The plan would envisage people moving from an enclave shattered by almost two years of war with Israel to a nation in the heart of Africa riven by political and ethnically-driven violence.

South Sudan “firmly refutes recent media reports claiming that the Government of the Republic of South Sudan is engaged in discussion with the State of Israel regarding the resettlement of Palestinian Nationals from Gaza in South Sudan,” the foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

Palestinians and human rights groups have largely rejected Israel’s proposal to remove the people of Gaza from their homeland