Home Blog The Palestinians reject Trump’s relocation plan when they return to northern Gaza | News Israel-Palestine Conflict

The Palestinians reject Trump’s relocation plan when they return to northern Gaza | News Israel-Palestine Conflict

by telavivtribune.com
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Khan Younis and Deir El -Balah, Gaza Strip, Palestine – Saqr Maqdad and his family left for their difficult journey back to Northern Gaza on Sunday evening, a few hours before Israel reopened the north for the first time since the first days of his 15 -month war on the Palestinian enclave, after a fragile contract contract with Hamas.

Leaving behind the Khan Younis travel camp in the south, the 31 -year -old man, as well as his wife, and two girls, Reema, 5, and two -year -old Rawaa, walked north along the coastal road Al-Rashid in the hope of rendering Beit Hanoon, the birthplace of the family, in the far north of the besieged territory.

The Maqdad family was one of 200,000 Palestinians who found themselves in the most devastated parts of the Gaza Strip on Monday, a dramatic return to the regions that many feared that Israel never allowed them to return to war .

When Tel Aviv Tribune met them while they crossed Central Gaza, they had already traveled about 20 kilometers (12.4 miles), carrying only a few small bags of clothes.

But the family has nevertheless been determined, categorical to go home.

“We go back to the place where we grew up, the earth that keeps our memories,” said Saqr. “Even if it is destroyed, it’s still ours.”

This feeling, implicitly shared by the thousands of trips to the north, is in direct conflict with the comments made by American president Donald Trump on Saturday, where he suggested that the Palestinians in Gaza could be sent to neighboring Jordan and Egypt.

“You are probably talking about a million and a half people, and we clean it up and say:” You know, it’s over “,” said Trump.

While Trump said that this decision could be a temporary measure, his comments immediately attracted the counterou, criticism accusing him of pleading for mass movements, in particular in the light of the extreme right Israeli thrust for the illegal Israeli establishments in Gaza.

“Trump’s speech to move us is a pure fantasy,” said Saqr. “He thinks, after all that we have endured, we are just going to leave?” It’s our house and we stay. »»

He stressed that his family’s trip to Beit Hanoon was much more than going home.

“It is a message to the occupation and its donors: we will not give up our land. We will stay here, regardless of the cost.

Through Gaza, the Palestinians rejected Trump’s proposal, considering him an extension of efforts to “uproot them from their land,” added SAQR.

“No political scheme, as powerful, can change this,” he said.

“Every step we took to the north was a step against the trip,” he said. “It’s our land. We were born here and we will die here. »»

Abu Suleiman Zawaraa cultivates his lands in Khan Younis, Southern Gaza, January 27, 2025 (Mohamed Soulaimane / Tel Aviv Tribune)

No relocation

In the south of Khan Younis of Gaza, Abu Suleiman Zawaraa, 76, quietly made his own form of resistance. His farm, formerly teeming with olive and citrus, was shaved during an Israeli military operation of several months. Abu Suleiman has spent the last months recovering the land.

“I released seven dunams (7,000 square meters) of rubble in hand,” he said, making a gesture towards the freshly plowed ground. “Why? Because it’s my land, and no one can take it to me.

For Abu Suleiman, the act of agriculture is also a declaration of challenge.

“Living among the rubble is a challenge, but it is the one we have accepted,” he said. “Leaving Gaza is out of the question. We have survived bombing, destruction and loss. We will not give up now.

The military campaign of Israel in Gaza, launched on October 7, 2023, left an unrivaled toll on the enclave. With more than 46,700 Palestinians who died, including 18,000 children, and nearly 1.9 million people displaced, only intact. More than half of the Gaza buildings have been damaged or destroyed, including critical infrastructure: 92% of primary roads and 84% of health establishments were compromised.

Abu Suleiman rejected comments from Trump’s resettlement, saying that he “does not understand history or reality”.

“A people who have endured 15 months of relentless bombardment and refused to leave will never have to relocate forced,” said Abu Suleiman.

For many Palestinians, the prospect of leaving their homeland is not only unthinkable; It is a betrayal of their history and their identity.

“Yes, we have endured unimaginable sufferings, the destruction of everything we have and the trauma of genocide,” said Abu Suleiman. “But none of this can push anyone to accept the trip. Our memories of the Nakba in 1948 remain lively. Those who left have never returned, and we will not let history repeat themselves. »»

The NAKBA, or “catastrophe”, the event to which Abu Suleiman has referred, was the forced displacement of at least 750,000 Palestinians of their home in 1948 on the formation of Israel on 78% of historic Palestine.

This memory has remained for many Palestinians and often shapes their actions today.

Abu Suleiman stressed that the possibilities of leaving Gaza were available during and even before the war, but people massively chose to stay, even if death was closer than life.

“We consider ourselves as part of the resistance, as defenders of Palestine. Having or leave would mean paying a price that the whole nation cannot afford, “he said. “This heavy burden only reinforces our determination to keep our land, even if it means living in the middle of the ruins.”

Israa Mansour, a mother of four 35 -year -olds living in a makeshift tent after her house was destroyed in Khan Younis, argued the argument of Abu Suleiman.

“We refuse to leave, not because we lack options, but because it is our house,” she said. “Even my children understand the value of staying in our country despite suffering.”

Israa, however, argued that Palestinian leaders should intensify their minimum support, including education, health care and emergency aid, to help people resist unbearable conditions.

“How can we fight against displacement if we do not have the basic necessities of life?” Is it reasonable to expect Gaza indefinitely to endure this inferno while demanding more resilience of his people? Israa said. “Without food, shelter and basic needs, even the strongest families could be forced to consider alternatives, not for lack of patriotism, but out of pure despair.”

Palestinian families exciting their personal effects in Khan Younis
It is estimated to be 200,000 displaced Palestinians left the south and the center of Gaza on Monday and returned to the North (Mohamed Soulaimane / Tel Aviv Tribune)

‘It’s our land’

Hani al-Aqqad, Palestinian political analyst of Gaza, considers the Palestinian refusal to abandon their land as an important reason why the relocation plan proposed by Trump will fail.

“Each attempt spent moving the Palestinians failed because they consider this fight their own,” he said. “When families camp in the open air for days, just to return to the ruins of their northern cities, it is the ultimate expression of determination to stay.”

Al-Aqqad underlined the mass return of the Palestinians displaced north of Gaza, despite the complete destruction and the lack of services in the region, which was particularly targeted by Israel during the war, as a message to Israel and supporters international relocation.

“Trump and others do not understand the Palestinians,” he said. “It is not only a question of living on earth; It is a relationship with their homeland which is without compromise and deeply rooted in history and identity. »»

“Return to the North, knowing what awaits, is a clear rejection of forced re-approach,” said Al-Aqqad. “Those who argue for such regimes must accept that the Palestinians will never leave their land. Instead, they should focus on recognizing their rights and supporting a way to the state. »»

He also rejected the idea of ​​”voluntary displacement” by a deliberate deprivation.

“Israel has managed to make Gaza almost unlivable,” he said. “But they failed to separate the Palestinians from their land. The Palestinians of Gaza have repeatedly proven that they can rekindle even the most devastated places, knowing that their struggle is not only a question of survival, but of a national mission. »»

This article is published in collaboration with EGAB.

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