US Preparing Plan To Permanently Relocate Upto A Million Palestinians To War-Torn Libya: Report
Trump administration is considering relocating up to a million Palestinians from Gaza to Libya, potentially offering frozen funds as incentive.
The Trump administration is working on a plan to relocate up to a million Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Libya permanently, reported NBC quoting five people with knowledge of the effort.
The report stated that the plan is under "serious enough consideration" that the administration has discussed it with Libya's leadership, according to two people with direct knowledge of the plans and a former US official.
The people with knowledge of the matter said that the Trump administration would potentially release to Libya billions of dollars in funds that the US froze more than a decade ago in exchange for resettling Palestinians.
Reports 'Untrue'
While no final agreement has been reached, Israel has been kept informed about the administration's decision, as per the report.
The State Department and the National Security Council have, however, dismissed the reports as "untrue".
“The situation on the ground is untenable for such a plan. Such a plan was not discussed and makes no sense,” the spokesperson told NBC.
A senior official from Hamas, the US-designated terrorist group that runs Gaza, said they were not aware of any discussions about moving Palestinians to Libya.
"Palestinians are very rooted in their homeland, very strongly committed to the homeland and they are ready to fight up to the end and to sacrifice anything to defend their land, their homeland, their families, and the future of their children" said Basem Naim.
“[Palestinians] are exclusively the only party who have the right to decide for the Palestinians, including Gaza and Gazans, what to do and what not to do," he added.
Instability In Libya
The North African country has been plagued by instability and warring political factions throughout the nearly 14 years since a civil war broke out in the country after its longtime dictator, Moammar Gaddafi was toppled.
The Libyan population has been torn apart between two rival governments violently fighting for control. One faction is in the west led by Abdul Hamid Dbeibah and one in the east led by Khalifa Hafta.
The US State Department advises Americans not to travel to Libya "due to crime, terrorism, unexploded landmines, civil unrest, kidnapping, and armed conflict.”
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