Photo: Radio Liberty
Israel is actively exploring the possibility of resettling Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to third countries after the war ends. According to the American publication Axios, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed Mossad intelligence to start looking for states that could accept a significant number of displaced persons from the enclave.
According to two Israeli officials, the plan has been under discussion for several weeks. “The Mossad has allegedly made preliminary contacts with a number of countries, including Somalia, South Sudan and Indonesia. The goal is to find states that would voluntarily agree to accept refugees as part of a broader strategy to reduce the Palestinian presence in Gaza.
This initiative, according to sources, is part of the Israeli government’s overall policy of “encouraging the exodus” of Palestinians from Gaza. One of the most active supporters of this approach is Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrych, a well-known far-right politician who openly calls for demographic changes in the Palestinian areas.
However, the reaction of the international community has been mostly critical. Experts in international law, particularly in the United States and Israel, warn that the forced mass displacement of civilians can be qualified as a war crime.
To date, some states have expressed a cautious willingness to accept a limited number of seriously ill Palestinians, mostly children, who need urgent treatment. However, according to Axios, no country has agreed to even consider the idea of accepting tens or hundreds of thousands of people from Gaza.
The idea of mass resettlement was allegedly supported at an early stage of the conflict by the administration of then US President Donald Trump. However, it was strongly rejected by key regional players, such as Egypt and Jordan, which categorically refused to participate in any form of transfer of the Palestinian population to their territory.
At present, according to US officials, President Trump is not promoting this plan. The US Special Representative for the Middle East, Steve Whitkoff, is focusing on other things – facilitating ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas, as well as the release of Israeli hostages.
It is unclear whether the resettlement plan will become a reality or remain a political attempt to change the demographic situation in Gaza. But international tensions around this issue are already making themselves felt.
