Amb. Huckabee to Newsmax: Hamas Must Leave for Gaza Carnage to End

The carnage in Gaza won't stop until Hamas decides it has no future there, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee told Newsmax.

"This was started by Hamas on October 7," Huckabee said in an extensive interview with Newsmax Middle East correspondent Zach Anders, airing Sunday on "Wake Up America Weekend." "They created this nightmare. They perpetuated the nightmare. They've kept it going for over 600 days."

Hamas, the former goverrnor added, tortured and murdered hostages, including Americans.

"They murdered over 1200 people on the day itself, Oct. 7, taking over 250 hostages, including a lot of Americans, and a lot of Americans tend to forget that Americans were taken hostage," said Huckabee. "Americans were murdered. Their remains are still being held by Hamas. This all comes down to one thing: the absolute uncivilized savagery of Hamas."

The Israelis and Americans want the conflict to end and have suggested several "reasonable" solutions.

"The one thing that has been consistent, and President [Donald] Trump has never wavered from this, is that Hamas has no future there," said Huckabee. "They can't govern. … Put the blame where it is. It isn't on Israel. It's with Hamas solely, and they can fix it as soon as they decide that they are willing to take an exile, which Israel is willing to let them do, but they're not going to let them stay in Gaza."

The ambassador added that he wishes more people would understand that civilian casualties in Gaza are the result of Hamas amassing people in areas where Israel said it would hit.

"Who announces in advance they're going to hit a particular area?" he said. "The Israelis do, because they're trying to keep from civilian casualties in a war. You don't always have that luxury. So what did Hamas do? They pushed their people right into the very target that Israel had announced. That's why so many have been a part of the carnage."

Huckabee, meanwhile, said he does have quite a few Palestinian friends and plans to meet with Palestinian Authority leaders.

"I don't hate anybody," he said. "I want them to succeed. I want their people to have great opportunities. But I have not only already met with some Palestinian leaders, mostly business leaders, but I plan to meet with Palestinian government leaders to talk about whether there are ways forward."

Huckabee pointed out that Trump sent him to Israel to be ambassador for "all of Israel."

"That includes Judea, Samara, and all parts of it," he said. "I want to be faithful to that task."

He also commented on news that French President Emmanuel Macron will be proposing Palestinian statehood to the United Nations.

"If you want a Palestinian state so badly, why don't you host it?" Huckabees said. "You've got plenty of land. People don't understand. Israel has less than a tiny fraction. Muslim-controlled countries have 644 times the amount of real estate that Israel has. So when people say, well, carve out some of Israel, what are they asking them to do? Carve out a bit of a tiny piece of property that's the size of New Jersey?"

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