Khaled Al-Dawoodi sits on the floor of a crowded room at his neighbor’s house in southern Gaza, watching a grainy TV screen. A generator hums in the background, and the smell of kerosene hangs in the air. The news is playing a clip of President Donald Trump standing beside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and saying, “We’re going to take over the Gaza Strip. We’ll own it.”

Al-Dawoodi shakes his head. His home was bombed months ago by the Israeli army, and he has been forced to move from one shelter to another with his wife and three children ever since. He lets out a dry laugh. “Take over Gaza? Haven’t they already?”

Trump’s words, uttered with characteristic nonchalance, have sparked shock and outrage around the world. Some dismiss his proposal as just another soundbite. Others warn of the deeper ramifications for regional stability. Human rights groups call it a clear violation of international law.

Yet in Gaza, most people barely blinked. Fifteen months of relentless Israeli bombing and siege have left the Strip in ruins. Hunger is everywhere. The healthcare system has collapsed. Even with the ceasefire, there is still a severe shortage of clean water and fuel, and no way out.

Besides, Palestinians have heard this kind of talk for generations: statements by Israeli and Western leaders that treat our land and lives as something to be bargained over, taken away from us, or wiped off the map altogether. The idea of “owning” Gaza isn’t just an absurd political statement, but represents the latest iteration of a century-old campaign to erase Palestinian existence.

Legally speaking, Trump’s words fit into a broader pattern of U.S. and Israeli violations of international law. Forcible transfer of a civilian population is a war crime, while legal experts say Israel’s actions over the past 15 months — bombing homes, pushing people toward the southern border, restricting aid to impose famine — already meet the criteria for ethnic cleansing and genocide.

The United States has long played a decisive role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as Israel’s strongest backer. During his first presidency, Trump took that support to new extremes — moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, cutting aid to Palestinian refugees, and recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

Since returning to office less than three weeks ago, he has lifted U.S. sanctions on violent Israeli settlers, sought an additional $1 billion in U.S. arms sales to Israel, and pushed to permanently shut off U.S. funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the primary aid agency supporting Palestinian refugees. Now, he is foretelling of a new Nakba.

‘We are still here. We are still Palestinian’

In the streets of Gaza, Palestinians responded to Trump’s words with a mix of anger, exhaustion, and dark humor. Many who spoke to +972 see it as yet further evidence that global powers treat their lives as disposable. Others worry that such rhetoric could pave the way for even more displacement.

Mahmoud Al-Shurafa, a 43-year-old fisherman from Gaza City, leans against his battered boat, staring at the sea. “Take over Gaza? We can’t even take our boats more than a few miles out without getting shot at by the Israeli navy,” he says. Fishing was once his family’s livelihood, but Israel’s restrictions — even before October 7 — have made it nearly impossible to sustain. “They already control everything — our water, our land, our air. What more do they want?”

Lina Al-Safadi, a 21-year-old university student whose dreams of studying abroad were dashed by the war, sees Trump’s words as reinforcing the idea that Palestinians have no agency over their own fate. “We are not an abandoned building that someone can just claim ownership over. We are people. We belong to this land.”

In Rafah, Umm Ayman watches her children play in the dust outside their makeshift tent. She has already been displaced three times since the war began. “I was born a refugee, and now my children will be refugees too,” she says. The idea of being forced out of Gaza terrifies her. “Where would we go? Egypt doesn’t want us. Israel doesn’t want us. Trump thinks he can just decide our fate? We will not leave.”

For shop owner Abu Saleh, economic survival has become a daily battle. “Gaza was always struggling, but now it’s beyond crisis,” he explains. “There’s no electricity, no supplies, no jobs. And they think they can just ‘own’ Gaza like it’s real estate? We are not for sale.”

Ali Al-Hendi, a local journalist, sees Trump’s proposal as the culmination of Israel’s genocide in the territory. “This isn’t just talk,” he says. “It’s part of a strategy: bomb Gaza, starve its population, make it unlivable, then act like he’s doing us a favor by taking it over. This is not about security. It’s about erasure.”

In a refugee camp in Khan Younis, an elderly man named Abu Samir sits outside his tent, remembering the original Nakba of 1948 in which around 750,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes by Zionist militias. “I was a child when we were forced from our village,” he says. “We thought it was temporary. Now, I am an old man, and we are still refugees. They talk of taking Gaza like we are nothing. But we are still here. We are still Palestinian.”

‘I have already lost everything, but I will not leave’

Trump’s remarks were outlandish and shocking — but not entirely without historical precedent. As Mamdouh Jarada, a historian and researcher from Gaza, points out, “The idea of depopulating Gaza has been on Israel’s agenda for years. We have seen it in documents and policy discussions. The difference now is that an American president is saying it out loud. 

“For anyone who knows Palestinian history, this is nothing new: it is another version of the Nakba,” he explains. “What Trump is suggesting — removing an entire population and rebuilding Gaza without its people — fits perfectly into the ongoing project of erasure that failed during the genocide.”

