Did Hamas call for the end of the war in the Gaza Strip? The question is lingering in the air after a media report said Hamas is expecting US President-elect Donald Trump's help in ending the ongoing war with Israel.
Following the victory of Republican candidate Donald Trump in the US Presidential Elections 2024, Hamas Political Bureau member and spokesperson Basem Naim, in a media interaction with The Newsweek said he hoped the conflict to come to an end with the help of the White House. The US government's intervention could help achieve the long-pending dream of Palestinian statehood, he added.
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Trump's victory is no doubt a private matter for the US citizens, but Washington's support for the Israeli government coming to a halt is a must for the stability of the region, Naim said.
"The election of Trump as the 47th president of the USA is a private matter for the Americans... but Palestinians look forward to an immediate cessation of the aggression against our people, especially in Gaza, and look for assistance in achieving their legitimate rights of freedom, independence, and the establishment of their independent self-sovereign state with Jerusalem as its capital," Newsweek quoted him as saying.
"The blind support for the Zionist 'Israel' and its fascist government, at the expense of the future of our people and the security and stability of the region, must stop immediately," he added.
Earlier, Hamas had issued a terse statement saying, "Our position on the new US administration depends on its positions and practical behaviour towards our Palestinian people, their legitimate rights and their just cause."
Netanyahu-Trump equations
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, called Trump's election win history's greatest comeback. Trump and Netanyahu a fellow conservative nationalist had a tight relationship during the former president's first term, but the ties soured when Netanyahu congratulated President Joe Biden on winning in 2020.
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Netanyahu's inner circle hopes Trump will allow Israel free rein against its enemies, but the president-elect is famously unpredictable, and the Israeli leader faces strong opposition at home.
Donald Trump's election will embolden Netanyahu to act. And this in turn would also strengthen Trump's position towards Putin, who has come to depend on Iranian support for his war in Ukraine. Trump could offer to restrain Netanyahu in the future as a bargaining chip with Putin in his gamble to secure a deal on Ukraine.