The resettlement of a million Gazans in Libya is being considered by the Trump administration as a way to bring the conflict between Israel and Hamas to an end.
According to a report from NBC News, the Trump administration is already in talks with the Libyan government about the move.
The relocation would be permanent, and in exchange the US would lift a long-term freeze on billions of dollars of Libyan assets.
It’s suggested that financial incentives could be offered to encourage Palestinians to relocate to the North African country.
Three separate sources told NBC that no final agreement has yet been reached, and that the Israeli government is being kept informed of the negotiations.
Representatives of the US and Israeli governments have so far either denied the report or simply refused to comment.
Basem Naim, a senior Hamas official, said that Hamas was not aware of any discussions about moving Palestinians to Libya.
“Palestinians are very rooted in their homeland, very strongly committed to the homeland and they are ready to fight up to the end and to sacrifice anything to defend their land, their homeland, their families, and the future of their children,” Naim said.
“[Palestinians] are exclusively the only party who have the right to decide for the Palestinians, including Gaza and Gazans, what to do and what not to do.
Although Arab nations have pledged support for the rebuilding of Gaza, they have so far been sceptical or outright hostile to suggestions of mass resettlement of Gazans.
Back in February, during a White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Trump suggested that the US might “take over” the Gaza Strip and redevelop it into “the Riviera of the Middle East.” To do so, he suggested the Gazans would have to be resettled somewhere else.
“You can’t live in Gaza right now, and I think we need another location. I think it should be a location that’s going to make people happy,” Trump said.
Trump said he wanted to find “a beautiful area to resettle people permanently in nice homes, and where they can be happy and not be shot, not be killed, not be knifed to death like what’s happening in Gaza.”
“I don’t think people should be going back to Gaza,” he added.