Washington- The question is being raised in the American capital about why US President-elect Donald Trump wants to conclude an agreement on the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip before he officially takes office on January 20.
Trump had indicated his keenness to end the war in Gaza as quickly as possible, even as the outgoing Joe Biden administration continued its diplomatic quest to reach a ceasefire agreement, as the president-elect posted on the “Truth Social” platform a tweet in which he threatened “hell.” If the detained prisoners are not returned before the time of his inauguration, as there are 4 or 5 living American citizens among them.
The same message was repeated by Trump’s Middle East advisor, Stephen Witkoff, who has been in the region for days, making shuttle trips between Qatar and Israel, conveying messages from Trump to the parties to the negotiating process that brings together Qatar, Egypt, Hamas, and Israel, in addition to the United States.
Al Jazeera Net surveyed the opinions of a number of American and foreign affairs experts, and their responses revealed Trump’s multiple and overlapping goals, which may justify his early move to end this thorny issue.
Early completion
In an interview with Al Jazeera Net, former security analyst and diplomat Wolfgang Pusztai said, “Trump is looking for the first major political success to strengthen his foreign policy from the beginning, and the conflict in Gaza represents a heavy burden on the United States and its image in the region.”
He added, “A permanent ceasefire – brokered by his team – would significantly improve Trump’s standing and credibility as a deal maker in the region from the beginning, which also helps him locally with many of his supporters.”
Hussein Abish, senior researcher at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, also pointed out – in his speech to Al Jazeera Net – that “Trump wants to try to take credit for the situation that has been brewing for several months, and he is well aware that the transitional period between administrations and the interval between presidencies is… “It is always an opportunity for the next president’s team to solve major problems before his arrival.”
Trump had pledged – during his election campaign and on many occasions to Arab, Muslim and Jewish voters – to work to end the fighting in the Gaza Strip, and to release the rest of the prisoners held by Hamas, and he courted voters concerned about Gaza on both sides, and stressed that if he had been president, this war would not have occurred. From the beginning, he repeated that he was a “peace” candidate.
Jeremy Mayer, a professor at the School of Politics and Government at George Mason University in Virginia, agrees with the previous proposal, and added to Al Jazeera Net that “Trump promised to take quick measures in Ukraine and Gaza, and if he is able to accomplish something before the inauguration, it will be something he can brag about. In fact, if Reaching a real ceasefire would be a major achievement.”

Regional forces
Trump considers the most important achievements of his first term on the foreign level to be reaching the Abraham Accords, which laid the foundations for normalizing relations between Israel and four Arab countries: the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan.
The next American administration aims to include Saudi Arabia in these agreements and establish diplomatic relations between it and Israel. However, one of Riyadh’s conditions is to stop the aggression against the Gaza Strip and establish a framework that ends with an independent Palestinian state.
It is likely that Trump will try to push the Abraham Accords forward, seeking normalization between Saudi-Israeli and include him on the list of contenders for the Nobel Peace Prize that he dreams of, as he previously stated in a television interview before the elections last November that “peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia will be an absolute priority if He won the election.”
On the other hand, researcher Abish believes that “Trump realizes that the features of this potential deal have been accumulating for a long time, as the last straw was the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, and the rise of Turkey as a new regional power, which radically changes the balance of power within Hamas, which was already shifting.” Toward the leaders of the Politburo who are allied with Turkey and Qatar, instead of those who are allied with Iran and Hezbollah.”
Trita Barsi, Executive Vice President of the Quincy Institute in Washington, said – in an interview with Al Jazeera Net – that “Trump can take credit for the ceasefire if it happened immediately before he took office, while avoiding having to deal with the headache of this conflict and the risk of igniting a regional war that would occupy… US”.
He added that the ceasefire would also likely lead to an end to Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea, “reducing pressure on Trump to escalate attacks against Yemen.”
New page
Political analyst and foreign affairs expert Adam Shapiro said, “It appears that President Trump is looking forward to turning the page on the policies and issues of the previous four years, and does not want to get involved in foreign policy issues that are not a priority for him.”
He added, “With regard to foreign policy, the incoming Trump administration appears to be taking an approach that gives priority to the American sphere of influence, which is mainly limited to its neighbors, mainly the Americas, including Greenland, and with two additional principles of action, the first of which is confronting China, and the second is empowering Israel.” .
Abish went back to saying that it is easy to see “why Hamas is now willing to make concessions in any way with Israel, as the Israeli government is under intense pressure to release the detainees, and the Israeli army wants to end the war in Gaza, which no longer serves any legitimate military or strategic purpose.” So both sides are ready to reach an agreement.”
He added that Trump is trying to play a role in order to be seen as happened with former President Ronald Reagan and what he accomplished with the deal to free the American hostages in Iran, who were detained at the American embassy in Tehran, between November 4, 1979 and January 20, 1981. He said “He wants to be seen as a tough guy who scares everyone.”
While a deal has not been reached yet, Mayer believes that there are major obstacles to reaching an agreement before Trump arrives at the White House, “which is that Netanyahu may believe that he can get a better deal under Trump than he did under Biden,” adding that a Netanyahu government coalition could It collapses easily the moment the struggle stops.
The professor added, “Netanyahu is considered a war prime minister, and he may not survive peace for long. Throughout his long career in Israeli politics, he did everything necessary to remain in his position,” questioning the truth about Netanyahu’s desire to give Trump a victory to begin their second relationship with a feeling of gratitude.