With US focus elsewhere, PM said to task Mossad with finding countries that will take in Gazans

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly directed the Mossad intelligence agency to identify countries that would be willing to take in large numbers of displaced Palestinians from Gaza.

While several countries have taken in small numbers of sick Palestinians — mainly children — for treatment, no country to date has agreed to host a significant number, nor do Gazans appear interested in leaving en masse.

Nonetheless, Israel is seeking to advance the effort, with some of its biggest proponents being Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners, Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir. While Israel insists that Palestinians are not being forced to leave, critics of the effort accuse Jerusalem of trying to whitewash ethnic cleansing.

The Israeli effort received a tailwind from US President Donald Trump, who last month announced his plan for the US to take over Gaza and relocate the entire population of two million people. He has since softened the half-baked proposal, clarifying that no Palestinians will be forcibly evicted.

But Axios reveals that the US is not actively working to advance Trump’s plan and that its Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff is focused instead of restoring the ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas.

Israel has tried to fill the vacuum, holding talks with the conflict-plagued East African countries of Somalia and South Sudan, along with Indonesia and other countries, about them taking in Palestinians, Axios reports, citing two Israeli officials and a former US official. Those talks have yet to bear fruit.

The Palestinian Authority and the Arab world has pushed back vehemently against efforts to relocate Gazans, arguing that Palestinians should be allowed to remain on their land and that moving them elsewhere will simply spur more conflict and extremism elsewhere.

Israel and the US have argued that Gaza is not a safe place to live after nearly a year and a half of Israeli bombardment targeting Hamas and that Palestinians should be given the opportunity to move elsewhere. But Israel’s refusal to publicly commit to allowing Palestinians who leave the ability to return has led to further questioning of its motives.