Report: U.S. offered Libyan factions incentives to resettle Palestinians

Both of Libya’s rival authorities—the UN-recognized government in Tripoli led by Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah and the eastern-based administration backed by Khalifa Haftar—have allegedly been approached with financial incentives from the United States in exchange for accepting Palestinians, Middle East Eye reports, citing confidential sources.

According to Libyan, European, and Arab officials, Dbeibah’s national security adviser, Ibrahim Dbeibah—who is also a relative of the prime minister—has held undisclosed talks with Israeli officials on the proposal. The discussions were reportedly kept hidden from members of the Tripoli-based government due to strong pro-Palestinian sentiment in Libya.

Sources claim Prime Minister Dbeibah was promised the release of roughly $30 billion in frozen Libyan state assets by the U.S. Treasury. The funds have been locked since 2011, when then-President Barack Obama froze them ahead of NATO’s intervention that led to the fall of Muammar Gaddafi.

In the east, Haftar was allegedly offered increased access to Libya’s vast oil revenues if he agreed to host Palestinians. However, both Haftar and Dbeibah’s offices have denied the reports.