diff --git a/.github/workflows/main.yml b/.github/workflows/main.yml
index e30501d..53a03c3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/main.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/main.yml
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ jobs:
         # Build against oldest patch versions x.y.0 as R is forward
         # compatible.
         R: [ '4.4.0', '4.5.0', '4.6.0' ]
-        os: [ 'macos-15-intel', 'windows-latest']
+        os: [ 'macos-15-intel', 'windows-latest' ]
     runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
     name: ${{ matrix.R }} ${{ matrix.os }} build
 
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ jobs:
       run: |
         dnf install -y epel-release
         dnf install -y --allowerasing \
-          cmake git gcc gcc-c++ make patch \
+          cmake git gcc-toolset-13-gcc gcc-toolset-13-gcc-c++ make patch \
           libcurl-devel openssl-devel libxml2-devel \
           harfbuzz-devel fribidi-devel libssh2-devel \
           curl tar
@@ -188,6 +188,7 @@ jobs:
       env:
         ITK_GLOBAL_DEFAULT_NUMBER_OF_THREADS: 2
       run: |
+        source scl_source enable gcc-toolset-13
         R -e "Sys.setenv(MAKEJ=2); Sys.setenv(ADDITIONAL_SITK_MODULES='-DSimpleITK_USE_ELASTIX=ON'); remotes::install_local('.', lib=Sys.getenv('R_LIBS_USER'), upgrade='never', INSTALL_opts='--build')"
         R -e "library(SimpleITK); Version()"
 
diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index 758079b..4796e74 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 Package: SimpleITK
-SITK_TARGET: v2.5.6
+SITK_TARGET: v3.0.0b1
 Note1: The Version and Date fields are derived from the SITK_TARGET 
        DO NOT EDIT THEM MANUALLY. 
        After updating the SITK_TARGET run the sitk_r_version_date.sh script
        and it will update these fields according to the SITK_TARGET.
-Version: 2.5.6
-Date: 2026-07-29
+Version: 3.0.0.9000
+Date: 2026-05-14
 Title: SimpleITK: A Simplified Interface to the Insight Toolkit
 Authors@R: c(person("Richard", "Beare", role = c("aut", "cre"),
                       email = "Richard.Beare@ieee.org"),