Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank say a United States presidency under Kamala Harris would do little to halt Israel’s war on Gaza after US President Joe Biden’s decision to drop his re-election bid.
Under Biden, the US has provided its ally Israel with billions of dollars in military aid since October 7. Many Palestinians expect Harris, who is Biden’s vice president and a Democrat, to continue supporting Israel if she is elected president in November.
At the same time, many Palestinians fear that Republican candidate and former President Donald Trump will only exacerbate their suffering if he returns to power.
“Trump would be the worst,” Asmaa Nimilaat said from a hospital where thousands of people are sheltering in Deir el-Balah, an area in central Gaza. “But any candidate that becomes president will not support Palestinians,” he said.
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Since Hamas-led attacks on Israeli communities and military outposts on October 7, in which 1,139 people were killed and 250 taken captive, Israel has launched a devastating war on Gaza with American support.
Israel’s war has killed at least 39,090 Palestinians, uprooted nearly all of Gaza’s 2.3 million people and generated widespread hunger and malnutrition in the besieged enclave.
The war has dominated international headlines for nine months, enabling Israel to quietly seize more land in the occupied West Bank than during any other year in the past three decades.
Palestinians blame 81-year-old Biden for his “weak” leadership and for abetting Israel.
“Biden brought American machines to protect the Israeli occupation and used American vetoes [in the United Nations Security Council] to protect Israel’s genocidal policies,” said Raed Debiy, the head of the political science department at An-Najah National University in Nablus in the West Bank.
“Since the Hamas attack in October, America has dealt with Israel like it’s the 51st [US state],” he told Al Jazeera.
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