The President's Daily Brief - July 7th, 2025: Rebellion in Palestine: Tribal Leaders Declare Peace With Israel & Deadly Floods in Texas

Episode Date: July 7, 2025

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: A political rebellion in the West Bank: tribal leaders in Hebron reject the Palestinian Authority and extend a surprising offer of peace to Israel. Deadly floods in Texas leave a growing death toll as rescue efforts continue across the state. China privately tells the European Union it cannot accept a Russian defeat in Ukraine—raising new concerns about Beijing’s long-term strategy. And in today’s Back of the Brief: Two Americans are injured in an attack on a U.S.-backed aid site in Gaza—and The Washington Post walks back explosive claims about Israel targeting civilians. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief. YouTube: youtube.com/@presidentsdailybrief Lean: Visit https://TakeLean.com & use code pb20 for 20% off Kikoff: Build credit fast and get your first month for just a dollar at https://GetKikoff.com/miketoday. Thanks to Kikoff for sponsoring us! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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It's Monday, the 7th of July. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker. eyes and ears on the world stage. And look, I'm off the road and back in the studio compound. Let's get briefed. We'll start things off with a fascinating rebellion in the West Bank. Powerful tribal leaders in Hebron, the largest city in the West Bank, are turning their backs on the Palestinian Authority and offering peace to Israel. We'll have those details. Later in the show, an update on the tragic floods in Texas, where the death toll continues to rise.

Plus, China reportedly tells the European Union what many of us have assumed all along. The Chinese Communist Party doesn't want and can't accept a Russian defeat in Ukraine. And in today's back of the brief, two Americans are injured after an attack on a U.S.-backed aid site in Gaza. And the Washington Post walks back explosive claims about Israel killing civilians. But not to worry. It won't stop the newspaper from being spoon-fed Hamas propaganda in the future. But first, today's PDB spotlight. Today, we're beginning with a development that could mark a major shift, not just in the relationship

between Israel and the Palestinians, but in the entire political architecture of the Middle East. Although it's worth pointing out, new ideas and creative thinking when it comes to peace and stability in the Middle East rarely are rewarded with success. Now, this is a story that was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, and it's centered on Hebron, the largest city in the West Bank and one of the most symbolically important places in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A powerful coalition of tribal leaders in the city has declared their intent to break away from the Palestinian Authority. Now, they'll recognize Israel as a Jewish state and establish what they're calling the Emirate of Hebron. They want to formally

join the Abraham Accords and forge a new cooperative relationship with Israel, economically, politically, politically, and even in matters of security. The man leading the charge is Sheikh Wadi al-Jabari. He's the head of Habran's most influential clan. Now, if you're a listener to the PDB, you'll know something we've discussed before is the power of the clans or Hamilas in Palestinian society. There are more than just extended families. There are long-standing power structures that govern everything from local disputes to political alliances. In many instances, clan loyalty actually supersedes allegiance to political movements like Hamas or the Palestinian Authority. Now, that's why this breakaway initiative out of Hebron is potentially significant.

It's rooted in a deep and enduring foundation of social authority that predates the modern Palestinian leadership altogether. Together with at least four other major sheikhs and reportedly dozens more behind the scenes, Sheikh Jabari has signed a letter addressed to Israeli economy minister near Barkat. In it, they denounced. announced the Palestinian Authority as corrupt and illegitimate, and they propose an alternative future, one rooted in local clan leadership, tribal loyalty, and peaceful coexistence with Israel. And here's the part that really breaks with decades of Palestinian politics. They would openly recognize Israel as the Jewish state.

Now, this is basically heresy with Hamas and the Palestinian Authority. It's a red line that even the supposedly moderate Palestinian Authority has historically refused to cross. Their letter asks for negotiations to join the Abraham Accords, a timeline for reestablishing work permits for Heberran residents inside Israel, and a joint economic zone to bring jobs and development to an area long neglected under PA rule. In exchange, they promise zero tolerance for terrorism, calling out, in contrast to the EPA's ongoing payments to convicted terrorists. The sheikhs say they've already rallied support from over 20 tribal leaders representing more than half of Hebron's 700,000 residents.

