“Israel is in discussions with South Sudan about the possibility of resettling Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to the war-torn East African country, part of a wider effort by Israel to facilitate mass emigration from the territory left in ruins by its 22-month offensive against Hamas,” reports the Associated Press:
Six people familiar with the matter confirmed the talks to The Associated Press. 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.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he wants to realize U.S. President Donald Trump’s vision of relocating much of Gaza’s population through what Netanyahu refers to as “voluntary migration.” Israel has floated similar resettlement proposals with other African nations.
“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 in an interview with an Israeli TV station. He did not make reference to South Sudan.
Palestinians, rights groups, and much of the international community have rejected the proposals as a blueprint for forcible expulsion in violation of international law.
It is unlikely that Israel will find many Gazans willing to go to South Sudan. It is too dangerous and poor a country for most people to want to live in. So dangerous that the U.S. government ordered some of its employees to leave South Sudan this year.
South Sudan has experienced civil war for most of its existence, and even its capital city, Juba, is dangerous and lawless. Violent crime, including carjackings, shootings, ambushes, robberies, and kidnappings, is common throughout South Sudan, including Juba.
The U.S. State Department travel advisory for South Sudan states,
Do not travel to South Sudan due to crime, kidnapping, and armed conflict….Due to the risks in the country, on March 08, 2025, the Department of State ordered the departure of non-emergency U.S. government employees from South Sudan.
Armed conflict is ongoing and includes fighting between various political and ethnic groups. Weapons are readily available to the population. In addition, cattle raids occur throughout the country and often lead to violence….
Foreign nationals have been the victims of rape, sexual assault, armed robberies, and other violent crimes.
Many people in South Sudan are malnourished. South Sudan has the lowest Human Development Index (HDI) value globally, with a score of 0.388, indicating a low level of human development. This places the country 193rd out of 193 countries in terms of HDI. A significant portion of the population, around 7 in 10 people, live in extreme poverty.
South Sudan does use a variant of Arabic as its lingua franca — Juba Arabic — but Juba Arabic would be very difficult for Gazans to understand. Juba Arabic is a pidgin or creole language that is very different from most varieties of Arabic, with many African loan words, and may be unintelligible to Gazans, who speak a different type of Arabic (Levantine Arabic).
Gazans are white and would stand out like a sore thumb in South Sudan, where virtually everyone is black.
Israel also has explored the idea of having Gazans emigrate to Libya. Libya has also suffered from civil war, but Libya has a much lower homicide rate than South Sudan, is much richer than South Sudan, and speaks varieties of Arabic much more similar to what Gazans speak. And Gazans look more similar to Libyans, who are Arab, than they do to South Sudanese. But even the idea of Gazans emigrating to Libya seems unlikely.
