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US and Israel look to Africa for resettling Palestinians from Gaza
Officials from Sudan, Somalia and the breakaway region of Somaliland were contacted regarding the proposal, the AP reported, citing US and Israeli officials as sources.
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United States President Donald Trump (right) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands following a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House on Feb. 4, 2025 in Washington, DC. Netanyahu is the first foreign leader to visit Trump since he returned to the White House last month. (AFP/Getty Images/Chip Somodevilla)
T
he US and Israel have contacted officials of three East African countries to discuss using their territories for resettling Palestinians from Gaza, the Associated Press reported on Friday, citing US and Israeli officials.
Officials from Sudan, Somalia and the breakaway region of Somaliland were contacted regarding the proposal, the AP reported, citing US and Israeli officials as sources.
However, Sudan officials said they rejected the proposal from the US and officials from Somalia and Somaliland said they were unaware of any contacts, reported AP.
The White House and the US State Department did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. The information ministers for Somalia and its breakaway region of Somaliland did not pick up Reuters' telephone calls for comment.
Earlier this month, Arab leaders adopted a $53 billion Egyptian reconstruction plan for Gaza that would avoid displacing Palestinians from the enclave, in contrast to US President Donald Trump's vision of a "Middle East Riviera".
Trump has proposed a US takeover of Gaza, where Israel's military assault in the last 17 months has killed tens of thousands, to reconstruct the destroyed enclave, after earlier suggesting that Palestinians should be permanently displaced.
Trump's plan reinforced long-standing Palestinian fears of being permanently driven from their homes, and was met with widespread international rejection.
Palestinian militant group Hamas carried out a cross-border raid into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, triggering the Israeli assault in the Gaza Strip.
Under Trump’s plan, Gaza’s more than 2 million people would be permanently sent elsewhere. He has proposed the US would take ownership of the territory, oversee a lengthy cleanup process and develop it as a real estate project.
The idea of a mass transfer of Palestinians was once considered a fantasy of Israel’s ultranationalist fringe. But since Trump presented the idea at a White House meeting last month, Prime Minister Netanyahu has hailed it as a “bold vision.”
