Israel's Balkan ally Edi Rama blasts claims about relocating Gazans to Albania

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama on Monday denied an Israeli Channel 12‘s report claiming his government had discussed with the US administration the possibility of accepting up to 100,000 Palestinians from Gaza.

“I haven’t heard something so fake in quite some time – and there’s been a lot of fake news lately! It is absolutely not true,” Rama posted on X responding to a news report from Israeli journalist Amit Segal. Segal wrote on this X account, ”The next stop – Albania? The Trump administration is in talks with the government in Tirane about the migration of up to 100,000 Gazans to the country. Israeli sources believe Egypt and Jordan will refuse to host refugees, and claim options like Albania and Indonesia are more feasible.”

Edi Rama highlighted strong friendship with Israel

The Albanian leader expressed “full respect and solidarity for the people of Gaza, who have been dehumanized by the savage Hamas regime and have endured a hellish war amid the second year of genocide in Gaza,” but clarified that Albania was not requested by anyone to take in refugees, nor could it “even consider taking on any such responsibility.”

Rama highlighted Albania’s “strong friendships” with Israel, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, and “the Palestinian people, whose state Albania recognized a very long time ago.” He emphasized that Albania, as a European nation, is not located in the Middle East and cannot do more than other European countries in this matter.

Israel's Balkan ally Edi Rama blasts claims about relocating Gazans to Albania — Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama speaks during a joint press conference with Turkey’s President at the Prime Minister’s office in Tirana, on October 10, 2024. – Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Albania today on the first stop of a Balkan tour that will also take him to Serbia as he tries to boost ties with a region once ruled by the Ottoman empire. (Photo by Adnan Beci / AFP)

“Yet, we wish and pray that the Palestinian people are given the chance to live in their own state, as free people under democratic rule, and that Hamas will never again be able to harm Israel — or, first and foremost, the Palestinians themselves,” he concluded.

Earlier, Israeli media reported that Israel viewed US President Donald Trump’s proposal for Jordan and Egypt to accept Palestinian refugees as unrealistic, prompting Washington to explore other options, including Albania, amid escalating international pressure to address the Gaza humanitarian crisis.