Israel Weighs Plan to Relocate Gazans to South Sudan

Israel is in talks with South Sudan about relocating Palestinians from Gaza to the East African nation, according to six sources who spoke with The Associated Press.

The move is part of Israel’s broader push to thin out Gaza’s population — something critics call forced expulsion and ethnic cleansing, arguing it would violate international law. Human rights groups warn such a mass transfer could make it impossible for Palestinians to ever return, clearing the way for Israel to annex the strip and rebuild settlements there, a goal openly endorsed by some far-right ministers in Netanyahu’s government.

South Sudan, still scarred by the civil war that erupted just after its 2011 independence — a conflict that killed nearly 400,000 and left parts of the country on the brink of famine — already hosts large numbers of refugees from neighboring wars.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously pitched what he terms “voluntary migration” for much of Gaza’s population, tying the idea to earlier statements from U.S. President Donald Trump.

“I think that the right thing to do, even according to the laws of war as I know them, is to allow the population to leave, and then you go in with all your might against the enemy who remains there,” Netanyahu told Israeli channel i24 on Tuesday, without naming South Sudan specifically.

AP also reported that Israel and the U.S. have floated similar ideas with Sudan, Somalia, and the self-declared republic of Somaliland.

Egypt, which borders Gaza, has been vocal in opposing any forced transfers, wary of a refugee surge spilling into its territory.

The Trump administration has leaned on various countries before to take in deportees. South Sudan has already accepted eight individuals removed from the U.S. under Trump’s mass deportation program.