South Africa’s government is raising alarm over a chartered plane carrying more than 150 Palestinians that landed in Johannesburg last week, suggesting the flight may be part of a broader international effort to push Palestinians out of Gaza and the West Bank.
According to The Associated Press, Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola said Monday that officials were “suspicious” of the circumstances surrounding the aircraft, which arrived Thursday with 153 passengers who lacked proper travel documents.
“Indeed, we are suspicious as the South African government about the circumstances surrounding the arrival of the plane and the passengers that were in the plane,” Lamola said. “It does look like it represents a broader agenda to remove Palestinians from Palestine into many different parts of the world and it’s a clearly orchestrated operation because they are not only being sent to South Africa. There are other countries where such flights have been sent.”
Lamola did not identify who he believed was responsible for arranging the flight, though his remarks were widely interpreted as pointing toward Israel.
The Israeli authority that manages civilian policy in the Palestinian territories said the passengers left Gaza under an Israeli government policy that allows residents to depart if a third country formally agrees to receive them. It did not identify that third country.
The arrival comes after years of controversy surrounding proposals to resettle Palestinians abroad. Israel previously supported President Donald Trump’s early pledge to permanently empty Gaza of its population — a plan rights groups condemned as ethnic cleansing. Trump has since abandoned that idea and helped broker a ceasefire allowing Palestinians to remain.
Still, Israel has reportedly explored relocation discussions with multiple African governments this year, including South Sudan, as part of wider conversations about mass emigration from Gaza.
President Cyril Ramaphosa said South Africa’s intelligence services will investigate who was behind the latest flight, which originated from Ramon Airport in southern Israel and stopped briefly in Kenya before reaching Johannesburg.
“We do not want any further flights to come our way because this is a clear agenda to cleanse out the Palestinians out of Gaza and the West Bank,” Lamola said.
Authorities said families with young children — including a woman nine months pregnant — were onboard without valid South African travel documents or Israeli exit permits. Immigration officials initially refused to let them disembark, keeping them on the plane for around 12 hours, a move that drew sharp condemnation from rights groups.
South Africa, a longtime supporter of the Palestinian cause, has faced increasing pressure from local civic organizations. Some groups claimed — without offering evidence — that a Jerusalem-based organization called Al-Majd arranged the charter and has ties to Israel.
An Israeli military official, speaking anonymously, confirmed Al-Majd coordinated the transport and obtained the necessary travel papers.
A South African NGO said this was the second such flight in recent weeks, following another arrival on Oct. 28 carrying more than 170 Palestinians.
Officials say they are now working to determine whether these flights are isolated cases — or part of a coordinated global network facilitating the relocation of Palestinians from their homeland.
