Trump government plans to remove Palestinians to Libya

No final agreement has been reached, but discussions with Libyan leadership indicate that the proposal is being taken seriously

Former President Donald Trump’s administration is working on a plan to permanently relocate up to 1 million Gaza’s Palestinians to Libya, according to five sources heard by NBC News. The plan is considering serious enough for the US government to discuss the proposal with Libyan authorities, two people with direct knowledge of negotiations and a former US employee said.

In exchange for the resettlement of Palestinians, the Trump administration would release billions of dollars in frozen funds for over a decade ago, the same sources said.

No final agreement was closed, and Israel was kept informed about the discussions, according to the same three interlocutors.

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The State Department and the National Security Council did not respond to multiple commentary requests before the publication of this report. After the disclosure, a spokesman told NBC News that “these reports are false.”

“The situation on the ground is unsustainable for such a plan. This type of proposal has not been discussed and makes no sense,” said the spokesman.

Basem Naim, a high Hamas employee, a group designated as a terrorist by the US and who controls Gaza, said he was unaware of any discussion about transferring Palestinians to Libya.

“Palestinians are deeply rooted in their homeland, strongly committed to her and ready to fight to the end, sacrificing everything to defend her land, her families and the future of her children,” Naim said in response to NBC News questions. “[Os palestinos] They are the only ones who have the right to decide what to do or not, including Gaza and its inhabitants. ”

Representatives of the Israeli government refused to comment.

Libya faces instability and political divisions

Libya has been plagued by instability and political factions in conflict since a civil warfarmed dictator Muammar Gadadafi, almost 14 years ago. The country has difficulty taking care of its own population, with two rival governments – one in the west, led by Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, and one in the east, led by Khalifa Haftar – violently fighting for control.

The US State Department currently advocates travel to Libya “due to crimes, terrorism, terrestrial mines, armed conflicts and kidnappings.”

Dbeibah’s team did not respond to requests for comment. Haftar’s National Libyan Army did not speak either.

Financial incentives and complex logistics

It is unclear how many Palestinians in Gaza would leave the territory voluntarily to live in Libya. One of the ideas discussed by US authorities would be to offer financial incentives such as free housing and cash aid, according to the former US employee.

The details of how and when the plan would be implemented are still vague, and the resettlement of up to 1 million people would face significant obstacles.

The operation would be extremely expensive, and it is unclear how the Trump administration would want to cost it. In the past, the government stated that Arab nations would help Gaza’s reconstruction after the war, but these countries criticized the idea of ​​relocating Palestinians permanently.

In recent weeks, the Trump administration has also considered Libya as a destination for immigrants who want to deport the US. However, a federal judge suspended part of this plan this month.

Transferring 1 million Palestinians to Libya could further overload the fragile country. The Libyan population is estimated at about 7.36 million, according to the CIA. In proportion, it would be how the US receive 46 million people.

Transport Challenges and Resettlement Place

The exact place where the Palestinians would be resettled in Libya has not yet been defined, according to the former US employee. Authorities are evaluating housing options and all possible means of transport – air, terrestrial and maritime – are being considered.

Any of these methods would be time consuming, complex and expensive.

For example, there would be about 1,173 trips from the world’s largest passenger plane, the Airbus A380, to carry 1 million people. As Gaza has no airport, the Palestinians would need to be taken first to an airport in the region, such as Cairo’s, about 320 km away, if Israel does not allow passing through its territory.

A trip through Gaza to Benghazi, the second largest Libyan city, would require traveling approximately 2,100 km. Already by sea, using ferries that transported civilians during the Libyan war in 2011, it would take hundreds of trips of more than one day each to take 1 million people.

Trump’s view for Gaza Postwar

The plan is part of Trump’s view to Gaza after the conflict. In February, he stated that the US would seek to “take office” from the territory and rebuild it as “the Middle East Riviera,” according to two American authorities, the former employee and two sources with direct knowledge of the subject.

“We will develop this area, create thousands of jobs and do something from which the whole Middle East can be proud,” Trump said at the time.

To achieve this goal, he stated that the Palestinians would have to be permanently resettled elsewhere.

“You can’t live in Gaza now. We need another place, one that makes people happy,” Trump said in a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The proposal surprised allies and critics, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and senators such as Lindsey Graham, who considered her “problematic at many levels.”

In March, USA and Israel rejected an Egyptian proposal to rebuild Gaza without relocating the Palestinians.

Tense relationship with Netanyahu and other options

Work on the Libyan level occurs amid tensions between Trump and Netanyahu, in part due to Israel’s decision to launch a new military offensive in Gaza.

The Trump administration also considered other places to reset Palestinians, including Syria, where leader Bashar Al-Assad was deposed in December, according to a direct source and an former American employee.

Trump recently announced the end of sanctions to Syria and met with the new leader of the country, Ahmad al-Sharaa, indicating possible movements to normalize relationships.

With information from NBC News*