Israel Seeks US Support for Ethnic Cleansing of Gaza, With Indonesia Among Proposed Destinations
Mossad chief David Barnea wants the US to offer Libya, Indonesia and Ethiopia incentives to accept hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.
David Barnea, the director of Israel's intelligence service Mossad, held meetings in Washington this week to seek help from American officials in convincing countries to take in hundreds of thousands of Palestinians that Israel plans to ethnically cleanse from Gaza, Axios reported on 19 July.
According to two sources, the Israeli intelligence chief told White House envoy Steve Witkoff that Israel has been in talks with Ethiopia, Indonesia and Libya about accepting Palestinians as refugees.
While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claims that the government's goal of expelling large parts of or the entire population of Gaza would be "voluntary" for Palestinians, American and Israeli legal experts say it would constitute ethnic cleansing and a clear war crime.
During the meeting, "Barnea told Witkoff that Ethiopia, Indonesia and Libya had expressed openness to receiving a large number of Palestinians from Gaza," said the two sources who spoke with Axios. "Barnea suggested that the US should offer incentives to these countries and help Israel convince them," Axios wrote.
Witkoff did not commit to assisting Israel with their plans, a source said. The White House, the Israeli Prime Minister's office and the foreign ministries of Ethiopia, Indonesia and Libya did not comment on the report when Axios put questions to them.
In February, President Trump proposed expelling all two million Palestinians from Gaza to allow Israel to annex and develop the area into "the Riviera of the Middle East." American officials reportedly insisted that Netanyahu find countries willing to accept a large number of Palestinians displaced from the Gaza Strip.
Nearly all of Gaza's over two million residents have been internally displaced during the war, as Israel's bombing campaign has levelled large parts of the strip, including homes, hospitals, mosques and schools. Large areas, including residential neighbourhoods, have also been destroyed by Israeli bulldozers in an attempt to render Gaza uninhabitable for Palestinians and force them to live in tent camps.
Israel is attempting to force them all into a large concentration camp to be built on the ruins of the destroyed city of Rafah on the border with Egypt.
"The plan has raised concern in Egypt and many Western countries that Israel is preparing mass expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza, something Netanyahu's ultra-nationalist coalition partners and many in his own party have pushed for years," Axios wrote.
On 13 October, just one week after Hamas attacked Israeli settlements and military bases, Israel's Intelligence Ministry published a report recommending the occupation of Gaza and the total transfer of its 2.3 million inhabitants to the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt.
The document, which was leaked shortly afterwards, identifies a plan to transfer all inhabitants of the Gaza Strip to North Sinai as the preferred option among three alternatives regarding the future of Palestinians in Gaza at the end of the current war.
The document recommended that Israel evacuate Gaza's population to Sinai during the war, establish tent cities and new towns in North Sinai to house the deported population, and then create a closed security zone extending several kilometres into Egypt. The deported Palestinians would not be permitted to return to any areas near the Israeli border, according to the leaked proposal.
David Barnea, the director of Israel's intelligence service Mossad, held meetings in Washington this week to seek help from American officials in convincing countries to take in hundreds of thousands of Palestinians that Israel plans to ethnically cleanse from Gaza, Axios reported on 19 July.
According to two sources, the Israeli intelligence chief told White House envoy Steve Witkoff that Israel has been in talks with Ethiopia, Indonesia and Libya about accepting Palestinians as refugees.
While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claims that the government's goal of expelling large parts of or the entire population of Gaza would be "voluntary" for Palestinians, American and Israeli legal experts say it would constitute ethnic cleansing and a clear war crime.
During the meeting, "Barnea told Witkoff that Ethiopia, Indonesia and Libya had expressed openness to receiving a large number of Palestinians from Gaza," said the two sources who spoke with Axios. "Barnea suggested that the US should offer incentives to these countries and help Israel convince them," Axios wrote.
Witkoff did not commit to assisting Israel with their plans, a source said. The White House, the Israeli Prime Minister's office and the foreign ministries of Ethiopia, Indonesia and Libya did not comment on the report when Axios put questions to them.
In February, President Trump proposed expelling all two million Palestinians from Gaza to allow Israel to annex and develop the area into "the Riviera of the Middle East." American officials reportedly insisted that Netanyahu find countries willing to accept a large number of Palestinians displaced from the Gaza Strip.
Nearly all of Gaza's over two million residents have been internally displaced during the war, as Israel's bombing campaign has levelled large parts of the strip, including homes, hospitals, mosques and schools. Large areas, including residential neighbourhoods, have also been destroyed by Israeli bulldozers in an attempt to render Gaza uninhabitable for Palestinians and force them to live in tent camps.
Israel is attempting to force them all into a large concentration camp to be built on the ruins of the destroyed city of Rafah on the border with Egypt.
"The plan has raised concern in Egypt and many Western countries that Israel is preparing mass expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza, something Netanyahu's ultra-nationalist coalition partners and many in his own party have pushed for years," Axios wrote.
On 13 October, just one week after Hamas attacked Israeli settlements and military bases, Israel's Intelligence Ministry published a report recommending the occupation of Gaza and the total transfer of its 2.3 million inhabitants to the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt.
The document, which was leaked shortly afterwards, identifies a plan to transfer all inhabitants of the Gaza Strip to North Sinai as the preferred option among three alternatives regarding the future of Palestinians in Gaza at the end of the current war.
The document recommended that Israel evacuate Gaza's population to Sinai during the war, establish tent cities and new towns in North Sinai to house the deported population, and then create a closed security zone extending several kilometres into Egypt. The deported Palestinians would not be permitted to return to any areas near the Israeli border, according to the leaked proposal.