Rubio says US is asking countries to 'voluntarily' accept displaced Palestinians

The US has reached out to countries about accepting "voluntary" relocations of Palestinians, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday.

"There's no deportation," Rubio said. 

"What we have talked to some nations about is, if someone voluntarily and willingly says, I want to go somewhere else for some period of time because I'm sick, because my children need to go to school, or what have you, are there countries in the region willing to accept them for some period of time?" Rubio said.

Democratic Senator Jeff Merkely replied, if "there is no clean water, there is no food, and bombing is all around you, is that really a voluntary decision?"

Human Rights experts, Arab governments, and aid workers have refutted the premise that this process would be voluntary. Palestinians have been forcibly displaced by Israel's war on Gaza.