Live Blog Update| Israel's genocide in Gaza
This is an entry from: Live: Trump threatens Gaza residents with death as his team holds direct talks with Hamas about captives

Opinion: Gaza has survived for thousands of years. It cannot be erased by Trump and Israel

25 February 2025 11:11 GMT

US President Donald Trump, never one for historical nuance, says the best plan for Gaza is to “level the site and get rid of the destroyed buildings”, paving the way for an American takeover and redevelopment project.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has made equally ignorant remarks, imagining a Gaza with “casinos and nightlife”, speaking with the casual entitlement of a coloniser who believes history begins with his own indulgence.

This is the logic of conquest. First, invade and destroy; then, stand upon the ruins and declare the land empty. 

The long, blood-soaked tradition of colonialism speaks through these politicians - settlers arriving on ravaged shores, massacring the natives, then announcing their discovery of a terra nova, a land with no past.

But Gaza is not empty. Gaza has never been empty.

Read more: Gaza has survived for thousands of years. It cannot be erased by Trump and Israel Opinion by Soumaya Ghannoushi

Palestinians, who were displaced to the south, make their way on foot as they return to their homes in the northern Gaza on 27 January, 2025 (Reuters))
Palestinians, who were displaced to the south, make their way on foot as they return to their homes in the northern Gaza on 27 January, 2025 (Reuters))