Donald Trump’s administration is developing a plan that includes the possible resettlement of up to one million Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Libya. About this informs NBC News.
The United States has already held preliminary talks with the Libyan leadership in Tripoli, and is considering giving Libya “billions of dollars” if they agree. In particular, the US may unfreeze some Libyan assets that were frozen more than a decade ago in exchange for agreeing to accept Palestinian refugees.
Within the scope of the developed options, various modes of transportation — air, sea and land — were considered, as well as the possibility of providing monetary incentives or free housing to encourage voluntary resettlement. At the same time, the final number of people who could agree remains uncertain.
A senior Hamas spokesman, Bassem Na’im, strongly criticized the idea, saying the Palestinians were “deeply rooted in their land” and “willing to fight to the end.”
Instability remains in Libya, which has been wracked by internal conflicts and infighting between governments in Tripoli and the east for more than a decade. The US State Department officially warns citizens against traveling to this country due to the high level of violence, terrorist threats and the risk of kidnapping.
The resettlement plan is part of Donald Trump’s vision for the “post-war” future of the Gaza Strip. In February, he said the US could “turn Gaza into the Riviera of the Middle East”, but to do so, he said, Palestinians would have to be resettled.
“I don’t think people should go back to Gaza”, — Trump noted at the time, adding that it was necessary to find a “beautiful place” where they could live “safely and happily.”
The proposal has raised concerns among the US’s Arab partners, as well as in bipartisan political circles in Congress. In addition to Libya, the Trump administration has also considered the possibility of resettling Palestinians to Syria after the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024.
