Donald Trump's proposal for the United States to take over Gaza has been met with anger and disbelief by Palestinians sheltering in ruins and makeshift camps. The US president suggested that Palestinians were keen to leave the territory, which he described as "unlucky" and a "symbol of death and destruction", but residents insist they will not abandon their homeland.
Abu Firas, 52, who lives in a tent on the coast that Trump promised to remake into the "Riviera of the Middle East", lost his home in eastern Khan Younis and 80 relatives during 15 months of Israeli attacks. "We would rather die here than leave this land," he told the Guardian. "No amount of money in the world can replace your homeland."
Many Palestinians see the plan as a repetition of the Nakba of 1948, when about 700,000 were expelled. Walid al-Munayya, displaced six times, said: "We have a famous saying: 'He who leaves his home, loses his dignity'. We are a resilient people, and this will not happen, even in Trump's dreams." Ramz, a father of four returning to the north, added: "No matter where a person moves ... they will never find peace except in their own city and land."
Trump's proposal is not entirely new – Israeli politicians have long debated expelling Gaza's residents – but no US president has made it before. The survival of Hamas as a fighting force, despite Israel's scorched-earth tactics, also serves as a warning, said Abu Firas. "[Israel] bombed Gaza with all kinds of bombs and missiles. Despite all this, they couldn't control Gaza. So how can they force us to leave?"
