U.S. State Department: Gaza is Palestinian Land and Will Remain So

U.S. State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel affirmed today, Tuesday, that the United States does not support any forced transfer of Palestinians out of Gaza and that this is not something Washington is pursuing or considering. Patel added during the daily press briefing that Washington opposes Israel's reoccupation of Gaza. This statement came in response to a question regarding comments made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ABC TV, in which he stated that Israel would assume "indefinitely" the overall security responsibility for the Palestinian territory. White House National Security Spokesman John Kirby noted that Israel and the United States are friends and that they do not need to agree on every issue.