South Africa Investigating Mystery Plane Which Brought 153 Gazans Without Documents

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — South Africa’s intelligence services are investigating how a chartered plane that landed last Thursday in Johannesburg brought more than 150 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip without valid travel documents. The passengers were held on the tarmac for about 12 hours before finally being allowed into the country.

Ynet reported that civil organizations sharply criticized the South African authorities, claiming that the 153 Palestinians, including families with children, were kept in extremely harsh conditions on a hot plane without food or water.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said that an investigation has been opened to determine the source of the flight, which passed through Nairobi, Kenya:
“These are people from Gaza who were transferred here in a mysterious way, via Nairobi.”

The Palestinian Embassy in South Africa stated that the flight had been organized by an “unregistered and misleading organization” that exploited the desperation in Gaza. According to them, “the organization exploited the tragic conditions of our people in Gaza, deceived families, collected money, and arranged their travel irresponsibly. When complications arose, it backed out.”

The AP news agency reported that an Israeli military official said an organization called Al-Majd was responsible for taking more than 150 Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip. According to him, Israel escorted the buses that carried the passengers from the Gaza meeting point to the Kerem Shalom crossing, and from there other buses transported them to Ramon Airport, from which they flew.

South African authorities announced that 23 passengers continued on to other countries, while 130 were allowed entry into South Africa following intervention by the Interior Ministry. President Ramaphosa clarified:
“Although they do not have the required documents, these are people from a war-torn land, from a destroyed country, and with compassion and empathy we must accept them.”

COGAT (Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories)  told AP that the Palestinians left the Gaza Strip after Israel had received approval from a third country to take them in, but without naming the country. Under this framework, about 40,000 Palestinians have left Gaza since the beginning of the war.

Ynet also reported that two representatives of South African NGOs claimed that Al-Majd is connected to Israel and works to extract Palestinians from the Strip, though they presented no evidence.

Imtiaz Sooliman, founder of the aid organization Gift of the Givers, which supports refugees, told AP that this was already the second mysterious flight—after another one at the end of October carrying more than 170 Palestinians that had not been reported by the authorities. He said the passengers were “frightened, confused, and did not know where they were flying. They were not given anything to eat or drink for two days of flights. This must be investigated.”

Louay Abu-Saif, a Gazan who emigrated with his wife and children, described the mysterious journey to Al Jazeera. He said his wife registered the family for the flight after seeing a post on social media that prioritized families with children who had valid travel documents and Israeli security approval. He said he knew nothing about the organization or the criteria for selection. Even the departure date was unknown until only 24 hours beforehand.

“They told us not to pack anything, not to bring bags or suitcases—only the relevant documents,” he said.

According to him, each family was required to pay a total of about $1,400–$2,000 per person, including children and infants. After receiving word that the time had come to leave, families boarded a bus in Rafah, traveled to Ramon Airport via the Kerem Shalom crossing, and began their journey to South Africa. Their passports were not stamped, neither upon entering nor leaving Israel.

The entire journey, Abu-Saif said, was “a journey of suffering. No organization persuaded us to leave Gaza, but we were told they could help us for a week or two after we reached the destination, and afterward we would be on our own.”

He added that they did not even know what the final destination was. They first landed in Nairobi, Kenya, and from there boarded another plane to Johannesburg, South Africa. Only when they took off the second time did they learn where they were headed.