{"id":131388,"date":"2025-08-09T09:34:19","date_gmt":"2025-08-09T09:34:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/131388\/"},"modified":"2025-08-09T09:34:19","modified_gmt":"2025-08-09T09:34:19","slug":"ambassador-huckabees-interview-with-cbs-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/131388\/","title":{"rendered":"Ambassador Huckabee’s Interview with CBS News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Videos of Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski, where do things stand with negotiations? We know it\u2019s one of the United States\u2019 top priorities.<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

I think the negotiations are broken down completely because Hamas is not serious about negotiating. I\u2019m not sure they ever were, but they certainly aren\u2019t anymore. Europe has given them some cover, and the European leaders are putting more pressure on Israel than they are on Hamas, and they\u2019re talking about people in Gaza, and they\u2019re not talking about the hostages Hamas is celebrating. And they\u2019re realizing that they\u2019re winning the message war here. Interestingly, last week, the entire Arab League did something that the European leadership should have been doing. The Arab League was calling for Hamas to disarm and to release all of the hostages. Incidentally, that\u2019s what needs to be a universal and global message.<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

So, what would it take to revive those negotiations?<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure. I\u2019m not sure there is a way to revive negotiations with people who were so savage that they would rape women in front of their families, burn elderly people in their wheelchairs, in front of family, and do the hideous things that they not only did on October 7, but they continue to do in torturing hostages that have been in these tunnels now for almost 22 months. So, if I believe that there was a way to sit down and reason with people like that. I would love to see it happen, but you have to look at who they are and what they have done, what they\u2019ve done to their own people. How many of their own people they\u2019ve murdered in Gaza and ask yourself, are these people that really want a conclusion? Do they want some level of stability? I see no sign of it.<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

So, the alternative is?<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

I think the alternative is to recognize that they understand one thing they lose, they have to be defeated. And President Trump has repeatedly said, Hamas has no future in Gaza, and they can\u2019t lead it. I think that\u2019s exactly right. It would be the equivalent of saying, well, the Nazis can stay in Germany after World War Two and continue to be a party and maybe have a role in government. Nobody would have thought that that was realistic. Nobody, and to think that Hamas has any future in Gaza. I\u2019ll tell you who doesn\u2019t think that. For my visit there last week, the Gazans that I talked to, they don\u2019t want any part of Gaza. I mean, any part of Hamas, being a part of the future of Gaza.<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

We do know that most of the hostages that have come out have, come out through negotiations, though.<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Some of them have no doubt about it, and some of them have come out because they\u2019ve been rescued, but there\u2019s still 50 hostages, and this is two years later, and they\u2019re holding both living and deceased hostages for reasons that make no sense to anyone but Hamas and so we\u2019d love to see them all out. I\u2019ve been wearing this yellow ribbon since I\u2019ve been here. It\u2019s my prayer. My goal is that very soon I take this off, and when I do, I\u2019m going to throw it away, and I don\u2019t ever want to see it again. I don\u2019t want to keep it as a souvenir, because when I take it off, it means they\u2019re all home, as long as I have to wear it means they\u2019re still there. And it\u2019s, it\u2019s a horrible thing, mostly for their families, who have been through this long, enduring nightmare.<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Prime Minister Netanyahu is considering a full takeover of Gaza. What is the U.S. position on an Israeli occupation of Gaza?<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

I think the U.S. has been very clear that it has respect for the country that was attacked on October the second \u2026 seventh I mean. The United States has respect for the nation that was attacked on October the seventh. We understand that they\u2019re the ones who have to make some of these tough decisions. So it\u2019s not our job to tell them what they should or should not do. Certainly, if they ask for wisdom, counsel advice, I\u2019m sure the President would offer it. But ultimately, it\u2019s the decision that the Israelis, and only the Israelis can have.<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

