Hamas Calls for "Immediate" End to War after Trump Election Win : politics

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A senior Hamas official has called for an immediate end to Israel's war against the group in the Gaza Strip and a plan to achieve Palestinian statehood in remarks shared with Newsweek in the wake of former President Donald Trump's election victory.

"The election of Trump as the 47th president of the USA is a private matter for the Americans," Hamas Political Bureau member and spokesperson Basem Naim 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 as 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," he added.

When previously in office, Trump forged a close relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is today engaged in a multifront war against the Iran-aligned Axis of Resistance that began with a large-scale Hamas-led attack against Israel in October 2023. However, Trump has also expressed criticism of Netanyahu's wartime leadership and has called for a timely end to the conflict.

Reached for comment, an Israeli official told Newsweek that "maintaining and building upon the special relationship between the U.S. and Israel has been a bipartisan feature of American politics since the founding of the Jewish state."

"We have no doubt that this will continue to be the case," the Israeli official said. "Going forward, we look forward to a strong working relationship with his administration to bring about a more peaceful, secure and prosperous Middle East."

With continued signs of disagreement between President Joe Biden and Netanyahu over the course of the war despite sizable U.S. military aid, the Israeli premier was the first to congratulate Trump on what was described as "history's greatest comeback."

"Your historic return to the White House offers a new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America," Netanyahu said in his statement Wednesday.

Netanyahu later spoke with Trump. The conversation was described by the Israeli side as a "warm and cordial" exchange in which the two "agreed to work together for Israel's security, and also discussed the Iranian threat."

Newsweek has reached out to Hezbollah and the Iranian Permanent Mission to the United Nations for comment.

The Israel-Hamas war, which has since expanded to include an Israeli air and land offensive against the Hezbollah movement in Lebanon, strikes from other Axis of Resistance factions in Iraq, Syria and Yemen and even direct exchanges of strikes between Israel and Iran, has proven a polarizing foreign policy issue in the U.S.

While Biden has both continued to provide military assistance to Israel and call for greater safeguards to mitigate civilian harm, he has been accused by Israel supporters of not doing enough to aid the U.S. ally and by pro-Palestinian factions of failing to sufficiently rein in Netanyahu.

Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign largely echoed the Biden administration's position, calling for peace and expressing sympathy to the plight of civilians caught in the conflict while at the same rejecting any calls to withhold arms sales to Israel.

In a statement issued Wednesday, Hamas also called for an end to Israel's campaign in Lebanon and for the U.S. to "stop providing military support and political cover to the Zionist entity, and to recognize the legitimate rights of our people."

"The American president-elect is required to listen to the voices that have been raised from American society itself for more than a year regarding the Zionist aggression on the Gaza Strip," the statement said, "rejecting the occupation and genocide, and objecting to support and bias toward the Zionist entity."

Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who leads the West Bank-based government that rivals the Gaza-based Hamas, also congratulated Trump on his election victory Wednesday.

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 (WAFA).

"We will remain steadfast in our commitment to peace," Abbas was quoted as saying, "and we are confident that under your leadership the United States will support the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people."

Both Hamas and Abbas had frequently condemned Trump's Middle East measures while he was in office, including his 2018 decision to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to the disputed city of Jerusalem and his 2020 plan to end the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The proposal, widely branded as a "deal of the century," would have granted Israel control over internationally unrecognized Jewish settlements in the West Bank and occupied areas along the Jordanian border. Hamas and other Palestinian factions would be disarmed, Palestinians would recognize Israel as a Jewish state, refrain from participation in any international organizations without Israeli consent and receive some desert territory along the Israel-Egypt border, as well as access to international investments.

In one of its most ambitious steps, the proposal also outlined for the establishment of a tunnel connecting the West Bank and Gaza.

While the plan failed to gain momentum in the Arab world, Trump successfully oversaw the Abraham Accords later that year that led to the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco establishing diplomatic relations with Israel.

Trump also oversaw a sharp rise in tensions between Washington and Tehran, particularly with the U.S. withdrawal from a multilateral nuclear deal in 2018 and the U.S. killing of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force chief Major General Qassem Soleimani in Iraq in 2020.

The Republican leader has since accused Biden and Harris of being too soft on Iran and he has repeatedly asserted that the war in Hamas would not have happened under his presidency. At the same time, Trump has accused his Democratic rivals of seeking to spark a greater war in the Middle East, something he has vowed to avoid.

"We want a strong and powerful military and ideally, we don't have to use it," Trump said during his election night victory speech. "You know, we had no wars four years. We had no wars. Except we defeated ISIS, we defeated ISIS in record time."

"They said, 'He will start a war.' I'm not going to start a war," Trump said early Wednesday. "I'm going to stop wars."