Washington, DC [US] October 16 : In light of the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) has said that the United States should not accept Palestinian refugees escaping from Gaza, The Hill reported.
His remarks come as Israel is anticipated to launch a ground operation against northern Gaza, which is under Hamas control. Palestinian civilians were given just over 24 hours by the Israeli military to leave the area.
“I don’t know what [President] Biden’s gonna do, but we cannot accept people from Gaza into this country as refugees,” DeSantis, a GOP presidential candidate, said during a campaign stop in Iowa, reported The Hill.
“I am not going to do that,” he added.
In a retaliatory response to the Hamas massacre, Israel has said that unless the captives were released, it would not permit supplies into the region, including food and power.
“If you look at how they behave, not all of them are Hamas, but they are all antisemitic. None of them believe in Israel’s right to exist,” DeSantis said, further on the Israel-Hamas war.
The governor of Florida signed an order on Thursday last week, allowing for the rescue of Floridians in Israel and supporting continuing operations to combat Hamas.
US President Joe Biden on Sunday spoke with the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and expressed his support for providing humanitarian supplies to the civilians in Gaza affected by the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
Taking to X, President Biden shares about the conversation saying, “I spoke with Palestinian Authority President Abbas to condemn Hamas’ attack on Israel and reiterate that Hamas does not stand for the Palestinian people’s right to dignity and self-determination. I assured him that we’re working with partners in the region to ensure humanitarian supplies reach civilians in Gaza and to prevent the conflict from widening.”
Biden said the civilians in Palestine were suffering unnecessarily, claiming that a majority of them don’t have anything to do with terrorist group Hamas.
In a post on social media platform X, Biden said, “We must not lose sight of the fact that the overwhelming majority of Palestinians had nothing to do with Hamas’s appalling attacks, and are suffering as a result of them.”
The White House separately posted the US President’s response to the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in Israel with the caption, “United States will continue to have Israel’s back.”
The post stated further that the US will keep supporting Israel in the war against Hamas and was in continuous touch with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Updating family members of Americans who are still unaccounted for, as we do everything possible to locate their loved ones and bring them home, remaining in regular contact with Prime Minister Netanyahu to support Israel in its time of need as it defends itself from terrorism,” the White House posted from its official handle on X.
Egypt, Israel and the United States have agreed to allow foreigners residing in Gaza to pass through the Rafah border crossing into Egypt, with the Israeli forces agreeing to refrain from striking areas the foreigners would pass through on their way out of the Hamas-controlled territory.
The Hamas-run health ministry says some 2,329 Palestinians have been killed and another 9,042 have been wounded in Israeli retaliatory airstrikes in the Gaza Strip.
