Senior Hamas Official, Sami Abu Zuhri has urged U.S President-elect, Donald Trump to learn from President Joe Biden’s “mistakes.”

Abu Zuhri said that the Democratic Party’s loss is the natural price for its leadership’s “criminal stance” towards Gaza.

He added that Trump’s victory puts to test his earlier statements that he can stop the war in Gaza within hours.

Commenting on Trump’s victory in the US presidential election, Hamas published a statement on its official Telegram channel, calling on the new US administration to cease its support for Israel. “We demand an end to blind military and political support for Israel, and call on the new US administration to recognize the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people,” the statement read.

The militant group emphasized that its supporters believe that the new President “should understand that Palestinians will continue to oppose occupation and will not accept any situation diminishing their freedom and right to self-determination.”

It also stated that its members’ approach to the new US leader “will depend entirely on his stance and the practical steps he takes regarding Palestine.”

“The American President-elect is required to listen to the voices of the American community itself rejecting the aggression on Gaza.

“The new American administration must realise that our people are continuing to confront the occupation and will not accept a path that diminishes their rights.”
Hamas

Hamas added that it expects the US President-elect to make “significant efforts to end the war in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, as well as to stop Israeli aggression against Lebanon.”

Bassem Naim, a member of Hamas’ political bureau also iterated that this “blind support for the Zionist entity” must end because it comes at the expense of the future of “our people and the security and stability of the region.”

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority Leader, Mahmoud Abbas congratulated Trump, saying that he is confident the US will support, under Trump’s leadership, “the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people.”

In a statement, Abbas expressed his aspiration to work with Trump for peace and security in the region, stressing the Palestinian people’s commitment to the pursuit of freedom, self-determination, and statehood in accordance with international law.

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister, Najib Mikati also issued a pretty brief statement, congratulating Trump on his win and the American people on their democratic election.

He then emphasised the importance of fully implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1701.

Trump’s Win To Bring Challenges

Mustafa Barghouti, the Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative, opined that Trump’s win brings lots of challenges. “Tactically, [Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin] Netanyahu might face a stronger President, and maybe this would make him less capable of manoeuvring,” he told a news agency. “Because when Trump tells him to stop the war, he will have to stop it. He will not be able to play games with him,” he added.

However, Barghouti said that strategically, there are two big risks.

“There is a lot of pressure from Trump’s camp to support Netanyahu’s terrible plan to annex West Bank or annex a big part of West Bank, which would mean total assassination of any possibility of peace or the so-called two-state solution.

“The second risk is to allow the ethnic cleansing of Gaza and allow the continuation of this terrible genocide in Gaza and to allow the continuation of the war in Lebanon.”
Mustafa Barghouti

Nonetheless, Barghouti said that regardless of who sits in the White House, Palestinian people will not stop their struggle for freedom.

Separately, Daniel Levy, head of the US/Middle East Project, stated, “We cannot wait for the United States because they are not a friend of peace in the region under either [Biden or Trump].”