On 10 August, the spokesperson for the Libyan National Army (LNA) , Khalifa al-Obeidi, categorically denied reports of an alleged secret agreement to resettle hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Libya in exchange for political or economic concessions. A senior source close to the LNA’s General Command in eastern Libya told Asharq Al-Awsat that these claims are ‘fabricated, false, and aimed at damaging the reputation of the leadership while inciting division within Libya.’
Reports circulating on Libyan media on 9 August had cited a Agenzia Nova article from 29 May 2025 in which one of the three sources consulted (none of them Libyan) noted the possibility of contacts between Haftar and international actors regarding the resettlement of one million Palestinians from Gaza in Libya, with the granting of citizenship, as part of a broader plan involving Russia, the United States, Turkey, and Syria. This article was then referenced as background in a Nova report on 9 August about the head of the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture, Avi Dichter, declaring that Libya would be ‘the ideal destination’ for the relocation of approximately 1.5 million Gazans, due to ‘geographical and linguistic affinities’ and with ‘costs limited to a few billion.’ As such, the rumours about a US-LNA deal to resettle Gazans in Libya restarted.