Israel asks US for support to relocate displaced Palestinians
It was revealed by Axios on July 18th that David Barnea, the head of Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad, visited Washington D.C. to garner support for a plan to relocate displaced Palestinians to foreign countries, according to the Libya Observer.
The plan is to persuade Libya, Ethiopia and Indonesia to take in a significant number of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip – there are currently hundreds of thousands of Palestinians outside of Gaza.
Barnea visited Washington to get support for the plan from US President Trump’s administration, with the goal of having the US help persuade the nations to accept the plan.
According to the Libya Observer, Barnea told the Trump administration that Israel is in private talks with Libya, Ethiopia and Indonesia to reach a deal on accepting displaced Palestinians.
The Israeli government has labelled the plan as a “voluntary relocation,” however it has been described as a potential war crime by legal experts.
International law bans forced displacement of protected populations such as Palestinians.
Although Trump’s administration has not yet commented on the proposal, it is not the first plan for displaced Palestinians it has been involved in.
On February 9th, President Trump stated that he is committed to the US buying and owning Gaza, which drew enormous international criticism.
His initial plan was to move Palestinians into Jordan and Egypt, both geographically near Gaza, but both nations rejected this.
The administration then considered Morocco, a nation with friendly ties to the US.
Previously, an armed militia in Sudan offered to take in displaced Palestinians to gain favour with the US, to which, Egypt raised concerns.
None of the plans or proposals so far made by the US or Israel, or indeed other nations, have led to any deals or agreements on relocating displaced Palestinians.
Due to forced displacement proposals receiving significant international criticism, the Trump administration is being careful around this new plan involving Libya, Ethiopia and Indonesia brought to them by Barnea, making no public statements or comments thus far.
Libya Observer/Maghrebi.org/Axios
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