‘Israel will keep invading – with more ease’: Gaza dreads Trump presidency

Ahmed Jarad has been living in Beit Lahiya, a village in the north of the Gaza Strip, for the past 13 months, with the bleak hope that one day he might return to his former life.

However, Jarad claimed that his desire to return to his hometown, which is currently being stricken by Israel and its stranded population, was thwarted as former US President Donald Trump declared his triumphant re-election to the White House on Wednesday as he defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in a close fight.

The 43-year-old left his home exactly a year ago – in November 2023 – fleeing to al-Mawasi, west of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. One month earlier, Israel launched its war on Gaza after Hamas, the political and military group that rules the Strip, led an assault on army outposts and villages in southern Israel, leaving 1, 139 people dead and taking more than 250 captive.

Since then, Israel has subjected Gaza to near-relentless bombardments and ground invasions. Nearly all of the 2.3 million people who live in the enclave have been displaced, with more than 43, 000 Palestinians dead and thousands more missing and presumed dead beneath the rubble.

Hamas, which is viewed by most Western nations as a “terrorist group,” must be eliminated, according to Israeli officials. However, the majority of the victims of the war are women and children, according to Palestinians, the UN, and human rights advocates.

Jarad said he is certain that Israel’s impunity will only get worse once Trump, who enjoyed a close relationship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his first term in office, takes the oath as its leader.

From his torn tent in al-Mawasi, where he now resides with his wife and their five children, Jarad declared, “Trump and Netanyahu are an evil alliance against the Palestinians and our fate will be very difficult, not only in the fateful issues but also in our daily concerns.”

Netanyahu quickly congratulated Trump on his victory on Wednesday, who is under intense domestic and international pressure to put an end to the conflict that has spanned Lebanon and threatens to wrack out into an entire Iran-Israeli conflict.

Calling Trump’s election “history’s greatest comeback”, Netanyahu described Trump’s return as a “fresh start for America” and a “powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America”.

The US embassy in Israel was moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem during Trump’s first four years as president, according to the Israeli government. UNRWA, the UN’s Palestinian refugee aid organization, was cut short, particularly because Israel had already designated it as a terrorist organization just before the US election.

Despite being condemned by the international community, Trump’s administration also ignored the establishment of illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank and brokered the “Abraham Accords,” which established diplomatic relations between several Arab nations.

Democratic President Joe Biden has remained unwavering about supporting Israel, continuing to send military aid, and reaffirming Israel’s “right to protect itself” since the conflict started in October of last year.

However, the tensions between Netanyahu and Biden have gotten worse and there haven’t been any ceasefire agreements reached by the Americans. A Trump presidency, according to Netanyahu, could turn things around in Israeli-American relations.

Like many Palestinians, particularly those trapped in Gaza, Jarad says he dreads this will be at their cost.

“This is a sad day for Palestinians”, he said, despairing. Trump will support Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s free will in the event that there are opportunities for the displacement of many Palestinians outside the Gaza Strip.

“We hoped to return to the north and now all our hopes have been shattered”, he said.

Trump and Netanyahu: ‘ Peas in a pod ‘

Zakia Hilal, a 70-year-old physician, has resorted to humour to get through the devastation of the war on Gaza. She and her husband, children, and grandchildren were all gathered in their tent in al-Mawasi and were listening to the news of the US election on the radio.

As soon as they heard the news that Trump had won, she cried: “Two peas in a pod”, referring to Netanyahu and Trump. “Our situation wasn’t bad enough? Trump had to come to complete it”, she said sarcastically.

When Israeli troops launched a ground operation on May 6 into the southernmost region of the enclave, where the majority of the population had fled, Hilal, who is originally from Rafah in the south of Gaza, was forced to leave her home.

Since then, the Rafah border crossing to Egypt, the main gateway through which humanitarian aid normally trickles through, has been shut. Since the start of the war, humanitarian aid has reached its lowest levels.

“We are undoubtedly entering a very difficult period. What’s coming ahead may be even worse than what we’ve experienced so far”, Hilal told Al Jazeera. “Trump and other American administrations support Israel, but some are more severe and vehement than others, like Trump,” the statement goes on to say.

Trump stated in his victory speech in Florida that he was “going to stop wars,” something that many Arab Americans criticized Biden’s administration for not doing. Trump has expressed concern about the potential for a protracted conflict in Gaza, according to reports from The Times of Israel. He reportedly told Netanyahu in a meeting in July that the dispute should be settled by his election in January 2025.

“I told Bibi]Netanyahu], we don’t want endless wars, especially ones that drag America into them”, Trump said, referencing the private conversation. Palestinians who spoke to Al Jazeera on Wednesday are concerned because of how he intends to “end” this one.

Jehad Malaka, a researcher in international relations at the Gaza-based research organisation, the Palestinian Planning Centre, does not expect Trump’s upcoming administration to be much different from Biden’s in terms of support for Israel.

Malaka claimed that the Biden administration had no influence over the Palestinians during the war and that any of the decisions made during Trump’s first presidency had been reversed from the tent he shares with his family in al-Mawasi, where they flung from northern Gaza.

“Trump uses rough tools, and Biden and the Democrats resort to soft tools, but the politics are the same”, he said.

He continued, “Biden was unable to reach a ceasefire and made no decision in favor of the Palestinians.” He made no attempt to alter the reality behind his predecessor Trump’s choices. The two administrations’ positions on Israel are identical and consistent, and they prioritize Israel’s interests over all other factors.

Malaka, however, said he doubts Trump’s desire to force the Palestinians from Gaza to leave the region, and that he anticipates that the new president will put an end to the conflict as quickly as possible, albeit with great pain.

Given that Trump has the power to exert pressure and influence over Netanyahu, he may be able to persuade him to reach an agreement on a partial solution to the Palestinian conflict, while Biden failed to exert any pressure on Netanyahu to achieve calm.

Ahmed Fayyad, 45, an independent researcher in Israeli affairs who has taken refuge in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, is less optimistic. He said he believes Trump’s influence will be entirely harmful tor Palestinians as a whole, and Gaza Palestinians, in particular.

Trump’s victory only implies that Netanyahu will carry out his plans to invade Gaza and expel its citizens, but with less pressure and ease, according to Fayyed, who fled to Deir el-Balah to escape the intense bombing in eastern Khan Younis a year ago.

Trump is “a more dominating figure” because of his “influence on all parties” that “neither he nor he would want to conquer Gaza, which he has always wanted.

The Palestinian cause is facing its greatest threat to date, despite the weakening of the Palestinian front and the absence of any Arab unity and solidarity.

Source: Aljazeera