And what would that advice be?<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know. You\u2019d have to ask President Trump, and I\u2019m not sure what he would say. He almost alluded to it a week ago when he was answering questions and talked about how awful it was that Hamas continued to torture the hostages when he saw the videos of the hostages that were clearly being starved, being made to dig their own graves. What a disgusting display of savagery of the part of Hamas to do that to people. And he was, I think, shocked by it, disgusted by it. And I remember him saying that I know what I would do, but I\u2019m not sure anybody else would do it. I think we\u2019ve got the inference that it would not be good for Hamas.<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Many of the families of hostages do not support an expansion of the war and takeover [inaudible]. In fact, the mother of Nimrod Cohen said this would be a death sentence for the hostages. The Israeli Defense Force does not support this.<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure that one can say that IDF doesn\u2019t support it or does support it. I\u2019m not sure that they take a position. They\u2019re soldiers. They follow the orders that they\u2019re given. So, to infer that they have taken a public position one way or the other, I\u2019m not sure that I would be able to concur that that has happened.<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

But they do seem to be at odds with the government. They have said that they\u2019ve achieved the aims and that there\u2019s nothing more that they can do in Gaza.<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, once again, to say that, that\u2019s pretty inclusive for a lot of people in the military, a lot of officers, a lot of people involved.<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah, and I\u2019m not sure that all the top brass are in complete agreement with the statement you made. So I would not categorize that there is a overarching view of consensus among the IDF I don\u2019t know for sure, but they\u2019re soldiers. They, they follow orders. They do what they\u2019re required to do. Sometimes it\u2019s maybe an order they totally agree with. Other times they may not agree with, but their job is not to make the decision is to carry it out. If they want to make them, then they run for office.<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m talking about the top brass.<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

What about the families, though, of the hostages? Surely, their voice matters.<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

And even among the families, there\u2019s no absolute consensus. Families have different views of what should be done, what could be done. The one thing I would hope all the families understand, and I hurtful as a parent, somebody who can\u2019t imagine the horror that they\u2019ve gone through with their own children, when I hear people say, well, the Israeli government, they don\u2019t want to end this war. That\u2019s absurd. That\u2019s utterly false. I\u2019m with the top levels of the Israeli government. And most of the people sitting in that room have children, either, who have just come out of Gaza, are actively there right now, fighting in the battle. And then you have, for example, Israeli ambassador to the United States, Ambassador Leiter, whose son was killed in Gaza, to say that he wants this to go on. Please don\u2019t insult the man or the dignity of his family by acting like he doesn\u2019t care or that any of the others don\u2019t care.<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

I have spoken to many families of the hostages interviewed in countless times, and there is real frustration, though, with Netanyahu and his government, the feeling that they could perhaps be beholden to right wing factions in the Cabinet who don\u2019t want the war to end, who have said that they don\u2019t want the war to end until Hamas is completely defeated.<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

I think the question is does anyone want the war to continue? I think the answer that is an emphatic no. Now some people would want it to end regardless of the outcome, even if Hamas gets to stay, but that\u2019s an outcome that ultimately, Israel has to ask itself, can we live with that? Can the world live with that? Does that not just invite another October 7, which is what Hamas has pledged, promised, guaranteed, they would do again. How many more hostage families will there be in the future? If Hamas gets to stay, they get to chalk this up as a victory. That\u2019s the tough part of this. Do the families want their loved ones home? 100%. Does everyone want the war again? 100%. How to end it, and the manner in which it ends, and whether it ends with some semblance of victory for Hamas, that\u2019s the difficult part of the equation.<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

But ambassador, you\u2019ve seen the protests, over half of Israelis want the war to end.<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

I think 100% of the Israelis want the war to end. I would venture to say I couldn\u2019t find somebody in this country that wants it to continue. But I don\u2019t think that there is a consensus as to whether or not the war should end with Hamas getting a victory. Do you allow these savages who did what they did and continue to do it? Sometimes [inaudible], and October the seventh wasn\u2019t the only time they ever did something that was absolutely a massacre, the number of deaths that they inflicted would have been the equivalent 40,000 people in America killed on a single day by a terror organization. I can\u2019t even begin to tell you what would be the reaction in the United States. So, from the perspective as an American who\u2019s here watching in the middle of this, I can tell you that Americans, if 40,000 of us, would have been slaughtered, massacred, mutilated in front of our families, I don\u2019t think Americans would say: \u2018you know, we just want this to be over. We\u2019re just tired of this\u2019. If the people who did it were going to claim a victory and put a flag up and say: \u2018And we\u2019re going to do it again\u2019.<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

