Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Palestine – Leaning on a picket cane, 72-year-old Fathi Abu al-Saeed navigates the rubble-strewn streets of Khan Younis’s al-Katiba neighbourhood — a day by day ritual since he returned from displacement within the coastal area of al-Mawasi following the January 19 Gaza ceasefire. Sparsely stepping over particles left through 15 months of relentless Israeli bombardment, he raises his cane, pointing at a demolished space.
“You see that pile of useless rubble?” he says. “That’s more precious than the United States and everything in it.”
His target audience — a gaggle of kids, together with a few of his 50 kids and grandchildren — listens carefully, undeterred through forecasts of weighty rainfall and powerful winds. Others tie them — kids from displaced households who’ve additionally returned, to not intact houses, however to the ruins of what as soon as used to be. With nowhere else to walk, they rebuild their lives some of the wreckage.
Each morning, Abu al-Saeed exchanges phrases of resilience with neighbours. However in this date, US President Donald Trump’s fresh remarks about Gaza — his myth of clearing out its Palestinian people to manufacture a “Riviera in the Middle East” — trade in untouched subject matter for his sarcasm and defiance.
“Trump talks as if he’s a king handing out land,” Abu al-Saeed name callings. “Maybe he should relocate his Israeli friends somewhere outside of Palestine and leave Gaza alone.”
Trump’s feedback, which sparked common condemnation, defined a plan to resettle Palestinians in Gaza in different places age the USA would “take over” and “own” the dimension. Status beside Israeli Top Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — who faces an Global Felony Courtroom (ICC) arrest warrant for warfare crimes in Gaza — Trump claimed Palestinians deserved higher than their meant “bad luck”.
‘A prize-winning delusion’
All the way through 15 months of Israeli bombing, greater than 60 p.c of Gaza’s infrastructure has been destroyed, together with hospitals, universities, and faculties. Washington, below the former US management, used to be Israel’s greatest backer, sending $17.9bn in army help right through the primary 12 months of the warfare — the best possible annual overall ever.
“This is the talk of a madman,” Abu al-Saeed says. “And as we Arabs say: ‘If the speaker is a madman, let the listener be sane.’ This man knows nothing about homeland, struggle, defiance, pride — or Palestine.”
Brushing aside Trump’s feedback as absurd, Abu al-Saeed shakes his head. “That’s the best fantasy ever dreamt up by a world leader,” he says, transferring between disbelief and laughter. “Any sane person who knows Palestinians understands that leaving our homeland is like death itself. Did Trump really think we’d pack up and go after all this?”
For Abu al-Saeed, the speculation of pile displacement is non-public. His father used to be pressured out of Jaffa — now a part of Israel — through Zionist militias in 1948 when Israel used to be shaped, and his mom’s nation used to be expelled from the within reach village of Sarafand. He grew up on tales of that first extremity — the Nakba — and now lives via every other.
“We already know what it means to lose everything,” he says, gesturing on the ruins. “But we also know what it means to hold on.”
The warfare displaced 90 p.c of Gaza’s 2.3 million community. Many have returned, to not status houses, however to wreckage — cleansing particles, salvaging what they are able to, or putting in tents atop the ruins.
“Even under genocide, we didn’t leave,” Abu al-Saeed says, his tone secure. “It’s not about having nowhere else to go — it’s our homeland. Our land. Every brick here is worth more to us than everything the US can offer.”
For a moment, Trump has careworn Egypt and Jordan to take in Gaza’s people, pitching his redevelopment plan as a job-creation undertaking. However even his allies in Cairo, Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, and past have unacceptable the speculation outright.
“Trump must think we’re living in a hotel he can shut down,” Abu al-Saeed laughs. “But Gaza isn’t a real estate project — it’s our land.”
He faucets his cane towards the rubble. “This earth is mixed with our sweat and blood. No one here will leave — no matter the threats or promises.”
‘Is he crazy or just stupid?’
Sitting on a mass of particles, surrounded through keen kids, Abu al-Saeed turns to his 10-year-old grandson, Mohammad, grinning.
“Trump says we should leave Gaza and move to Egypt or Jordan. What do you think?”
The boy bursts into laughter. “Is he crazy or just stupid? Why would we leave? Gaza is part of Palestine!”
The alternative kids chime in, their voices emerging: “Who leaves their home? We will stay, rebuild, and fight for it.”
Abu al-Saeed chuckles. “There’s your answer, Trump. Even our children know better than you.”
All the way through the warfare, Israel’s bombings, hunger ways, and assaults on hospitals have killed greater than 17,400 kids, orphaning 1000’s extra.
“What kind of logic is this?” Abu al-Saeed asks. “They starve us, bomb us, and then act surprised when we refuse to leave?”
Bringing up the unbreakable bond Palestinians really feel with their land, he provides, “You know what will never happen again? Us leaving.”
Trump, he believes, does no longer perceive Palestinians or their try. “Israel was built on the lie of ‘a land without a people,’” he says. “But we are here, and we are staying.”
His optic slender. “For Trump, like for Netanyahu, the only solution is for Palestinians to disappear.”
Straightening his again in spite of his date, Abu al-Saeed says, “But we will not.”
This piece used to be revealed in collaboration with Egab.