U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Israel and Arab states in mid-February, a State Department official said, making his first trip to the Middle East after a widely condemned proposal by President Donald Trump to displace Palestinians in Gaza.

By Amy Goodman & Denis Moynihan More than 75 years after the Nakba, when many Palestinians were driven from their homes into Gaza, and for more than a half-century, since 1967, of direct Israeli occupation,

Top Trump administration officials on Wednesday walked back elements of President Trump’s proposal to “take over” Gaza and drive out the Palestinian population, insisting that he had not committed to using U.S. troops to clear the territory and that any relocation of Palestinians would be temporary.