'US asking countries for Gazans relocation'
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends an interview after meeting with Russian officials in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on February 18. PHOTO: REUTERS
The United States has reached out to countries about accepting "voluntary" relocations of Palestinians fleeing Israel's offensive in Gaza, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday.
Israel has again warned the population of Gaza — nearly entirely displaced since the war broke out over the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas — to move ahead of a new offensive, which comes after it has blockaded food and supplies for more than two months.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly mused about displacing Gaza's two million people to make way for reconstruction.
Responding to a question in testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Rubio said: "There's no deportation."