Many of these clans control armed men and already refuse to let Palestinian Authority police enter their neighborhoods without Israeli coordination. So this makes the plan not just theoretical. It's actionable, coordinated, and backed by muscle, as it were. What makes the move compelling is that these sheikhs aren't politicians making empty speeches. Their local powerbrook, with real authority on the ground. Now, some of the sheikhs have even said they hope to win the support of President Trump, believing his support could help sell the plan to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and give it the international backing that it needs.

One prominent sheikh told the Wall Street Journal, quote, if we get the blessing of Honorable President Trump and the U.S. for this project, Hebron could be like Dubai, end quote. So, you ask yourself, is this the end of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank? Well, a little, or perhaps a lot of healthy skepticism is warranted. While Israel's economy minister has been meeting regularly with the sheikhs and Prime Minister Netanyahu is reportedly aware and supportive in theory, Israel's security services, especially the Shindbet, remain deeply cautious, may fear a breakdown of order and question whether tribal militias

can deliver real stability or effectively combat terrorism. Others argue that dismantling the Palestinian Authority could unleash chaos in cities where clan leadership is weaker, leading to fragmentation, infighting, or even civil war. Think Libya after Gaddafi, when the collapse of central authority gave way to tribal militias, city-based warlords, and more than a decade of instability. And as you can imagine, the concept will get immediate pushback and aggressive resistance from both the PA and Hamas. Neither organization has any interest in relinquishing power, control, or revenue. Still, the fact that the plan is even being discussed publicly by tribal leaders on the ground

does signal a massive shift in sentiment. In their view, the Oslo Accords have failed. The PA has lost legitimacy, and it's time to try something radically different. And perhaps most symbolically, they're not calling for the destruction of Israel. They're asking for partnership. Now, whether this plan gains traction or gets quietly shelved, it does appear that the center of gravity in the West Bank is possibly shifting, and the old assumptions about what peace might look like are being challenged. All right, coming up after the break, the death toll from the devastating Texas floods continues to rise, and China privately warns Europe that it can't allow Russia to lose the war. I'll be right back.

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heartbreaking scenes out of central Texas, where catastrophic flash floods left at least 79 people dead. After the Guadalupe River, surged to a height of a two-story building in under an hour. The epicenter of this weekend's devastation is Kerr County, which lies west of Austin and San Antonio, where 59 bodies have been recovered so far, including adults and children, according to the local sheriff's office. But the most harrowing scenes unfolded at Camp Mystic. That's a children's summer camp outside of Hunt, Texas, where at least 10 campers and one counselor remain missing. The county sheriff confirmed that more than 750 children were on site when the floods tore through the camp. Photos on social media reveal overturned vehicles, flooded cabins, and a slew of children's clothes and toys

spread across flooded grounds. Some camp survivors were found clinging to trees, as others were swept away in the early morning darkness. One local official described the sudden floodwaters as something that, quote, nobody saw coming. So far, more than 160 air rescues have been conducted across the region, with over 850 people pulled to safety, many of them injured. The Coast Guard alone accounted for 223 of those rescues, according to Homeland Security Secretary Christy Noem, who cited the use of aerial operations near the city of Kerrville as floodwaters swallowed entire sections of land.

President Trump declared a major disaster in Kerr County, activating FEMA and unlocking aid for impacted areas. Speaking aboard Air Force One, he called the flooding a, quote, terrible thing, adding that his administration was coordinating closely with state officials. Texas Governor Greg Abbott toured Camp Mystic yesterday, that would be Sunday, surveying the damage and described the seen as, quote, horrendously ravaged. Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick revealed the Guadalupe River rose 26 feet in just 45 minutes Friday morning. Patrick told reporters, quote, there hadn't been a drop of rain until the tragedy struck, adding that emergency alerts didn't go out until four or five a.m. In looking at the timeline for warnings, the National Weather Service issued initial flood watch warnings on Thursday at approximately 1.18 p.m. central time.

