Israel resettles Palestinians from Gaza, South Sudan

Tel Aviv, Israel (AP) – Israel is debating South Sudan The possibility of resetting Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to the war-torn East African nation is part of a broader effort by Israel to promote large-scale migration from the territory left behind in abandoned. 22 Month Attack To Hamas.

Six people familiar with the issue have confirmed consultations with the Associated Press. It is unclear how far the consultations have progressed, but if implemented, the plan amounts to relocating people from War-torn land at risk of hunger raises concerns about human rights to another person.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he wants to realize President Donald Trump’s vision of relocating much of Gaza’s population through what Netanyahu calls “voluntary immigration.” Israel has come to float Similar Resettlement Proposals with other African countries.

Palestinians, rights groups, and many of the international community have rejected the proposal as a blueprint for forced expulsion in violation of international law.

For South Sudan, such a transaction could help it develop a close ties with Israel. Military forces that have been rarely challenged In the Middle East. It is also a possibility of an invasion of Trump. Who broached the idea of resetting Gaza’s population in February However, it appears to have retreated in the last few months.

Israeli Foreign Ministry declined to comment, while South Sudan’s Foreign Minister did not answer questions regarding the consultation. A U.S. State Department spokesperson said he had not commented on private diplomatic conversations.

Egypt opposes proposals to reset Palestinians from Gaza

Joe Schravik, founder of a US lobbying company that works with South Sudan, said he was briefed on the consultations by South Sudan officials. He said he plans to visit the country to investigate the possibility that Israeli delegations would establish camps for Palestinians. No known dates are set for the visit. Israel did not immediately respond to a request to confirm the visit.

Szlavik said there is a high chance that Israel will pay for the makeshift camp.

Edmund Yakani, who heads the South Sudan civil society group, said he also spoke to South Sudan officials about the discussion. Four additional officials with knowledge of the discussion confirmed that it was being conducted on the condition of anonymity.

The two Egyptian officials told the Associated Press, who has been aware for months about Israel’s efforts to find a country that will embrace Palestinians, including contacts with South Sudan. They said they are lobbying South Sudan for taking Palestinians.

Egypt There is deep opposition With plans to relocate Palestinians from Gaza, it shares borders and fears refugees’ influx into territory.

The AP previously reported on similar consultations that Israel and the US launched with Sudan and Somalia, countries that are also working on war and hunger, as well as the breakaway region of Somalia known as the Somalia Land. The status of these discussions is unknown.

“Cash-bound South Sudan needs any allies.”

Szlavik, who was hired by South Sudan to improve relations with the US, said the US knows about the arguments with Israel but is not directly involved.

South Sudan wants Trump administration lifting the national travel ban And they will remove sanctions from South Sudan’s elite, Szlavik said. I already have it Accepted 8 people It may have been an effort to cure favors after being wiped out by the administration’s massive deportation.

Trump administration It has put pressure on many countries It helps to promote deportation.

“Cash-bound South Sudan needs to have allies, economic interests and diplomatic security,” said Peter Martell, a journalist and author of a book on the country.

According to the book, Israeli Mossad Spy Agency provided assistance to South Sudan during a decades-long civil war against the Arab-controlled government in Khartoum ahead of its independence in 2011.

When asked if there was a Quid Pro Quo with South Sudan, the State Department said the decision on issuing visas was “in a way that prioritizes maintaining the highest standards for US national security, public safety and immigration law enforcement.”

From one hungry conflict zone to another

Many Palestinians may want to leave Gaza at least temporarily and escape the hunger crisis adjacent to war and hunger. However, they roundly refused to permanent resettlement from what they consider to be an integral part of their national homeland.

They are I fear Israel will never allow them to returnand a massive departure allows Gaza to be annexed there and reestablished Jewish settlements there, as the far-right minister of the Israeli government is asking.

Yet even Palestinians who want to leave are unlikely to take a chance in South Sudan among the most unstable and conflict-filled countries in the world.

South Sudan struggled to recover from the civil war that broke out after independence, killing nearly 400,000 people and plunging the country’s pockets into starvation. Oil-rich countries are plagued by corruption and rely on international aid to feed 11 million people. This is a challenge that has grown since the Trump administration wiped out foreign aid.

The peace contract reached seven years ago is fragile and incomplete, with the main opposition leaders returning the threat of war once again I was placed under house arrest this year.

Palestinians in particular may find themselves unwelcome. The long war for independence from Sudan pitted mainly the south of Christianity and Animist against the north of Arabs and Muslims.

Yakani, a civil society group, said that South Sudanese need to know who is coming and who they are planning to stay, or that there may be hostilities due to “historical issues of Muslims and Arabs.”

“South Sudan should not be a dumping ground for people,” he said. “And we shouldn’t accept bringing people along as something to negotiate tips to improve our relationship.”

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Contributors were Joseph Federman of Jerusalem, Matthew Lee of Washington, DC, and Sammy Magdy of Cairo, Egypt.

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