Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed Israel's foreign intelligence service Mossad to find countries that would agree to accept large numbers of Palestinians displaced from the Gaza Strip, Axios reported, citing sources in Israel.

U.S. President Donald Trump's proposal to pull all two million Palestinians out of Gaza to rebuild the enclave has gone nowhere. But Netanyahu is also looking for ways to relocate large numbers of Palestinians, possibly to countries thousands of kilometers away, the US media outlet emphasizes.

Talks have already taken place with Somalia and South Sudan, two poor, conflict-ridden East African countries, as well as other countries including Indonesia, according to two Israeli officials and a former U.S. official.

The sources said Netanyahu gave the Mossad a secret assignment to that effect weeks ago.

Israel has been pushing the move and other measures to encourage a Palestinian exodus from Gaza.

Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials have threatened to occupy more of Gaza if Palestinian Hamas refuses to release the remaining hostages.

Israeli officials are discussing, but have not yet ordered, a massive ground invasion of Gaza that would push most of the population into a small “humanitarian zone” in the southern part of the Strip.