Those warnings predicted five to seven inches of rain. Further warnings, later warnings, including automated alerts to mobile phones, became more ominous during the very early morning hours of Friday, including warnings to evacuate flood-prone areas. And at 403 a.m. on Friday morning, the National Weather Service issued an urgent warning, calling for catastrophic damage and a severe threat to human life. Jonathan Porter, the chief meteorologist at AccuWeather,

that's a private weather forecasting company that uses the National Weather Service data, said it appeared evacuations and other proactive measures could have been undertaken to reduce the risk of fatalities. Sections of the flooding have occurred in an area known as Flash Flood Alley for its past history of flooding. As an example, in 1987, the Guadalupe River rose 29 feet suddenly one morning. During that flood, 10 teenagers were killed after the bus they were in was swept away, some 20 miles from Curville. Thirteen people were killed in 2015 when the Blanco River, that's east of Curville,

rose nearly 30 feet within a couple hours. Local officials have said they had not expected such an intense downpour, which was the equivalent of months' worth of rain for that area. Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, the county's top elected official, said, quote, we know we get rains, we know the river rises,

but nobody saw this coming. Now, the state has mobilized one of the largest rescue operations in recent memory, utilizing drones, helicopters, boats, high water vehicles, rescue divers, and more, scrambling to reach stranded residents still cut off by debris and flooding. One official stated, quote, we've been rescuing people by the hundreds, adding that many residents remain sheltered in place as crews' airdrop food and water to those still waiting to be rescued. And the destruction isn't confined to just Kerr County. In Travis County, home to the state capital Austin, officials confirmed at least four deaths. Burnett County reported three deaths and six still missing, and Kendall County added two more fatalities.

Officials warned that as rescue operations remain ongoing, more rain is expected far into the week, underscoring that the situation remains urgent and dangerous as the death toll is expected to climb. All right, moving back to the international stage. In a private admission from China's top diplomat to the European Union, Beijing is warning that the Chinese Communist Party, the CCP, cannot accept a Russian defeat in Ukraine. The remark slices through the CCP's well-worn narrative of neutrality amid fears of the U.S. could then turn its full attention to the Indo-Pacific. The message came during a tense four-hour closed-door meeting in Brussels between Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi and EU foreign affairs chief, Kayakala. Now, a source briefed on the talks described them as, quote, tough but respectful, spanning a geological minefield of cybersecurity, rare earth exports, Taiwan, the Middle East, and, of course, Ukraine. But it was Wang's private admission first reported by the South China Morning Post that raised eyebrows. According to the source, the foreign minister indicated that Beijing may prefer a prolonged war in Ukraine,

one that bleeds U.S. stockpiles and resources, delaying Washington's pivot to the Indo-Pacific. If accurate, the comment is among the clearest signs yet that China's public posture on the war is at best performative, which begs the question, did anybody with any experience dealing with the Chinese regime think that their posture was anything but performative? Beijing's official response to the reports followed a familiar playbook. At a routine foreign ministry briefing, a spokeswoman reiterated that, quote, China is not a party to the Ukraine issue, adding that a quote, prolonged Ukraine crisis, serves no one's interest, end quote. She then chuckled, winked, and left the podium. Okay, actually,

she stayed at the podium and emphasized that China supports negotiations, ceasefire, and peace, and vowed that Beijing would continue, quote, playing a constructive role in seeking a political settlement. Then she left the podium, exhausted from touting the party line. Now, Western officials have long doubted the sincerity of China's neutrality claims. It was just weeks before Russia's 22 full-scale invasion of Ukraine that Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian leader Putin proclaimed a so-called no-limits partnership, an alliance that apparently has only grown tighter over the past three years. Since then, Chinese companies have boosted trade with Russia, skirted sanctions, and been repeatedly accused of exporting dual-use technology with military applications.

Beijing denies supplying arms, but, well, evidence says otherwise. Exhibit A, of course, landed Friday in Kiev, fragments from a Russian-Garan suicide drone, which is Moscow's rebranded version of Iran's Shahed, and their fragments were labeled Made in China and dated the 20th of June. The fragments were recovered in the aftermath of a record-breaking Russian drone barrage. Ukraine's deputy foreign minister posted photos of the wreckage, warning that the drone strike also caused minor damage to the Chinese consulate in Odessa. In a scathing caption, he wrote, quote, there is no better metaphor for how Putin continues to escalate his war and terror while involving others, including North Korean troops, Iranian weapons, and some Chinese manufacturers. He didn't stop there. The foreign minister called out

