The Libyan Gambit: Inside the Secret Talks to Resettle Gazans and Reshape the Middle East 

A powerful Libyan official is secretly negotiating with Israel to resettle Palestinians from Gaza into Libya, a deal potentially unlocking $30 billion in frozen assets for the war-torn nation. Ibrahim Dbeibah, a relative of the prime minister, is spearheading the talks, which are so contentious that Libya’s own parliament is being kept in the dark. This plan aligns with Israeli officials’ public calls for the “voluntary migration” of Gazans, a move widely condemned as a violation of international law prohibiting forced displacement.

The fractured Libyan government appears to be using the plight of Palestinians as a pawn, with rival factions negotiating separately to gain financial and political leverage from the U.S. and international recognition. Analysts warn the scheme would be catastrophic, merely moving traumatized civilians from one crisis zone into Libya’s violent instability, likely triggering a new deadly migration wave toward Europe. Ultimately, the talks represent a brutal calculus where the fundamental rights of a people are being bargained away for power and money.

The Libyan Gambit: Inside the Secret Talks to Resettle Gazans and Reshape the Middle East 

In the shadowy corridors of international diplomacy, where desperate nations meet in secret, a controversial proposal is being floated that could alter the demographic and political landscape of the Middle East and North Africa. According to multiple sources, a powerful Libyan official is engaged in clandestine talks with Israel, discussing a plan that would see hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from Gaza resettled in Libya in exchange for a monumental financial and political payoff. 

This isn’t a fringe discussion; it’s a high-stakes negotiation that touches on the raw nerves of geopolitics, international law, and human suffering. Here’s what’s really at play. 

The Deal on the Table 

At the center of the storm is Ibrahim Dbeibah, the National Security Adviser to Libya’s Tripoli-based Prime Minister and his relative. Sources indicate that Dbeibah has been spearheading “practical talks” with Israeli officials. The alleged deal is stark: 

• For Libya: The immediate release of approximately $30 billion in frozen Libyan state assets by the U.S. Treasury, a windfall that would provide an almost unimaginable boost to any faction in the war-torn country. This money has been locked down since the NATO-backed ouster of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. 

• For Israel: A solution to what hardline officials call the “Gaza problem”—the facilitation of a mass exodus of Palestinians from the besieged enclave, effectively advancing a long-held goal of territorial maximalism. 

The talks are reportedly so sensitive that members of Libya’s own parliament are being deliberately kept in the dark, a testament to the explosive public sentiment in a nation that has long waved the Palestinian flag. 

A Nation Divided, Playing a Dangerous Game 

Libya is not a unified state. It’s a fractured nation with two rival governments: the UN-recognized Government of National Unity (GNU) in Tripoli, led by Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, and a rival administration in the east backed by powerful military commander Khalifa Haftar. 

Intriguingly, sources suggest that both factions may be negotiating with Israel simultaneously. For Haftar, the offer was allegedly greater control over Libya’s lucrative oil resources. For the Dbeibah government in Tripoli, it’s the $30 billion and the coveted “legitimacy from the Americans.” 

This creates a brutal, realpolitik calculus: the faction that secures this deal could gain an insurmountable advantage in Libya’s protracted civil war. The future of the country could be decided not on a battlefield, but in a backroom deal over the fate of another displaced people. 

The Chilling Echoes of History and Law 

Israeli officials have been publicly musing about the “voluntary migration” of Gazans for months. Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter specifically named Libya as the “ideal destination,” cynically noting its similar coastline. This rhetoric is not new; it is a modern manifestation of the concept of “transfer”—the forced or coerced removal of a population from their land. 

Under international law, this is unequivocally a war crime. Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention explicitly prohibits the forcible transfer of protected persons by an occupying power. Framing it as “voluntary” or aided by “international support” does not change the legal and ethical reality when it occurs under the duress of bombardment, famine, and the utter destruction of one’s homeland. 

The Human Catastrophe in Waiting 

Beyond the geopolitics lies a profound human tragedy. Analysts and sources warn that resettling traumatized Gazans into Libya would be “catastrophic” and akin to jumping “out of the frying pan and into the fire.” 

• For Palestinians: They would be moved from one crisis zone to another—a country with broken institutions, rampant militia violence, and no functional state to provide care or support. 

• For Libya: Injecting a massive, new refugee population into an already unstable and weaponized social fabric could ignite new conflicts over resources and identity. 

• For Europe: The most likely outcome, experts warn, would be a new, desperate wave of migration across the Mediterranean. Many would not survive the journey, and those who did would likely face a deeply hostile and politically fractured Europe, still reeling from the Syrian refugee crisis. 

Denials and a Veil of Secrecy 

The public playbook is one of denial. Prime Minister Dbeibah, after being contacted for comment, called resettlement a “crime” he would not engage in. Massad Boulos, a Trump adviser allegedly involved in earlier asset-unfreezing talks, called the reports “inflammatory and totally false.” 

Yet, the White House itself offered a telling non-denial. A deputy press secretary stated that Trump had “long advocated for creative solutions to improve the lives of Palestinians, including allowing them to resettle in a new, beautiful location while Gaza rebuilds.” This language mirrors the justification used by Israeli officials, suggesting the idea has currency in powerful circles. 

The Bottom Line: A Test of Complicity 

This is more than a news leak; it’s a stress test for the international order. It reveals a potential future where the rights of a persecuted people are bargained away in exchange for financial and political gains by corrupt and desperate elites. 

The fact that such talks are even plausible underscores the profound vulnerability of displaced populations, who can be treated as pawns in a global game. For Libyans, it poses a painful question: is national sovereignty and financial gain worth the price of complicity in what many would see as ethnic cleansing? 

The final outcome of these secret talks remains unknown. But their very existence signals a dangerous new phase in the Gaza conflict, where the goal is shifting from merely controlling a territory to permanently removing its people, with the world’s frozen assets and broken nations used as the currency to make it happen.