Hamas official: Trump’s victory will not help solve Palestinian problems

A senior official from the Islamic group Hamas has said that he does not believe that Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election will help solve Palestinian problems.

Osama Hamdan of Hamas’ political bureau spoke in an online interview with NHK on Thursday. It came after news that Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to work together for Israel’s security during phone calls on Wednesday.

Hamdan accused Trump’s previous administration of pushing an overly pro-Israel agenda. He said this approach caused great harm to Palestinians and efforts to solve their problems.

Hamdan also said that a recently announced temporary ceasefire for the Gaza Strip lacks legitimacy. The proposal was intended to break the deadlock in the ceasefire negotiations for the enclave.

Hamdan reiterated Hamas’ demands for a permanent ceasefire and the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza as conditions for the group to reach an agreement with Israel.

The official stressed that Hamas will continue to resist as long as Israeli forces launch attacks.