Yunus Abu Jarad, a Gazan writer and media pundit, posted a video to his Twitter feed showing masses of Palestinians returning to northern Gaza, He posted the caption:
“This is how the scene of the forcibly displaced people looked like, waiting to return to Gaza and the north. This people, whom some fools are still trying to forcibly displace, the latest of which was Trump’s attempt with his stupid statements and suggestions. We are not numbers to be led and planned by the rogue emergencies. What can they do? We are a people rooted deep in the earth. Let them uproot the earth from us before they uproot it from us.”
In 2017, Jarad, who is based in Turkey, protested the alleged Israeli shutting of the Temple Mount to Muslims, using this as a pretext to advocate for the release of Raed Salah, the leader of the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, who was convicted in 2003 for raising money for Hamas.
Jarad was referring to a plan proposed by President Trump on Saturday in which he said that he would like Jordan, Egypt and other Arab nations to absorb Palestinian refugees to “clean out” Gaza.
“I’d like Egypt to take people,” Trump said during a 20-minute question-and-answer session with reporters aboard Air Force One. “You’re talking about probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing and say, ‘You know, it’s over.’”
Toward this end, Trump spoke with King Abdullah II of Jordan and planned to speak on Sunday with President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt. Trump said he complimented Jordan for having successfully accepted Palestinian refugees and that he told the king, “I’d love for you to take on more, cause I’m looking at the whole Gaza Strip right now, and it’s a mess. It’s a real mess.”
Relocating Gazans would facilitate the reconstruction of Gaza. The UN estimates that over 90% of residential buildings have been damaged or destroyed. Providing humanitarian aid has been complicated by Hamas which hijacks the aid, reselling it at exorbitant prices to fund its war against Israel.
Regional countries have rejected accepting Palestinian migrants for fear they will radicalize their populations and cause internal strife. Potential host countries are also concerned about being seen as complicit in creating another refugee crisis. Palestinians and anti-Israel groups have also expressed deep reservations about any relocation proposals, fearing they might be permanently prevented from returning to their homeland, paving the way for Jews to be allowed to live in the region as they did before Gaza was ethnically cleansed in 2005.
The rallying cry describing Trump as a fool was taken up in Iraq by Akram Kaabi, leader of the Iran-backed militia Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba (HaN). Kaabi is a U.S.-designated terrorist who is regarded as one of the main operatives of Iran’s Quds Force in Iraq. Kaabi threatened to resume attacks against U.S. forces if they delay the withdrawal process, which is scheduled to culminate in September.
“As for the agents and conspirators who emerged against us with their lies and exaggerations in Iraq after the events in Syria, waging a media war based on deception, misinformation, and falsification at the behest of the Zionists, and rejoicing over Trump and his arrival, we say to them: Trump, the idiot, may frighten you, but he does not frighten us and holds no value in our eyes.”
He added, “In fact, we say to you and him that the shoe of the smallest Iraqi mujahid [fighter] is worth more than Trump’s head and his entire past and current government.”
“If Trump or anyone else wants to test us again, our forces are ready. Any breach or evasion of their agreement with the government to withdraw occupying forces will make them see hell above them and beneath their feet.”
