Mossad in talks with African, Asian countries to assist in ethnic cleansing of Gaza: Report
Prime Minister Netanyahu is seeking ways to depopulate Gaza and pave the way for Jewish settlement
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has tasked Israel's Mossad foreign intelligence agency with finding countries willing to receive large numbers of Palestinians he plans to displace from the Gaza Strip, Axios reported on 28 March.
According to the two Israeli officials and a former US official speaking with Axios, talks have already taken place with Somalia and South Sudan in Africa, as well as other countries, including Indonesia in East Asia.
Netanyahu gave Mossad the secret task several weeks ago, the Israeli officials say.
Israel is taking measures "to encourage the removal of Palestinians from Gaza, while at the same time resuming the war and issuing evacuation orders for Palestinians from parts of the enclave," Axios wrote.
Some 90 percent of Palestinians in Gaza are internally displaced from homes destroyed by Israel's brutal bombing campaign that has lasted almost 18 months.
Since unilaterally canceling a ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza two weeks ago, Israel has dramatically escalated its attacks on Palestinians, killing over 100 per day.
Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials have vowed to occupy more and more of Gaza if Hamas refuses to release the remaining Israeli captives it holds.
Hamas is seeking a deal to release the captives in exchange for the release of thousands of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons (where rape and torture are common), a permanent end to the war, and a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
Israeli officials are considering plans to launch another massive ground invasion of the strip that would force most of the population into a small "humanitarian area" in the south of the strip, Axios added.
Earlier this month, Sudan, Somalia, and the breakaway region of Somaliland deniedreports they had received requests from the US or Israel to resettle Palestinians from Gaza.
AP quoted US and Israeli officials as saying that their governments had contacted officials from each government to propose the plan.
Somalia's Foreign Minister Ahmed Moalim Fiqi said his country would categorically reject "any proposal or initiative, from any party, that would undermine the Palestinian people's right to live peacefully on their ancestral land."
Sudanese officials also said they rejected considering any such proposal.