Reports about Israeli efforts to get African countries to take in Palestinians expelled from Gaza have been multiplying in recent days, particularly in the aftermath of the last week’s security cabinet decision on conquering Gaza City. The countries named include South Sudan, Somalia, and its breakaway region of Somaliland. 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,” AP reported in reference to South Sudan. “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 August 12 in an interview with i24 TV, though without reference to South Sudan.
Some Palestinians see this scheming as another Israeli pressure tactic. “Israel and Netanyahu are in crisis, and global shifts are exerting significant pressure on them. They need desperate measures and desperate propaganda to push their way through,” a Palestinian source told The National of the U.A.E.
“There are desperate attempts to improve Israel’s negotiating terms,” one of the Palestinian political sources told The National on August 13. “What Netanyahu is doing is an attempt to show he is taking action amid his internal crisis: what to do with the Gaza war,” said the official, a former minister. “The Israeli army is present throughout Gaza, and talk of a new offensive is an Israeli pressure tactic. It will cost them many men and much money. The chances of a battle are slim,” he said.
