Egypt Daily News – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has tasked the foreign intelligence agency “Mossad” with searching for countries willing to accept a large number of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, according to two Israeli officials quoted by the American news site Axios on Friday.
The Israeli security cabinet had approved a proposal by Defense Minister Katz in February to establish a new department within the ministry tasked with “facilitating the voluntary departure of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip,” as reported by the Times of Israel at the time.
The two Israeli officials and a former U.S. official told Axios that Tel Aviv has already held talks with Somalia, South Sudan, and other countries, including Indonesia.
The officials said Netanyahu assigned Mossad to this mission several weeks ago.
The American site noted that Netanyahu’s office declined to comment on the news, but the Israeli Prime Minister and senior Israeli officials have previously pledged to take more and more control of the Gaza Strip if Hamas refuses to release the remaining hostages.
Axios stated that Netanyahu is also seeking ways to transfer large numbers of Palestinians to countries that may be thousands of miles away from their homeland, following the failure of U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal to relocate two million Palestinians from Gaza.
The U.S. president faced widespread Arab and international criticism after proposing the relocation of Palestinians from Gaza and placing the besieged strip under U.S. control for its reconstruction and transformation into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
Trump’s proposal was met with absolute international rejection, with U.S. allies, including European and Arab and Islamic countries, voicing their opposition. They condemned his suggestion that the “U.S. should take control of the Gaza Strip and permanently resettle its Palestinian population,” stressing that Gaza “belongs to the Palestinians, and they should remain there.”
