Hamas has issued a statement reacting to former President Donald Trump‘s victory in the 2024 presidential election, begging him to make good on his promise to end the war in Gaza as it made a series of demands.
The terrorist group said Wednesday that Trump’s incoming administration must ‘work seriously to stop the war,’ after he reportedly asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to wrap up the conflict by the time he gets inaugurated on January 20 should he be elected, according to Fox News.
‘In light of the initial results showing Donald Trump winning in the US presidential election,’ Hamas believes he is ‘required to listen to the voices that have been raised by the US public for more than a year regarding the Zionist aggression on the Gaza Strip,’ it said.
The group also said the incoming president’s administration must ‘work seriously to stop the war of genocide and aggression against our Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, stop the aggression against the brotherly Lebanese people, stop providing military support and political cover to the Zionist entity and to recognize the legitimate rights of our people.’
It added that the ‘new US administration must realize that our Palestinian people will continue to resist the hateful Zionist occupation and will not accept any path that detracts from their legitimate rights to freedom, independence, self-determination and the establishment of their independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem at its capital.’
The statement echoed earlier remarks by Hamas Political Bureau spokesman Basem Naim.
‘The election of Trump as the 47th president of the USA is a private matter for the Americans,’ he told Newsweek.
‘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 at its capital.
‘The blind support for the Zionist entity “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.’
Meanwhile, Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who leads the West Bank-based government that rivals Gaza-based Hamas, congratulated Trump on his victory.
Abbas expressed ‘his aspiration to work with President Trump for peace and security in the region’ and stressed ‘the commitment of our people to seek freedom, self-determination and statehood, in accordance with international law,’ according to a statement published by the Palestine News and Information Agency.
‘We will remain steadfast in our commitment to peace, and we are confident that under your leadership, the United States will support the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people,’ he said.
However, when Trump served his first time in office he forged close ties with the Israeli prime minister, and proposed measures that both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority vehemently opposed – like moving the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in 2018.
His plan to end the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict also drew the groups’ ire.
It would have granted Israel control over Jewish settlements in the West Bank and occupied areas along the Jordanian border, and would have disarmed Hamas and other Palestinian factions.
The proposal would have also required Palestinians to recognize Israel as a Jewish state and refrain from participating in any international organizations without Israel’s consent.
In return, Palestinians would receive some desert territory along the Israel-Egypt border and access to international investments.
That proposal fell through, but later that year, Trump successfully oversaw the Abraham Accords that led the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco to establish diplomatic relations with Israel.
In his next term, Trump is expected to continue to support Israel, with some saying he will free the nation from oversight of its military operations in the occupied territories, Lebanon and across the Middle East.
He could also sanction Israeli air strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities – breaking with the Biden administration.
Biden temporarily halted specific arms donations to Israel earlier this year following concerns about alleged war crimes, and senior Israeli officials feared that another Democrat administration would have led to further US threats to restrict supplies of weapons and ammunition.
Prime Minister Netanyahu even blamed Biden for denying Israel the ‘total victory’ it has sought against Iranian-backed militia following the Hamas attacks on Israel in October 2023.
He has since described Trump’s victory as ‘a new beginning for America and a powerful re-commitment to the great alliance between Israel and America.’
Netanyahu is also said to have spoken with Trump since his victory in a conversation Israeli officials described as a ‘warm and cordial exchange’ in which the two ‘agreed to work together for Israel’s security and also discussed the Iranian threat,’ according to Newsweek.
An unidentified Israeli official has also said that ‘maintaining and building upon the special relationship with the US and Israel has been a bipartisan feature of American politics since the founding of the Jewish state.
‘We have no doubt this will continue to be the case,’ the official said.
‘Going forward, we look forward to a strong working relationship with [Trump’s] administration to bring about a more peaceful, secure and prosperous Middle East.’
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