Berliner Tageblatt - Leaders 'should respect' wishes of Palestinians to stay in Gaza: Palestinian UN envoy

"Our homeland is our homeland, if part of it is destroyed, the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian people selected the choice to return to it," said Riyad Mansour. "And I think that leaders and people should respect the wishes of the Palestinian people."

On Tuesday, Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, with the US leader saying he believed Palestinians should leave Gaza after an Israeli offensive that has devastated the territory and left most of it reduced to rubble.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, Trump said he wanted a solution that saw "a beautiful area to resettle people permanently in nice homes where they can be happy."

At the United Nations, Mansour did not name Trump but appeared to reject the US president's proposal.

"Our country and our home is" the Gaza Strip, "it's part of Palestine," he said. "We have no home. For those who want to send them to a happy, nice place, let them go back to their original homes inside Israel, there are nice places there, and they will be happy to return to these places."

The war in Gaza erupted after Palestinian armed group Hamas's October 7, 2023, attack, which resulted in the deaths of 1,210 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Israel's retaliatory response has killed at least 47,518 people in Gaza, the majority civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. The UN considers these figures as reliable.

The UN says more than 1.9 million people -- or 90 percent of Gaza's population -- have been displaced by Israel's offensive, with the bombing campaign having leveled most structures in the territory, including schools, hospitals and basic civil infrastructure.

The start of a ceasefire deal, which included the release of hostages held by Hamas and prisoners held by Israel, on January 19 saw Palestinians rejoice, with many returning to homes that no longer stood.

"In two days, in a span of a few hours, 400,000 Palestinians walking returned to the northern part of the Gaza Strip," said UN envoy Mansour.

"I think that we should be respecting the selections and the wishes of the Palestinian people, and the Palestinian people at the end will make the determination, their determination."

C.Kovalenko--BTB