U.S. ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee told reporters on Saturday that there is no plan underway to force Palestinians out of Gaza, following Israel's government proposal on relocation plans for people in Gaza.
“I can tell you categorically there is no plan of the Israelis to displace people out of Gaza against their will,” Huckabee told reporters on Saturday while visiting Palestinian Americans in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Around three million Palestinians live in the West Bank, with tens of thousands estimated to hold U.S. citizenship.
Huckabee said that “nobody” was proposing their forced displacement: “The Israelis are not. The Americans are certainly not. I know of no one who supports that.”
Huckabee met with Palestinian Americans, including relatives of U.S. citizens killed by Israeli settlers, in Turmus Ayya on Saturday.
At least six Palestinian Americans have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces or settlers since 2024.
At the meeting he told the Palestinian Americans that the U.S. embassy had no power or authority to take direct action, but could seek to influence events and draw attention to issues.
His comments came after National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir proposed a plan that would see 250,000 Palestinians leave Gaza in the first year, followed by the remaining population over the next six years through what he described as “voluntary emigration”.
Huckabee said U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration supported giving Palestinians the option to leave Gaza voluntarily, arguing that they should not be prevented from doing so.
“There is an open-mindedness if people wish to leave, that they should have the right to leave,” Huckabee said, describing it as a “disgrace” to “incarcerate” Palestinians in Gaza.
Trump sparked international controversy early in his second term by proposing that Palestinians be temporarily relocated from Gaza and that the territory be redeveloped as a luxury resort.
He later softened the proposal following opposition from countries including Egypt, which borders Gaza.
Virtually Gaza’s entire population has been displaced internally during Israel’s military offensive, which began following the Hamas-led 7 October 2023 attack on Israel.
Far-right Israeli politicians have also called for the return of Israeli settlers to Gaza, where Israel dismantled its settlements in 2005 as part of a unilateral withdrawal.
The debate over Gaza’s future comes ahead of Israel’s 27 October elections, with polls showing a close race involving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose government includes several far-right figures.
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