People in Gaza are apparently not impressed with President-elect Trump’s threat of “all hell breaking loose” if Hamas doesn’t release the hostages by Jan. 20, as they’re already experiencing the worst that Israel can impose on them. “We can safely say the Israeli military has used everything possible across the Gaza Strip,” Hani Mahmoud, the Al Jazeera correspondent in Deir el Balah in central Gaza, wrote on Al Jazeera’s live update page this morning. “The consensus among the displaced Palestinian population is that Gaza has become a testing lab for the Israeli army.
“From the use of bunker-buster bombs, ‘precise’ ammunition, to drone missiles, the entire arsenal has been deployed across Gaza. If you look at the sky at any moment you’ll see different kinds of aircraft from reconnaissance planes and drones to fighter jets and helicopters.
“So the kind of ‘hell’ that Donald Trump is talking about—it’s more of a joke to people here right now because every weapon has been used to kill a large number of civilians. Palestinians are keeping their eyes and ears on one thing: the end of Israel’s war with the release of the Israeli captives and Palestinian prisoners—and the end of the ongoing killing in Gaza.”
Sami al-Arian, director of the Center for Islam and Global Affairs at Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University, asked: “All this carnage and massive casualties in Gaza, what else is he going to do?”
Al-Arian blamed Netanyahu for blocking a ceasefire deal. “The Qataris, the Egyptians, the Americans know fully well who has been obstructing and blocking. Every time they reach an agreement, [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu comes back and asks for new conditions. … His fascist cabinet members are dictating for him what to do,” he said.
