After Trump Hits Flood, Gazans Will Never Leave

Gaza/DOK Refugees via UN

JAKARTA - After Trump came the flood. Strong winds and heavy rains hit the Gaza Strip in the early hours of Thursday.

Winter storms flooded the tents hosting refugee families and tore up plastic tarps that were closing houses.

But residents said the US President Donald Trump's statement regarding plans to seize the region and expel them only made them even more determined to stay there.

"Despite the tragedy we have experienced, even though it was raining and the weather was very bad, people remained under the roof," said Qassem Abu Hassoun, standing in the middle of the rain surrounded by destroyed houses and damaged roads in the Rafah Strip. southern Gaza reported by Reuters, Thursday, February 6.

His family has returned to their destroyed homes soon after the ceasefire was announced on January 19 after spending months taking refuge in the north. They had no plans to leave again.

People depend on their country, their land. People depend even on a piece of sand from their country," he said.

The night after most Gazans learned of Trump's surprising announcement, the storm left many families unable to sleep and destroyed emergency tents made of plastic and cloth. Residents collect water in small plastic pots.

In the morning, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered the army to prepare a plan to allow the "voluntary departure" of citizens from Gaza.

"It seems that the weather does not support us, but both the weather, Trump and Israel will not expel us from our land," said Abdel Ghani, the father of four who lives with his family in the rubble of their home in the Israeli-destroyed Gaza City.

The wind flies the plastic sheet they use to cover the shards of windows and holes on the walls. Rainy water has flowed inward. However, they are not heading anywhere, he told Reuters via text message.

"Is he crazy?" he said about Trump.

"We will not sell our land to you, the 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."

In Israel, Channel 12 reports Katz's plans will include exit options via land crossings, as well as special arrangements for departures by sea and air.

The refugees of Palestinians are one of the most sensitive issues in the Middle East.

Forced or forced population evacuation under military occupation is a war crime, which was banned under the 1949 Geneva Convention.

Hamas Basem Naim officials told Reuters Katz's statement was not surprising and intended to cover up Israel's failure to achieve its goal in the war in Gaza.

Israel says it aims to eradicate Hamas, a militant group that sparked a war with a deadly attack on October 7, 2023.

But since the ceasefire began three weeks ago, Hamas fighters have restored their control of the enclave.

Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced in Gaza have returned to their homes, particularly in the northern part of the region that was almost entirely destroyed.

Naim said this is proof of the deep entanglement of Palestinians to his homeland.

If their claims were sincere, they would have to lift the strangling blockade in Gaza, open the crossing, and they would be surprised to learn that the number of people returning to Gaza would exceed the number of those leaving, despite heavy damage, Naim said.