Gaza City — In the face of Israeli military threats and a plan to forcibly uproot nearly a million residents, Palestinians in Gaza City are standing their ground, declaring that they will not abandon their ancestral land, no matter the cost.
Israel’s latest move — to seize Gaza City and push its population into what Palestinians describe as “open-air prisons” in the south — has sparked global outrage. The United Nations, several European nations, and China have condemned the plan as a violation of international law and a blatant act of ethnic cleansing.
Despite the siege and relentless bombardment, Gaza’s people refuse to bow to the occupier’s demands. “We were born here, we will live here, and we will die here,” many say, echoing the spirit of generations who have resisted displacement since the Nakba of 1948.
The humanitarian toll is staggering. Gaza’s Health Ministry reports that four more people, including children, died of starvation in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of hunger-related deaths to 201. The Israeli blockade has cut off food, medicine, and fuel, creating conditions that human rights groups call deliberate and genocidal.
Since the start of the war, at least 61,330 Palestinians have been martyred, and 152,359 have been wounded. In contrast, Israel cites the October 7, 2023 incident — in which 1,139 Israelis were killed and over 200 taken captive — as justification for its onslaught, a narrative widely rejected by Palestinians who see the resistance as a legitimate struggle against decades of occupation, siege, and systemic oppression.
For Gaza’s people, leaving is not an option — it is surrender. And surrender, they say, is a betrayal to the blood of martyrs and the cause of liberation.
