonorable wars.’

Tlaib’s office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Fox News’ Aubrie Spady and Landon Mion contributed to this report.

During Vice President Kamala Harris’ run for president in the 2020 election cycle, the then-California senator proposed a new health care plan that had potentially high costs for the American middle class.

An archived version of Harris’ campaign website reviewed by Fox News Digital details her ‘Medicare For All Plan,’ which Harris, who personally authored the proposal, promised would provide ‘comprehensive health insurance that covers every American.’

Harris cited fellow presidential primary rival Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Medicare For All plan as the model for how to pay for her plan, with the then-California senator specifically pointing to an ‘income based premium paid by employers, higher taxes on the top 1%, taxing capital gains at the same rate as ordinary income, among others.’

Harris also provided a link to the Sanders plan, which included a 7.5% payroll tax increase for employers and a 4% increase in income taxes on households making over $29,000.

While Harris praised the Sanders plan for having ‘good options,’ she accused the Vermont senator of going too far with the 4% tax increase, instead proposing that the new tax only apply to households making over $100,000.

‘I would tax Wall Street stock trades at 0.2%, bond trades at 0.1%, and derivative transactions at 0.002%. Think of it like this: that’s a $2 fee on a $1,000 trade by investors and big banks,’ Harris continued. ‘I would also end foreign tax shelters by taxing offshore corporate income at the same rate as domestic corporate income. Together, these proposals would raise well over $2 trillion over ten years, more than enough to make up the difference from raising the middle class income threshold.’

However, the proposed 7.5% bump to employer payroll taxes and 4% tax hike on households over $100,000 was panned by critics, including those who ended up joining Harris in a future President Biden administration.

Then-Biden Deputy Campaign Manager Kate Bedingfield, who would go on to serve as the White House communications director from 2021-2023, called the plan a ‘Bernie Sanders-lite Medicare for All and a refusal to be straight with the American middle class, who would have a large tax increase forced on them with this plan.’

Despite Harris’ pledge to target employers and high-income households with the burden, some experts argue the cost would mostly be borne by middle-class workers.

Thomas Savidge, a research fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research, told Fox News Digital that any payroll tax increase to employers is likely to be passed on to employees in the form of lower wages.

‘The cost of payroll tax increases are ultimately borne by employees,’ Savidge said. ‘Increases in payroll taxes on employers take money away that could have been used to increase employee pay, offer better benefits, or hire additional staff.’

Savidge noted that the 4% increase in income taxes would cover a large percentage of the American middle class and would be especially harmful in the current economic environment, where concerns over inflation already have many tightening their belts and spending less.

According to U.S. Census Bureau data, over 37% of U.S. households make over $100,000 and could be impacted by the tax, representing a large chunk of middle-class workers.

Savidge also argued that the Harris proposal represents the most ‘extreme’ way to tackle American concerns over the cost of health care, noting that such a plan would distort the market while having significant impacts on wait times and quality of care.

‘This is an extreme way to go about it,’ Savidge said. ‘It’s going to end up making the problems that we have much worse.’

Harris’ current campaign website does not yet include her platform, and the new Democratic nominee also has yet to unveil a new health care plan.

The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital inquiry on whether Harris stood by the plan or if she would support one similar to it in this campaign.

However, the Harris proposal was slammed by the office of Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, who the Trump campaign has touted as its ‘policy attack dog on Kamala Harris.’ 

‘After four years of sky-high inflation rushing household budgets, the last thing the American people need is another tax hike from Kamala Harris, Vance spokesman William Martin told Fox News Digital. ‘Her middle class tax increase would hit millions of households, and has drawn comparisons to Bernie Sanders from this in her own party. There is no place for her weak, failed and dangerously liberal agenda in the White House.’

A trio of Cuban American House Republicans is comparing President Biden to some of Latin America’s most notorious autocrats over his proposal to transform the Supreme Court.

Florida GOP Reps. Maria Salazar, Mario Diaz-Balart and Carlos Gimenez recorded a video earlier this week arguing that Biden’s plan falls in line with methods used by former Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and current President Nicolás Maduro, whose recent re-election was widely denounced by the international community as illegitimate. 

Salazar said Biden’s plan ‘is outrageous’ and ‘goes against the system, the American exceptionality, that we all enjoy.’

‘I mean, look, we’ve seen this happen in history time and time again. When somebody, for political reasons, tries to change the institutions – the Supreme Court, by the way, has been instrumental in maintaining the rule of law and democracy in this country,’ Diaz-Balart said.

‘It is highly dangerous, unacceptable, and that is real threat to democracy and to all of the freedoms that we enjoy in the United States.’

Gimenez chimed in, adding, ‘We had a great example of a threat to democracy yesterday, when the Maduro regime invalidated an election and tried, or is trying to, stay in power.’

