In the heart of Gaza City, a wave of defiance is rising against renewed calls for mass evacuation. Despite repeated warnings and escalating bombardments, residents have taken to the streets and social media to declare a simple message: they will not abandon their homes. The campaign, symbolised by the phrase “We’re not leaving”, has become a rallying cry against displacement and a rejection of efforts to strip the city of its people.

On Tuesday, thousands participated in a march known locally as “The Shrouds March”, where demonstrators carried symbolic burial cloths alongside national flags and banners proclaiming their right to remain. Families, community elders, and healthcare workers walked together through central Gaza City, affirming that life under siege and bombardment, however unbearable, is still preferable to the despair of forced exile. Such protests echo online, where citizens post messages of endurance and defiance, insisting that dignity lies in resisting removal from their land.

This collective stance comes as the military assault intensifies, with entire neighbourhoods reduced to rubble and so-called “safe zones” themselves struck by air raids. More than 65,000 have been killed since October 2023, the majority women and children, and tens of thousands more wounded, while hospitals, schools, and vital infrastructure have been systematically destroyed. Even hunger has become a weapon, with civilians dying from starvation under a suffocating blockade. For Gaza’s residents, the evacuation orders are not seen as humanitarian guidance but as part of a wider plan to depopulate the city and erase its presence.

In standing firm, the people of Gaza are sending a message far beyond their besieged streets: their survival is tied not to the shifting of borders or temporary shelters, but to their right to exist in the place they call home.