Washington DC – When Samra Luqman voted for Donald Trump In November, I thought that even if there was a one percent chance that the former president would push for a ceasefire in Gaza, he would be a better option than the Democrats who failed to stop the war.

Trump ultimately won that race and is set to return to the White House on Monday. In the run-up to his inauguration, Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement agreed to halt hostilities in Gaza, where more than 46,700 Palestinians have been killed in the past 15 months.

But Lokman says she does not feel vindicated, even though Trump has claimed credit for pushing the ceasefire agreement beyond limits.

Instead, it is angry at outgoing US President Joe Biden for failing to finalize the agreement months ago.

“I am even angrier because Trump, who was not even in office, did some arm-twisting, and a ceasefire agreement was reached immediately,” Luqman told Al Jazeera. “This could have happened sooner. It’s so sad, all those extra lives lost.”

She added that the way the agreement was reached “cemented Biden’s legacy as a genocidal Joe,” a moniker that links the Democratic leader to Israeli abuses in Gaza.

After supporting the Democrats overwhelmingly in the previous elections, many Arab American voters turned against the party and its candidate, Vice President Kamala Harrisin the November race because of their support for the Israeli war.

While many Arab voters say it is too early to celebrate the fragile ceasefire agreement, they assert that Trump’s intervention shows they were right to abandon Harris.

The shift in voting preferences for Arab Americans was particularly evident in the swing state of Michigan.

In the predominantly Arab neighborhoods on the east side of the Detroit suburb of Dearborn, Harris received less than 20% of the vote. The majority of residents cast their ballots for either the Trump candidate or the Green Party Jill Stein.

While Harris said she and Biden were working “tirelessly” to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza, the vice president also pledged to continue arming Israel without any conditions.

And the Biden administration as well He objected to four UN Security Council resolutions that would have called for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Trump’s turn

Amer Ghaleb, the Yemeni-American mayor of Hamtramck, Michigan, was among them He supported Trump Last year, he even appeared at his rallies.

He explained that negotiating a ceasefire in Gaza was the first demand of the former president’s Arab and Muslim supporters.

“He knew it was a fair and humane request,” Ghalib told Al Jazeera in a statement.

“We supported him and demanded a ceasefire, peace, fight against Islamophobia, fair representation of Muslims in his administration, promotion and protection of religious and family values ​​and safe education for our children. He has shown some signs of moving forward to fulfill all his promises.

Both Trump and Biden claimed credit for the ceasefire agreement on Wednesday, with the incoming president stressing that the “epic” agreement would not have been reached if he had not won. Elections In November.

However, it is difficult to assess the extent of Trump’s role in behind-the-scenes diplomacy.

But several Israeli media reports indicated that Trump was decisive in convincing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to approve the agreement, which would lead to the release of Israeli prisoners in Gaza as well as hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Trump sent his envoy Steve Witkoff to meet with mediators in Qatar and Netanyahu in Israel last week.

On Thursday, the US president-elect appeared to confirm Israeli accounts that Vitkov pushed Netanyahu to accept the agreement.

he subscriber On social media, an article in the Times of Israel quoted an unnamed Arab official as saying: “Trump’s envoy influenced Netanyahu more in one meeting than Biden did all year.”

It is worth noting that Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman bin Jassim Al Thani thanked Witkopf by name when Announcement of the deal Wednesday.

“All hell” breaks loose

Trump He had warned Earlier this month he said that “all hell will break loose” if Israeli prisoners were not released by the time he takes office on January 20.

Some analysts saw the message as a threat to Hamas. But the Palestinian group repeatedly said that it would accept the ceasefire agreement it proposed Biden in MayWhich included an exchange of prisoners and ending the war permanently.

It was Netanyahu who publicly announced on several occasions that his government intends to continue the war.

However, Biden administration officials — including Secretary of State Antony Blinken — have insisted that Hamas is obstructing the agreement.

Hala RahritA former US diplomat who resigned last year over the Biden administration’s handling of the war, he said the agreement announced Wednesday was the same proposal that had been on the table since May.

Rarette told Al Jazeera that the Biden administration’s failure months ago to finalize the agreement was “a matter of political will.”

“If there had not been a change in administration, I think we would have continued to hear the same rhetoric of ‘we are working tirelessly to secure a ceasefire,’” Rhett said.

She added that there would not have been any transformation if Harris had been elected, but Trump’s victory created the incentive to conclude a ceasefire agreement.

Concerns about the agreement

Although Wednesday’s announcement sparked jubilation in Gaza, Arab American advocates are cautious about celebrating so far.

It is not clear whether Israel will respect the agreement, which will not enter into force until Sunday. in Neighboring LebanonThe US-brokered ceasefire agreement reached in November failed to stop daily Israeli attacks.

Israel was killed too Dozens of people In Gaza, including at least 21 children, since the announcement of the agreement.

Suhaila Amin, an advocate for the Arab-American community in Michigan, said she hopes the ceasefire will bear fruit, but stressed that it is difficult to accept the words of American and Israeli politicians.

However, she said the agreement reached after Trump intervened represented another indictment of Biden’s unwillingness to persuade Israel to end the war.

“For many within the community, Push back “Against the Biden administration for its continued funding of genocide – as well as turning a blind eye to verified and documented human rights violations – remains something we stand by,” Amin told Al Jazeera.

Amin said voters are “well aware” that Trump helped complete the ceasefire agreement.

“As Biden leaves with a bloody legacy of genocide to his name, our work continues to ensure that our rights are protected and that no further harm or harassment occurs toward the Arab and Muslim American community, from the White House onward,” she said.

“We hope it’s not temporary.”

Walid Fadama believes that the former president made “concrete promises” to end the war in Gaza when he met with Arab and Muslim Defenders before the elections. The Yemeni American, a lifelong Democrat, ultimately cast his ballot for Trump in November.

Fadama told Al Jazeera: “We are happy that he helped with the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, and we hope that it is not only temporary.”

He added: “We want the agreement to enter into full force and allow the displaced to return to their homes.”

But some members of the Arab-American community doubt that Trump will achieve lasting peace in the Middle East, as he promised during his campaign. After all, Trump has filled his quota Incoming Cabinet With staunchly pro-Israel aides, including Senator Marco Rubio, his nominee for secretary of state.

During his first term, from 2017 to 2021, Trump made a series of policy shifts that strengthened Netanyahu’s government, including by moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem.

Luqman said that she had no illusions that the Republican establishment would distance itself from Israel, but that ending the atrocities in Gaza “immediately in order to save more lives” was her greatest concern.

“I will not support Marco Rubio. But at the same time, I feel in good conscience that there are not many good options,” Luqman said.