white house this tuesday. and fox news is also learning that president zelenskyy will also brief members of the u.s. senate. that as a congress debates whether or not to send more aid to defend ukraine from the illegal and barbaric invasion continuing by vladimir putin opinion. more on this in just a moment with general jack keane on what this means, but first,s israel -- ♪ [gunfire] eric: israeli forces pushing against the terrorists of hamas, striking more than a 250 hamas targets in gaza just over the past 24 hours. the idf has ordered urgent evacuations in the southern city. well welcome to "fox news live," i'm eastbound shawn. arthel: a hello, everyone, i'm arthel neville. the idf even publishing a map of the area it plans to hit hard underscoring the harsh reality that with hamas if operating from civilian areas, there is no safe place in gaza to take shelter. meantime, u.s. forces in the middle east shooting down three more drones that targeted two bases in syria according to military sources. that brings the total number of attacks on our bases in the region to at least 87 since october 17th. eric: fox team coverage for you, greg palkot live in tel aviv, general jack keane, as i said, on ukraine and how the u.s. should respond to the escalation by the houthis firing at ships. but first, let's go to lucas tomlinson live at the white house with the latestest on all of these developments. lucas? >> reporter: after those two new attacks on u.s. forces in syria with, attacks on u.s. troops in the middle east have increased by 50% in the last three and a half weeks, and that does not include attacks in the red e sea. here's secretary of state antony blinken earlier. >> we've obviously taken action including sanctions just this week against those who are trying to finance the houthis in their efforts, and we'll take whatever other actions are necessary to protect our personnel, to protect our people as well as to protect shipping. >> military action, you have the former commander of centcom saying we've given them no reason not to continue their attacks. >> we will and we are looking at everything. >> reporter: the uss carney, a guided missile destroyer, has shot down 22 drones and missiles in recent weeks launched by approximate if city forces in yemen, the houthis. a french frigate also hot down two drones -- shot down two drones haas night. israel is reporting that israel's national security adviser says prime minister benjamin netanyahu told president biden israel will take military action against the houthis if the u.s. will not. the red sea as you can see here is a maritime superhighway where some 17,000 ships pass through every year, where 9 million barrels of oil a pass through every day, roughly 12% of all the oil nowing around the world. the houthis have threatened to stop this commercial traffic which would cause chaos in the global marks. as you mentioned, everything, there have been at least 87 attacks on u.s. forces since the middle of last month. the u.s. has responded with airstrikes 6 times. about 1 for every 14 attacks. a former spokesman for u.s. central command has a called for the u.s. to strike back. >> right now iran is not deterred. iran does not care about those buildings, does not care about those proxy forces. if we want to raise the bar on deterrence, we have to strike iranian targets, strike strategic iranian targets. >> reporter: and as you mentioned off the possible -- top, eric, ukraine's zelenskyy is scheduled to arrive at the white house on tuesday to meet with president biden, also meating with u.s. senators earlier -- meeting with u.s. senators earlier in the day on capitol hill. eric: as we have heard, u.s. bases under fire in the middle east. international shipping also being attacked, and the issue of aid to ukraine. let's bring in jack keane, retired four-star the army general, fox news senior strategic analyst. general, always good to see to you. first, let's go to ukraine. the sudden invitation from president biden to president zelenskyy to also brief the senate on tuesday obviously tied to the border security negotiations that continue to threaten the funding of arms for ukraine. why, in your view, is this the issue so pressing and this invitation so important as a we have just heard coming up so suddenly? >> yeah. well, president zelenskyy was scheduled to brief the senate virtually. obviously, in a classified briefing last week, and he was not able to do that given some things that are occurring internally on the battlefield is what we were told. so this is actually even better, that the president has invited him to come and talk to the senate but also talk to the president. look, if the president put on the table ukraine funding, israeli funding and also the border, and as a result of that this is a policy of choice by the president. that we know, fox has been exposing it for three years, that we have an open border. there's no denying that. and i think