Report: Trump Plans Relocating Gazans to Libya

Date: 17 May 2025 - 22:28

News ID: ۱۳۹۶۶۹

WASHINGTON (Dispatches) -- The government of U.S. President Donald Trump is working on a plan to “permanently relocate” as many as one million Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Libya, according to informed sources who spoke with NBC News.
In exchange for accepting the forcibly displaced Palestinians, Washington “would potentially release to Libya billions of dollars” that have been frozen since the NATO intervention of 2011.
“The plan is under serious enough consideration that the administration has discussed it with Libya’s leadership, two people with direct knowledge of the plans and a former U.S. official said,” the U.S. news outlet reports.
“No final agreement has been reached, and Israel has been kept informed of the administration’s discussions,” the report highlights.
Following NATO’s military intervention and the murder of former president Muammar Gaddafi, Libya transformed from one of the most prosperous nations on the African continent into a hub of extremist armed groups and open-air slave markets.
A 2025 Chatham House report revealed how the Libyan crisis altered human trafficking routes, with armed groups profiting from irregular migration. The report estimates that smuggling and trafficking generated $978 million in Libya in 2016.
Furthermore, the 2022 U.S. State Department’s Trafficking in Persons Report detailed systematic sex trafficking and other forms of sexual exploitation by guards in Libyan detention centers.
Libya, along with Rwanda, has also been considered a destination for migrants who are currently being kidnapped by ICE and shipped to the CECOT concentration camp in El Salvador.
According to one of the U.S. officials who spoke with NBC News, ideas to promote the forced displacement of Palestinians to Libya have included offering “financial incentives such as free housing and even a stipend.”
The report coincides with an announcement by the Israeli military stating that its forces have begun the “first moves” of Operation Gideon’s Chariots, mobilizing to occupy territory and expand their onslaught on Gaza.
The Trump came as Trump denied reported that he had grown “frustrated” with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, describing the wanted war criminal as someone who has “a tough situation.”
Asked during a televised interview with Fox News if he was frustrated by the Israeli premier, Trump said, “No, look, he’s got a tough situation.”
“Bibi, he’s an angry man, and he should be because of October 7, and he’s been hurt badly by that, but in another way, he’s been sort of helped because I think he’s fought hard and bravely,” he added, referring to the landmark Palestinian operation inside southern settlements in 2023 .
Trump made his comments as the Israeli military expanded its invasion of northern Gaza, killing hundreds of starving Palestinians.
According to several Israeli media reports, the military plans to capture all of Gaza and forcibly displace the population to an area between the Egyptian border and the newly established Morag axis.
“[Gaza’s] population will be moved. One thing will be clear: There will be no in-and-out. We’ll call up reserves to come and hold territory – we’re not going to enter and then exit the area, only to carry out raids afterward. That’s not the plan. The intention is the opposite of that,” Netanyahu stated earlier this month.
Trump’s interview with Fox News occurred upon his return from his tour of West Asia, during which he visited Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE, securing hundreds of billions in investment pledges.
Ahead of his trip, multiple western media outlets reported that the U.S. president had “lost patience” with Netanyahu and decided to “move on” with pursuing U.S. goals in the region without waiting for Israel.