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Ron DeSantis insisted Saturday that the United States should refuse to accept refugees from Gaza, saying they were “all anti-Semitic.”
The Israeli army has ordered Gazans living in the north of the country to move south ahead of an expected ground invasion.
The small enclave, one of the most densely populated areas in the world, is home to two million people, half of whom are children.
With their country surrounded by Israel and the 8-mile border with Egypt closed amid diplomatic wrangling over the release of Gaza residents, people living there are trapped.
DeSantis said they were not allowed to enter the United States.
Ron DeSantis declared on Saturday that Palestinians fleeing Gaza are not welcome in the United States
The photo shows Palestinians waiting at the border with Egypt on Saturday, trying to leave the enclave
“I don’t know what Biden is going to do, but we cannot accept people from Gaza as refugees in this country,” DeSantis told a rally in Creston, Iowa, on Saturday.
‘I’m not going to do that. If you look at how they behave, they are not all Hamas, but they are all anti-Semitic. None of them believe in Israel’s right to exist.
‘None of the Arab states is willing to even take them. The Arab state should take them.
“You don’t fly people and import them into the United States of America.”
Of the seven million Palestinians living outside their territory, 6.3 million are in Arab countries, according to 2021 data reported by Washington DC-based think tank Arab Center.
Jordan has the largest population of Palestinians living outside their homeland, followed by Israel, Syria and Chile – home to the largest Palestinian community outside the Middle East.
Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt all have significantly larger Palestinian communities than the United States.
According to census data, approximately 170,000 Palestinians live in the United States.
Jamaal Bowman, a Democratic congressman representing New York and a member of the progressive Squad, said on Saturday that the United States should open its doors.
‘Fifty percent of the population in Gaza are children. “Both the international community and the United States must be prepared to welcome refugees from Palestine, while being very careful to investigate and not admit members of Hamas,” he said.
Several Republican senators have already said they will oppose any plan to resettle refugees in the United States.
“The US is the most generous country in the world, but we are not in a position to accept any more refugees, especially from a region with such a high risk of terrorism, given our country’s inability to maintain our own borders.” or investigate those already in trouble. here,” Marco Rubio told The New York Post.
His fellow Florida senator, Rick Scott, said that “the entire focus of the United States right now should be on rescuing American hostages and ensuring that Israel has all the resources necessary to destroy Iran-backed Hamas.” to defeat and defend his homeland.’
And Tom Cotton of Arkansas said, “Iran must take responsibility for all the Palestinian refugees caused by its proxy war with Israel. Iran is responsible for the death and destruction – it should also be responsible for refugees.”
The White House repeatedly declined to say whether it would be open to taking in refugees from the conflict.
“We continue to provide support to Palestinian refugees through the UN,” a spokesperson said.
“The United States also has a global refugee resettlement program in partnership with The UN Refugee Agency.”
The question of refugee settlement on Saturday lay far in the future.
Hundreds of thousands remained trapped in Gaza, while the only functioning exit – the border with Egypt – was closed.
Egypt insisted that their side was open, but the Hamas-controlled side was closed.
Wael Abu Omar, the Palestinian spokesman for the Rafah border crossing, confirmed by text message to The New York Times that the crossing was closed.
Egypt remains wary about having a permanent population of displaced people on their territory, and is concerned about the destabilizing impact on their own country, which is in a serious economic crisis.
On Thursday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said Gazans must “remain steadfast and stay on their land.”
Jordan’s king, King Abdullah II, warned US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at a meeting in Amman on Friday that there should be no attempt to remove Palestinians by force.
His wife, Queen Rania, was born in Kuwait to Palestinian refugee parents and grew up in the West Bank.
Since Hamas – which controls Gaza – launched its terror attack on October 7, killing 1,300 Israelis, some 2,215 people have been killed and more than 8,714 injured in Gaza, according to Palestinian officials.
So far in 2023, more Palestinians have been killed than in 2014, when more than 2,000 people were killed in a 50-day war.
Martin Griffiths, the United Nations’ humanitarian chief, said he fears “the worst is yet to come”, warning that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is “fast becoming untenable”.
The statement added that “the past week has been a test for humanity, and humanity is failing.”
The World Health Organization called Israel’s evacuation orders to hospitals in northern Gaza “a death sentence for the sick and injured.”
Israel is expected to launch a ground invasion at any moment.
Daniel Hagari, Israel’s military spokesman, told the country that “challenging weeks” would follow as the military operation escalated.
The goal, he said, was “the defeat of Hamas and the elimination of its leaders.”