South Sudan rejects talks with Israel on Palestinian resettlement

South Sudan has denied holding talks with Israel on August 13th, regarding the resettlement of Palestinians who are currently suffering in Gaza, as reported by The New Arab via Reuters. This was announced by South Sudan’s foreign ministry, following the arrival of a top Israeli diplomat in the East African nation.

On August 11th, the Associated Press reported that Israel was holding discussions with Juba to resettle Palestinians from Gaza in South Sudan. This is according to six people with inside knowledge on the matter.

South Sudan’s foreign affairs ministry has sent out a statement, calling the claims “baseless” and saying that they “do not reflect the official position or policy of the Government of the Republic of South Sudan.” This came as Israel’s deputy foreign minister Sharren Haskel announced that she held talks with President Salva Kiir and Foreign Minister Semaya Kumba on August 11th. Kumba also met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in July, according to the foreign ministry in Juba.

The Israeli military has planned to take over Gaza, and has wrecked the city. Gaza City is the home to more than 2 million Palestinian people. Netanyahu has expressed the viewpoint that Palestinians should be expelled from Gaza – this has notably been enthusiastically approved by US President Donald Trump.

Unlike Trump, other world leaders are horrified by the plans to displace the Gaza population. Palestinians have said that this would be like another “Nakba” (catastrophe), when hundreds of thousands were forcibly removed from their land due to the Arab-Israeli war in 1848. On June 4th, the EU and twelve countries, including the UK, France, Germany, and Canada, issued a joint statement in solidarity regarding the displacement crisis that Palestinians are currently facing. They expressed support for the Palestinians, and urged Israel to enable the safe return of any displaced Palestinians.

In March, Somalia, alongside its breakaway region of Somaliland, has also denied receiving any proposal from the US or Israel to resettle Palestinians from Gaza. Mogadishu has said that it has categorically dismissed and rejected any such move.

As a new country, having only achieved independence in 2011 from Sudan, South Sudan has spent almost half of its life at war. They are also currently in the middle of a political crisis. This is due to President Kiir’s government ordering the arrest of Vice President Riek Machar in March. The Africa Union has been urged to increase their engagement in the matter, and have been warned about the consequences of omitting to get involved, which includes unresolved provisions from a peace deal in 2018. The crisis has led to the delay of an election, a decision reportedly made by Kiir. They were originally set in February 2023, before being moved to December 2024, and now December 2026.

The New Arab via Reuters, Maghrebi.org