BREAKING NEWS

Report: Israel reaches deal with UN on deportation of asylum seekers

Israel has reached an agreement with the United Nations to allow the deportation of asylum seekers and illegal infiltrators in Israel to third countries, Channel 2 News reported on Monday.
According to the report, the deal discussed between the Prime Minister's Office and the UN High Commission on Refugees stipulates that Israel could immediately deport some 16,000 people while granting temporary residency to thousands others for a period of five years.
The report said that 16,000 asylum seekers would be deported from Israel, with the assistance and direct intervention of Western countries, and an additional 16,000 others would be allowed to stay as long as they meet so far undisclosed criteria, which are to be determined in cooperation between Israel and the commission.
Israeli diplomatic sources characterized the agreement as unprecedented as the UN rarely engages in efforts to actively expel asylum seekers from their current country of residence and credit the move to intense deliberations held over the past few months.