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Somalia and Somaliland Say No Talks on Resettling Palestinians from Gaza

A Palestinian boy picks flowers close to the rubble of destroyed buildings in the Bureij camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip on March 11, 2025. (AFP)
A Palestinian boy picks flowers close to the rubble of destroyed buildings in the Bureij camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip on March 11, 2025. (AFP)
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Somalia and Somaliland Say No Talks on Resettling Palestinians from Gaza

A Palestinian boy picks flowers close to the rubble of destroyed buildings in the Bureij camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip on March 11, 2025. (AFP)
A Palestinian boy picks flowers close to the rubble of destroyed buildings in the Bureij camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip on March 11, 2025. (AFP)

Somalia and its breakaway region of Somaliland have not received any proposal from the United States or Israel to resettle Palestinians from Gaza, their foreign ministers said on Friday, with Mogadishu saying it categorically rejected any such move.

The Associated Press quoted US and Israeli officials as saying their governments had contacted officials from Sudan, Somalia and Somaliland to discuss using their territory for resettling Palestinians from the devastated Gaza Strip.

Sudanese officials said they rejected the proposal by the United States, and officials from Somalia and Somaliland said they were unaware of any contacts, AP reported.

Somalia's Foreign Minister Ahmed Moalim Fiqi said his country would categorically reject "any proposal or initiative, from any party, that would undermine the Palestinian people’s right to live peacefully on their ancestral land".

He told Reuters that Somalia's government had not received any such proposal, adding that Mogadishu was against any plan that would involve the use of Somali territory for the resettlement of other populations.

Abdirahman Dahir Adan, Somaliland's foreign minister, told Reuters that "there are no talks with anyone regarding Palestinians".

Unlike Somalia, which has been battling an extremist insurgency for more than 17 years, Somaliland has mostly been at peace since declaring independence from the Mogadishu government in 1991.

But Somaliland is not recognized by any country and its government has expressed hope that US President Donald Trump will be favorable to its cause.

The White House and the US State Department did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.

RECONSTRUCTION PLANS

The foreign ministry of Sudan, a country dealing with a devastating civil war, also did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

A senior Sudanese government official told Reuters that Sudan had not received such a proposal and that it would be unacceptable.

Arab leaders adopted a $53 billion Egyptian reconstruction plan for Gaza that would avoid displacing Palestinians from the enclave, in contrast to Trump's vision of a "Middle East Riviera".

Trump has proposed a US takeover of the Gaza Strip to reconstruct the enclave, wrecked by fighting since October 2023, after earlier suggesting that Palestinians should be permanently displaced.

Trump's plan reinforced long-standing Palestinian fears of being permanently driven from their homes, and was widely rejected internationally.

Asked about the AP report, Michele Zaccheo, UN spokesperson in Geneva, said: "Any plan that could or would lead to the forced displacement of people or any type of ethnic cleansing is something that we would obviously be against, as it is against international law."

Taher Al-Nono, political adviser to the leadership of the Palestinian group Hamas, told Reuters the proposal to resettle Palestinians from Gaza in Africa was "silly" and had been rejected by the Palestinians and Arab leaders.

"The Palestinians will not leave their land," he said. Israeli ministers say they want to examine ways of facilitating the voluntary departure of Palestinians from Gaza but are not considering forcible expulsions.

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Arab World

UNIFIL Demands Lebanon, Israel to Authorize New Surveillance Technologies

UNIFIL peacekeepers patrolling in south Lebanon (AFP) 
UNIFIL peacekeepers patrolling in south Lebanon (AFP) 
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UNIFIL Demands Lebanon, Israel to Authorize New Surveillance Technologies

UNIFIL peacekeepers patrolling in south Lebanon (AFP) 
UNIFIL peacekeepers patrolling in south Lebanon (AFP) 

UN Security Council members on Monday inquired about the request of UNIFIL to possess new technologies that would guarantee the mission’s freedom of movement and access throughout its area of operations along the Blue Line in the south of Lebanon.

In closed consultations held on Monday, the UN Council members received a briefing on UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ latest report on the implementation of resolution 1701, which was circulated to Council members on 11 March.

The report urged prioritizing UNIFIL’s monitoring and verifying mechanisms, and enhancing tactical response in implementation of the resolution.

Adopted in 2006, Resolution 1701 called for a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.

At the session on Monday, Council members listened to briefings by Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert and Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix on developments in UNIFIL area of operations from south of the Litani River to the Blue Line in accordance with the Taif Accord and Security Council Resolutions 1559, 1701 and 1680.

The resolutions stipulate the disarmament of armed groups in Lebanon, including Hezbollah and the full control of territories by the Lebanese government.

 

In his 35-page report, the Secretary-General welcomed the “continued holding of the cessation of hostilities...despite challenges.”

The report registered progress towards the objective outlined in the cessation of hostilities arrangement of the withdrawal of the Israeli army south of the Blue Line and the deployment of the Lebanese armed forces.

It notes, however, that the “situation remains fragile” and that the Israeli army has “not yet completely withdrawn from Lebanese territory, remaining at five locations, and designating two areas as so called ‘buffer zones’ along the Blue Line.”

The Secretary-General also noted that the Lebanese Army has started to dismantle military infrastructure and confiscate weapons “believed to have belonged to Hezbollah south of the Litani River.”

Israel’s Withdrawal

In his report, Guterres urged parties to effectively implement their side of the cessation of hostilities arrangement and resolution 1701.

He notes that the Israeli army’s presence north of the Blue Line is a violation of Lebanese sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as of resolution 1701, and undermines the efforts of the Lebanese authorities to extend state authority throughout its territory.

The UN Chief also rejected the continued occupation of the northern part of the town of Ghajar and the adjacent area north of the Blue Line, condemning “all violations of Lebanese sovereignty.”

Aoun and Salam’s Efforts

Guterres welcomed recent political developments in Lebanon, such as the election of President Joseph Aoun on January 9, the designation on 13 January of Nawaf Salam as prime minister and the formation of the government on 8 February.

The Secretary-General spoke about the dramatic human impact and the utter level of destruction caused by the recent conflict in Lebanon, calling on donors to fully fund the 2025 Lebanon Response Plan and the Emergency Appeal.

Guterres expressed “optimism about Aoun’s pledge to take control of all arms outside state authority and fully implement the ceasefire deal with Israel.”

He called on the Lebanese Government to “facilitate the full implementation of the relevant provisions of the Taif Agreement and resolutions 1559, 1701 and 1680.