D R Congo denies talks with Israel to welcome Palestinian migrants

The Democratic Republic of Congo has denied any negotiations with Israel regarding the possible reception of Palestinian migrants from bombarded Gaza on its soil, Anadolu Agency reports.

Contrary to what is reported in some media, there has “never been any form of negotiation, discussion or initiative” between Kinshasa and the Israeli state on the alleged reception of Palestinian migrants on Congolese soil, the Congolese government spokesperson, Patrick Muyaya, said in a statement late Thursday.

The move followed recent media reports indicating the Congo government could take in Palestinian migrants.

The Israeli government is reportedly adopting the “voluntary” resettlement of Palestinians from Gaza as an official policy.

Israel media quoted a senior source in the security Cabinet as saying this week that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition is discretely exploring the possibility of sending thousands of migrants from Gaza to D R Congo.

Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian Resistance group, Hamas, on 7 October.

At least 22,600 Palestinians have since been killed and 57,910 others injured, according to Gaza’s health authorities, while nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

However, since then, it has been revealed by Haaretz that helicopters and tanks of the Israeli army had, in fact, killed many of the 1,139 soldiers and civilians claimed by Israel to have been killed by the Palestinian Resistance.

The onslaught has left Gaza in ruins, with 60 per cent of the enclave’s infrastructure damaged or destroyed and nearly 2 million residents amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine.

READ: Israel in discussions with Congo to resettle Palestinians from Gaza