U.S. ambassador to Israel: There is no plan to force Palestinians out of Gaza

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said there is no plan to force Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip, after two Israeli ministers proposed measures involving the mass departure of Gaza’s population.

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I can categorically say that there is no Israeli plan to move people out of Gaza against their will.

“I can categorically say that there is no Israeli plan to move people out of Gaza against their will,” Huckabee told reporters in the Palestinian city of Turmus Ayya in the occupied West Bank, according to Reuters. He said people who want to leave should have the right to do so.

“I believe that keeping them trapped in a place where they do not want to be would be an absolute disgrace,” Huckabee said. He added that “no one is proposing forced displacement, neither the Israelis, and certainly not the Americans,” and said he did not know anyone who supported it.

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I believe that keeping them trapped in a place where they do not want to be would be an absolute disgrace.

His comments followed remarks by Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Sept. 2 that there could ultimately be no solution for Gaza without migration. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a far-right representative, presented a seven-year plan the following day for moving Gaza’s population through what he called “voluntary emigration.”

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No one is proposing forced displacement, neither the Israelis, and certainly not the Americans.