With his Gaza home destroyed in Israel’s military offensive, Shaban Shaqaleh was intending to take his family on a break to Egypt once the Hamas-Israel ceasefire is firmly in place. He changed his mind after Donald Trump announced plans to resettle Gaza’s Palestinian residents and redevelop the enclave — plans which the US President said on Monday would not give them the right to return.

The Tel Al-Hawa neighbourhood in Gaza City, where dozens of newly built multi-storey buildings once stood, is now largely deserted. There is no running water or electricity and, like most buildings there, Shaqaleh’s home is in ruins. “We are horrified by the destruction, the repeated displacement and the death, and I wanted to leave so I can secure a safe and better future for my children — until Trump said what he said,” Shaqaleh, 47, told Reuters via a chat app.

“After Trump’s remarks, (saying) he wanted to own Gaza and depopulate it, I cancelled the idea, I took it off my schedule and my planning. I fear leaving and never being able to come back. This is my homeland.” Under Trump’s plan, Gaza’s about 2.2 million Palestinians would be resettled and the US would take control and ownership of the devastated coastal enclave, redeveloping it into the “Riviera of the Middle East”.

“The idea of selling my home or the piece of land I own to foreign companies to leave the homeland and never come back is completely rejected. I am deeply rooted in the soil of my homeland and will always be,” Shaqaleh said.

Shaqaleh is now searching for shelter in Gaza City.

“I had my first haircut outside my destroyed house this morning, Mr President,” he said.

Any suggestion that Palestinians leave Gaza, which they want to be part of an independent state, has been anathema to the Palestinian leadership for generations and neighbouring Arab states have rejected it since the Gaza war began in 2023.

After Hamas said on Monday it was suspending the release of Israeli hostages set out in the ceasefire deal due to alleged Israeli violations, Trump said the Palestinian militant group should release all those it still holds by noon on Saturday or he would propose cancelling the truce and “let hell break out”.

“Hell worse than what we have already? Hell worse than killing?” said Jomaa Abu Kosh, a Palestinian from Rafah in southern Gaza, standing beside devastated homes.

One woman, Samira Al-Sabea, accused Israel of blocking aid deliveries, a charge denied by Israel.

“We are humiliated, street dogs are living a better life than us,” she said. “And Trump wants to make Gaza hell? This will never happen.”

Israel began its assault on Gaza after the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, that killed about 1,200 people while some 250 were taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. The operation has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, by Gaza authorities’ counts, and obliterated much of the enclave.