A religious sister who lived in Gaza for 13 years says it is “unimaginable to think that the inhabitants of Gaza could leave their land, their country” after US President Donald Trump floated the idea of removing Palestinians. Source: Asia News.
During a meeting in Washington with Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, Mr Trump proposed to remove people from Gaza during reconstruction, permanently transferring them to Arab third countries, including Egypt and Jordan.
At the same time, he said he would turn Gaza into the “Riviera” of the Middle East.
“It is not possible to support President Trump’s position. It’s like telling the American people to abandon their land … It’s the same!” Sr Nabila Saleh, of the Congregation of the Rosary, said.
She experienced firsthand the war between Israel and Hamas for many months, managing to leave Gaza only in early April last year with a group of parishioners.
Mr Trump, who wants to redraw the map of the Middle East, has sparked criticism and outrage in much of the Arab world and the international community.
His plan calls for the permanent mass “transfer” of Palestinians from Gaza to unspecified places that will be “so beautiful” that they “will not want to return”, while the US will take long-term control of Gaza and turn it into a mega “resort” by the sea.
Next to him sat a supportive Mr Netanyahu, the first foreign leader welcomed to the White House in Mr Trump’s second term, who called the US leader, “the greatest friend Israel has ever had”.
Sr Nabila Saleh lived in Gaza for 13 years and experienced the violence of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict firsthand, although the intensity of the war triggered by the Hamas attack on October ,7 2023, was without precedent.
“A people has the right to live in their own country, in their land,” said Sr Nabila Saleh, who is now in Jordan. “These established principles are basic human rights upheld by international organisations.”
Bishop William Shomali, auxiliary bishop of Jerusalem and patriarchal vicar for Palestine, also categorically rejected Mr Trump’s plan.
Speaking to the Servizio Informazione Religiosa (SIR), the prelate described as “inconceivable” the displacement of a people “against its will”, just as “it is unthinkable” to force another one to take them. At most, Egypt and Jordan should be able to make a “free and conscious choice”.
FULL STORY
Sister Nabila: Trump’s (and Netanyahu’s) plan for Gaza is ‘unimaginable’ (Asia News)