‘What’s the first thing that Hugo Chávez did when he became president 24 years ago? He actually reformed the Supreme Court of Venezuela, so he made things legal for himself,’ Gimenez continued. ‘Touching the judicial system is one way to maintain power, and so this is really, really dangerous for the national security, for our security, and the security of democracy here in the United States.’

Salazar then jabbed Democrats’ warnings that former President Trump represents a threat to democracy, adding, ‘The president of the United States is saying that he wants to change the democracy. Not President Trump, but President Biden. So be very careful, because touching the Supreme Court is touching the core of the American system.’

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

Biden detailed his plan for a binding code of ethics as well as a constitutional amendment limiting presidential immunity and mandated term limits for Supreme Court justices in an op-ed published in the Washington Post on Monday.

The plan was near-universally heckled by Republicans, but Biden’s Democratic allies, who have been pushing for similar or more radical Supreme Court changes, praised the initiative.

‘Clear ethics violations and increasing politicization have made clear that SCOTUS is broken – and that reform is urgently needed to restore Americans’ faith in the integrity of the Court,’ Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., who has proposed legislation on the issue, wrote on X.

However, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., signaled that any such changes would not be taken up by a GOP-controlled House.

‘This proposal is the logical conclusion to the Biden-Harris Administration and congressional Democrats’ ongoing efforts to delegitimize the Supreme Court. Their calls to expand and pack the Court will soon resume,’ Johnson said Monday. ‘This dangerous gambit of the Biden-Harris Administration is dead on arrival in the House.’ 

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called out the White House after a recent intelligence report found that Iran is trying to sabotage former President Trump’s presidential campaign, arguing that the Biden-Harris administration’s policy of ‘weakness and appeasement’ strengthens Tehran.

The findings were revealed during an Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) press briefing on Monday. An official said that U.S. spy agencies ‘observed Tehran working to influence the presidential election,’ likely because Iranian leaders want to avoid escalating any conflicts with the U.S. 

The regime is allegedly using ‘vast webs of online personas and propaganda mills,’ to spread disinformation. Though the ODNI did not explicitly say that Iran was aiming at Trump, an official said they ‘haven’t observed a shift in Iran’s preferences’ since 2020, meaning that Tehran was still targeting the Republican candidate.

Speaking to Fox News Digital on Tuesday, Pompeo said that he was not surprised by Iran’s attempts to influence the election. The Fox News contributor explained that Iran was ‘isolated, broke, and weak,’ when he left office in January 2021 — and accused the Biden administration of enabling the Iranian regime.

‘It is not surprising that the Iranian regime would want to do everything in its power to prevent a second Trump administration,’ Pompeo said.

‘The Biden-Harris administration, on the other hand, has pursued a program of weakness and appeasement, and Iran is flush with cash and powerful once more as a result.

The former Secretary of State also said that Tehran ‘despises’ American values and expects them to continue interfering with the 2024 presidential election.

‘It will do everything it can to meddle in our democracy to support Kamala Harris, who will continue the same policies of weakness and keep the regime rich and powerful,’ Pompeo added.

On Monday, the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran denied the interference allegations. 

‘Iran does not engage in any objectives or activities intended to influence the U.S. election,’ a spokesperson said. ‘A significant portion of such accusations are characterized by psychological operations designed to artificially pep up election campaigns.’

Tehran has also been accused of a separate plot to kill Trump on July 13, after a gunman shot the former president at a Butler, Pennsylvania, rally. The Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran has called the claims ‘unsubstantiated and malicious.’

During a joint hearing on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, the FBI’s deputy director Paul Abbate said that officials are ‘not ruling anything out,’ regarding Iran’s possible involvement.

‘We have no information that there are any co-conspirators, foreign or domestic, including Iran, related to this, but we’re not — I want to be clear — we have no evidence of that,’ Abbate explained. ‘We’re not ruling anything out. We’re looking into all possibilities and leaving our minds open to that.’

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

Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman contributed to this report.

A Republican primary candidate for governor of Delaware, Mike Ramone, said in a conversation with Fox News Digital that he intends to beat what he called one-party rule in President Biden’s home state. 

Currently serving as the minority leader of the state House, Ramone said he intends to flip the governor’s office red for the first time in more than three decades come November. 

‘Delaware has been controlled by one party for 32 years. And I am here to give Delaware a choice,’ Ramone said. ‘Balance brings discussion and discussion brings vetting, and vetting avoids unintended consequences…. There is the far red and the far blue that both will be out to vote. But I believe that many far-blue might even consider that they can do better also in the state of Delaware.’ 

Under Democratic leadership, Ramone argued that Delaware has morphed into one of the worst states when it comes to education, health care, safety, traffic, and business friendliness. 

He said it’s the only state in the nation that had negative GDP. 

