The Palestinian Foreign Affairs Ministry has warned against groups exploiting Gaza’s humanitarian crisis to promote displacement.
It warned in a statement that companies and entities that “mislead our people, incite them to deportation or displacement or engage in human trafficking and exploit their tragic and catastrophic humanitarian conditions will bear the legal consequences of their unlawful actions and will be subject to prosecution and accountability.”
The ministry also urged Palestinian families in Gaza “to exercise caution and avoid falling prey to human trafficking networks, blood merchants, and displacement agents.”
The statement came after details emerged of a controversial agency transferring people from the Strip to other countries – through unofficial channels, facilitated by the Israeli military. South Africa says that it’s investigating how 150 Palestinians arrived in Johannesburg on Thursday without proper documentation or coordination.
According to the border authorities, a group of 153 Palestinians arrived at OR Tambo international airport in Johannesburg on a chartered Global Airways flight from Kenya on Thursday, November 13, 2025, without departure stamps, return tickets or details of accommodation.
They were kept on a charter plane at Johannesburg for 12 hours by border police because they did not have travel papers.
Authorities said that none of the Palestinians had applied for asylum, leading to their initial denial of entry.
A humanitarian group, Gift of the Givers Foundation, intervened to offer accommodation and support and the authorities then cleared 130 members of the group for entry under a standard 90-day visa exemption, while the other 23 had already departed for other destinations.
It was not clear where their journey originated. Palestinians in Israeli-blockaded Gaza or the Israeli-occupied West Bank cannot easily go abroad.
South Africa’s President, Cyril Ramaphosa, told reporters on Friday that the country will investigate the “mysterious” arrival of the scores of Palestinians. “These are people from Gaza who somehow mysteriously were put on a plane that passed by Nairobi and came here,” he said.
He said that the group had been admitted to the country “out of compassion” but that “the details” of their situation would be investigated.
“We obviously need to look at the origins [of the Palestinians’ journey], where it started, the reason why they’ve been brought here.”
Cyril Ramaphosa
Details about how the group left Gaza remain elusive but the Gift of the Givers Foundation, a local nonprofit working in disaster response, disclosed that it was the second plane carrying Palestinians to land in South Africa in the last two weeks.
Imtiaz Sooliman, the Chair and Founder of Gift of the Givers, said that 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,” Sooliman added
The Palestinian embassy in South Africa said that the travel of both groups “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.”
Debate Over South Africa’s Approach To Gaza War Revived
The episode has revived debate over South Africa’s approach to the war in Gaza. The country, which hosts the largest Jewish community in sub-Saharan Africa, has largely been supportive of the Palestinian cause and criticised Israel’s war with Hamas.
The government filed a case against Israel with the international court of justice in 2023, accusing it of genocide in the Palestinian territory.
Civil society movements, inspired by South Africa’s anti-apartheid legacy, actively organise solidarity campaigns, boycotts, and aid efforts for Palestinians.
The prolonged delay on the tarmac has led some South Africans to accuse the government of being slow to act on its proclaimed support. Others see the lack of information about the flights as worrying for national security.
READ ALSO: “Ghana’s Problem is Waste”: Ato Forson Sets Sights on Decisive Turnaround Reforms
