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Palestinian official predicts Trump will 'destroy' Iran, leading to breakdown of remaining Hamas cells: report
A Palestinian Authority (PA) official reportedly predicted that President-elect Donald Trump will “destroy Iran” and that Tehran’s weakening will effectively break down the remaining Hamas terror cells.
Mohammad Hamdan, secretary-general of the PA’s ruling Fatah Party, reportedly made the comments to the New York Post on Dec. 19 during a meeting between the outlet and other top PA leaders in Nablus, about an hour south of the West Bank city of Jenin, where Western-backed PA forces have launched security operations against armed extremists aligned with Hamas this month.
The Post first reported the conversation on Monday.
“We are confronting Hamas’ ideology. Our problem is with Hamas’ link to regimes outside Palestine,” Hamdan told the Post, referencing Iran specifically.
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Palestinian security forces stand on guard during the funeral of Ibrahim Qaddoumi, a member of the Palestinian Authority who was killed during armed clashes between Palestinian security forces and gunmen in the Jenin refugee camp, on Dec. 27, 2024 in Nablus, West Bank. (Nasser Ishtayeh/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
“We see that Trump and the ruling government in Israel are planning to destroy Iran, so Hamas [followers] will have no other choice than to become Palestinian,” he added.
A group of more than a dozen extremists stole two PA vehicles and paraded them down the streets of Jenin while waving Hamas and ISIS flags on Dec. 6, according to the Post.
Since then, PA forces have killed at least three extremists in the West Bank town and have vowed to arrest or “eliminate” the remaining people responsible.
Fatah suffered a major defeat in the 2006 election, resulting in rival Hamas seizing control of the Gaza Strip, hardening Islamic-extremist rule and launching repeated attacks on Israel.
The tipping point came when Hamas terrorists launched their coordinated attack on southern Israel from Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, killing more than 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages.
As Israel has decimated Hamas in the Gaza Strip since then, the PA, which is backed by the U.S. and other Western governments, appears to be positioning itself to resume governance of Gaza once the war ends.
“Hamas rejects international legitimacy, meaning UN resolutions,” Hamdan said. “The world cannot accept a situation where a party does not accept international resolutions.”
Hamas and other Islamic extremist groups have sown distrust of the PA, accusing it of coordinating closely with Israel on past security raids on Jenin.
The Jewish state in the past has cracked down on Jenin, which has long been considered a terrorist stronghold. The PA security forces had until recently little presence there until its new security operations this month.
A large banner depicting Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas hangs as supporters of the Fatah movement rally ahead of the 60th anniversary of its establishment and in support of the Palestinian Authority’s security operation in the Jenin camp for Palestinian refugees on Dec. 29, 2024. (JAAFAR ASHTIYEH/AFP via Getty Images)
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At least three PA security force members have been killed, including a captain in the intelligence services, during armed clashes with extremists, The Associated Press reported. The PA has arrested dozens of people.
The Post said the PA leaders they interviewed condemned Israel’s increased settlements in the West Bank but said they supported the Jewish state’s right to exist.
Hamdan also reportedly told the Post that PA President Mahmoud Abbas – who slammed Israel and the United States before the United Nations General Assembly earlier this year – “still supports realistic relations with the Americans in order to achieve the aspirations of the Palestinians.” However, the secretary-general also argued that failed U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East was responsible for growing Islamic extremism.
Palestinian security forces march with the body of Ibrahim Qaddoumi, a Palestinian Authority member killed during armed clashes between Palestinian security forces and gunmen in the Jenin refugee camp, on Dec. 27, 2024 in Nablus, West Bank. (Nasser Ishtayeh/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
“Look what happened in Syria. First, the U.S. declared the rebels to be al Qaeda, and then [last week] an American delegation visited Syria,” Hamdan told the Post. “And the one before that, when the Americans struck deals with the Taliban in Afghanistan. We as Palestinians believe that most of these extremist Islamic groups are produced by America by its effort to create a new Middle East.”
On the issue of post-war Gaza governance, one Israeli official told the Post that the PA remained an option but would need to stop “the corruption” and “funding terrorism” on Israeli settlers in the West bank.
The official acknowledged though that the PA could have “a historically unprecedented opportunity” to return to its control of the Palestinian territories.
The PA’s opposition to Hamas could provide unique leverage to “participate in day-after talks,” the Israeli official added.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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By Alisa Shodiyev Kaff
June 11, 2026
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U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey resigned Thursday after clashing with Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government over military spending, dealing the British leader a setback weeks before a critical NATO summit to include President Donald Trump.
Healey’s departure stemmed from a dispute over the delayed Defense Investment Plan (DIP) — the government’s long-promised roadmap for military investment and readiness — and as NATO allies face renewed pressure from Trump to boost defense spending.
“John Healey’s resignation is a seismic moment for the government and the Ministry of Defense,” Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) Senior Associate Fellow Ed Arnold told Fox News Digital.
“For the government, it creates a sequence of political headaches in terms of a replacement, and trying to get the Defense Investment Plan published.”
