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Nikki Haley Says ‘Pro-Hamas Countries’ Should Take in Palestinians Fleeing Gaza
Journalists in the press room watch as Republican presidential candidate and former US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley speaks during the fourth Republican candidates’ debate of the 2024 US presidential campaign hosted by NewsNation at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, US, Dec. 6, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Alyssa Pointer
US presidential candidate Nikki Haley said on Thursday that Egypt as well as “pro-Hamas countries” Qatar, Iran, and Turkey should take in Palestinians fleeing the war in Gaza.
“They should be going to the Rafah gate and Egypt [should] take them,” Haley a Republican, said in an interview with ABC News when asked where fleeing Gazans should go. “I’ve always said that what you should have is that they should go to pro-Hamas countries — Qatar, Iran, Turkey.”
Iran is the main international sponsor of Hamas, which rules Gaza. Meanwhile, Qatar and Turkey host senior Hamas officials and, together with Iran, have provided an enormous portion of the Palestinian terrorist group’s budget in recent years.
Haley, who previously served as US ambassador to the United Nations during the Trump administration, argued that Egypt, which borders Gaza, has refused to take refugees from the Palestinian enclave due to security concerns.
“Why won’t Egypt take them? Because they don’t trust which ones are terrorists and which ones aren’t,” she said. “It’s a sad state of affairs, but the reality of that evil is very clear in Arab countries too. Arab countries have very much always been cautious and know the threats that Iran can place.”
Haley added that countries in the region don’t want “those terrorist proxies coming after them” before asking why the onus hasn’t been more on Egypt due its geography and other states due to their support for Hamas to help Palestinians in Gaza.
“Why isn’t everybody talking to Egypt? Why aren’t they talking to Turkey? Why aren’t they talking to Qatar? Why aren’t they talking to Iran?” she asked. “Why aren’t they doing something to help the Palestinians? Why is it that you come back to Israel and the US? It’s always the case.”
Haley, an underdog in the 2024 Republican presidential primary to frontrunner Donald Trump, has been an outspoken supporter of Israel throughout the race.
Haley’s comments followed reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had previously asked US President Joe Biden in the early days of the Israel-Hamas war to pressure Egypt to take in Palestinians, something the Muslim-majority country refused to do.
Biden said in an interview with CBS’ 60 Minutes in October that the Israeli resettlement of Gaza would be “a big mistake.”
Netanyahu also extended his request of pressuring Egypt to French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during their recent visits to Israel, Hebrew media outlets reported on Friday. Both leaders rejected the request.
Egypt has been clear that it opposes any relocation of Palestinians into its territory, including the large Sinai Desert. In October, Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi said that he “rejects any attempt to resolve the Palestinian issue by military means or through the forced displacement of Palestinians from their land, which would come at the expense of the countries of the region,” claiming that was Israel’s goal. Other Arab states, such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, have issued similar statements.
The post Nikki Haley Says ‘Pro-Hamas Countries’ Should Take in Palestinians Fleeing Gaza first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.