Israeli authorities said that 153 Palestinians who turned up unexpectedly in South Africa, triggering questions from its president, had received entry approval from an unnamed third country.
Shimi Zuaretz, a spokesman for COGAT, the Israeli body that runs civil affairs in the Palestinian territories, told Agence France-Presse they had only been allowed to leave Gaza “after COGAT received approval from a third country to receive them”.
He did not name the country.
After landing in Johannesburg on Thursday local time, the Palestinians were kept aboard their plane for 12 hours because they did not have departure stamps from Israel in their passports, South African border police said.
The home affairs ministry finally allowed the passengers to disembark when an NGO said it would provide them with accommodation.
The NGO, Gift of the Givers, told South African media it did not know who had chartered the flight or a previous one that brought 176 Gazans on 28 October.
“The Palestinians had no idea where they were bundled off to, only when in Kenya did they realise they were coming to South Africa. Some had visas for Canada, Australia and Malaysia, they were eventually permitted to leave for those countries,” said Imtiaz Sooliman, chair and founder of Gift of the Givers.
An Israeli official who did not wish to be identified told AFP that the organisation which coordinated the transfer had submitted third-country visas to COGAT for all the evacuated residents.
South Africa to investigate unexpected arrival
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa told journalists on Friday that it seemed “like they were being flushed out”.
“These are people from Gaza who somehow mysteriously were put on a plane that passed by Nairobi and came here,” he said.
South Africa’s home affairs ministry said 130 of the group entered the country, while the remaining 23 took onward flights to other destinations.
Zuaretz said COGAT facilitates the departure of Gaza residents through Israel to receiving countries, for patients requiring medical treatment, dual citizens and their family members, “or those possessing visas to third countries”.
Israel “bases its decisions solely on requests received from foreign countries”, he added, saying the departure of more than 40,000 Gaza residents had been facilitated since the start of the war in Gaza.
Ramaphosa said South African intelligence agencies, the Department of Home Affairs, and the Department of International Relations and Cooperation were now assessing the situation.
“We are going to do a proper evaluation and see what the future portends,” he added.
Allegations of irregular travel arrangements
South Africa’s interior ministry said the Palestinian embassy had told it the group was deceived and charged money by an unspecified unregistered organisation, which later “attempted to disown any responsibility once complications arose”.
“We obviously need to look at the origins (of the 130 Palestinians’ journey), where it started, the reason why they’ve been brought here,” Ramaphosa said.
“But … out of compassion, and because they are a people that we as South Africa have raised our hands to support, we felt that we should accept them,” he said.
South Africa, which hosts the largest Jewish community in sub-Saharan Africa, has largely been supportive of the Palestinian cause.
The government filed a case against Israel with the International Court of Justice in 2023, accusing it of genocide in Gaza.
