NEW: Israel Begins Talks With Countries That Could Take In Gazans Under Trump Plan

Netanyahu touted progress on the plan during a recent visit to the US

On Saturday, shortly after he returned to Israel from Washington, D.C., Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu briefed his cabinet in a closed-door meeting. He revealed that Israel would soon “begin negotiations with several countries it hopes will take in Gazans as part of a mass emigration plan first proposed by President Donald Trump,” the Free Beacon’s Andrew Tobin reports.

Those negotiations started on Monday and are expected to continue for several days, two Israeli officials with knowledge of the talks said.

More details below:

TEL AVIV—Israel on Monday began negotiations with several countries it hopes will take in Gazans as part of a mass emigration plan first proposed by President Donald Trump, two Israeli officials with knowledge of the talks told the Washington Free Beacon.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer briefed the cabinet on the talks in a closed-door meeting on Saturday evening. The leaders said the talks were expected to continue for several days with the goal of securing commitments from the other countries to accept specific numbers of Gazan migrants in exchange for benefits to be provided by the United States.

"This is big," said one of the sources, both of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press about the talks. "The immigration plan is moving ahead, and it sounds pretty serious."

Netanyahu and Dermer said the United States was involved in the talks, but did not specify in what capacity or reveal the names of the other countries or the terms under consideration.

The launch of the talks is the most concrete sign of progress to date on Trump’s "Gaza Riviera" proposal, which would facilitate the exit of civilians from the war-ruined Gaza Strip. Israeli officials have embraced the idea, describing it as key to winning the Gaza war and resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But Arab leaders have rejected the idea, and no country has yet to agree to take in migrants from Gaza.

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