Palestinian refugees in Jordan fear ‘new Nakba' after 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 residing in the Jerash refugee camp, locally known as the Gaza camp, in northern Jordan.

The 77-year-old man 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 a term used by Palestinians to describe the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians by Jewish gangs in 1948 to make room for Israel's creation.

“Despite their harsh conditions, the Palestinians in Gaza are more steadfast and firm in their struggle,” Jafar, also nicknamed Abu Osama, told Anadolu.

“Gazans will not be relocated,” he said. "Trump's plan will not pass and Palestine is ours."

Trump has repeatedly called to “take over” Gaza and resettle Palestinians elsewhere after Israel's genocidal war to 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.

- Steadfast Gazans

The Jerash camp is home to over 35,000 Palestinian refugees who fled Gaza in the aftermath of the 1967 Middle East 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.”

Before the 1967 war, 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 now to what we went through in 1967,” Abu Osama said. “What is different now is that the Palestinians in Gaza are more steadfast and tougher.”

"I blame myself for leaving my 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 Jan. 19, pausing Israel's genocidal war, which has killed more than 48,200 people and left the enclave in ruins.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November last year for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.