Trump wants to send Palestinians to Sudan, Somalia, and Syria. Israel is on board. 

As the war in Gaza grinds on, the Trump administration and Israel are quietly testing a radical idea: resettling Palestinians from the devastated enclave in Sudan, Somalia, and even Syria. Three sources familiar with the effort confirm that both U.S. and Israeli officials have approached these nations, probing their willingness to absorb Gazans amid President Donald Trump’s broader vision to end the Israel-Hamas conflict and rebuild—or relocate—Gaza’s population. It’s a proposal that’s stirring debate, drawing denials, and exposing the Middle East’s tangled web of crises and ambitions.

Trump first floated the concept on February 4 alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, envisioning Gaza as the “Riviera of the Middle East” if its 1.8 million residents could be housed elsewhere. “We should go to other countries of interest with humanitarian hearts,” he said then, promising beautiful, safe communities to halt the “death and destruction.” By Wednesday, facing questions during an Oval Office meeting with Ireland’s prime minister, he clarified: “Nobody is expelling any Palestinians.” Yet his Fox News remarks days after February 4 suggested a permanent exodus, noting Gaza’s uninhabitable state—“not for years to come”—and dismissing a right of return.

The pitch has legs. Two diplomatic sources told CBS News that U.S. and Israeli officials contacted Sudan and Somalia, while three sources flagged Syria as a contender. One insider said Trump’s team reached out to Syria’s three-month-old interim government via a third party; another regional source confirmed the approach, though Syria’s response remains murky. A senior Syrian official claimed ignorance of any talks, and Somalia’s U.S. ambassador, Dahir Hassan, flatly denied outreach, warning that such rumors could fuel extremist propaganda from Al-Shabaab or ISIS. Sudan, mired in civil war and famine, hasn’t commented.

The destinations raise eyebrows. Sudan’s chaos has driven tens of thousands of its own refugees to Israel’s desert detention centers over decades, their plight unresolved. Somalia, clawing back from failed-state status, battles a relentless Al-Shabaab insurgency. Syria’s new leadership, under Ahmed al-Sharaa (once Abu Mohammad al-Jolani), is still finding its footing after ousting Bashar al-Assad, navigating a country scarred by war and wary of new burdens.

Trump’s team sees this as a lifeline. In February, Witkoff mused on Fox News about Egypt, Jordan, and unnamed countries offering “humanitarian” aid, though Egypt’s postwar rebuilding plan—backed by Arab states—got a swift U.S.-Israel nix for ignoring Gaza’s ruin. Far-right Israeli ministers, long vocal about moving Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank, have seized on Trump’s rhetoric, amplifying calls some tie to biblical claims or security needs.

The backlash was instant. Arab governments, the UN, and U.S. Democrats decried it as ethnic cleansing—a charge Trump rejects. Syria’s Sharaa called it a “serious crime” in February, though his government’s stance remains untested. Mouaz Moustafa of the Syrian Emergency Task Force urged Trump to engage Damascus directly, arguing it could lock out Iran, defeat ISIS, and ease a U.S. troop exit—goals that might align with resettling Gazans if Syria bites. Israel, meanwhile, has pummeled Syrian targets since December, striking Islamic Jihad in Damascus last week and holding a Golan buffer zone, complicating any outreach.

The logistics defy easy answers. Gaza’s millions join millions more Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Egypt—nations loath to take more. Sudan and Somalia’s instability makes them dubious havens; Syria’s nascent rulers might balk at a new demographic load. Trump’s “safe communities”—two, five, or six, he’s mused—sound aspirational, but who builds them, funds them, or secures them? Jared Kushner’s February 2024 quip about Gaza’s “valuable waterfront” hints at a redevelopment angle, but the president’s focus is relocation first.

For now, it’s exploratory. The White House, National Security Council, and Israel stayed mum to CBS queries, as did Sudan. Witkoff’s tireless work on the Israel-Hamas ceasefire—Phase One or Two—keeps resettlement as one arrow in a crowded quiver. Yet the idea’s mere airing shifts the Overton window, forcing a region—and a world—to grapple with Gaza’s future: rebuild, relocate, or resign to ruin? Trump and Israel are betting on the second, but the map they’re drawing remains a sketch, not a blueprint.

CBS contributed to this article.