Authorities in South Africa faced heavy criticism on Friday after they refused to allow 153 Palestinian passengers to disembark from a plane for nearly 12 hours.
The Palestinians arrived at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport on Thursday morning on a charter plane from Kenya, according to South Africa’s border management authority.
israeli newspaper Haaretz It was reported that Palestinians were fleeing war-torn Gaza.
Why did South Africa stop Palestinians from landing?
Immigration officials said the passengers did not have exit tickets from Israel and had not provided local addresses, nor had they stated how long they planned to stay.
Police said that their “passports did not have traditional departure stamps”, but added that no one had “expressed any intention to apply for asylum.”
While they were being held there a priest was allowed to board the plane and described the extreme scenes.
“It’s terrible,” Pastor Nigel Brannon said, describing the conditions in an interview with public broadcaster SABC from the plane on Thursday.
“When I got on the plane it was very hot. There were a lot of kids sweating, screaming, crying.”
The Home Ministry eventually intervened with a local NGO, Gift of the Givers, to allow the passengers to deplane, and offered them accommodation.
Of the 153 passengers, 23 traveled to onward destinations, and 130 were quarantined in the country.
What role did Israel play in driving Palestinians to South Africa?
Information about the flight was incomplete and contradictory. French news agency AFP, citing border police, reported that the charter plane was operated by South African airline Global Airways.
Israel has eased restrictions on Palestinians leaving Gaza after US President Donald Trump announced plans to relocate Palestinians from the Strip.
Haaretz Israel allows Palestinians to pass through Ramon airport if the receiving country provides aircraft to transport them, the report said. However, it was unclear why their passports were not stamped and why South African authorities were not fully informed of their arrival.
The Israeli newspaper quoted the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) as saying that “Israel always makes sure in advance that a country has agreed to receive each Gazan.”
Imtiaz Sulaiman, founder of Gift of the Givers, told the SABC that “the families of this first group told us yesterday that their family members were arriving on another plane and no one knew about that plane.”
“The government needs to investigate how people are coming on chartered planes without tickets. Israel did not stamp their passports, so they are traveling illegally.”
Suleiman said another flight carrying Palestinians had landed in South Africa in the past two weeks and the passengers had no idea where they were going.
South Africa has been one of the most vocal critics of Israel on the global stage, often drawing comparisons between its own experience with apartheid and the experience of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation. It has also brought a case against Israel in the International Court of Justice accusing it of committing genocide.
About 7,000 Palestinians have left Gaza at the Kerem Shalom border crossing to reach Jordan or depart from Ramon Airport. According to this, another 30,000 have crossed the Rafah border Haaretz,
According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, “It is a war crime to deport or transfer the civilian population of an occupied territory, unless the protection of the civilians involved requires it or for compelling military reasons.”
Edited by: Kieran Burke