We are determined to stay here: Gaza residents on Trump's displacement plan

Amid the devastation, Gazans vowed to remain steadfast in their homeland, rejecting US President Donald Trump's controversial proposal to seize the enclave

Heavy wind and torrential rain battered the Gaza Strip on early Thursday, flooding makeshift tents sheltering displaced families and tearing apart the plastic sheeting covering damaged homes. Yet, amid the devastation, residents vowed to remain steadfast in their homeland, rejecting US President Donald Trump’s controversial proposal to seize the enclave and expel its population.

 

“Despite the tragedy we are living, despite the rain and the very bad weather, people are staying under no roof,” said Qassem Abu Hassoun, standing amid the ruins of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. His family, having fled during the war, returned immediately after a ceasefire was declared on January 19 and has no plans to leave again.

 

 

“People are hanging on to their country, their land. People are hanging on to even one grain of sand of their country,” he told Reuters.

Storm adds to the hardships

The night after Trump’s announcement, a violent storm lashed the region, ripping through makeshift tents and forcing families to scoop out floodwater with plastic containers. The harsh weather compounded the misery of those already suffering from months of displacement. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz ordered the military to prepare a plan for the “voluntary departure” of Gaza residents.

 

“It seems even the weather is against us, but neither the weather, nor Trump nor Israel will eject us from our land,” said Abdel Ghani, a father of four children in Gaza City. Rainwater poured through shattered windows and gaping holes in his home, but he insisted his family would not leave.

 

“Is he nuts?” he said of Trump. “We will not sell our land for you, real estate developer. We are hungry, homeless, and desperate but we are not collaborators. If he wants to help, let him come and rebuild for us here.” 

Controversy over displacement plan

Israeli media reported that Katz’s plan would provide Gazans with options to leave via land crossings, sea, or air. However, forced displacement is considered a war crime under the 1949 Geneva Conventions, making the proposal highly contentious.

 

Hamas official Basem Naim dismissed the Israeli minister’s remarks, calling them an attempt to mask Israel’s failure to achieve its war objectives. “If they are sincere in their claims, they should lift the suffocating blockade on Gaza, open the crossings, and they will be shocked to find that the number of those returning to Gaza will exceed the number of those leaving, despite the massive destruction,” Naim told Reuters.

 

A war with no end in sight

 

The conflict erupted after Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and resulted in over 250 hostages being taken, according to Israeli reports. Israel responded with a relentless military assault, killing over 61,000 Palestinians in the past 16 months, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

 

A ceasefire mediated by Egypt and Qatar, and backed by the US, has been held for the past three weeks, but the long-term prospects for peace remain uncertain. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians continue to return to the ruins of their former homes.

 

[With inputs from Reuters]