what the republicans are trying to tell us, and i agree with them, the national security starts at our own border. and we've got to fix this problem as we've been identifying with 12,000 people showing up every single day. i mean, that is a hemorrhage that's got to get fixed. and, certainly, the president has got to make some kind of acomation here the improve if that situation. i certainly would rather ukraine not be a bargaining chip in all of this because the national security world will just blow up if we stop funding ukraine. offrows will do some of -- euros will do some of that themselves. we'd likely lose there, and we know what's going to happen if russia wins in ukraine. they're going to continue to take advantage of the u.s.' vulnerability and u.s. decline in eastern europe. president xi will be incentivized, for sure. he's already threatening war. and look at the middle east. is iran going to be incentivized even more if united states, after surrendering afghanistan a, loses in ukraine? certainly. this is something we have to avoid, and we also have to fix the border. i'm hoping that the president gets the message loud and clear from president zelenskyy about ukraine's security but also gets out there and fixes u.s. security as well. eric: you're giving a very loud and clear message about that. tell us about what's been called the catastrophic effects if ukraine funding runs out. pentagonning's been saying they've been running out of money, some ammunition, arms running low in order to try and resupply ukraine. what would it mean if they don't come to the deal and ukraine does not get what it needs to survey and putin wins? >> well, that's what i just said. i mean, if putin wins, not only does russia win, is so does china and so does iran. we have to see that these things are connected. we have two -- we have war in two of our geographical vital interest areas, the middle east and europe. the thursday vital interest area identified by back-to-back presidents is obviously the indo-pacific region. president xi is threatening war there. he's increased his aggression four or five times what it had been in the past, in the last two years. i think he would be incentivized to move on that if the united states gave up in ukraine and the euros followed likewise, which some of them would do. if we lost ukraine, russia is on the move if -- on the move. and you know what it comes down to, erin, what kind of a world do we want the live in? do by want to live in a world where our adversaries are setting the strategic agenda and framework? that the oppressors are pushing the agenda here and all we're doing is trying to defend against that as opposed to the united states stepping forward as a global leader to make sure the oppressors are contained and fundamentally deterred? and that's where we've got to be. eric: and, finally, iran. cheerily, continually -- clearly, continue continually a threat. the houthis have said they're going to to attack any ship that is going to dock at an a israeli port. you know request, ronald reagan, he flagged tankers and cargo ships back in the iran tanker wars of the '80s, took very decisive, strong steps. are we doing enough to deter those military attacks on our troops, and how do we defeat and defend against the houthis and the mullahs in tehran? >> yeah. i mean, you don't is have to be following foreign policy and national security closely to come to the conclusion that we aren't doing nearly enough here. it is absolutely insufficient. in my judgment, i think it's reckless that we're not standing up here and making certain that our national interests and our troops are going to be protected in the region. it's not enough just to defend against a drone and a rocket or a missile that is coming at our troops or are coming at a ship. we've got to get on the ovens. and, yes concern offense. and, yes, we have to escalate to gain dominance. that's the reality of it. you mentioned what ray ea began did in the '80s. he escalated to gain dominance. he hit oil platforms and the patrol base from which the attacks were coming from. irgc, he hit iran. trump did the same thing by hitting the irgc quds force leader. they both escalated to gain dominance. and if it worked. it's not that iran wouldn't respond, they would, but it's likely they're going to shut down. why? because they want to avoid a war with the united states. what's happening here is the white house, i'm convinced based on my sources, is paralyzed by the fare of us escalating -- the fear of us escalating would lead to a direct confrontation with iran. the history of 43 years of dealing with iran does not support that assumption. why? because they use their proxies to do all their dirty work for them. they are out there pressing the united states to push us out of the region. they're out there using their proxies to weaken and destroy the statement the of israel. they -- the state of israel. they do not want to be involved