‘We need to go back to line item reviews of every single expense we make because we’re spending people’s taxes. It’s not our money. It’s their money. And I do think Ronald Reagan had it best, you know, ‘Are you better off today than you were then?’ And if people feel they’re better off, we won’t have a Republican,’ Ramone said. ‘But if they feel that they’re tired of the drama in politics, if they feel they want to have a leader who leads from the front but supports from the back, if they feel that it’s time to move into the technology and the job development in fintech, in pharma, in other aspects like Pete DuPont did for our state when he moved us into being the corporate capital of the world, then they’re going to vote for Mike Ramone. They’re going to vote for a business person.’

Ramone, who has more than 40 years of experience in the business sector, said Delaware voters need to consider ‘management style’ when electing their leaders.

‘The way we manage our state currently is dysfunctional. Our education system is one of the highest funded and one of the lowest in results. Our health care system is absolutely havoc-ridden,’ he said. ‘I do not believe digesting hatred or negativeness or tainting facts is something I will ever be part of … I just think there are so many things we can do better. We need to stay focused. We need to create a vision.’ 

According to latest voter registration data available this month, Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly two to one in the state. Delaware also has about 16,600 more independent voters than registered Republicans, and Democrats currently control nine statewide offices. Additionally, Ramone’s campaign comes at a pivotal point nationally after Biden exited the presidential race. 

‘Joe Biden. We are all proud of Joe. I’m a Republican, and I can say that because he’s the first Delawarean to ever become a president of the country,’ Ramone said. ‘And I think that’s just wonderful. However, I don’t think the style of leadership we watched in the last years of presidential campaigns and so forth are what’s indicative of Delaware.’ 

Ramone, who first went into business at age 20, taking out an $8,000 loan to open his first flower shop, said he’s willing to put his reputation on the line to run the state in a way that’s ‘fiscally responsible’ again. 

Delaware lost the three c’s – credit cards, chemicals and cars – when two major car manufacturers, the juggernaut DuPont, and MBNA closed their doors, Ramone said. 

He argued the state has the ideal location to become a fintech hub with Silicon Valley-esque initiatives to bring higher-paying jobs in different sectors to the state, not what he called the ‘$15 Amazon jobs.’ 

Ramone described education as a ‘catastrophe’ in the state, arguing that most funding gets tied up in administration in the state’s 19 school districts and department of education, rather than being used in classrooms.

First elected to the state House 16 years ago, Ramone has survived eight separate elections to hold onto his district, which has more registered Democratic voters per capita than the state has as a whole. 

‘My belief is simple. My district is 8,000-something Democrats,’ Ramone said. ‘It’s somewhere around 5,000 Republicans and around 5,200 independents. I’m the only elected official lucky enough to be reelected eight times in the state of Delaware, representing the third party, not the second party. I was in the minority minority. There’s more independents than Republicans, so I think I have a pretty good feel of building relationships. I think I have a pretty big feel of listening, and I think I have my fingers on the pulse of what Delaware is about. Delaware is a state that has an enormous amount of people who are fiscally reasonable, financially conservative, and socially moderate to liberal. In other words, leave people alone. Let them live their lives. But don’t clobber me for taxes and have overzealous government.’ 

A father and grandfather, Ramone said he intends to make Delaware a state where younger generations can afford to live and prosper, instead of having to move elsewhere. 

Delaware’s last Republican governor was Mike Castle, who served in the position from 1985 to 1993.

Despite running during a presidential election year, Ramone said he believes his resume and business acumen will win him the governor’s office. 

‘When I ran in my district, Mike Ramone signs were right next to a lot of Joe Biden signs, Mike Ramone signs right next to a lot of Donald Trump signs and Mike Ramone signs were in a lot of yards with no signs. So Delaware is small enough that I believe the national rhetoric may involve a higher level of turnout. But I don’t believe that turnout will help nor hurt me,’ Ramone said. 

Any traction for former President Trump in Kent and Sussex counties, Ramone argued, would be offset in New Castle County, where more Democrats would be motivated to bring out the vote against Trump. 

‘I think it’s almost what you call revenue neutral. I think it’s going to offset itself. I’m not worried about what goes on nationally. I’m worried about what goes on in my community, in my state, and in each one of our three wonderful counties,’ Ramone said. ‘You get into these campaigns, and they get so busy throwing bombs at each other, they forget to say why they should even be there. I’ll be focused on why I should be there. I’ll be focused on what I can do to help people. I will be focused on making Delaware a better place to live.’ 

In Delaware, the governor’s office is term limited, so current Democratic Gov. John Carney cannot run for re-election this year. 

Ramone will still need to advance through the Sept. 10 Republican primary. 

Jerry Price, aformer New York Police Department officer, first announced his GOP bid for governor of Delaware in December. Ramone entered the primary race in May, and a third Republican, Bobby Williamson, launched his bid just earlier this month. For Democrats, current Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long and New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer are competing in the gubernatorial primary.

The winner from each party will face off in the Nov. 5 general election.