South Africa to investigate arrival of 153 Palestinian refugees from Gaza

More than 150 Palestinians who have arrived in South Africa appeared to have been "flushed out" of Gaza, President Cyril Ramaphosa said Friday.

After landing at O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg on Thursday, the 153 Palestinians were kept on the charter plane for 12 hours by South African border police as they did not have departure stamps from Israeli authorities on their passports.

The home affairs ministry finally allowed the passengers to disembark on Thursday evening after the Gift of the Givers charity guaranteed to provide them with accommodation.

"It does seem like they were being flushed out," Ramaphosa told journalists Friday.

‘Out of compassion’

"These are people from Gaza who somehow mysteriously were put on a plane that passed by Nairobi and came here," he said, adding that South Africa would investigate "the details" but had admitted the group "out of compassion".

A total of 130 entered the country and 23 took onward flights to other destinations, according to the ministry.

A first plane carrying 176 Palestinians had previously landed in Johannesburg on October 28, with some of the passengers then departing for other countries, according to the founder of the Gift of the Givers, Imtiaz Sooliman.

The Palestinian embassy in South Africa said Thursday both groups' travel "was arranged by an unregistered and misleading organisation that exploited the tragic humanitarian conditions of our people in Gaza, deceived families, collected money from them, and facilitated their travel in an irregular and irresponsible manner".

South Africa has largely been supportive of the Palestinian cause and criticised Israel's genocide in Gaza.

The government filed a case against Israel with the International Court of Justice in 2023, accusing it of genocide in the Palestinian territory.