Gazans have endured decades of suffering, but the past fifteen months have been particularly devastating. The unprecedented Hamas terror attacks on Israel on October 7 and Israel’s subsequent response with intense bombing campaigns have not only targeted Hamas but also taken a severe toll on ordinary Palestinians, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis.
But while the Benjamin Netanyahu-led ultra-rightist government may have felt elated by its occasional military successes, ordinary Israelis have also lived through fear and insecurity. Despite being decimated, Hamas remains an ideological force and is on the negotiating table and still holding hostages dead or alive as a pawn for their continued relevance and survival.
The second ceasefire secured under threats from President Donald Trump, and with the help of Egypt, Qatar and US, forced the two sides to come to terms for an immediate ceasefire before Trump’s inauguration. But as is their wont, both have continued to change their goalposts, accusing the other of violating the agreed terms of the truce. Ironically, the survival of Hamas ideology and Netanyahu’s political leadership hangs in the balance on the continuity of this war.
Then you have President Trump, currently the most powerful leader, whose unpredictability yet opposition to wars have acted as an implicit deterrence to the warring parties across the spectrum. But he has added a new angle to the whole Gaza imbroglio in his transactional style.
Trump has sought to displace the two million embattled Gazans to other countries, pushing Jordan and Egypt to take the hit—both of which have peace treaties with Israel and are suffering economic hardships even though they are significantly dependent on the US for financial support and bailouts. Jordan, apart from its 60 per cent population of Palestinian origin, is already hosting millions of Syrians, Palestinians, Iraqis, Libyans, and others, but it also hosts one of the largest US bases that adds to its strategic security.
Content retrieved from: https://www.firstpost.com/opinion/from-riviera-to-shalom-hamas-not-many-choices-for-gazans-in-trump-2-0-13869587.html.
