Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Palestine – Leaning on a wooden cane, 72-year-old Fathi Abu al-Saeed navigates the rubble-strewn streets of Khan Younis’s al-Katiba neighbourhood – a daily ritual since he returned from displacement in the coastal region of al-Mawasi following the January 19 Gaza ceasefire. Carefully stepping over debris left by 15 months of relentless Israeli bombardment, he raises his cane, pointing at a demolished house.
“You see that pile of useless rubble?” he says. “That’s more precious than the United States and everything in it.”
His audience – a group of children, including some of his 50 children and grandchildren – listens intently, undeterred by forecasts of heavy rain and strong winds. Others join them – children from displaced families who have also returned, not to intact homes, but to the ruins of what once was. With nowhere else to go, they rebuild their lives among the wreckage.
Every morning, Abu al-Saeed exchanges words of resilience with neighbours. But on this day, US President Donald Trump’s recent remarks about Gaza – his fantasy of clearing out its Palestinian population to build a “Riviera in the Middle East” – offer new material for his sarcasm and defiance.
“Trump talks as if he’s a king handing out land,” Abu al-Saeed scoffs. “Maybe he should relocate his Israeli friends somewhere outside of Palestine and leave Gaza alone.”
Trump’s comments, which led to widespread condemnation, outlined a plan to resettle Palestinians in Gaza elsewhere while the US would “take over” and “own” the territory. Standing beside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – who faces an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for war crimes in Gaza – Trump claimed Palestinians deserved better than their supposed “bad luck”.
On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio attempted to walk back Trump’s suggestion that Palestinians would be resettled “permanently”, saying they would need to live somewhere else in the “interim” as the enclave is rebuilt.
‘A prize-winning delusion’
Throughout 15 months of Israeli bombing, more than 60 percent of Gaza’s infrastructure has been destroyed, including hospitals, universities and schools. Washington, under the previous US administration, was Israel’s biggest backer, sending $17.9bn in military aid during the first year of the war – the highest annual total 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.”
Dismissing Trump’s comments as absurd, Abu al-Saeed shakes his head. “That’s the best fantasy ever dreamt up by a world leader,” he says, shifting 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 idea of mass displacement is personal. His father was forced out of Jaffa – now part of Israel – by Zionist militias in 1948 when Israel was formed, and his mother’s family was expelled from the nearby village of Sarafand. He grew up on stories of that first catastrophe – the Nakba – and now lives through another.
“We already know what it means to lose everything,” he says, gesturing at the ruins. “But we also know what it means to hold on.”
The war displaced 90 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million people. Many have returned, not to standing homes, but to wreckage – cleaning debris, salvaging what they can, or setting up tents atop the ruins.
“Even under genocide, we didn’t leave,” Abu al-Saeed says, his voice steady. “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 week, Trump has pressured Egypt and Jordan to absorb Gaza’s population, pitching his redevelopment plan as a job-creation project. But even his allies in Cairo, Riyadh, Abu Dhabi and beyond have rejected the idea 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 taps his cane against 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 pile of debris, surrounded by eager children, 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 other children chime in, their voices rising: “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.”
Throughout the war, Israel’s bombings, starvation tactics, and attacks on hospitals have killed more than 17,400 children, orphaning thousands more.
“What kind of logic is this?” Abu al-Saeed asks. “They starve us, bomb us, and then act surprised when we refuse to leave?”
Citing the unbreakable bond Palestinians feel with their land, he adds, “You know what will never happen again? Us leaving.”
Trump, he believes, does not understand Palestinians or their struggle. “Israel was built on the lie of ‘a land without a people’,” he says. “But we are here, and we are staying.”
His eyes narrow. “For Trump, like for Netanyahu, the only solution is for Palestinians to disappear.”
Straightening his back despite his age, Abu al-Saeed says, “But we will not.”
This piece was published in collaboration with Egab.
