The White House has reportedly considered accepting Palestinians from Gaza as refugees amid ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Internal documents show U.S. officials have discussed resettling Palestinians with American family under the refugee program, which would require security screenings.
While numbers are unclear, over 30,000 Palestinians may have died in the conflict and hundreds of thousands are displaced.
Accepting Palestinian refugees would mark a shift in longstanding U.S. policy, which has historically resettled less than 1% of refugees as Palestinians each year.
The proposals aim to provide relief as neighboring countries have refused refugees, but the White House has not commented on the reports.
“The proposals to resettle certain Palestinians as refugees would mark a shift in longstanding U.S. government policy and practice. Since its inception in 1980, the U.S. refugee program has not resettled Palestinians in large numbers,” CBS News reported.
“Over the past decade, the U.S. has resettled more than 400,000 refugees fleeing violence and war across the globe. Fewer than 600 were Palestinian. In fiscal year 2023, the U.S. welcomed 56 Palestinian refugees, or 0.09% of the more than 60,000 refugees resettled during those 12 months, State Department statistics show,” they added.
