Libya plans to deport Palestinians

Media reports say that expelling Palestinians would facilitate their right of return.

Libyan President Muammar Khadai — The Libyan authorities will facilitate the return of Palestinians to the Gaza Strip [GALLO/GETTY]

There are more than 4.5 million registered Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The newspaper said the Libyan authorities will facilitate the return of Palestinians to the Gaza Strip through Egypt to “protect their identity”.

The paper also urged Lebanon and Syria to allow more than 1.5 million Palestinian refugees they host to “return to Palestine and abort this conspiracy”.

Beirut initiative

The Beirut initiative is a Saudi-proposed peace plan endorsed at the Arab summit in Beirut in 2002, which calls for an Israeli withdrawal from the territories it captured in 1967 in return for full Arab peace and the recognition and normalisation of ties with Israel.

Libya said it will boycott the Arab summit in Riyadh later this month amid unconfirmed reports the Arabs might amend the Arab initiative by removing an article that calls for the return of the Palestinian refugees to their original homes from which they were forced to flee in 1948 when the state of Israel was created.

Source: News Agencies