Haley argues Middle Eastern nations should take Gaza refugees

Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley (R) told Fox News on Tuesday that Middle Eastern countries should take refugees from Gaza.

“I’ve always said we shouldn’t take any Gazan refugees in the U.S.,” the former South Carolina governor and 2024 GOP presidential hopeful said. “I said it when I was at the U.N., that we shouldn’t take Syrian refugees at the U.S. I believe that those in the region should take them.”

“I said that about Syria then. That’s why Jordan and Turkey took the bulk of the refugees there, and I think honestly, the Hamas-sympathizing countries should take these Gazans now,” Haley continued. “We’re talking about Qatar, we’re talking about Iran, we’re talking about Turkey.”

Haley’s comments come as President Biden is set to land in Israel on Wednesday while the conflict between Israel and Hamas rages on, and a ground invasion into Gaza is soon expected. World leaders and people across the globe have expressed concern about how the ground invasion could affect the civilians in Gaza, who already face a blackout and Israeli airstrikes, among other challenges.

Biden will also go to Jordan to visit the country’s King Abdullah II, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss the humanitarian situation on the ground.

Haley’s comments follow GOP presidential rival Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s controversial remarks during a Saturday campaign stop in Iowa, in which DeSantis argued the U.S. shouldn’t take in refugees from Gaza, who he said “are all antisemitic.”

“I don’t know what [President] Biden’s gonna do, but we cannot accept people from Gaza into this country as refugees,” DeSantis said.

“I am not going to do that,” DeSantis added. “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.”