Palestinian Americans in Chicago area decry Trump's plan for U.S. to "take over the Gaza Strip"
CHICAGO (CBS) -- President Trump's controversial plans for the U.S. to "take over the Gaza Strip" have been met with opposition both from those in Middle East and American families with loved ones in the region.
The president's suggestion that Palestinians now living in Gaza should "resettle permanently" in "nice homes" somewhere else, rather than go through a rebuilding process following the ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas, was incredibly concerning for many Palestinian Americans living in the Chicago area.
Many such families were angry, or simply in shock that Mr. Trump would suggest a U.S. takeover of the Gaza strip, but either way they opposed his plan.
Chicago area families said Palestinians they know in Gaza will not leave the land that many people hope will eventually become an independent Palestinian state, even if the United States occupies the region.
"We want to preserve our identity through food, through art, through music, and also through us staying on the land that we believe is ours," said Thaer Ahmad, an emergency medicine physician and board member at the Palestinian American Medical Association.
Ahmad said what people there need now is not redevelopment after Mr. Trump suggested part of the Gaza Strip could be turned into a "Riviera of the Middle East."
"The people need to get to the second phase of this ceasefire agreement. They need to have a chance at peace, stability, and recovery. What they don't need is real estate terminology and talking about forcible transfer. There's a word that we use for that; it's called ethnic cleansing," he said.
Ahmad and other advocates believe the only people who should occupy the Gaza Strip are those who already live there.
"Use the momentum that was established getting this agreement done, and carry it into a more peaceful and prosperous future for the entire region," he said.
The president's plan comes with renewed fears that Israel and Hamas might not reach phase two of their ceasefire agreement, when Palestinians expect supplies to flow with greater ease into the area.
"It gets in the way of us treating people who will otherwise die if the circumstances on the ground don't change. If we don't get in diabetes medicine, if we don't get in blood pressure medicine, if we don't give them clean water, those people will die," Ahmad said.
Some worry President Trump's statements are a distraction from the aid Gaza needs to rebuild.
"Having these sorts of conversations detracts from how many kids are hungry and malnourished," Ahmad said.
Those who have family in Gaza — like Palestinian American William Asfour, whose aunts, uncles and cousins are there – were hoping they could begin to rebuild after their homes were destroyed during the war between Israel and Hamas, and now feel that possibility is somehow threatened.
"They didn't survive all of this to be told you have to leave Gaza, or you must go to Egypt, you must go to Jordan. So they're all against it," Asfour said.
Asfour said nobody in his family in Gaza is planning on going anywhere.
"This puts a whole stain and creates uncertainty within all of Gaza," Asfour said. "People don't know, should we clean up? Do we rebuild? I will tell you nobody wants to leave."
Asfour said his family already lost so much – some of their loved ones, along with their possessions – that the people of Gaza deserve to be left alone.
"Trump has campaigned on stopping wars and bringing peace," he said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said there has not been a commitment to send troops into Gaza, but that is not off the table either.
Some in the president's inner circle have been trying to tame concerns about his plan for the Gaza Strip. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at one point tried to clarify the president's comments by saying he was only offering for the U.S. "to become responsible for the reconstruction of that area" and for Gazans to temporarily move out during that time.