BRITISH PM KEIR STARMER MOVES UK MILITARY INTO ‘WAR-FIGHTING READINESS’
Britain’s Defence Secretary John Healey speaks with British and Norwegian naval personnel at the unveiling of the Atlantic Bastion programme in Portsmouth, Britain, on Dec. 4, 2025. (Peter Nicholls/Pool via Reuters)
Healey had been in intense, late-stage negotiations with Starmer and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves over the scale and timelines of the DIP.
Starmer reportedly refused to set out a timeline to reach 3.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) on defense by 2035 — a promise he made to Trump at last year’s NATO summit — and would not commit to a firm date for reaching 3%.
Instead, Starmer offered Healey a deal to spend 2.68% of GDP on defense by 2030, up only marginally from 2.6% next year, Reuters reported.
“You have been unable, and the Treasury has been unwilling, to commit the resources that the nation needs to defend the country,” Healey wrote to Starmer in his resignation letter, warning that the financial constraints would “make the country less safe,” the outlet reported.
NATO CHIEF URGES MEMBERS TO ‘TURBOCHARGE’ DEFENSE PRODUCTION AS HE PAINTS PICTURE OF A WORLD BOUND FOR WAR
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, U.S. President Donald Trump and Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer pose with NATO country leaders during the NATO Heads of State and Government summit in The Hague, Netherlands, on June 25, 2025. (Ben Stansall/Pool via Reuters)
“If the delay to the Defense Investment Plan was already undermining the government’s credibility on defense, John Healey’s resignation has blown a hole in its side,” Professor Kevin Rowlands of the RUSI defense and security think tank told Fox News Digital.
“The immediate consequence is not just political embarrassment for No. 10, but a significant loss of planning certainty at a time when the British Armed Forces, the Ministry of Defense, and industry really need clarity on what will be funded, and when,” he added.
The political fallout is expected to reverberate across the Atlantic, where Washington has increased pressure on European allies to fulfill their defense obligations. Trump has frequently criticized NATO alliance members as “free riders.”
On June 3, Secretary of State Marco Rubio also told the House Foreign Affairs Committee that the upcoming Ankara summit would be the “most important meeting” in NATO’s history because there are some things “that need to be cleared up and fixed.”
He added, “The United States is still in the NATO alliance, and we’ll be there.”
TRUMP EFFECT FORCES GERMANY TO REPRIORITIZE DEFENSE AS NATION PLAYS CATCH-UP IN MILITARY SPENDING
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer increased the military presence in Cyprus following an Iranian drone strike early Monday, Feb. 24, 2026. (Kin Cheung / POOL / AFP via Getty Images))
However, U.S. officials have made it clear that patience is wearing thin.
“Ahead of next month’s NATO summit, POTUS has been clear: Allies must fulfil their commitment to spending 5% of GDP on defense,” U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker posted on X this week.
Furthermore, a U.S. official noted that a U.K. funding package far lower than 18 billion pounds ($23 billion) would send a highly “negative” signal to Trump ahead of the Ankara meeting, according to The Times.
Starmer has pledged to lift spending to 3% in the next Parliament but Healey’s exit has exposed that the current strategy leaves the U.K. lagging behind key allies. By comparison, Germany plans to spend 3.7% of its GDP on defense by 2030.
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“Healey knows the threats we face, he knows the capabilities and shortfalls the armed forces have, and if he believes that the financial settlement is not enough to keep the country safe — to the extent that he cannot honorably stay in post — then we are in trouble,” Rowlands added.
“While the impact will mainly be felt on Whitehall, the international implications are severe with a NATO summit just three weeks away,” Arnold noted.
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After two years of strong performance driven by a shift to a war economy, Russia’s economic situation is weakening, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told Euronews.
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And although the IMF raised its forecast for Russia’s 2026 growth in its April outlook from 0.8% to 1.1%, Georgieva told Euronews this did not reflect the full picture of the economic weakening.
“The higher oil prices do give a breather to Russia,” Georgieva said, arguing the hike cannot offset the bigger hit to Russia’s economy.
“They have depleted their buffers dramatically,” Georgieva said. The oil price windfall “appears to be used to rebuild buffers rather than to inject more investment into the economy,” she explained.
“Growth has slowed down significantly. Now we are projecting 1%. Before the war, their potential growth was 1.6%,” Georgieva pointed out.
The IMF managing director also told Euronews that it is important to consider other economic indicators to better understand Russia’s current economic situation.
“Inflation is high. That means that interest rates are high, almost 15%.”
The IMF does not expect to see “material impact on growth in Russia,” Georgieva said. “It is a country whose medium (and) long-term prospects have worsened significantly.”
She listed three grounds on which the prospects have worsened. The first is losing people.
“A country that was in a demographic decline to begin with now lost so many young people for a terrible reason,” Georgieva explained.
The second factor is the sanctions, specifically the way they “bite a lot on the technology front.”
“What we see in the oil and gas sector in Russia, there is a tremendous problem with lack of technological renewal that is restricting the ability of the sector to expand,” she said.
And the third is the fact that “Russia lost standing.”
“That translates into many tangible and non-tangible losses. I mean, just think of the young Russians that could have built relations with Europeans and others and did not because of the war,” Georgieva stated.
“So, on the whole, Russia is coming crippled,” she concluded.
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