Report: US, Israel looking at Syria as new home for Gazans

Israel and the US are interested in resettling Gazans in Syria, CBS News reports, citing “three sources familiar with the effort.”

One source says the White House reached out to Syria’s new government through a third party. Another source “from the region” tells CBS that Damascus has been approached with the idea, but a senior Syrian official says the country is not aware of any such outreach.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office and the Trump administration have also spoken to the Sudanese and Somali governments about accepting resettled Gazans, says CBS.

The Prime Minister’s Office declines to comment on the report.

An Israeli official tells The Times of Israel that most of the outreach is coming from the US, but does not lay out which countries have been approached.

Somalia’s US ambassador denies to CBS that the US or Israel approached the country’s government.

According to a recent AP report, US and Israeli officials also reached out to the breakaway region of Somaliland.

Under Trump’s plan, Gaza’s more than 2 million people would be permanently sent elsewhere. He has proposed the US take ownership of the territory, oversee a lengthy cleanup process, and develop it as a real estate project. Israel has embraced Trump’s plan, which he presented during Netanyahu’s visit to the White House in February.