Hebrew media reported on Wednesday that Israel is holding “secret talks” with the Democratic Republic of the Congo “to absorb (Palestinian) immigrants from the Gaza Strip.”

The Times of Israel news website said, “Israeli officials held secret talks with the State of Congo (Kinshasa) and several other countries to potentially accept (Palestinian) immigrants from Gaza.”

The website quoted an unnamed senior source in the Israeli mini-ministerial council: “Congo will be ready to receive the migrants, and we are holding talks with others.”

It pointed out that Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel said in the Knesset on Tuesday: “At the end of the war, Hamas’ rule will collapse, there will be no municipal authorities, and the civilian population will depend entirely on humanitarian aid.”

She went on to say: “There will be no work, and 60 percent of agricultural land in Gaza will turn into security buffer zones.”

She added: “The Gaza problem is not only our problem. The world must support humanitarian migration, because this is the only solution I know of.”

These moves come despite public American criticism of calls for displacement from Gaza.

In this regard, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said on Tuesday in a statement: “The United States rejects the recent statements issued by Israeli ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir calling for the settlement of Palestinians outside the Gaza Strip.”

Miller considered, “These are inflammatory and irresponsible statements,” adding that the Israeli government, including through its president, expressed to them “repeatedly and consistently that these statements do not reflect government policy.”

In recent weeks, Israeli calls have emerged to voluntarily displace Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.

On Monday, Ministers Ben Gvir and Smotrich announced their support for the “voluntary displacement of Palestinians” from the Gaza Strip.

Since last October 7, the Israeli army has been waging a devastating war on Gaza, which as of Tuesday left 22,185 dead and 57,35 injured, most of them children and women, massive infrastructure destruction and an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe, according to the Gaza Strip authorities and the United Nations.