Deputy FM makes first official visit to South Sudan amid reports Israel wants to send Gazans there

Stav Levaton is a military reporter for The Times of Israel

Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel announces on X that she has arrived in South Sudan, “the world’s youngest country,” as part of Israel’s first official delegation to the African nation.

In her post, Haskel says she met with South Sudanese President Salva Kiir Mayardit, Foreign Minister Monday Semaya Kumba and other officials, signed a diplomatic memorandum of understanding, and visited an Israeli trauma center that she says “saved dozens of children’s lives.”

The visit comes amid an Associated Press report claiming Israel has discussed resettling Palestinians from the Gaza Strip in South Sudan — an assertion the country’s government has rejected as “baseless,” saying it does not reflect official policy.

The AP said such talks were linked to a broader Israeli push to encourage mass emigration from Gaza during the ongoing war with Hamas.

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