President Donald Trump left the Alarm Bells this month as he stood alongside White House Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said the United States would “take control” to resettle other countries’ Gaza Strip and Palestinians.
The Trumps cited the threat of unwilling weapons and unstable structures, surrounding the expulsion of Palestinians from the strip, unrecognised by Israeli bombings as an act of humanitarian necessity.
Palestinians should be able to live in “beautiful homes,” Trump added. It’s not Gaza itself.
However, Palestinians say that the promise of new development in foreign countries has rushed demand at the heart of their aspirations: the right to live with dignity and equal rights in their historic homeland.
“My initial response was distrust. Layla Gillies, a Palestinian living in California, said:
For Gilly and other Palestinians, the call for expulsion evokes painful memories of forfeiture and exile.
Gillies himself is a survivor of what the Palestinians call Nakbah, meaning “catastrophe.”
The term refers to the forced expulsion of more than 750,000 Palestinians by Zionist paramilitary organizations during the establishment of Israel in 1948. Many Palestinian towns and village residents were barred by the newly established state of Israel from being considered “subsidized” ever returned.
Giries holds a bag that her mother carries. They escape from the walled village of Einkarim of California’s residences and maintain the keys of the historic Palestinian home, which was destroyed after its exile.
The item is a symbol of both the pain of exile and her resolve to maintain a relationship with her hometown.
“I left Palestine when I was eight and I can’t forget. It’s where my parents and my grandparents come from. I’m connected to the land,” Gillies said.
“When I see a photo of a crowd of refugees marching on the roads of Gaza, it breaks my heart. It brings memories, memories, memories.”
“The Palestinians will not disappear and die.”
Following a fierce backlash from Palestinians, a coalition of leaders from rights groups and countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, Trump has softened his position by stating that he would only “suggest” adoption of his plan.
The US president previously claimed he “owns” Gaza, saying that a sea location could turn it into an ideal location for high-end real estate.
This week, Trump shares videos generated by strange AI on social media, showing Gaza filled with skyscrapers and gorgeous resorts. He and Netanyahu relaxed next to the swimming pool.
In particular, there were no signs of Palestinians who have called Gaza home for generations.
Michael Cardusch, who fled his home in Nazareth after being placed under Israeli rule in 1948, said, “I think only fools can clean up Palestinian Gaza, so I think we can build a real estate project.
“The reality is that Palestinians will not disappear and die.”
But Israeli leaders and officials continue to eagerly promote Trump’s vision and see an opportunity to advance his long-standing ambitions to depopulate the strip.
In a statement last week, Netanyahu said Israel is “committed to President Trump’s plan for the creation of another Gaza,” and previously praised it as a “revolutionary.”
But Muhammad Shehada, a visiting fellow of the European Council of Foreign Relations who grew up in Gaza, told Al Jazeera that the US efforts to drive Israel and Palestinians out of their lands are a consistent feature of Gaza’s modern history.
“When Israel took over Gaza in 1967, one of the first things it did was to destroy refugee camps that were trying to force people to leave. They even provided money, foreign passports and shuttles to try and get people to do so,” he said.
If such incentives don’t work, he says that Israel has tried more forced ways, from deadly military raids to the long-standing lockdowns that created disastrous living conditions in Gaza, even before the recent war.
“They tried all the tricks in the book,” Shehada said.
However, he added that these efforts rarely enjoy success and often face solid opposition from the Palestinians.
Shehada pointed out that in 1953, plans to resettle 12,000 Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt Sinai were stopped following the popular rebellion on the strip.
Love for the land
Even during Israel’s recent 15-month military campaign in Gaza, many Palestinians remained firmly tied to their sense of place in Gaza, unprecedented due to their destructiveness and human casualties.
Alwa Shrub, a 58-year-old woman born in Gaza but now lives in Southern California, says that members of the family who lived on the Strip refused to leave until they felt they had little choice.
“I was trying to convince my sister to go to Egypt, but she said that the safest thing there is, she would only leave if the building she is staying in was bombed,” Shrub said.
She explained that her sister and her family were evacuated multiple times during the war. They ultimately decide to leave when the tent they were staying in was bombed. Luckily they weren’t inside at the time.
“She was a pediatrician and wanted to stay in Gaza and help her people, so she lost everything,” Shrub added.
The Israeli bombing campaign was suspended last month under a tenuous ceasefire, but many Palestinians in Gaza are in volatile states. Military attacks have reduced many neighborhoods to Kura Rub.
During the war, Israeli forces were accused of deliberately destroying homes, farmland and infrastructure for electricity for medical care, water and electricity, in order to make it impossible for Palestinians to return home after the battle ended.
However, many Gaza residents say they continue to decide to find a way forward.
“The Palestinians are very connected to the land. Anyone who leaves wants to come back,” Shrub said.
“Trump’s comments didn’t affect me at all. I know my family and I know the people of Gaza, so I don’t take it seriously. They’re not uprooted from their land,” she added. “So Trump can say anything he wants, but that doesn’t.”
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