President Trump has said, is real starvation in Gaza, and you can\u2019t fake that, he said. And he appeared deeply troubled by images of starving children. Have you been similarly moved?<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m moved when the photos are verified. I mean, we\u2019re all moved when you see someone, especially a child who\u2019s starving. But the New York Times published a picture on the front page of what was purported to be a starving child. Turns out the child had a birth defect and had not been starving. There were other pictures, for example, that were published of starving children in Gaza. Turned out one of them was from Yemen. One was from 2017, there was another photo that appeared to be somewhat staged, with photographer all set up to get pictures of a few people herded into a small area,<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

But they all (inaudible)<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh, I think that there are certainly people suffering in Gaza. Part of the reason is, is because you\u2019ve had pallets and trucks full of food that the UN won\u2019t take in because they say they don\u2019t want military escort from IDF, but they say it\u2019s not safe, and 87% of their own food every time they do take it in gets hijacked and looted. That\u2019s their numbers. Those aren\u2019t mine. I didn\u2019t make that up. That\u2019s what they report. So there\u2019s not been a lack of food or even a lack of attempt. It\u2019s been an inefficient way of getting it in. It\u2019s been a problem because you have a terror organization who is stealing it, looting it, and then turning around and selling it to the people who are hungry. And one thing that\u2019s true certain is that Hamas is not feeding hostages. Where\u2019s the Red Cross? Where\u2019s the Red Crescent? How come they haven\u2019t demanded that the hostages get fed? Where is the outrage over the way the hostages have been treated? We know there\u2019s hunger and deprivation there. Hunger is terrible, no matter who it happens to, but I hope everybody is very clear eyed about why it\u2019s happening. It\u2019s happening because Hamas has not allowed the food to get to the people who are hungry. And we know from the testimony of Gazans and some of them with whom I spoke personally, that when they tried [inaudible]<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

There is no evidence that has been shown, for example, to the World Food Program of Hamas looting food. We are sure that it happened\u2026<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

I saw it with my own eyes.<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

We spoke to the World Food Program, and they have not been shown any evidence of this at all. Their food is being looted\u2026<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Are you telling me they say that their food has not been looted?<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

No, I\u2019m saying there\u2019s no evidence that it\u2019s been diverted to Hamas. They\u2019re not saying it\u2019s not being looted. What they\u2019re saying\u2026<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

I am shocked they would say that<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n

What they\u2019re saying, and to be fair, there are officials within the military who have also said there\u2019s no evidence of it. We\u2019re sure that some of this must be happening like that, but on a mass, wide scale, are you saying there is no starvation in Gaza?<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

No, I\u2019m not saying there\u2019s no starvation. I\u2019m saying the starvation is the result of Hamas blocking the fact that there have been millions of tons food, over 2 million tons of food, that have gone into Gaza enough to feed the entire population for quite some time. Just two weeks ago, I put pictures on social media that showed 900 UN trucks parked ready to go in, but the food sitting there, rotting in the sun, thousands of pallets of food ready to go in. Nobody moving them in. Why do they not get the food in?<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Okay, their explanation, and I\u2019m not their spokesperson, and I\u2019ve been exactly to where you\u2019re talking about and seen it with my own eyes as well, is that there is still a war on in Gaza. There is not a humanitarian force across the whole of the territory. There is one road, road to go in and one road to come out. So, what happens is that you, Palestinians see the food the trucks. They see the trucks leaving. They see the trucks coming back for the food, and it gets looted every time it is the same road. They know that the trucks are going to come down that road. No one\u2019s denying that there is looting. It\u2019s a competition for food. And we see also at the GHF sites, when people storm the sites because they\u2019re so desperate for the food, surely there is a better way across the whole territory to distribute food.<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

