Heavy wind and rainfall howled across the Gaza Strip in the early hours of Thursday, a winter storm flooding tents housing displaced families and ripping off the plastic sheeting that sealed homes. Yet residents said US President Donald Trump's announcement of plans to seize the enclave and expel them had only made them more determined to stay.
"Despite the tragedy we are living, despite the rain and the very bad weather, people are staying under no roof," said Qassem Abu Hassoun, standing in the rain surrounded by wrecked homes and broken roads in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
His family had returned here to their destroyed home as soon as a ceasefire was declared on January 19 after having spent months sheltering further north. They have no plans to leave ever again.
"People are hanging on to their country, their land. People are hanging on to even one grain of sand of their country," he said.
The night after most Gazans learned of Trump's shock announcement, the storm whipped families out of their sleep and shredded makeshift tents made from plastic and cloth sheeting. Residents bailed water out in small plastic pots.
In the morning, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz ordered the army to prepare a plan to allow the "voluntary departure" of residents from Gaza.
"It seems even the weather is against us, but neither the weather, nor Trump nor Israel will eject us from our land," said Abdel Ghani, a father of four living with his family in the ruins of their Gaza City home destroyed by Israel.
The winds blew away the plastic sheets they had used to cover the shattered windows and holes in the walls. Rainwater had poured inside. Still, they were going nowhere, he said in a text message.
"Is he nuts?" he said of Trump. "We will not sell our land for you, 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 reported that Katz's plan would include exit options via land crossings, as well as special arrangements for departure by sea and air.
Hamas official Basem Naim said Katz's statement was not surprising and meant to cover up for Israel's failure to achieve any of its objectives in the war on Gaza.
Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced within Gaza have returned to homes, particularly in the northern part of the territory which lies in almost total ruins. Naim said this was evidence of Palestinians' deep attachment to the land. - Reuters
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