For the past 13 months, Ahmed Jarad hasactually been living with the dim hope that he may one day return to his home in Beit Lahiya, a town in the north of the Gaza Strip.
But on Wednesday, as previous US Plocal Donald Trump stated his victorious return to the White House following a close race versus Vice President Kamala Harris, Jarad stated his dream of returning to his hometown, presently being pounded by Israel and its stranded population sealed off from the south, hasactually been squashed.
The 43-year-old left his home precisely a year ago – in November 2023 – gettingaway to al-Mawasi, west of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. One month earlier, Israel released its war on Gaza after Hamas, the political and military group that guidelines the Strip, led an attack on army stations and towns in southern Israel, leaving 1,139 individuals dead and taking more than 250 slave.
Since then, Israel hasactually subjected Gaza to near-relentless barrages and ground intrusions. More than 43,000 Palestinians haveactually been eliminated – with thousands more missingouton and presumed dead under the debris – while almost all of the enclave’s 2.3 million population hasactually been displaced.
Israeli authorities keep that the war is needed to remove Hamas, which hasactually been categorised as a “terrorist group” by most Western nations. But Palestinians, the United Nations and human rights protectors point to the truth that most of the victims of the war are females and kids.
Jarad stated he is specific that Israel’s cruelty will just getworse when Trump, who delightedin a close relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu throughout his veryfirst presidency, is assoonas onceagain sworn in as leader of the world’s greatest superpower.
“Trump and Netanyahu are an evil alliance versus the Palestinians and our fate will be extremely hard, not just in the eventful concerns however likewise in our day-to-day issues,” Jarad informed Al Jazeera from his scruffy campingtent in al-Mawasi, where he now lives with his spouse and their 5 kids.
Netanyahu, who is dealingwith pressure both locally and globally to bring an end to the war that has spilled over into Lebanon and threatens to intensify into full-blown dispute inbetween Israel and Iran, was fast to praise Trump after he declared his success on Wednesday.
Calling Trump’s election “history’s biggest return”, Netanyahu explained Trump’s return as a “fresh start for America” and a “powerful recommitment to the excellent alliance inbetween Israel and America”.
During Trump’s veryfirst four-year period as president from 2016 to 2020, the UnitedStates embassy in Israel was transferred from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem – a substantial relocation in the eyes of the Israeli federalgovernment. Aid to Palestinians was cut – especially to UNRWA, the UN’s Palestinian refugee help firm, which Israel designated a terrorist group simply days before the UnitedStates election.
Trump’s administration likewise neglected the structure of prohibited Israeli settlements in the West Bank regardlessof global condemnation, and brokered the “Abraham Accords” which saw anumberof Arab nations normalising ties with Israel.
Since the war on Gaza started in October last year, Democratic President Joe Biden hasactually been steady in his assistance of Israel, continuing to sendout military help and declaring Israel’s “right to safeguard itself”.
But relations inbetween Netanyahu and Biden have soured rather over intensifying local stress and the failure to reach any of the ceasefire offers, which the Americans haveactually been included in negotiating. Netanyahu now states that a Trump presidency might signal a brand-new leaf in Israeli-American relations.
Like numerous Palestinians, especially those caught in Gaza, Jarad states he fears this will be at their expense.
“This is a unfortunate day for Palestinians,” he stated, despairing. “Trump will back Netanyahu’s complimentary hand relatingto the possibility of the return of settlements to the Gaza Strip and even the displacement of big numbers of Palestinians outside it.”
“We hoped to return to the north and now all our hopes haveactually been shattered,” he stated.
Trump and Netanyahu: ‘Peas in a pod’
Zakia Hilal, a 70-year-old doctor, has resorted to humour to get through the destruction of the war on Gaza. She was listening to the radio for news of the UnitedStates election with her partner, kids and grandchildren – all collected together in their campingtent in al-Mawasi.
As quickly as they heard the news that Trump had won, she sobbed: “Two peas in a pod,” referring to Netanyahu and Tr