There absolutely is. And here\u2019s what it is: Hamas stops keeping the food from coming in. The GHF sites are effective, and they are getting food to people. It\u2019s not perfect, but it\u2019s doing what President Trump required us, asked us to do, that was set up through GHF, give food to people, but in a way that Hamas didn\u2019t steal it. Hamas made half a billion dollars last year, 500 million U.S. dollars stealing food, selling it on the black market in order to finance their activities. That\u2019s stunning. That\u2019s a real business they have. They put it in warehouses. Yes, there have been some of the just regular population who are looting the trucks. One of the things we heard at GHF feeding sites was people, when they first started coming, they said, well, this is the first time you didn\u2019t have to pay for the food. They were used to having to buy a food from Hamas at prices that Hamas was inflating because they stole something. And then they turned around and sell it.<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

But GHF has no ability to verify who\u2019s getting that food. They don\u2019t know if the men, and it\u2019s mostly men who go there. To this day, you have to be strong to compete. How do we know that those people aren\u2019t from Hamas?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

You can\u2019t absolutely guarantee that they\u2019re not<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

But there\u2019s zero verification process.<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Look, no, there is a screening that is done. But here\u2019s<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

What is that screening? (Inaudible)<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a screening to make sure they\u2019re not carrying weapons. There\u2019s a screening, you know, there\u2019s some people that they might recognize they have captured some<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019s no list like the WFP has, for example. There\u2019s no list of who the people are, which families they belong to, where the food is going, and what happens to the food once it leaves the GHf site.<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

The reason the GHF process is working better than this mass distribution is because it\u2019s boxed in a way that feeds a family to [inaudible] for eight to 10 days. I\u2019m not saying that somebody from Hamas couldn\u2019t come and grab a box of food. They could. They can\u2019t grab a truckload of food because they can only get one box. So the difference is, if you take a truckload of food and Hamas takes over the whole truck, there\u2019s probably tons of food. They get the whole thing. They can\u2019t steal enough boxes at a time to make it worth their while, so we\u2019ve de-incentivized the process of stealing the food, and that\u2019s why it\u2019s been more effective.<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Do you have plans to go out with the World Food Program, for example, like you did at GHF sites, to see the process?<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Sure, I would love to, if I\u2019m invited to go and do that, and hopefully they\u2019ll start moving a lot more food in. One of the problems that has happened with the UN process is they\u2019ve said, We will not bring food in if the military is around. Well, they\u2019ll not explain this to them. There\u2019s a hot war going on. And if you don\u2019t have some military providing some level of security? Your trucks are going to get hijacked, and you\u2019re putting in danger even the drivers who are driving those trucks in. And you have to wonder, what is the UN\u2019s primary goal? Is it to feed hungry people, or is it to make sure they preserve some type of particular method of getting it in? I\u2019d like to think that the most important thing is the humanitarian result of feeding people, not whether it meets some arbitrary humanitarian practice that they have imposed upon themselves.<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Ambassador, the U.S. has thrown its support and money behind GHF.<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a U.S. program.<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

And yes, it\u2019s a U.S. program. And yet, every single day there are people dying near GHF sites, there are also people dying.<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Tell me about the people dying at the GHF, sites in what way?<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

They\u2019re being shot, allegedly, according to either countless, and we have interviewed just the other day a private security contractor, not a security contractor, a private civilian contractor who drove the truck and has provided us with new video of constant shooting at these GHF sites, he says, by both Americans and IDF soldiers, live ammunition being used as a form\u2026<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Could you show that video to me, because I have not seen it. No one in the U.S. government has seen it. And frankly, we have no reports. And we get reports every single day from all four feeding sites. When someone says something like that, I say, I don\u2019t believe it, until you show it to me.<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

[inaudible] no reports of anybody being killed near a GHF site?<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

No, we\u2019ve had reports that there have been incidences, but we\u2019ve also had reports one day that there were 27 people killed at a GHF site. We had the video to show that no one was even injured. much less killed. But it went all over the world, the New York Times, The Washington Post, BBC, CNN all reported it turned out as a total hoax. It\u2019s never happened. Did those media companies come back, some of them with a tiny little correction in the fine print, but the story went out there that 27 people had been murdered at the GHF side. It never happened. So forgive me if I\u2019m a little skeptical and someone says these people are being killed in the GHF sites. I\u2019m getting reports every day from them, every single day. If I would hear that, I assure you we\u2019d be interested in getting the details. And if there was some random shooting of people who are coming for food, those people would be consequent severely.<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