For many Gazans, Trump’s proposal reflects a failure to grasp Palestinians’ refusal to forsake their homeland at any cost. Mohammed Abu Alabed, 44, lost his home and two of his children — Ahmed 6, and Basma, 13 — in Israeli airstrikes, but he still rejects Trump’s idea that Palestinians will voluntarily leave Gaza as a delusion. “I have already lost everything, but I will not leave,” he affirms.

“Gaza is my home,” Alabed continues. “It is where my children and I took our first steps, went to school, and built our lives. How can I abandon that? Now my childrens’ graves are here, too, on this land. Israel has used every method of oppression against us — bombing our homes, cutting off food and water, and killing our loved ones — but nothing will force us to leave Gaza. They want us to disappear, but we won’t.”

Others, like Saeed Farahat, a resident of Gaza City, are simply indifferent to Trump’s latest deranged remarks. “We don’t have time to follow news and remarks from Trump,” he says. “The situation in Gaza is dire, the destruction is overwhelming, and we’re just trying to salvage anything that’s still livable. Any statements against Gaza mean nothing to us anymore. Everything has already been destroyed.”

However, Farahat is firm in his rejection of any displacement plan. “We will never accept the forced removal of Gaza’s people. Israel has failed to impose any of its ambitions on Gaza, so how could they possibly succeed in removing its entire population? No one will accept this.”

Ahmed Awaad, a 23-year-old medical student in Khan Younis, has spent the past months volunteering in makeshift hospitals amid Israel’s genocide, and witnessed first-hand the destruction inflicted on his people. He laughs bitterly at the idea of Gaza turning into a luxury tourist destination. “They bombed my university. They bombed hospitals, homes — everything. And now they want to build hotels for tourists? It’s delusional.

“They are trying to erase us, to pretend that Gaza can exist without Palestinians,” he continues. “But we are still here, and we are not leaving. We will rebuild — not for investors or tourists, but for ourselves, for our future.

“Since I was born, my grandmother would always tell me, ‘In 1948, we were displaced from Al-Majdal [a depopulated Palestinian village, located in what is now the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon]. One day, we must return,’” Awaad adds. “They have already stolen our original homes, and now they want to erase us from Gaza, too? This land is in our blood. Unless it is to return to Al-Majdal, I will never leave Gaza.”

‘A textbook example of ethnic cleansing’

Raji Sourani, a human rights lawyer and director of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights in Gaza, doesn’t mince words when reacting to Trump’s remarks. “What Trump is suggesting is a blatant violation of international law.

“The idea of ‘taking over’ Gaza and displacing its people is a textbook example of ethnic cleansing, which is prohibited under the Geneva Conventions,” Sourani explains. “It also flies in the face of the principle of self-determination, a cornerstone of international law that guarantees people the right to govern themselves and remain on their land.”

Sourani emphasizes that the president’s words aren’t just inflammatory; they’re dangerous. “When a world leader, especially from a country like the United States, makes these kinds of declarations, it sends a signal that forcible displacement is acceptable. It emboldens those who seek to erase Palestinian presence and rights,” he argues. “It also tells the world that powerful nations can redraw borders and displace people at will. That’s not just a threat to Palestinians; it’s a threat to global stability.”

He notes that historically, “this kind of language has been used to justify colonial takeovers and military occupations. The fact that it’s being used now shows how far we’ve moved away from any pretense of [the United States] supporting a just and lasting peace.”

From a geopolitical standpoint, Trump’s remarks could further destabilize an already volatile region. “This statement essentially greenlights Israel’s actions in Gaza,” Omar Shaban, a Gaza-based political analyst, explains. “It reinforces the narrative that Gaza is a ‘problem’ to be solved through force rather than dialogue. It also undermines any remaining credibility the U.S. has as a neutral broker in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. If the U.S. is seen as endorsing the takeover of Palestinian land, it will alienate Arab allies and fuel anti-American sentiment across the region.”

Reham Owda, a political analyst from Gaza who is currently studying in Malaysia, describes Trump’s proposal as “more of a business proposition from someone with real-estate ambitions in Gaza than a political statement from a head of state seeking a just resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” She adds that if Trump really wanted to relocate Gazans in order to rebuild the enclave, “then the logical solution would be to move them temporarily to the vast lands of the West Bank — rather than allowing Israel to continue expanding its settlements there.”

For Sourani, the international community now has a simple choice: enable the erasure of Palestinian rights or stand up for justice. “Silence is complicity,” he emphasizes. “The world must decide whether it will allow this kind of rhetoric to become reality or whether it will fight for a future where everyone, including Palestinians, can live in freedom and peace.”

For now, the people of Gaza continue to resist through their very presence on their land. “We’re still here,” Ahmed, the medical student, says, his voice steady. “And we’re not going anywhere.”

Ibtisam Mahdi also contributed to this article.