GAZA/JERUSALEM: Pales­tinians in Gaza on Wednesday want Donald Trump, who won the US election, to end the conflict between Israel and Hamas that has devastated their territory.

“We were displaced, killed... there’s nothing left for us, we want peace,” Mamdouh al-Jadba, who was displaced to Gaza City from Jabalia, said. “I hope Trump finds a solution, we need someone strong like Trump to end the war and save us, enough, God, this is enough,” said the 60-year-old.

“I was displaced three times, my house was destroyed, my children are homeless in the south... There’s nothing left, Gaza is finished.” Umm Ahmed Harb, from the Al-Shaaf area east of Gaza City, was also counting on Trump to “stand by our side” and end the territory’s suffering.

“God willing the war will end, not for our sake but for the sake of our young children who are innocent, they were martyred and are dying of hunger,” she said. “We cannot buy anything with the high prices (of food). We are here in fear, terror and death.”

Many Israelis welcome return of Republican president

For Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, where violence has also surged since October last year, Trump’s victory was reason to fear for the future.

“Trump is firm in some decisions, but these decisions could serve Israel’s interests politically more than they serve the Palestinian cause,” said Samir Abu Jundi, a 60-year-old in the city of Ramallah.

Another man who identified himself only by his nickname, Abu Moha­mmed, said he also saw no reason to believe Trump’s victory would be in favour of the Palestinians, saying “nothing will change except more decline”.

Trump has promised to bring an end to raging international crises, even saying he could “stop wars with a telephone call”.

Imad Fakhida, a school principal in the main West Bank city of Ramallah, said “Trump’s return to power... will lead us to hell and there will be a greater and more difficult escalation.” “He is known for his complete and greatest support for Israel,” he added.

In Gaza, such statements gave reason for hope. “We expect peace to come and the war to end with Trump because in his election campaign he said that he wants peace and calls for stopping the wars on Gaza and the Middle East,” said Ibrahim Alian, 33, from Gaza City.

‘True friend of Israel’

Moreover, Trump’s return to power in the US will have a positive outcome on Israeli interests, several experts said on Wednesday. Still, some were cautiously optimistic at the prospect of a second Trump term, given his unpredictability during his first term from 2017 to 2021, particularly when it came to foreign policy.

Former president Trump favoured Israel many times in his first term, and Israeli leaders were among the first to congratulate him on Wednesday as soon as he claimed victory.

Opinion polls showed that 66 per cent of Israelis wanted Trump back in power. With Israel at conflict for more than a year and amid several diplomatic setbacks, “Trump’s win is a big emboldening for Netanyahu”, according to Mairav Zonszein, an expert at the International Crisis Group, pointing to the two leaders’ similar political style.

She added that the result was hailed by the “far right and the settler right in Israel”, who expect a US policy that is more favourable to settlers in the West Bank.

Analysts noted that Trump will favour Israel’s interests on the international scene. “Considering what he said and what he’s done before, we expect him to be tougher on Iran,” said international relations expert Yonatan Freeman of Jerusalem’s Hebrew University.

Freeman predicted new talks with Iran pushing “for a better deal for Israel’s security”, enabled by the new American president.

Several experts pointed to the issue of US military support. President Joe Biden waved this as a potential pressure point in Gaza conflict ceasefire talks, but it would no longer be a threat under Trump.

“It is sometimes preferable to deal with predictable people even if we don’t really like them, rather than unpredictable people,”, Yossi Mekelberg, an expert on Israeli geopolitics at Chatham House, said.

Mekelberg pointed to past disputes between Trump and Netanyahu, including in 2020 when Trump saw Netanyahu’s congratulations to Biden on winning the election as a betrayal. Trump’s statements since then have sometimes seemed contradictory, between his support for Israel and his wish for an end to the conflict in Gaza, despite overtures from Netanyahu.

Zonszein said some Israeli leaders appear to have prematurely decided on Trump’s position on “Israel’s treatment of Palestinians”. “It’s not necessarily clear that he would kind of just stand aside while Israel continues to de facto annex the West Bank”, she said, pointing to his past opposition to aspects of Israel’s annexation plan and his support for the Abraham Accords.

Published in Dawn, November 7th, 2024