US and Israel look to Africa for resettling Palestinians uprooted from
Gaza
[March 14, 2025]
By JOSEF FEDERMAN, MATTHEW LEE and SAMY MAGDY
JERUSALEM (AP) — The U.S. and Israel have reached out to officials of
three East African governments to discuss using their territories as
potential destinations for resettling Palestinians uprooted from the
Gaza Strip under President Donald Trump's proposed postwar plan,
American and Israeli officials say.
The contacts with Sudan, Somalia and the breakaway region of Somalia
known as Somaliland reflect the determination by the U.S. and Israel to
press ahead with a plan that has been widely condemned and raised
serious legal and moral issues. Because all three places are poor, and
in some cases wracked by violence, the proposal also casts doubt on
Trump’s stated goal of resettling Gaza’s Palestinians in a “beautiful
area.”
Officials from Sudan said they have rejected overtures from the U.S.,
while officials from Somalia and Somaliland told The Associated Press
that they were not aware of any contacts.
Under Trump’s plan, Gaza’s more than 2 million people would be
permanently sent elsewhere. He has proposed the U.S. would take
ownership of the territory, oversee a lengthy cleanup process and
develop it as a real estate project.
The idea of a mass transfer of Palestinians was once considered a
fantasy of Israel’s ultranationalist fringe. But since Trump presented
the idea at a White House meeting last month, Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu has hailed it as a “ bold vision.”
Palestinians in Gaza have rejected the proposal and dismiss Israeli
claims that the departures would be voluntary. Arab nations have
expressed vehement opposition and offered an alternative reconstruction
plan that would leave the Palestinians in place. Rights groups have said
forcing or pressuring the Palestinians to leave could be a potential war
crime.
Still, the White House says Trump “stands by his vision.”
Speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a secret diplomatic
initiative, U.S. and Israeli officials confirmed the contacts with
Somalia and Somaliland, while the Americans confirmed Sudan as well.
They said it was unclear how much progress the efforts made or at what
level the discussions took place.
Separate outreach from the U.S. and Israel to the three potential
destinations began last month, days after Trump floated the Gaza plan
alongside Netanyahu, according to the U.S. officials, who said that
Israel was taking the lead in the discussions.
Israel and the U.S. have a variety of incentives — financial, diplomatic
and security — to offer these potential partners. It is a formula that
Trump used five years ago when he brokered the Abraham Accords — a
series of mutually beneficial diplomatic accords between Israel and four
Arab countries.
The White House declined to comment on the outreach efforts.
The offices of Netanyahu and Ron Dermer, the Israeli Cabinet minister
and Netanyahu confidant who has been leading Israel’s postwar planning,
also had no comment.
But Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a longtime advocate of what he
calls “voluntary” emigration of Palestinians, said this week that Israel
is working to identify countries to take in Palestinians. He also said
Israel is preparing a “very large emigration department” within its
Defense Ministry.
Here is a closer look at the places the officials say have been
approached.
Sudan
The North African country was among the four Abraham Accord nations that
agreed to normalize diplomatic relations with Israel in 2020.
As part of the deal, the U.S. removed Sudan from its list of state
supporters of terrorism, a move that gave the country access to
international loans and global legitimacy. But relations with Israel
never took off as Sudan plunged into civil war between government forces
and the RSF paramilitary group.
The conflict has been marked by atrocities, including ethnically
motivated killing and rape, according to the U.N. and rights groups. The
International Criminal Court is investigating alleged war crimes and
crimes against humanity, and then-President Joe Biden's administration
in January said the RSF and its proxies were committing genocide.
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People gather to collect water in Khartoum, Sudan, May 28, 2023. (AP
Photo/Marwan Ali, File)
The U.S. and Israel would be hard-pressed to persuade Palestinians
to leave Gaza, particularly to such a troubled country. But they
could offer incentives to the Khartoum government, including debt
relief, weapons, technology and diplomatic support.
Two Sudanese officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to
discuss a sensitive diplomatic matter, confirmed that the Trump
administration has approached the military-led government about
accepting Palestinians.
One of them said the contacts began even before Trump's inauguration
with offers of military assistance against the RSF, assistance with
postwar reconstruction and other incentives.
Both officials said the Sudanese government rejected the idea. “This
suggestion was immediately rebuffed,” said one official. ”No one
opened this matter again.”
Military chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan told an Arab leaders’ summit
last week in Cairo that his country “categorically rejects" any plan
that aims to transfer "the brotherly Palestinians from their land
under whatever justification or name.”
Somaliland
Somaliland, a territory of over 3 million people in the Horn of
Africa, seceded from Somalia over 30 years ago, but it is not
internationally recognized as an independent state. Somalia
considers Somaliland part of its territory.
Somaliland’s new president, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, has made
international recognition a priority.
An American official involved in the efforts confirmed that the U.S.
was “having a quiet conversation with Somaliland about a range of
areas where they can be helpful to the U.S. in exchange for
recognition.”
The possibility of U.S. recognition could provide an incentive for
Abdullahi to back away from the territory’s solidarity with the
Palestinians.
The United Arab Emirates, another Abraham Accord country that has
developed strong ties with Israel, once had a military base in
Somaliland and maintains commercial interests there, including a
port. The territory's strategic location, in the Gulf of Aden
waterway near Yemen, home to the Houthi rebel group, could also make
it a valuable ally.
Over the years, Somaliland has been lauded for its relatively stable
political environment, contrasting sharply with Somalia’s ongoing
struggles amid deadly attacks by al-Qaida-linked militant group al-Shabab.
Since 1991, Somaliland has maintained its own government, currency
and security structures. Still, it has one of the lowest income
levels in the world.
An official in Somaliland, speaking on condition of anonymity
because he was not authorized to talk to the media, said his
government has not been approached and is not in talks about taking
in Palestinians.
Somalia
Somalia has been a vocal supporter of the Palestinians, often
hosting peaceful protests on its streets in support of them. The
country joined the recent Arab summit that rejected Trump’s plan and
seems like an unlikely destination for Palestinians, even if they
did agree to move.
Sambu Chepkorir, a lawyer and conflict researcher in Nairobi, Kenya,
said it is difficult to understand why Somalia would want to host
Palestinians given the country’s strong support for Palestinian
self-rule.
“The realignments keep changing, and so maybe there is a hidden
agenda in why Somalia,” Chepkorir said.
A Somali official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was
not authorized to talk to the media, said the country had not been
approached about taking in Palestinians from Gaza and there had been
no discussions about it.
___
Lee reported from Washington, and Magdy reported from Cairo.
Associated Press writers Evelyne Musambi in Nairobi, Kenya, and Sam
Mednick in Dakar, Senegal, contributed to this report.
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