The New York Times said that US President-elect Donald Trump’s threat to open the gates of hell in the Middle East if the Israeli prisoners held in Gaza were not released less than two weeks before his inauguration surprised the Palestinian sector and made them wonder: “If this is not hell, then what is hell?” ?
Trump had written a post on social media, in which he threatened those responsible for the killing of American-Israeli prisoner Omar Neutra – who was previously believed to be alive in Gaza – that there would be “hell they will pay for” if the rest of the prisoners were not released before his inauguration on 20. This January.
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He threatened those officials that they would receive “blows more severe than any blow received by anyone in the long and rich history of the United States of America,” and added, “Release the prisoners now.”
The situation is truly hell
The New York Times indicated in a press report that nearly two million Palestinians have been living, for more than a year, in Gaza without shelter, suffering from a severe shortage of food and medicine, and under constant threat from Israeli air strikes.
The newspaper spoke to a Palestinian citizen named Alaa Essam (33 years old) from Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, who said, “I don’t think he (Trump) understands the situation here. It is truly hell.”
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She pointed out that negotiations aimed at ending the war between Israel and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) have not made much progress, leaving civilians in Gaza caught in the crossfire with little hope for the future.
Issam said, “We have been being killed for 15 months. We have suffered from two harsh winters in tents, and two sweltering summers that spoiled our food. We were exposed to famine, and people died of hunger, in addition to the continuous brutal bombing everywhere.”
Akram Al-Satri (47 years old), a freelance translator from Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, expressed his astonishment that Trump “does not know that Gaza is deprived of all forms of life, and that he thinks that he can add to this hell even more while Israel has spared no effort.” “In turning the lives of Gazans into something worse than hell.”
He continued, saying, “We all watch bombs falling on our heads every day, and we live in a miserable reality that is more deadly and destructive than hell itself.”
While most Gazans place the greatest responsibility on Israel for the killing and destruction around them, the newspaper claims that many hold Hamas part of it as well. It quoted Abdul Aziz Saeed (33 years old), from Deir al-Balah, that although Hamas says that ending the war is one of its priorities, “it is not acting in this direction.”
Timely deal
The American newspaper reported that Trump spoke to reporters on Tuesday, and told them, “I do not want to harm the negotiations” related to the exchange of prisoners and an agreement on a ceasefire.
It is expected that Trump’s chief Middle East envoy, Steven Witkoff, will join those talks in the Qatari capital, Doha, later this week.
But she said that Trump was clear in his threat that dire consequences would occur if Hamas refused to release its remaining 100 Israeli prisoners – at least a third of whom are presumed dead – since its attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
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The president-elect stressed that “it will not be good, frankly, for anyone…and if the deal is not completed before I take office,” on January 20, “the gates of hell will open in the Middle East.”
The New York Times explained in its report that the echoes of his statements were echoed throughout Gaza on Wednesday, which some civilians understood to mean that the Palestinians would be punished, not Israel, if an agreement was not reached regarding the prisoners by the time of Trump’s inauguration.
History does not bode well
Many Gazans interviewed by the newspaper on Wednesday expressed their fear that Trump would continue to adopt pro-Israel policies, as he did in his first term between 2017 and 2021.
According to the newspaper, during that period, Trump moved the American embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to occupied Jerusalem, and also recognized its sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which it occupied from Syria in 1967.
Palestinians and Arabs in the region are also concerned that Trump will not prevent Israel from annexing more West Bank lands and occupying at least parts of Gaza, according to the press report.
