Following President Donald Trump’s February proposal to relocate Gaza’s residents elsewhere for an unspecified period, US and Israeli officials have reportedly approached Sudan, Somalia and Somaliland to explore the possibility of resettling displaced Palestinians in Gaza.
What happened: On Friday, the Associated Press cited US and Israeli officials as confirming that such requests had been made to the three African nations. According to US officials, it remains unclear how far these discussions have progressed, and they noted that Israel has been leading the talks. The report also cited sources in Sudan who stated they had declined such offers, while sources in Somalia and Somaliland said they were unaware of any such discussions.
“Separate outreach from the US and Israel to the three potential destinations began last month, days after Trump floated the Gaza plan alongside Netanyahu, according to the US officials, who said that Israel was taking the lead in the discussions,” read the report.
Officials at the White House were not immediately available for comment. Al-Monitor also reached out to the Israeli Foreign Ministry for comment.
Background: Trump first proposed the resettlement of over 2 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip during his Feb. 4 meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. He argued that the Gaza Strip had become uninhabitable and suggested relocating all Gazans to other countries. He added that the United States would take over Gaza and rehabilitate it.
“We’ll own it,” Trump said. “We’re going to take over that piece, develop it and create thousands and thousands of jobs, and it will be something the entire Middle East can be proud of.” He also stated that Palestinians relocating to a new land “would be a lot better than going back to Gaza, which has had decades and decades of death,” and that “they’ll be resettled in areas where they can live a beautiful life.” Later, Trump said he was discussing the plan with the leaders of Jordan and Egypt — potential destinations for displaced Gazans, according to himself.
Trump’s plan was met with a wide backlash across the Arab world and in Europe. While he added that Gazans would not be forced to leave the Strip, he did not withdraw his proposal. In contrast, Israel’s far-right factions embraced the idea of a mass Palestinian transfer, with Netanyahu praising it as a “bold vision.”
Know more: The relationships the United States and Israel maintain with the three African nations in question are complex:
Sudan is one of the four countries — alongside the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco — that initially signed the 2020 Abraham Accords to normalize ties with Israel. As part of the deal, Washington removed Sudan from its list of state sponsors of terrorism. In fact, months before the accords were signed, Netanyahu met in Uganda with Sudan’s sovereign council leader, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. Reports over the years have suggested Israel provided military support to Burhan’s regime. Meanwhile, Sudan has been engulfed in civil war since 2023. On Thursday, UNICEF warned that Sudan “is now the world’s largest and most devastating humanitarian crisis,” stating that after two years of war, “over 30 million people — more than half of them children — are living in the grip of mass atrocities, famine and deadly disease.”
For the past decade, the United States has cooperated with Somalia in efforts to combat the jihadist group al-Shabab in the country’s south. Washington is Somalia’s largest arms supplier. With an estimated population of 18 million spread over 640,000 square kilometers (400 square miles), Somalia remains one of the continent’s poorest nations. A 2023 Times of Israel report indicated that Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen sought to normalize relations with Somalia despite Mogadishu’s longstanding support for the Palestinian cause. The two nations currently do not have diplomatic ties.
Somaliland, a self-declared breakaway region, presents a different case, as it is not internationally recognized as an independent state. Somalia considers Somaliland part of its sovereign territory. Positioned on the Gulf of Aden near the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait, Somaliland has drawn Israeli interest over the years. In 2024, the Middle East Monitor reported that Israel sought to establish a military base there in exchange for recognizing its independence, though Israeli officials did not confirm the claim.
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