China's entanglement in the war and warned that the fates of Europe, the Middle East, and the Indo-Pacific are now interwoven. Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports have emerged suggesting that Chinese nationals have joined Russian forces on the battlefield. Of course, Beijing denies these claims, and its foreign ministry insists that Chinese citizens are prohibited for participating in foreign wars, but they have yet to explain how exactly they enforce that policy, or whether they even want to. All this has left European diplomats increasingly skeptical of Beijing's long game. Behind the closed doors in Brussels, Wang Yi's comments may have pulled back the curtain. Whatever the public messaging may be, China's strategic game appears clear, prolong the war in Ukraine,

splinter western unity and shift global pressure away from Beijing. Okay, coming up next in the back of the brief, Hamas continues to sabotage aid efforts in Gaza with a grenade attack on American relief workers. I'll have those details next. Hey, Mike Baker here. Let's talk personal finances and improving your credit standing. I know, I know, not everybody's favorite subject, but critically important to your financial health. So let me tell you about a company that is all about helping you improve and build your credit standing. It's called Kickoff. That's Kickoff without the C. Now, Kickoff offers an affordable way to build real credit without the stress of expensive credit card debt. With plans starting at just $5 a month, kickoff gives you a credit line designed specifically

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84 points plus vantage score 3.0 between January 2023 and January 24 for kickoff credit account users who started with a score below 600, who paid on time, and who had no delinquencies or collections added to their credit profile during that period. Late payments may negatively impact your credit score, and individual results may vary. In today's back of the brief, a grenade attack on a Gaza humanitarian Fund, or GHFA distribution site Saturday, wounded two Americans in what the organization described as a deliberate terror assault to sabotage operations. According to the organization, the attackers, quote, explicitly targeted American personnel, Palestinian staffers, and civilians, relying on the site in Con Unis for food, an attack the aid group warned was imminent. The GHF stated in a press release,

quote, Saturday's attack tragically affirms these warnings. Now, both, Americans were hospitalized and are reportedly in stable condition. No Palestinian civilians or aid workers were harmed. The IDF confirmed the terrorists launched grenades into the distribution center when civilians were present. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu responded to the attack by thanking the wounded workers for their efforts in aid distribution and praised President Trump for his continued backing of the GHF, which has rapidly become a cornerstone and a lightning rod for humanitarian logistics in the war-torn enclave. Now, the GHF is no stranger to attacks or headlines. Founded in May and backed by both the U.S. and Israel, the group has positioned itself as Gaza's primary aid distributor.

But unlike other aid groups, GHF bypasses Hamas-run distribution networks entirely, delivering assistance straight to civilians. That has cut off a major pipeline. Hamas has long exploited to divert aid, fund its war chest and maintain influence and leverage over the population. According to the GHF, Hamas has placed bounties on both its American security contractors and Palestinian field teams, offering cash to anyone who kills or wounds personnel. In its most recent report, the foundation confirmed that a dozen of its workers have already been killed in the line of duty, with others wounded and tortured. But Saturday's attack wasn't just an attack on an aid convoy. It was another page turn in Hamas's twin campaigns of violence and propaganda that we've closely tracked here on the PDB.

Our listeners will we call last month's incident involving a widely circulated but ultimately discredited report by the Washington Post, which alleged that the IDF opened fire on civilians collecting aid from a GHF site. That story, based entirely on claims from Hamas-run health officials, was never independently verified, but that didn't stop it from going global. At the time, we flagged the report as questionable. Eventually, the Washington Post deleted its report, acknowledging it had, quote, failed to make it clear if attributing the deaths to Israel was a position of the Gaza Health Ministry or a fact verified by the

Washington Post. The outlet also conceded it hadn't given, quote, proper weight of Israel's denial and concluded that the article, quote, fell short of post standards, whatever that might mean, adding that it should not have been published. That episode revealed the report. reality of Hamas's two-front war, one on the ground and one in the press. The terror group's efforts to undermine the GHF, both with attacks and with propaganda, speak to the broader campaign to delegitimize American and Israeli-supported humanitarian efforts in Gaza. And that, my friends,

is the president's daily brief for Monday, the 7th of July. Now, if you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at pdb at thefirsttv.com. And finally, I hope you had the opportunity to check out the latest episode of our extended weekend show, The PDB Situation Report. You can catch it and past episodes on our YouTube channel. Check that out. You can find our YouTube channel at President's Daily Brief, and of course all podcast platforms everywhere. This weekend we had fascinating discussions with China expert Gordon Chang talking about just how much time Shishing Ping may have left as leader of China, and also with Jerusalem-based Seth Fransman. He's the author of a very, very insightful book, The October 7 War.

I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back later today with the PDB afternoon bulletin. Until then, stay informed. Stay safe. Stay cool.