How do Palestinians in the Gaza Strip view Trump's victory in the US presidency?

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are looking with great caution at Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential elections, with their opinions varying between cautious hope that his term will witness positive changes, and frustration at the possibility of the continuation of US policies supporting Israeli genocide in the Strip that have been ongoing for more than a year.

As Gazans increasingly demand an end to the Israeli genocide and an improvement in their living conditions, they feel they may be left out of US policy unless the new administration takes real steps to end it and bring about a tangible improvement in humanitarian conditions.

According to results reported by American media, Trump won the presidential race after significantly exceeding the required number of votes in the Electoral College, which is 270 votes, defeating his Democratic competitor, Kamala Harris.

Trump is scheduled to be sworn in on January 20, 2025, officially beginning his presidential duties.

Trump said in a speech in Michigan, which is home to a large Muslim and Arab community, that his Democratic rival, Kamala Harris, "led her campaign with the daughter of former US Vice President Dick Cheney (Liz Cheney), who nearly destroyed the Middle East."

He added: "If Kamala wins, it will be only death and destruction. I am the candidate of peace."

It is worth noting that Dick Cheney served as Vice President under George W. Bush during the invasion of Iraq.

low hopes

Palestinian Suha Hussein, displaced from Wadi al-Salqa, southeast of Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, calls on the new US president to stop the Israeli war immediately, saying: “We are exhausted by displacement and the harshness of life. Children are homeless, diseases are spreading, and food and medicine are scarce.”

In an interview with Anadolu Agency, Hussein hopes that the crossings will open to allow food supplies and winter clothes to enter as winter approaches, and that the suffering of the Gazans will end after Trump assumes the US presidency.

She points out that she is not optimistic about changing US policy, stressing that "the Palestinian people, especially in Gaza, are oppressed by the entire world. Even the Arab countries do not defend the interests of the Palestinians. If the countries claimed humanity, they would have stopped the war from the beginning."

Since the beginning of the genocidal war on Gaza, which Israel expanded to Lebanon on September 23, the Biden administration has been providing Tel Aviv with strong support at the military, intelligence and political levels.

While her little boy, Jude Omar Hussein, 9 years old, expresses his simple dream of living a normal life like other children in the world, in which he feels safe and his basic needs are met.

"I hope the war stops and we can return to our homes and schools, and be able to play with the toys we lost," Jude told an Anadolu Agency correspondent.

The situation of the child Jude is like that of the victims of the Israeli war who were deprived of their most basic rights to safety, education and childhood.

The elderly Abu Ahmed, 68 years old, believes that the change of presidency in the United States does not make a big difference in its strategy towards the Palestinian issue.

Sitting in his chair, Abu Ahmed told Anadolu Agency: “American policy is based on a fixed strategy regardless of the president. The differences are only in the methods of implementation, not in the goals.”

He points out that this "consistency in politics makes hopes for radical change weak, especially in light of the unstable Arab and Islamic situation."

Observers believe that Republicans and Democrats are “two sides of the same coin” in supporting Israel, and even compete in this regard, due to the financial and political influence that Jewish lobby groups have in Washington, in addition to the common interests between the two countries.

During his first presidential term, Trump provided significant support to Tel Aviv, and in 2017 decided to consider occupied East Jerusalem the capital of Israel and move the US embassy there from Tel Aviv, which the Palestinians reject and violates relevant international resolutions.

American intervention

Ahmed Al-Maghari (33 years old) is looking forward to American intervention from the new administration to truly end the conflict in the Middle East.

Al-Maghari told Anadolu Agency: "In his speeches, Trump repeatedly indicated his intention to achieve peace, and we hope that this will be implemented in the Gaza Strip. We want a just peace and an immediate cessation of the war."

He added: "The continuation of the conflict negatively affects the lives of the population, and it is necessary to restore normal life in Gaza as soon as possible. We are fed up with this war."

Iman Al-Assar, 9, expresses her deep sorrow for the loss of her family members during an Israeli bombardment that caused a horrific massacre in the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip.

In an interview with Anadolu Agency, Al-Assar indicated that the war destroyed her family's home and deprived her of her childhood.

She says: "I wish to live a normal life, like the rest of the children in the world. The war destroyed our homes and killed my loved ones. I hope that the new American president will stop this war and rebuild Gaza."

In the same context, Palestinian Rami Habib (44 years old) demands that the new American president immediately stop the Israeli war after a series of Israeli crimes and massacres committed against the Palestinians.

Habib told Anadolu Agency: "We demand that the new American administration take serious steps to end the war. We are tired and we no longer have the energy to bear any more. The Palestinian people in Gaza have become unable to even secure their basic needs."

He believes that "America's support for Israel is one of the main reasons for the continuation of the genocidal war. War brings nothing but destruction, and Gaza does not pose any real threat to Israel or any other country in the world."

Iman Aliwa, a nursing student and volunteer at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, is calling for an end to the war and the opening of the crossings to allow the entry of basic aid and provide medical care to the wounded.

Aliwa told Anadolu Agency: "Our lives have come to a complete standstill because of the war, and we are suffering from a severe shortage of basic necessities, especially with the wounded needing to travel for treatment. We hope that Trump will take steps to open the crossings and bring in the necessary materials."

With American support, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, leaving more than 146,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing, amid massive destruction and famine that killed dozens of children and the elderly, in one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world.

Israel continues its massacres, ignoring the UN Security Council resolution to end them immediately, and the International Court of Justice’s orders to take measures to prevent acts of genocide and improve the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Source: Anadolu Agency