Scoop: Israel seeks U.S. help on deals to move Palestinians out of Gaza
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Trump and Netnayahu meet in the Oval Office in April. Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
The director of Israel's Mossad spy agency visited Washington this week seeking U.S. help in convincing countries to take hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from Gaza, two sources with knowledge of issue tell Axios.
- The spy chief, David Barnea, told White House envoy Steve Witkoff that Israel has been speaking in particular with Ethiopia, Indonesia and Libya.
Why it matters: The Israeli government's goal of removing much of Gaza's population is hugely controversial. While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government claims such a "relocation" would be "voluntary," U.S. and Israeli legal experts have labeled it a war crime.
Behind the scenes: In their meeting earlier this week, Barnea told Witkoff that Ethiopia, Indonesia and Libya had expressed openness to receiving large numbers of Palestinians from Gaza, the two source say.
- Barnea suggested that the U.S. offer incentives to those countries and help Israel convince them.
- Witkoff was non-committal, and it's not clear if the U.S. will actively weigh in on this issue, one source said.
- The White House, the Israeli Prime Minister's Office, and the foreign ministries of Ethiopia, Indonesia and Libya did not respond to requests for comment prior to publication.
Flashback: In February, President Trump proposed the removal of all two million Palestinians from Gaza to rebuild the enclave.
But the White House cooled on the idea after getting significant pushback from Arab countries, U.S. officials say, and it hasn't gone anywhere.
- Israeli officials say the Trump administration told them that if Netanyahu wants to pursue this idea, Israel needs to find countries that are willing to take Palestinians from Gaza.
- Netanyahu tasked Israel's Mossad foreign intelligence agency with finding countries that would agree to receive large numbers of Palestinians displaced from the Gaza Strip.
The big picture: Nearly every Palestinian in Gaza has been displaced during the war, often multiple times. Most buildings in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed.
- Israel has been developing a plan for moving all two million residents of the enclave to a small "humanitarian zone" near the border with Egypt.
- That plan has sparked concerns in Egypt and many Western countries that Israel is preparing for the mass displacement of Palestinians out of Gaza, something Netanyahu's ultranationalist coalition partners and many inside his own party have been pushing for years.
- A senior Israeli official claimed that, as part of the understandings with the three countries, the transfer of Palestinians would be "voluntary and not forced," and that Israel would commit to allowing any Palestinian who leaves to return to Gaza at any time.
- However, the idea that such mass departures could be considered "voluntary" under the circumstances has been disputed.
What they are saying: When Netanyahu visited the White House last week, Trump was asked about this issue and deferred to the Israeli Prime Minister.
- Netanyahu said Israel is working with the U.S. "very closely" to find countries that will agree to take Palestinians from Gaza and stressed that "we are getting close to finding several countries."
- "I think President Trump had a brilliant vision. It's called free choice. You know, if people want to stay, they can stay, but if they want to leave, they should be able to leave. It shouldn't be a prison," Netanyahu said.
- After the dinner a senior Israeli official told reporters that Trump has shown interest in continuing to push the "relocation" of Palestinians from Gaza. The White House didn't comment at the time.
