Trump’s plan to permanently relocate 1 million Palestinians to Libya
The United States is working on a plan to permanently relocate about 1 million Palestinians from the war-torn Gaza Strip to Libya. The plan came to light months after Donald Trump proposed occupying Gaza.
The US media outlet NBC reported this information on Friday (May 16) in a report, citing five people familiar with the matter.
According to the report, the plan has become such a priority that the US government has already discussed the issue with Libyan leaders.
NBC says that in 2011, former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown in a NATO-backed operation. Two people directly involved in the incident and a former US official said that the US could release funds seized by the country more than a decade ago in exchange for the resettlement of Palestinians in Libya.
No final agreement has been reached on the matter yet. Israel, which has been attacking Gaza for the past 20 months, has also been informed of the talks, the report said.
However, a US official called the report “untrue.” He told NBC News that such a plan has no value given the situation on the ground. Such a plan has not been discussed and has no meaning.
A senior Hamas official, who controls Gaza, told NBC that they were not aware of any discussions about transferring Palestinians to Libya.
“The Palestinians are very deeply rooted in their homeland, very strongly committed to their homeland, and are ready to fight to the end, sacrificing anything to protect their land, their families and the future of their children,” said senior Hamas official Bassem Naim.
He added that “only the Palestinians have the right to decide what should and should not be done for Gaza and the Palestinians, including the people of Gaza.”
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has commented that many residents of the Gaza Strip are starving. Speaking to reporters in the United Arab Emirates on Friday (May 16), he said, “We are watching Gaza. We will take care of the situation. There are many people there who are starving.”
However, Trump did not say what he meant by taking care or about the continuous Israeli attacks on Gaza.
Neither the US nor the Libyan government has officially announced the transfer of Gazans to Libya.
