US ambassador to Israel says there is no plan to force Palestinians out of Gaza

U.S. Ambassador ​to Israel Mike ​Huckabee on Saturday said there was ​no plan to force Palestinians to leave Gaza after two Israeli ministers this week floated proposals for the ‌mass removal ⁠of ⁠Palestinians from the coastal territory.

"I can tell you ​categorically there is no plan of the Israelis to displace ​people out of Gaza against their will," Huckabee told reporters in Turmus Ayya, a Palestinian ​town in the Israeli-occupied ⁠West Bank.

"There ‌is an open-mindedness (that) if people wish ​to ​leave that they should have the ⁠right to leave. To incarcerate them in ​a place they don't want to ​be should be an absolute, I think, just disgrace," Huckabee said.


"Nobody is suggesting that there will be forced displacement. The Israelis are not. The Americans are certainly not. ‌I know of no one who supports that."

Defence Minister Israel Katz ​on Wednesday ​said there ⁠was "no real solution for Gaza in the end without this migration."

Far-right security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on ​Thursday outlined a seven-year plan for removing Gaza's population through what he described as "voluntary emigration."

Israel is to hold a general election on October 27.