So, the idea that people are killed going to get aid is something that the U.S. is completely against?<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, of course, we\u2019re against that. My gosh, who would, who would be for people being killed getting aid but here\u2019s what Gazans told me when I was there last week. The people who live in Gaza, the people, the ones who are going to get the food, said that they did not hate the IDF, and they loved the Americans. But they hated Hamas because every single one of them with Hamas [inaudible] had had some family members in their clan who had been murdered by Hamas when they were trying to get food so who\u2019s doing the killing? That\u2019s a good question. You honestly think it\u2019s some U.S. contractors, or it\u2019s the IDF just gunning people down. Or is it Hamas, who have tried to keep people from getting to the feeding sites for a simple reason, because it\u2019s business to them. If they can keep people from getting the free food, then they can sell the food that was supposed to be given to them for free. That\u2019s what no one seems to be wanting to talk about. Why not?<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Ambassador, I\u2019m a little confused, because you\u2019re saying there\u2019s no killings, which you\u2019re saying now there are killings.<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

No, I\u2019ve never said there were no killings. I\u2019ve never said that. I\u2019ve never said there weren\u2019t killings, but I\u2019m saying for you to say that there were killings at the GHF sites, and it\u2019s happening all the time, and it\u2019s being done by Americans, and it\u2019s being done by IDF. I have no evidence of that. I did say that there\u2019s killing, and I do have eyewitness accounts of people who say their family members were killed by Hamas when they were trying to get food because Hamas doesn\u2019t want them to get free food. They want them to be dependent on Hamas to get the food that these poor, starving people have to pay Hamas for.<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

At what point is the human suffering in Gaza so great that the U.S. demands, the U.S. demands that Israel allows free flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

I think Israel is allowing a very steady flow of foods<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

But it\u2019s different to when there\u2019s a ceasefire.<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m just telling you, Israel has allowed over 2 million tons of food. And you know, it\u2019s a question I\u2019d love to ask some of the people who are so critical of Israel, how many countries who are in the middle of a war are expected to feed the enemies who murder their people? When does that happen in human history? Can someone tell me, I\u2019ve not heard anyone be able to answer that question. Tell me, was it the Brits responsibility that these the Germans, as they were bombing Dresden? Did that happen? They were dropping bombs, not food? When the Americans were bombing Japan, were we dropping food or bombs? So when in history, in all of history, has the country who has been attacked viciously, brutally, unexpectedly, when is that the country that is expected to feed the country that started the war and killed their people?<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

I think the issue is not providing food. It\u2019s preventing food.<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

I just told you, they\u2019re not preventing food. There\u2019s food that\u2019s sitting there. They can get it in. They\u2019re trying to get it in. But the UN themselves say that 87% of their own food, these are UN numbers about their own food. It\u2019s not getting to the people. It\u2019s getting in. It\u2019s not getting to the people.<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

They say it\u2019s being looted by (inaudible) so desperate.<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

That may be the case in some form, but I\u2019ve seen the pictures and the videos last week in real time of people with rifles, sitting up on top of the trucks and hijacking them. So is some of it desperate people. I\u2019m sure it is. Some of it is Hamas, but 87% of the intended food for people who are starving isn\u2019t getting there. How is that Israel\u2019s fault if they\u2019re not the ones who are preventing the food from coming in.<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Six Americans have been killed in the West Bank since. October 7, allegedly by Israeli settlers. What progress has been made in investigating the deaths of 20-year-old Saif Musallet?<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

We just got his medical records back about a week ago. We have had one, we have more meetings scheduled with the Israelis. I have asked for, and will continue to demand, a full-throated investigation of what happened, who did it. There\u2019s never been any doubt about the U.S. position on this. He\u2019s an American citizen. I went and visited with his family in his home. Committed to the family. We will do everything we can to find out who did it. We don\u2019t know who did it. I\u2019m not going to jump to the conclusion that we know that it\u2019s settlers. It may have been, but we don\u2019t know. in any investigation, one of the hallmarks of American jurisprudence is a person is innocent until proven guilty. So we\u2019re not going to jump to the conclusion and say we know who did it, because we don\u2019t, but if we find out who did it, doesn\u2019t matter who it is, that person should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

