WASHINGTON

Mike Huckabee, US President Donald Trump's nominee to be ambassador to Israel, pledged Tuesday to carry out the president’s policies on the Gaza Strip, maintaining that Hamas will have no future in the Palestinian enclave.

"Hamas is not a government. It's not a standing army. It is a terrorist organization, and they acted like it, and they must be treated as such," Huckabee said during his nomination hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Huckabee, the former governor of the state of Arkansas, and staunch supporter of Israel, said he hoped that the war between Israel and Hamas would end with accountability for the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Jewish people.

Huckabee's introductory remarks at the hearing were interrupted by Jewish and pro-Palestinian protestors.

A female activist said Huckabee "misuses Christianity to justify ethnic cleansing" and shouted: "Free Palestine!" before being removed by security.

US Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat, said in her opening remarks that she believes the ceasefire the Trump administration helped implement between Israel and Hamas was a "good first step."

"However, I do not agree with the idea of the US owning Gaza or forcibly displacing Gazans, as the president has suggested, getting drawn into this conflict and putting American troops on the ground in Gaza, I think, would be a disaster," she said.

She said Huckabee’s support for an Israeli annexation of the West Bank and full control of Palestinian territory is highly incendiary across the Middle East and the Muslim world.

Sen. Jeff Merkeley pressed Huckabee with questions on Israel’s use of 2,000-pound bombs in Gaza, restricting humanitarian aid and Trump's plan to move Palestinians out of the enclave.

"Very few trucks at all have gotten in, and certainly we did have relief during the ceasefire, but we're now in a new phase of extremely restricted supplies. There's been many, many international organizations that have reported on this, so I know you're not aware of it," said Merkeley.

"The president has a plan, and we'll talk about having Palestinians out of Gaza and into some other set of countries. Do you support that strategy?" Merkeley asked.

Huckabee responded that Trump has never said that he would force displacement.

"That is not been statements nor his policy, but rather to make sure that there is a safe and secure place for people to live during the process of cleaning out what is a disastrous mess," said Huckabee.

Asked if he thinks Palestinians should be moved out of Gaza, Huckabee said: "They shouldn't be forced to displacement."

When asked about his support for the annexation of the West Bank by Israel, Huckabee said that he would be serving at the prerogative of the president.

"I have previously supported it. Yes, sir. But it would not be my prerogative to make that the policy of the president," he said.

Regarding Iran, Huckabee said Trump “is taking the right course of action with his measures including implementation of the maximum pressure" against Tehran.

"When his term ended, President Biden took office. Unfortunately, they relaxed some of those pressures, and the result had money to help their people ... Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon and that it is better to bankrupt them than it is to bomb them," he said.

Democrat Sen. Chris Van Hollen pressed Huckabee on his view about the West Bank. "My question today is, would those Palestinian individuals in an annexed West Bank have the same legal and democratic rights as Israeli Jews living in the West Bank?" he asked

Huckabee did not respond directly but said annexation does not mean displacement and that "there would be security, there would be opportunity."

When asked if he believes in collective punishment, Huckabee said: "I don't believe in collective punishment. If the Palestinians in Gaza have participated in the holding of hostages and in the torture," before he was interrupted by a senator.

Sen. Jacky Rosen said it is not possible at present to reach a two-state solution to the conflict, particularly with Hamas still in power in Gaza, but insisted it should remain the ultimate goal.

"Especially after the war in Gaza ends, it's in Israel's best security interest to reach such an agreement, and the only way to maintain Israel as a Jewish democratic state for the long term," said Rosen.

When she asked Huckabee if he saw an alternative to the two-state solution, he responded: "I think the question is not, is there a need for people who are Palestinian to be able to live and have a future? The question is, where and when?"

"Where will that be? Will it be on top of the Israeli, Jewish state? Will it be somewhere that is decided upon that would be completely different, only for those who wish to locate there," he said.

The Israeli army has launched a brutal military campaign in Gaza following a Hamas attack in October 2023, killing more than 50,100 Palestinians, injuring over 113,700, and leaving the enclave in ruins.