directly themselves. why? because they know they lose. what do they lose? they lose their regime. their not going -- they're not going to go there. let's use our head about it, find a little spine and get on with protecting our troops and our interests in the region. eric: as so often, general jack keane brings a sage wisdom. he knows firsthand about america's foes and the threats we face. general keane, always good to see you. thank you,. >> yeah. great talking to you, eric. thank you. [background sounds] [inaudible conversations] arthel: israeli defense forces launching more strikes in gaza a overnight. the idf says it hit more than 250 targets over the past 24 hours and ordered urgent evacuations from participants of the southern gaza -- parts of the southern gaza strip. senior foreign correspondent greg palkot is live in tel aviv, israel, with the very latest. greg. >> reporter: hi, arthel. yeah, we have been up close to the fighting for several days now, and it's about as intense as we've seen it in this whole war between israel and hamas. ground combat is surging in the northern part of the gaza strip the. there are stubborn areas of hamas resistance there as well as in the south, thought to be a stronghold of hamas leadership and fighters. israeli forces getting support from airstrikes, naval assaults and barrages of what we witnessed firsthand nearby artillery. in a message tonight, israeli prime minister netanyahu declared this is the beginning of the end for hamas. but the fighting is taking its toll. 98 israeli soldiers have been killed so far. and it's taking its toll on the civilians in gaza. some relief trucks made it in today, but tent cities are sprawling, public order is set to break down. all of this triggered by the hamas terror attacks on october 7th. one of the worst at that music festival in southern israel marked here in tell a avive in a strong and chilling show -- tel aviv in a strong and chilling show is. at the exhibition, the actual cars of the festival-goers shot up and burnt out and also the portable toilets they used as shelter against the terrorists, full of bullet holes. it was one of the worst massacres of october 7th. 364 people attacked and killed, 40 taken hostage. this tel aviv show brings it back to horrid life. the music cut off by guns, campsite ises, no refuge amid faces of those lost, what was left behind. sneakers and oh shoes, eye glasses, makeup and perfume. 26-year-old ro dis, a attendee and organizer, injured in the attack. >> everybody has to know. everyone have to know what happened. have to. >> reporter: everyone has to know what happened. arthel, that young man survived by playing dead underneath bodies for hours. he told us he's gone to more funerals than he ever imagined and, yes, he said some two months later the horror has to be remembered. back to you. arthel: greg palkot, thank you. eric: back here at home, severe storms and tornadoes tore through northern tennessee and southern kentucky last night. take a look at that a scene. at least six people have been killed including a child. dozens others injured after those storms tore through the area late yesterday. thousands are still without power right now, and they could be for weeks in some areas. in nashville, a tornado turned some of the buildings there into rubble. rescue crews have been looking through that wreckage for survivors. fox weather's nicole having december has the very latest on the ground -- valdez. nicole? >> reporter: well, certainly a heartbreaking today across the volunteer state today. not far from where i'm standing are the three lives who were lost in month come recounty -- montgomery county. you can tell just by the look of some of the town oklahomas behind me -- town oklahomas bemind he -- me, this community is feeling intense pain today. it's incredible to see the sheer destruction caused by this specific twisterrer, one that the national national weather service has now given an ef3 rating to just moments ago. and it's not hard to see why. what you looking at here is the inside of someone's home. that second story, that wall there, complete wily writtenned -- ripped out. you're looking at closets and dressers and everything that these people wasn't owned. and if you pan over to the right, several buildings in this community all have a really distinct, horrific damage done by these storms. you mentioned power outages. clarksvilleing in particular still see some of the worst of those across the state, nearly 40,000 people remain in the dark. officials warn restoration could take weeks, not days. that's an indication of how devastating this has been. and as we take a look from above, you can see truly just how long and how many miles these pasts really stretch here. but the same goes for communities in davison county, specifically madison, helperson shill where a tornado emergency was issued just yesterday. nearly 62 people in clarksville were taken to the hospital as a