And given the circumstances, should we pass the US led investigation, as some senators are calling for?<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

I think that if it turns out that there\u2019s not a thorough and credible investigation, and then we would have to determine at what level we have the authority to conduct an investigation, and there would be some authority because it was a U.S. citizen. We want to get to the bottom of it, for that family\u2019s sake. If for no other reason than that family deserves to know.<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Would the U.S. consider sanctioning the individuals who may be found to have committed this crime?<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

If someone murdered someone, a sanction is a pretty pathetic consequence. They should be tried and if convicted, they should experience the most harsh punishment possible. That\u2019s a crime of capital intent to murder someone or to commit an act of terror. We are less interested in who did it than what they did, and making sure that the consequences for whoever did it would be the same, whether they\u2019re Israeli, Palestinian, that\u2019s of less consequence. Who did this should be fully prosecuted and consequenced as much as humanly possible.<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Since there\u2019s another American, Chicago\u2019s Khamis al-Ayyad has died. Do we know how he died?<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Not yet. There are a lot of questions. Sometimes it\u2019s difficult to get the medical reports. It\u2019s not always simple to get the full cooperation of all the authorities, because we\u2019re dealing with both Israeli and Palestinian authorities. So that\u2019s part of the challenge that we face, it takes more time than I wish it did, but we certainly are asking a lot of questions about who did this. What are the pieces of evidence. we want to be able to serve the family that is an American citizen that\u2019s important to us.<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Ambassador, regarding an end to all of this. Where do you see Gaza, once this war is over? What happens to the Palestinians living there, more than 2 million.<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

I would make it upon them. How many of them want to stay and rebuild their lives. We talked to some last week, and that\u2019s what they really want to do, and they know it\u2019s going to take years to rebuild their, their homes, their businesses, their families. They have their own vision for what that\u2019s going to look like, but there are undoubtedly many people who live there now would love a way to leave and go somewhere else, start over.<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

And where would that be?<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

I have no idea where people intend on or who would want them to come and whether or not they could be welcomed in a different environment. But they should have the right to at least make that decision. They shouldn\u2019t be forced out, I don\u2019t think should be required to leave. And it\u2019s interesting that other than allegations that people are going to be forced out, both the U.S. and the Government of Israel has been very clear, nobody\u2019s going to be forced out, at least not by the U.S. And Israel has said it doesn\u2019t plan to force people to leave. [inaudible] most people want to have the freedom to start over. make a new life away from Gaza and away from the horrific memories they have that were inflicted upon them, because unfortunately, in 2007 they voted in Hamas and all the billions and billions and billions of dollars that was poured into Gaza to build a better life for the people there were spent instead of building a tunnel system over 500 miles is bigger than the London Underground for the sole purpose of being able to hide Hamas and [inaudible] war, keep hostages and ultimately be able to kill the Jews.<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Increasingly strong language is being used about Israel\u2019s prosecution of this war, including from Israeli organizations, they\u2019ve been accused of genocide, war crimes. What\u2019s your view?<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

If Israel is attempting genocide, they\u2019re really, really bad at it. They could have had genocide on October the eighth. They could have dropped a few bombs and have annihilated all Gazans, it\u2019s not that big an area. They certainly had the capacity to do it, and saw that in the 12-day war with Iran. It is the most ridiculous thing in the world to say that Israel is committing genocide. That\u2019s absurd. On its face. It\u2019s absurd. if they were trying to commit genocide, it would not have taken them 22 months<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Has Israel committed war crimes?<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

We don\u2019t know. We don\u2019t know because that requires a specific charge against a specific person with credibility and witnesses. So if that happens, somebody steps forward, and they have evidence, then one of the things I believe about Israel is that it will prosecute its own people. One thing I haven\u2019t seen is who\u2019s calling for the war crimes against Hamas to be prosecuted? Who\u2019s asking for that? Who, tell me who?<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

