US seeks to 'permanently relocate' one million Palestinians to Libya: Report
Since the 2011 NATO intervention in Libya, the North African nation has plunged into chaos and become a hub of human trafficking
News Desk 5/17/25
The government of US President Donald Trump is working on a plan to “permanently relocate” as many as one million Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Libya, according to informed sources who spoke with NBC News.
In exchange for accepting the forcibly displaced Palestinians, Washington “would potentially release to Libya billions of dollars” that have been frozen since the NATO intervention of 2011.
“The plan is under serious enough consideration that the administration has discussed it with Libya’s leadership, two people with direct knowledge of the plans and a former US official said,” the US news outlet reports.
“No final agreement has been reached, and Israel has been kept informed of the administration’s discussions,” the report highlights.
Following NATO's military intervention and the murder of former president Muammar Gaddafi, Libya transformed from one of the most prosperous nations on the African continent into a hub of extremist armed groups and open-air slave markets.
A 2025 Chatham House report revealed how the Libyan crisis altered human trafficking routes, with armed groups profiting from irregular migration. The report estimates that smuggling and trafficking generated $978 million in Libya in 2016.
Furthermore, the 2022 US State Department's Trafficking in Persons Report detailed systematic sex trafficking and other forms of sexual exploitation by guards in Libyan detention centers.
Libya, along with Rwanda, has also been considered a destination for migrants who are currently being kidnapped by ICE and shipped to the CECOT concentration camp in El Salvador.
According to one of the US officials who spoke with NBC News, ideas to promote the forced displacement of Palestinians to Libya have included offering “financial incentives such as free housing and even a stipend.”
The report coincides with an announcement by the Israeli military stating that its forces have begun the “first moves” of Operation Gideon’s Chariots, mobilizing to occupy territory and expand their assault in Gaza in an effort to achieve their purported war goals.