result of that and, of course, as we talk about power out ams, we know one of -- outages, we know one of the biggest issues is because some significant damage was tone to an area where there was likely either a power substation or transformer. an incredible visual caught on camera just yesterday. take a listen. [background sounds] >> reporter: tennessee governor bill lee issuing a state of emergency yesterday. shelters are now open in cities like charkhsville as well as nashville and handersonville -- helper sonville for -- hendersonville. all those without power recognizing how important it is to get those people inside when we're facing below freezing temperatures tonight. eric: certainly heartbreaking, and we wish the very best for those there. thank you. arthel? arthel: and, eric and nicole, that powerful and deadly storm system that we just saw battering tennessee expected to bring high winds and rain and snow to the knot northeast. fox weather meteorologist haley meyer has the forecast for us. >> reporter: hey there. yeah, or just yesterday, you know, the window for severe storms opened up where nicole is at in northern tennessee, that was over in clarksville. we also had multiple tornadoes report reported across mississippi, as well as the pap handle of florida. -- panhandle of florida. actively three tornado warnings primarily throughout north carolina going on. the tornado threat will start to diminish throughout the later part of this evening. however, the threat for the northeast will start to amp up in terms of wind as well as heavy rain across the region. already starting to see some heavy storms roll through the i e-95 corpser the. in terms of snow, for -- more for the interior northeast. as far as new york, temperatures near record breaking for today with highs right around 60 degrees. now, in terms of other threats in addition to the wind, we also have that that flood watch in effect for over 50 million people stretching from maine down in towards virginia, washington, d.c., baltimore, new york city, philadelphia, hartford, boston. the list goes on for this major artery for the u.s. so we are seeing the storm start to amp up as we get into the overnight hours as a well. know will start to increase across the higher elevations. the good news here is as we round out the day tomorrow things will start to look a little bit better, but the morning commute going to be the real kicker in terms of heavy rain and very strong winds. arthel: absolutely. that morning commute. fox weather meteorologist haley meier, thank you, haley. eric? eric: well, arthel them, former president trump has had a change of mind. he says he will not return to the witness stand tomorrow in his new york city civil fraud if trial after all. the former president posted a horse time ago on his truth -- short time ago on his truth social platform that he has already testified once and that his defense witnesses, he says, have been so strong he does not need to testify again. you know, it's a $250 million lawsuit brought by new york attorney general leticia james who has accused trump and his company, the trump organization, of overvaluing his properties for years. the judge in the case has already found trump liable for fraud, ine facilitating his realities values if by billions in order to get better loan terms from banks. but the former e president and his defense lawyers have heatedly denied that and have brought expert witnesses the past few weeks. the trial now is mainly about the extent of what damages the trump organization and the former president could be liable for. arthel? arthel: eric, thank you. bell, the biden administration if -- well, the biden administration pushing for a major overhaul of the anti-discrimination law, title ix, a move that some critics say would transform the future of women's sports together. riley gaines, an outspoken critic of the proposed changes, had aty exchange of with a lawmaker. she will join us next with her response. stay tuned. ♪ ♪ those who tried me felt more energy in just two weeks. -ahh, -here, i'll take that. woo hoo! ensure max protein 30 grams protein, one gram sugar, 25 vitamins and minerals, and nutrients for immune health. (♪) there's something going around the gordon home. good thing gertrude found delsym. now what's going around is 12-hour cough relief. and the giggles. the family that takes delsym together, feels better together. - wounded warrior project has been with me every step of my journey. - they've helped me realize it's possible to rise to the top again. - it's possible to get the help i need for me and my family. - it's possible to hate pushups again. - to feel understood. - to begin healing both inside and out. - to feel like myself again. - and now i know anything is possible. (gentle music) - [narrator] wounded warrior project helped me find the strength to go further than i ever thought possible. - [narrator] i was able to come outta my shell and re