US senator slams Israeli reported request for American help in relocating Palestinians from Gaza

WASHINGTON

US Sen. Chris Van Hollen slammed Israel on Friday for reportedly seeking American assistance in facilitating third-country resettlement deals to move Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip.

"A truly outrageous and sickening request from the Netanyahu government," Van Hollen wrote on X.

It came after the Axios news outlet, citing two sources with knowledge, reported that the director of Israel's Mossad spy agency visited Washington, DC this week to seek US help in convincing countries to take hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from Gaza.

Spy chief David Barnea told Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff that Israel has been speaking, in particular, with Ethiopia, Indonesia and Libya, according to the report.

"The U.S. should not be complicit in or use ANY governmental, American taxpayer resources to aid and abet what amounts to the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian civilians from Gaza. We cannot stand for this," wrote Van Hollen.

Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, Israel has pursued a brutal offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, killing nearly 59,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children. The relentless bombardment has destroyed the enclave and led to food shortages and a spread of disease.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.