What could be worse than asking people to leave and resettle at some other place? Perhaps, shifting them to another war-struck region! A similar plan seems to be on the anvil for Benjamin Netanyahu as Israel is learnt to be in talks with South Sudan, a move that has been dismissed as unacceptable by Palestinian leaders.

Gaza and its people have been stuck in a deadly war for around 22 months and Israel’s solution to it is the resettlement of the victims to another war-torn East African country South Sudan. The development comes just a few days after Netanyahu said they are planning full occupation of Palestine.

While it is unclear as to how much have the talks between Israel and South Sudan have progressed but, if implemented, it would amount to transferring people from one war-ravaged land at risk of famine to another, and raise human rights concerns, news agency Associated Press reported.

Why Israel wants to resettle Palestinians to South Sudan?

Israeli PM Netanyahu claims he wants to realise US President Donald Trump’s vision of relocating much of Gaza’s population through what Netanyahu refers to as “voluntary migration.” In addition to South Sudan, Israel has floated similar resettlement proposals with other African countries.

“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 i24, and Israeli TV station.

The proposals have, however, been dismissed by Palestinians, rights groups, and much of the international community.

Is South Sudan ready to accommodate Gaza Palestinians?

Reports on Israel’s plan to resettle the war-struck Palestinians have been refuted by South Sudan. The country’s foreign ministry, in a statement, said it rejects media reports claiming that the Government of the Republic of South Sudan is engaged in discussion with the State of Israel regarding the resettlement of Palestinian Nationals from Gaza in South Sudan.

It added the claims are “baseless and do not reflect the official position or policy” of the South Sudanese government.

How viable is it to move Palestinians from one war-struct place to another?

While many might want to leave so as to escape war and the growing hunger crisis, Palestinians have rejected any permanent resettlement as they believe Gaza is their homeland. They also fear that once they leave, Israel will never allow them to return.

Even if the majority agrees to leave the crisis-torn region, shifting them to South Sudan might not be a sustainable move in the long run as the African nation has itself been suffering from a long-continuing civil war, that broke out after independence, and which killed nearly 400,000 people.

South Sudan is also plagued by corruption and relies on international aid to feed its 11 million people. Reacting to recent reports that Israel would resettle Palestinians to South Sudan, Edmund Yakani, who heads a civil society group, said they would need to know who is coming and how long they plan to stay.