South Sudan denies agreement with Israel to resettle Palestinians

South Sudan on Thursday denied reports of an agreement with Israel to resettle Palestinians on its territory, stressing that it had not committed to the United States to receive more deported migrants.

Earlier, Israeli media reported on a plan to move residents of Gaza to South Sudan, a poor and unstable African state. The authorities in Juba quickly rejected the claim, but the reports sparked debate on social media and in the streets of the capital.

At a press conference in Juba on Thursday, Philip Jada Natana, Director General for Bilateral Relations in the Government of South Sudan, confirmed that a memorandum of understanding had been signed with Israel. However, he clarified that it was mainly aimed at “developing agricultural capacity, investment and mining”, and added: “There was no talk of resettling Palestinians in South Sudan.”

In early July, South Sudan agreed to accept eight deported migrants from the United States – most of them from Asia and Latin America – at the request of President Donald Trump’s administration, which is a close ally of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Abuk Ayuel Mayen confirmed that there was no agreement between Juba and Washington in this regard, saying what happened was “a single bilateral commitment”.

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