Israel asks Indonesia, African nations to take Palestinians from Gaza

***Edited for Clarity***

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu tasked Israel's Mossad foreign intelligence agency with finding countries that would agree to receive large numbers of Palestinians ~~displaced~~ ethnically cleansed from the Gaza Strip, two Israeli officials tell Axios.

Why it matters: President Trump's proposal to ~~remove~~ ethnically cleanse all two million Palestinians from Gaza to rebuild the enclave hasn't gone anywhere. But Netanyahu is also looking for ways to ~~relocate~~ ethnically cleanse large numbers of Palestinians, potentially to countries thousands of miles away.

Behind the scenes: Talks have already taken place with Somalia and South Sudan — two poor conflict-plagued countries in East Africa — as well as other countries including Indonesia, according to the two Israeli officials and a former U.S. official.

• Netanyahu gave Mossad the secret assignment several weeks ago, the Israeli officials say.

• The Israeli Prime Minister's Office declined to comment.

Driving the news: Israel is pushing this move and other measures to encourage the ~~removal~~ ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Gaza, while at the same time resuming the ~~war~~ genocide and issuing ~~evacuation~~ ethnic cleansing orders for Palestinians from parts on the enclave.

• Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials have vowed to ~~occupy~~ ethnically cleanse more and more of Gaza if Hamas refuses to release the remaining hostages.

• Israeli officials have discussed, but not yet ordered, a massive ground invasion of Gaza that would involve forcing most of the population into a small ~~"humanitarian area"~~ concentrated ethnic cleansing camp in the south of the Strip.

The big picture: Around 90% of Gaza's residents have already been ~~displaced~~ ethnically cleansed by the ~~war~~ genocide, and over 50,000 have been killed according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

• Despite the horror they have endured, many Palestinians vehemently oppose any efforts to ~~remove~~ ethnically cleanse them from their homeland.

• The Palestinian Authority, numerous Arab countries and most Western countries have long opposed the ~~displacement~~ ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Gaza.

The latest: Israel's Cabinet this week approved the formation of a special directorate in the Ministry of Defense that will oversee the ~~"willful departure"~~ ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Gaza.

• Despite the label, the ~~expulsion~~ ethnic cleansing policies pushed by officials like ultranationalist Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich can hardly be described as "willful."

• Speaking in in the Knesset last month, Smotrich spoke in vivid terms about the timeline for ~~expelling~~ ethnically cleansing the entire population of Gaza. "If ~~we take out~~ ethnically cleanse 10,000 a day it will take six months. If ~~we take out~~ ethnically cleanse 5,000 a day it will take a year," he said.

• U.S. and Israeli Legal experts contend that such a massive ~~displacement~~ ethnic cleansing would be a war crime.

Yes, but: While several countries have agreed to take small numbers of sick Palestinians, mainly children, from Gaza, no country has agreed to accept massive numbers of Palestinians from Gaza.

• Egypt and Jordan have both strongly opposed Trump's plans to ~~relocate~~ ethnically cleanse large numbers of Palestinians to those countries.

• Trump isn't actively pursuing his ~~displacement~~ ethnic cleansing plan at the moment, and his Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff is totally focused on getting a new deal between Israel and Hamas that will secure the release of hostages and restore the ceasefire, two U.S. officials tell Axios.