US and Israel Offer to Resettle Gaza Palestinians in Sudan, Somalia, and Somaliland

The Associated Press reported that the United States and Israel offered to resettle Palestinians from the Gaza Strip on land in three African countries, with discussions reaching officials in Sudan, Somalia, and the secessionist region of Somaliland.

“Associated Press reported that the United States and Israel offered to resettle Palestinians from the Gaza Strip on land in three African countries to officials in those states”

Al-Jazeera Net

The AP account says the contacts were made after the Trump administration’s Gaza proposal, and that American and Israeli officials told AP they were discussing “using their territories as potential destinations for moving Palestinians uprooted from the Gaza Strip.”

Al-Jazeera Net

In the AP framing, the outreach reflects a determination to press ahead with a plan that has been “widely condemned and raised serious legal and moral issues,” even as officials in the three places said they were not aware of proposals or rejected them.

The AP report also says the White House declined to comment on the outreach efforts, while the offices of Benjamin Netanyahu and Ron Dermer had no comment.

Reuters requests for comment were also not answered in the Al-Jazeera Net account, which says “The White House and the U.S. State Department had not yet responded to Reuters requests for comment.”

The proposal is described in multiple accounts as a postwar plan under President Donald Trump, with AP saying Gaza’s “more than 2 million people would be permanently sent elsewhere.”

Sudan, Somalia, and Somaliland each responded in ways that the reporting framed as rejection or denial of the outreach.

In the Al-Jazeera Net account, two Sudanese officials told the agency on condition of anonymity that the Trump administration contacted the Sudanese government about accepting the resettlement of Gaza Palestinians, but “it rejected the proposal immediately.”

AP News

The same account says Sudanese officials confirmed the contacts began even before Trump’s inauguration, including offers of “military assistance against the Rapid Support Forces, reconstruction assistance after the war, and other incentives.”

For Somalia, the Middle East Eye account says the foreign ministers of Somalia and Somaliland denied on Friday that they had received any proposal from the US or Israel to resettle Palestinians in their countries.

It quotes Somalia’s foreign minister, Ahmed Moalim Fiqi, rejecting “any proposal or initiative, from any party, that would undermine the Palestinian people’s right to live peacefully on their ancestral land.”

The AP report similarly says officials from Somalia and Somaliland told AP they were not aware of any contacts, while Sudanese officials said they rejected overtures.

While the outreach to African destinations was being discussed, Trump’s public stance on whether Palestinians would be expelled shifted in the reporting.

“US and Israel ask East African countries to resettle Palestinians: Report The United States and Israel have asked three East African governments to accept forcibly displaced Palestinians from Gaza, according to US and Israeli officials who spoke to The Associated Press (AP)”

Middle East Eye

The Al-Jazeera Net account says Trump stated on Wednesday that “no Palestinian will be expelled from the Gaza Strip,” describing it as a retreat from previous statements urging expulsion of Gazans to neighboring Arab countries to build a “Middle East Riviera.”

Middle East Eye similarly reports that when asked about expelling Palestinians during a meeting in the White House with Irish leader Micheal Martin, Trump said: “Nobody is expelling any Palestinians from Gaza.”

AP’s account places the outreach within the context of Trump’s proposed postwar plan, saying under his plan Gaza’s “more than 2 million people would be permanently sent elsewhere,” and it notes that Palestinians have rejected the proposal and dismiss Israeli claims that departures would be voluntary.

Newsweek adds a direct statement from Hamas, quoting Hussam Badran as saying, “The Palestinian people remain steadfast and committed to their land, refusing to abandon their homeland.”

In the Al-Jazeera Net account, Arab states expressed strong opposition and offered an alternative plan to rebuild Gaza without relocating residents, while human rights groups said forcing Palestinians to leave could constitute a potential war crime.

The reporting also sets the Africa resettlement outreach against a competing reconstruction approach attributed to Egypt and adopted by Arab leaders.

The Al-Jazeera Net account says that on the fourth of this month, Arab leaders at their emergency summit in Cairo approved a plan prepared by Egypt to rebuild Gaza, to be implemented over five years, costing 53 billion dollars, and they stressed their rejection of the displacement of Palestinians from their land.

Newsweek

Middle East Eye describes the same $53bn Egyptian plan as rejecting displacement and focusing on redeveloping the enclave “without depopulating it,” while it says the plan has since been adopted by Arab leaders.

AP’s account, meanwhile, describes the alternative reconstruction stance as coming from Arab nations that “offered an alternative reconstruction plan that would leave the Palestinians in place.”

The Guardian likewise says Arab nations offered “an alternative multibillion-dollar reconstruction plan that would leave the Palestinians in place,” and it frames the legal debate by saying “Experts said any forced resettlement was illegal under international law.”

In the Al-Jazeera Net account, the dispute is linked to Trump’s earlier proposal to take over Gaza and rebuild it as a “Middle East Riviera,” and it says Trump presented his plan in February proposing permanent displacement and that the United States would take control of the sector.

The accounts portray a policy effort backed by incentives and shaped by specific Israeli officials, while legal and humanitarian stakes are repeatedly emphasized.

“Sudanese officials say they have rejected a request from the US to discuss taking in Palestinians displaced from Gaza under Donald Trump’s plan to turn the territory into a “Riviera on the Mediterranean””

The Guardian

AP says Israel and the U.S. have “a variety of incentives — financial, diplomatic and security — to offer these potential partners,” and it says the outreach began “days after Trump floated the Gaza plan alongside Netanyahu,” with Israel taking the lead in discussions.

The Guardian

AP also reports that Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Israel is working to identify countries to take in Palestinians and that Israel is preparing a “very large emigration department” within its Defense Ministry.

The Guardian similarly says Netanyahu has hailed Trump’s proposal as a “bold vision,” and it quotes Smotrich as an advocate of “voluntary” emigration of Palestinians.

On the legal side, the Guardian says international legal experts told it that “any such emigration could be unlawful and potentially constitute a war crime,” and it also says “Experts said any forced resettlement was illegal under international law.”

In the Al-Jazeera Net account, human rights groups said forcing Palestinians to leave or pressuring them to do so could constitute a potential war crime, and it describes the Gaza war as genocide since October 7, 2023, leaving “more than 160,000 dead and wounded” and “more than 14,000 missing.”