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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"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.
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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.
"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.
