The United States and Israel have asked three East African governments to accept Palestinians forcibly displaced from Gaza, according to American and Israeli officials who spoke to The Associated Press.

The Associated Press reported Friday that the United States and Israel began discussing the forced displacement of Palestinians last month with the governments of Sudan, Somalia, and the breakaway region of Somaliland.

This comes after US President Donald Trump indicated last February that the United States might "take over" the Gaza Strip and expel the Palestinians. His announcement prompted Egypt to formulate an alternative plan for Gaza's reconstruction, which was adopted by Arab leaders on March 4.

The Egyptian plan, which envisages $53 billion to rebuild Gaza, rejects the displacement of Palestinians, focusing instead on redeveloping the Strip without evacuating its Palestinian citizens.

Earlier this week, Trump appeared to hint that he was backing away from a proposed mass expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza, saying when asked about it during a White House meeting with Irish leader Micheál Martin: "Nobody wants to expel any Palestinians from Gaza."

The Associated Press reports that the United States responded to Arab governments' rejection of its plan to displace Palestinians last month by ignoring it.

The foreign ministers of Somalia and Somaliland on Friday denied receiving any proposal from the United States or Israel to resettle Palestinians in their countries.

Somali Foreign Minister Ahmed Moalim Fiqi stated that his country rejects "any proposal or initiative, from any party, that would undermine the right of the Palestinian people to live in peace on the land of their ancestors."

A senior Sudanese official also denied that Sudan had received any proposal, telling Reuters that such a plan was unacceptable.