The South African government has expressed deep suspicion over the circumstances surrounding the arrival of Palestinian passengers on charter flights, with Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola warning that the operations appear to be part of a “clear agenda to cleanse Palestinians out of Gaza and the West Bank.”
The statement came following the arrival of 153 Palestinians at OR Tambo International Airport on Thursday aboard a chartered flight from Nairobi, Kenya. The passengers notably lacked departure stamps from Israel in their passports, raising immediate red flags with South African Border Management Authority officials.
Border police initially detained the group on the aircraft for 12 hours while verifying their documentation and circumstances of travel. The passengers were eventually granted entry after intervention by President Cyril Ramaphosa, who authorised their admission under South Africa’s standard 90-day visa exemption on humanitarian grounds.
“We are suspicious as the South African government about the circumstances surrounding the arrival of the plane,” Lamola told reporters during a media briefing. “We do not want any further flights to come our way because this is a clear agenda to cleanse out Palestinians out of Gaza and the West Bank and those areas, which South Africa is against.”
Investigation revealed this was not an isolated incident. According to the Gift of the Givers charity organisation, which is assisting the Palestinian arrivals, a previous flight carrying 176 Palestinians had landed in South Africa on 28 October.
Media reports indicate that a shadowy organisation named Al-Majd Europe, registered in Germany with an address listed in occupied East Jerusalem, has been instrumental in facilitating these departures from Gaza. The organisation reportedly coordinated the October flight in close cooperation with Israel’s Voluntary Emigration Bureau and COGAT, a branch of the Israeli military.
Passengers on these flights reportedly paid between $1,400 and $2,000 each and did not undergo standard passport control procedures.
Foreign Minister Lamola characterised the flights as part of a broader, orchestrated effort to forcibly displace Palestinians from their homeland.
“It does look like it represents a broader agenda to remove Palestinians from Palestine into many different parts of the world, and is a clearly orchestrated operation,” Lamola stated.
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