I think, I think the, the criminal court has put out warrants of arrest but some of the people that they put them out for are now dead.<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m glad they are, but I don\u2019t see the clamoring from Macron and from the UK, Canada and Ireland I don\u2019t see them clamoring for the arrest of the instigators, the planners or those who have carried out the horrific murders for them to be prosecutable organs. I heard about the Israelis, and I\u2019m wondering Something\u2019s out of balance here. I say again. It was a great irony that it was the Arab League who called for Hamas to disarm and release all the hostages the very week that European leaders were saying that Israel ought to end the war and create a Palestinian state.<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

There is no doubt that there is leadership, I think that people are saying on both sides, who are not participating in these negotiations in good faith [inaudible].<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

I disagree that all the parties are not participating in good faith. I\u2019m personally aware of concessions and reasonable things that Israel has put on the table, that the U.S. has put on the table, that Egypt and Jordan have put on a table and said, What about this? and Hamas will say, well, we\u2019ll consider it, and then they always reject it, and then they always add new things. So the reason that there have not been any successes in the negotiating process is because there\u2019s only one side that\u2019s in my mind, serious about trying to bring it to a halt, by way of negotiation.<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

President Trump had said that there\u2019s is a plan to deliver more aid. And in fact, we\u2019ve heard that the GHF sites may be increased from four to 16. What is the plan?<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Plan is to scale up the GHF sites up to 16, and to expand the hours up to as much as 24 hours a day, so that there\u2019s not a great rush at one point in the morning, that that would be spread out over a broader period of time. And there are other things in the works, not ready to be disclosed publicly, but some significant steps that are planned to make the process much more efficient, safer, and I hope they happen real soon.<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

So the U.S. is going to take over delivering aid to Gaza?<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know that it would be fair to say they\u2019re going to take over. We certainly have been very involved, because we really want to establish the GHF program to get it started. I think you will see a heightened participation. But the U.S. is not trying to do it alone. We\u2019d love for international partners to be helpful. We\u2019d love for the NGOs to get more involved. We\u2019d love for the UN to become more involved, but we\u2019d like them to be involved in an efficient and effective way, rather than just drive trucks in after letting it sit there for weeks and then allowing it to be stolen and looted.<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Ambassador, you have spoken a lot about what should happen to the people of Gaza. What about the two-state solution? Where do you stand on that?<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s really not an ambassador\u2019s position to make the decision of what that policy would be. It\u2019s the role of the President. He was the only one elected last November.<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Do you support it though?<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t matter whether I do or don\u2019t. I wait to see what the president tells us. But here\u2019s what I would ask anyone even ask the President, where would the state be? What are the boundaries? Who rules it? What are its authorities? What are its limitations? Where does it? Where does it actually exist? And how is it? How does it function in the context of what we\u2019re living with right now? And nobody seems to answer that as a sort of an aspirational goal. We need a two-state solution. But when you start asking people the specifics of what it looks like and where it\u2019s going to be, where the boundaries. interesting, that very few people have an answer to that,<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

You said that the sites are going to be increased for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, is that an acknowledgement that what\u2019s happening now is not working.<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

No, it\u2019s an acknowledgement that it is working. If it wasn\u2019t working, we\u2019d go from four to zero. Do something different. It\u2019s working, so we\u2019re going to scale it up and help it to work more.<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

But 4 to 16 is a big change, and 24 hours a day is a massive change.<\/p>\n

Ambassador Huckabee\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a massive change, right. It requires a great deal of additional funding, which is the reason it hasn\u2019t scaled up prior to now. But I think, as people have seen the effectiveness of that process, now they\u2019re willing to invest. Before they weren\u2019t sure it would work.<\/p>\n

Reporter\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Thank you very much.<\/p>\n

By8 August, 2025 | Topics: News<\/a>, Press Releases<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Reporter\u00a0 Videos of Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski, where do things stand with negotiations? We know it\u2019s one…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":131389,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[99,50],"class_list":{"0":"post-131388","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-israel","9":"tag-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114998127276912789","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131388"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131388\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}