Palestinian refugees in Jordan fear ‘new Nakba’ with Trump’s displacement plan

Palestinian elder Mohamed Ahmed Jafar was forced to take refuge in Jordan after Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967. Ever since, he has been living in the Jerash refugee camp, known locally as the Gaza camp, in northern Jordan.

Jafar, 77, said that US President Donald Trump’s plan to relocate Palestinians from Gaza is an attempt to repeat the “Nakba”. The Nakba, or catastrophe, is the name used to describe the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians by Jewish terrorist gangs in 1948 to make room for Israel’s creation in Palestine.

“Despite their harsh conditions, the Palestinians in Gaza are more steadfast and firmer in their struggle,” Jafar, whose “kunya” is Abu Osama, told Anadolu. “Gazans will not be relocated. Trump’s plan will not pass and Palestine is ours.”

Trump has called repeatedly for the US to “take over” Gaza and resettle Palestinians elsewhere after Israel’s genocidal war, so that he can build what he calls “the Riviera of the Middle East”.

His proposal was met with widespread condemnations from Palestinians, Arab countries and many other nations across the world, including Canada, France, Germany and the UK.

The Jerash camp is home to over 35,000 Palestinian refugees who fled Gaza in the aftermath of the June 1967 War. It is one of 13 camps hosting around two million Palestinian refugees in Jordan.

Israel occupied Gaza, the West Bank, Syria’s Golan Heights and Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula during the 1967 war. Abu Osama recalled that he was 19 when he was forced to flee Gaza to Jordan.

“At that time, we were living in the Jabalia camp in northern Gaza, but we were displaced under pressure,” he said. “This will not happen again, and Trump’s plan to displace Gaza’s population cannot pass.”

His family lived in Beersheva before Israel’s creation. In 1948, the family was forcibly displaced and relocated to Gaza.

“If I were in Gaza now, I would not have left it, and I would have stayed in a tent,” he said. “The current circumstances are similar to what we went through in 1967. What is different now is that the Palestinians in Gaza are more steadfast and tougher.”

He blames himself for leaving his country. “I call on the Palestinians in Gaza not to repeat our mistake.”

Trump’s displacement plan comes amid a ceasefire agreement that has been in place in Gaza since 29 January, pressing the pause button on Israel’s genocidal war. The occupation regime has killed at least 48,200 Palestinians since October 2023, wounded 122,000 others and left an estimated 11,000 buried, presumed dead, under the rubble of their homes. The enclave is in ruins.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November last year for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice.

READ: Egypt, Jordan stress need to rebuild Gaza without displacing Palestinians

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