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Netanyahu Predicts PA Return to Negotiations If Trump Gets Re-elected

Palestinian youths in clashes with Israeli soldiers in Hebron (EPA)
Palestinian youths in clashes with Israeli soldiers in Hebron (EPA)
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Netanyahu Predicts PA Return to Negotiations If Trump Gets Re-elected

Palestinian youths in clashes with Israeli soldiers in Hebron (EPA)
Palestinian youths in clashes with Israeli soldiers in Hebron (EPA)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he believes that the Palestinian Authority would return to negotiations with Israel fairly soon. This came in statements published in the US-Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom

“In a closed-door conversation, Netanyahu said that the regional significance of the newly-signed peace deals between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain left the Palestinians no option other than to come back to the table,” Israel Hayom reporter Ariel Kahana wrote.

“However, the prime minister said that talks with the PA would re-launch only after the US presidential election on Nov. 3, and only if US President Donald Trump is re-elected,” he added.

In other news, statements made by US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman to Israel Hayom about Washington considering the unseating of PA President Mahmoud Abbas and replacing him with former Fatah strongman Mohammed Dahlan spurred widespread controversy.

After the rage Friedman’s statements caused, Israel Hayom edited the article to emphasize that the US diplomat’s answer to such speculations was no.

Asked whether the US is considering the possibility of appointing Dahlan, who lives in the UAE, as the next Palestinian leader, Friedman replied: "We're not thinking about it," we have no desire to engineer the Palestinian leadership.

The statement that caused uproar was published on Thursday. Due to the phrasing’s ambiguity, it was understood that the US administration is considering appointing Dahlan as the next Palestinian leader.

PA officials consequentially released vocal statements against such a conspiracy.

As for the impact of the developments on the Palestinians, Friedman said the Palestinian people are not being served properly by their leadership.

"They (the PA) need to join the 21st Century. They are on the wrong side of history at the moment," he said.

"Peace is a once-in-a-generation opportunity," said the ambassador.

After pushing the peace initiative forward and fully capitalizing on it, Friedman said he believes the sovereignty issue can be revisited in a manner that will be less controversial.

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Multiple Quakes Leave Casualties in Guatemala, Cause Landslides

Debris lays on the street after dozens of earthquakes and aftershocks were recorded in a matter of hours in Palin, Guatemala, early Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Debris lays on the street after dozens of earthquakes and aftershocks were recorded in a matter of hours in Palin, Guatemala, early Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
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Multiple Quakes Leave Casualties in Guatemala, Cause Landslides

Debris lays on the street after dozens of earthquakes and aftershocks were recorded in a matter of hours in Palin, Guatemala, early Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Debris lays on the street after dozens of earthquakes and aftershocks were recorded in a matter of hours in Palin, Guatemala, early Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

A series of dozens of earthquakes were recorded in the span of hours in Guatemala, leaving two dead when rocks fell on their vehicle, authorities said. Landslides left several others buried.

More than 37 earthquakes and aftershocks with magnitudes ranging from 3.0 to 5.6 were reported in Guatemala Tuesday afternoon, said Edwin Rodas, director of the National Institute for Seismology, Vulcanology, Meteorology and Hydrology.

The tremors resulted in the evacuation of buildings, landslides, and minor property damage, officials said, adding they were felt as far away as El Salvador.
The two men killed were traveling in a pickup truck on a local road in the department of Escuintla when the rocks fell from a hillside onto the vehicle, firefighters said, according to The Associated Press.

Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo said at a press conference Tuesday that the main epicenter of the quakes was in the department of Sacatepéquez, with aftershocks in the regions of Escuintla and Guatemala department.

At least five people were buried by landslides, but emergency responders were able to rescue two, he added.

The National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction declared an orange alert, the second-highest on the emergency scale.

The US Geological Survey reported a 4.8 magnitude earthquake at 3:11 p.m. local time, 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) southwest of the town of Amatitlán, south of Guatemala City, with a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles). It then reported another 5.7 magnitude quake 3 kilometers (2 miles) northwest of San Vicente Pacaya, a municipality in Escuintla, in the south-central region of the country.

Another 4.8 magnitude quake was reported 6 kilometers (4 miles) northwest of Palín, also in Escuintla.