Indian immigrants not to leave Gaza Strip voluntarily

Indians, the single largest immigrant community in the Gaza Strip, are to resist the pullout plan.

Indians, the single largest immigrant community in the Gaza Strip slated for evacuation, are to stay put in the area and resist the pullout plan till the end, community members have said.

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"We are not leaving on our own. Let them come and throw us out," Avin Gangte from the Bnei Menashe community hailing from Northeast of India said.

Calling the move dictatorial, Gangte said, "Our's is a just fight. We have sacrificed a lot here and the Government doesn't have the mandate for what it is doing arbitrarily. We will fight together."

Backing his colleague, Yoel Ilan of the community said, "the settlers have been made into a national nuisance and our contribution to the state been completely ignored. The vilification campaign against us is depressing".

When asked about the risk of losing property and compensation money, most of the community members said they "don't care" and that "they belong to a family and would go by the decision of the local council".

"The compensation being offered is anyway not good enough and fair. Even if we are thrown, we will continue to fight for an appropriate solution for each one of us and demand to be settled together," Gangte, who immigrated from Manipur and works as a gardener, said.

The Government recently announced that those staying in the Strip after August 15 would be doing so illegally and it won't be responsible for the loss of their property. It also threatened them with reduced compensation.