Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama ridiculed Israeli journalist Amit Segal, as well as pro-Israel writer Aviva Klompas and the Open Source Intel account on X/Twitter on Monday after numerous claims were made by them that the Trump administration was in talks with the Albanian government to move thousands of displaced Gazans to the country.
"I haven’t heard something so fake in quite some time," the Albanian leader said, "and there’s been a lot of fake news lately! It is absolutely not true." In his post, he includes a screenshot of Segal's post, crosses it out, and writes "fake news" in all capital letters over it.
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. Full respect and solidarity for the people of Gaza, who have been dehumanized by the savage Hamas regime and have endured a hellish war following the… pic.twitter.com/tc5YgC3ds6
— Edi Rama (@ediramaal) January 27, 2025
Segal had also reported this story in an N12 article. He also claims in his post that Albania or Indonesia would be more likely to host Gazan refugees than Egypt or Jordan.
"Full respect and solidarity for the people of Gaza, who have been dehumanized by the savage Hamas regime and have endured a hellish war following the medieval horrors of October 7. But let me be clear: Albania has not been asked by anyone, nor can we even consider taking on any such responsibility."
Albanian-Middle Eastern ties
The Albanian leader went on to note the country's strong ties to numerous Middle Eastern countries, including Israel and the Palestinian people, but also Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Kuwait.
"Albania is not in the Middle East itself, and from the heart of Europe, we cannot do more than any other European country in such a matter," Rama continued, but also voiced his hope that Hamas will never harm Israel or Gazan civilians again and that Palestinians "are given the chance to live in their own state."
Segal's N12 report came shortly after US President Donald Trump called on Jordan and Egypt to accept more Palestinians from Gaza, which had then sparked accusations of "ethnic cleansing." He called on Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Jordanian King Abdullah II to allow Gazan refugees to enter their countries.
Keren Setton/The Media Line contributed to this report.