Trump to worsen our plight: Palestinian, Lebanese victims of Israel’s wars
Palestinian and Lebanese civilians are bracing for more devastation once Donald Trump begins his second term as president of the United States in January.
While millions of Trump supporters celebrate his victory, many in the Middle East are looking on with trepidation.
In Gaza, the occupied West Bank and Lebanon, there are fears the loyal ally of Israel will embolden its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and far-right coalition government to escalate regional conflicts and destroy any possibility of Palestinian self-determination.
“I have no trust in America,” said Abu Ali, an 87-year-old in Gaza who has been uprooted from his home like most people there. “I’m expecting the war in Gaza to get even worse [under Trump].”
US President Joe Biden’s outgoing administration has supported Israel in its campaign in Gaza.
Since the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, during which 1,139 people were killed and 250 taken captive, Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza – using US weapons – has killed more than 43,000 Palestinians and uprooted almost the entire population of 2.3 million people.
The Republican president-elect has accused Biden, a Democrat, of restraining Israel in Gaza and made a vague promise to help Israel to “finish the job” if re-elected.
“I don’t know if the situation will improve under Trump. He might just [allow Israel] to deport us all [from Gaza] instead of killing us,” Abu Mohamad said with a hint of sarcasm from a displacement camp in Gaza.
Abu Ali believes Palestinians are at the mercy of whoever holds power in the US.
As a survivor of the Nakba (“catastrophe”), the expulsion of 750,000 Palestinians by Zionist militias during the creation of Israel in 1948, he said he has witnessed several US presidents support Israeli atrocities against his people.
He expects that trend to continue under Trump and stressed that neither the Nakba nor Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza should be referred to as a “war”.
