Israel is in talks to possibly resettle Palestinians from Gaza in South
Sudan
[August 13, 2025]
By SAM MEDNICK
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel is in discussions with South Sudan about
the possibility of resettling Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to the
war-torn East African country, part of a wider effort by Israel to
facilitate mass emigration from the territory left in ruins by its
22-month offensive against Hamas.
Six people familiar with the matter confirmed the talks to The
Associated Press. It's unclear how far the talks have advanced, but if
implemented, the plans would amount to transferring people from one
war-ravaged land at risk of famine to another, and raise human rights
concerns.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he wants to realize U.S.
President Donald Trump's vision of relocating much of Gaza’s population
through what Netanyahu refers to as “voluntary migration.” Israel has
floated similar resettlement proposals with other African nations.
“I think that the right thing to do, even according to the laws of war
as I know them, is to allow the population to leave, and then you go in
with all your might against the enemy who remains there,” Netanyahu said
Tuesday in an interview with i24, and Israeli TV station. He did not
make reference to South Sudan.
Palestinians, rights groups, and much of the international community
have rejected the proposals as a blueprint for forcible expulsion in
violation of international law.
For South Sudan, such a deal could help it build closer ties to Israel,
now the almost unchallenged military power in the Middle East. It is
also a potential inroad to Trump, who broached the idea of resettling
Gaza's population in February but appears to have backed away in recent
months.
Israel's Foreign Ministry declined to comment and South Sudan's foreign
minister did not respond to questions about the talks. A U.S. State
Department spokesperson said it doesn't comment on private diplomatic
conversations.
Egypt opposes proposals to resettle Palestinians out of Gaza
Joe Szlavik, the founder of a U.S. lobbying firm working with South
Sudan, said he was briefed by South Sudanese officials on the talks. He
said an Israeli delegation plans to visit the country to look into the
possibility of setting up camps for Palestinians there. No known date
has been set for the visit. Israel did not immediately respond to a
request for confirmation of the visit.
Szlavik said Israel would likely pay for makeshift camps.
Edmund Yakani, who heads a South Sudanese civil society group, said he
had also spoken to South Sudanese officials about the talks. Four
additional officials with knowledge of the discussions confirmed talks
were taking place on condition of anonymity because they were not
authorized to discuss them publicly.
Two of the officials, both from Egypt, told AP they've known for months
about Israel's efforts to find a country to accept Palestinians,
including its contact with South Sudan. They said they've been lobbying
South Sudan against taking the Palestinians.
Egypt is deeply opposed to plans to transfer Palestinians out of Gaza,
with which it shares a border, fearing an influx of refugees into its
own territory.
The AP previously reported on similar talks initiated by Israel and the
U.S. with Sudan and Somalia, countries that are also grappling with war
and hunger, and the breakaway region of Somalia known as Somaliland. The
status of those discussions is not known.
‘Cash-strapped South Sudan needs any ally’
Szlavik, who’s been hired by South Sudan to improve its relations with
the United States, said the U.S. is aware of the discussions with Israel
but is not directly involved.
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Palestinians struggle to collect humanitarian aid airdropped by
parachutes into Gaza City, northern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Aug. 7,
2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
South Sudan wants the Trump administration to lift a travel ban on
the country and remove sanctions from some South Sudanese elites,
said Szlavik. It has already accepted eight individuals swept up in
the administration's mass deportations, in what may have been an
effort to curry favor.
The Trump administration has pressured a number of countries to help
facilitate deportations.
“Cash-strapped South Sudan needs any ally, financial gain and
diplomatic security it can get,” said Peter Martell, a journalist
and author of a book about the country, “First Raise a Flag.”
Israel's Mossad spy agency provided aid to the South Sudanese during
their decades-long civil war against the Arab-dominated government
in Khartoum ahead of independence in 2011, according to the book.
The State Department, asked if there was any quid pro quo with South
Sudan, said decisions on the issuing of visas are made “in a way
that prioritizes upholding the highest standards for U.S. national
security, public safety, and the enforcement of our immigration
laws.”
From one hunger-stricken conflict zone to another
Many Palestinians might want to leave Gaza, at least temporarily, to
escape the war and a hunger crisis bordering on famine. But they
have roundly rejected any permanent resettlement from what they see
as an integral part of their national homeland.
They fear that Israel will never allow them to return, and that a
mass departure would allow it to annex Gaza and reestablish Jewish
settlements there, as called for by far-right ministers in the
Israeli government.
Still, even those Palestinians who want to leave are unlikely to
take their chances in South Sudan, among the world's most unstable
and conflict-ridden countries.
South Sudan has struggled to recover from a civil war that broke out
after independence, and which killed nearly 400,000 people and
plunged pockets of the country into famine. The oil-rich country is
plagued by corruption and relies on international aid to help feed
its 11 million people – a challenge that has only grown since the
Trump administration made sweeping cuts to foreign assistance.
A peace deal reached seven years ago has been fragile and
incomplete, and the threat of war returned when the main opposition
leader was placed under house arrest this year.
Palestinians in particular could find themselves unwelcome. The long
war for independence from Sudan pitted the mostly Christian and
animist south against the predominantly Arab and Muslim north.
Yakani, of the civil society group, said South Sudanese would need
to know who is coming and how long they plan to stay, or there could
be hostilities due to the “historical issues with Muslims and
Arabs.”
“South Sudan should not become a dumping ground for people,” he
said. “And it should not accept to take people as negotiating chips
to improve relations.”
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Associated Press reporters Josef Federman in Jerusalem, Matthew Lee
in Washington, D.C. and Samy Magdy in Cairo, Egypt, contributed
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