On Saturday, Ron DeSantis insisted that the United States should refuse to take in any refugees from Gaza, saying they are “all anti-Semitic.”
The Israeli army has ordered Gazans living in the north of the country to move to the 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 them children.
With their land surrounded by Israel and the eight-mile border with Egypt closed amid diplomatic wrangling over the expulsion of Gazans, the people who live there are trapped.
DeSantis said they should not be allowed into the United States.
Ron DeSantis declared Saturday that Palestinians fleeing Gaza are not welcome in the United States
Palestinians are pictured on Saturday waiting at the border with Egypt and trying to get out of the enclave
“I don’t know what Biden is going to do, but we can’t accept people from Gaza as refugees in this country,” DeSantis said Saturday at a rally in Creston, Iowa.
‘I’m not going to do it. If you look at how they behave, not all of them are 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 take any of them. The Arab state should take them.
“You don’t fly people in 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 the 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. The international community as well as the United States must be prepared to welcome refugees from Palestine while being very careful to vet and not allow 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 nation in the world, but we are in no position to accept additional refugees, especially from a region with such a high risk of terrorism, given our country’s inability to secure our own border or those that already here,’ Marco Rubio told The New York Post.
His fellow senator from Florida, Rick Scott, said that “the entire focus of the United States right now must be on rescuing American hostages, and making sure that Israel has every resource necessary to defeat Iran-backed Defeat Hamas and defend his homeland.’
And Tom Cotton of Arkansas said: ‘Iran must take responsibility for any 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 has repeatedly declined to say whether it would be open to accepting refugees from the conflict.
“We continue to provide support to Palestinian refugees through the UN,” a spokesman said.
“The United States also has a global refugee resettlement program in partnership with the UN Refugee Agency.”
The issue of settling refugees on Saturday was far in the future.
Hundreds of thousands remained trapped in Gaza, with the only functional way out – the border with Egypt – closed.
Egypt insisted their side was open, but the Hamas-controlled side was closed.
Wael Abu Omar, the Palestinian spokesman for the Rafah crossing, confirmed via text message to The New York Times that the crossing was closed.
Egypt remains wary of having a permanent population of displaced people on their territory, and is concerned about the destabilizing effects on their own country, which is in a serious economic crisis.
On Thursday, Egypt’s president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, said Gas residents must “stand firm and stay on their land.”
The King of Jordan, King Abdullah II, warned Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, in 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 in Gaza have been killed and more than 8,714 injured, according to Palestinian officials.
More Palestinians have been killed so far in 2023 than in 2014, when more than 2,000 died in a 50-day war.
Martin Griffiths, the United Nations’ humanitarian chief, said he feared ‘the worst is yet to come’ and warned that the humanitarian situation in Gaza was ‘fast becoming untenable’.
The statement added that ‘this past week has been a test for humanity, and humanity is failing.’
The World Health Organization has called Israel’s evacuation orders to hospitals in northern Gaza “a death sentence for the sick and injured.”
Israel is expected to launch its ground invasion at any moment.
Daniel Hagari, the Israeli military spokesman, told the country to expect “challenging weeks” ahead as the military operation escalates.
The goal, he said, was “the defeat of Hamas and the elimination of its leaders.”