Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed the “voluntary emigration” of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip in a meeting Thursday with senior defense officials and cabinet ministers, the office of one of the attendees told The Times of Israel.

A Defense Ministry plan discussed at the meeting would allow Gazans who choose to leave the Strip to do so by air and by sea starting in October, according to Hebrew media reports. The plan is set to be talked over with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio during his visit to Israel next week, Channel 12 reported.

Defense sources cited by Channel 13 said Israel was in talks with several African nations about receiving the displaced Gazans, but no agreement has been reached. Channel 12 reported last month that Israel was holding such talks with South Sudan, Libya, Uganda and Somaliland.

During the meeting on Thursday, however, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich expressed skepticism about the prospect that any country would agree to take in Gazans, and said the displacement plan was not worth the investment if they would be........

© The Times of Israel