In a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Donald Trump announced his plan for Gaza and its people. He wants to "take over" the strip under US authority by displacing its somewhat 2 million residents in neighboring countries such as Jordan and Egypt. This plan of owning Gaza, as he described, needs support from the Arab world, most of whose leaders have already rejected it. Trump, a former real estate magnate, wants to transform this "demolition site" into beautiful houses, hotels, beach resorts, etc., making Gaza the "Riviera of the Middle East," which he thinks will bring peace and stability to the Middle East after a long time. However, the Palestinians have paid a heavy price not to leave their homeland as easily as Trump described. They have been very strict in protecting their land over decades. Trump surprised the entire world by explaining this complex issue as if it were much simpler than it actually is, indicating further conflicts rather than peace.
If the director of "The Pianist" decides to make a film on a biography of an individual from Gaza, he will probably win another Oscar. The never-ending misery of Palestinians continues as Trump announces his plan for the strip. Victims are displaced from their homes to camps and hospitals, left with no hope. In the last 15 months of the war, the Israeli military has live-streamed their barbarity on the people of Gaza by killing more than 46,000 innocent people, mostly women and children. As soon as the ceasefire agreement was signed between Israel and Hamas, people started to move from the camps to their destroyed homes. Now, this announcement from the most powerful man on earth frightens the poor Palestinians, creating a sense of terror in their mind and uncertainty about their future.
Donald Trump has been surprising the world with his unbelievable plans-regaining control of the Panama Canal, buying Greenland, and making Canada the 51st state of the US. Since taking office, the president has seemed restless, imposing higher tariffs on goods from Canada, Mexico, China, and other countries. But the plan to take control of Gaza stunned the entire world, including some members of his own political party, as it is completely against international law. Executing this plan will be very difficult, as Palestinians are determined to stay in their homeland, and Hamas would need to be defeated. Some may be tempted to leave, but most would not give up, as they have been dealing with Jews since 1948. Even if half of them agreed to the deal, the other half would require forced removal from their motherland. This forced displacement of Gazans from their homeland has been described as an "ethnic cleansing plan" by many critics.
"Trump's plan to displace Gaza's residents and transform the region is widely criticized as an "ethnic cleansing" effort, with Palestinians determined to stay in their homeland despite the proposal"
This idea is pleasing to the ultra-nationalist Jewish extremists who believe that all land from the Mediterranean to the Jordan River, perhaps beyond, is a God-given Jewish possession. Some of their leaders backed Netanyahu, while the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for him. Since they believe Palestinians could be as harmful as their neighbors, they want to replace them with Jews. So they are committing these crimes against humanity by bombing, deliberately imposing starvation, spreading diseases, and many other inhumane activities. Now, Donald Trump is adding weight to Israel's plan.
For a long time, Trump has promised to end the war in the Middle East, but he has never mentioned how it's going to work out until now. He constantly blames former US President Joe Biden's administration for causing the war and expresses sympathy for the Palestinians' dire situation. However, this plan is not pleasing even though he promises them much better conditions and jobs in other countries. In fact, it is a terrible plan. The president also stated he would not allow Palestinians to return after rebuilding the strip because he doesn't want further trouble from Hamas. To succeed in this plan, Trump needs significant financial and other support from Saudi Arabia, which has already been denied. Before the meeting with Jordanian King Abdullah II, Trump threatened to cut US aid to Egypt and Jordan if they didn't agree to take Palestinians into their countries, but he only proposed to take 2,000 sick children to their hospitals for treatment. The day after meeting with Trump, the Jordanian king met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, and both rejected the US President's resettlement plan. Besides, Arab leaders announce an Arab summit in Saudi Arabia later this February to discuss an alternative plan for the Gazans. This summit is going to be very crucial for Palestinians. In this instance, Donald Trump wanted to take on the role of Vito Corleone from "The Godfather," but things did not work out as planned. Thus, Trump's Gaza plan is slowly becoming a distant dream.
The United States, a Western nation, often speaks of human rights, truth, and justice. Now, in this humanitarian crisis, its leader is openly plotting the displacement of over 2 million people from their homeland, aligning with a war criminal who uses deliberate starvation as a tool of war, which is alarming for humanity. The inhuman actions of Israeli forces towards Palestinians are widely recognized as war crimes that must be stopped. World leaders must work together to prevent any further genocide in Gaza. The people of Gaza have suffered immensely. If human rights organizations cannot stop this cruelty towards innocent people, their existence is meaningless. People will remember this plan for centuries, whether it is successfully executed or not. However, the Palestinians will not give up a single portion of their land because of their determination and the sacrifice they have made for their homeland over decades. Thus, the Gazans will not hesitate to sacrifice more lives for the sake of their homeland.
The writer is a student, Department of English and Modern Languages, International University of Business, Agriculture and Technology
