Israel in talks to expel Palestinians to South Sudan: Report
The East African country is among several others which Israel and the US are considering as destinations for forcibly displaced Palestinians
Israel is in talks with South Sudan about the potential relocation of Palestinians from Gaza to the East African nation, according to several sources cited by AP.
The sources say it is unclear how far the negotiations have advanced.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry declined to comment, and South Sudan’s foreign minister did not respond to questions about the discussions.
A spokesperson for the US State Department also did not comment.
Joe Szlavik, the founder of a US lobbying firm working with South Sudan, said he was informed by South Sudanese officials about the discussions, adding that an Israeli team will make a trip to the country to study the possibility of establishing encampments for Palestinians.
There is no official date for the Israeli visit. Tel Aviv did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation.
Szlavik said Israel would most likely cover the cost of the camps.
Two Egyptian officials told AP they have known about the talks for months and have been “lobbying South Sudan against taking the Palestinians.”
Egypt has been staunchly opposed to Israeli and US efforts to expel the Palestinian population from Gaza – a decades-old plan which has been put into action since the start of the genocidal war against the strip in 2023.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he is committed to implementing an expulsion plan announced by US President Donald Trump at the start of the year, framed as a humanitarian initiative to “relocate” Palestinians to a safer place.
Trump said he would make Gaza the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
“I think that the right thing to do, even according to the laws of war as I know them, is to allow the population to leave, and then you go in with all your might against the enemy who remains there,” Netanyahu told i24 on 12 August.
Israel and the US have reportedly been in contact with several countries as part of the effort to expel Gaza’s population.
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 May.
In February, Hebrew news outlet Channel 12 reported that Morocco, the Puntland State of Somalia, and the Republic of Somaliland are being considered as places to relocate Palestinians as part of Trump’s controversial plan.
Puntland and Somaliland seek international recognition of their sovereignty over Somali territory, while Morocco seeks recognition of its sovereignty over the occupied Western Sahara.
The report said Trump’s government may use this to push forward the president's proposal for Gaza.