CAIRO, Nov 17 (Reuters) – Gazans stated they paid $2,000 per seat to fly their households to South Africa on a visit organized by a bunch providing a means out of the devastated enclave, in what South Africa alleged on Monday seemed to be a part of a bid to displace Palestinians.
Two Gazans interviewed by Reuters stated they had been amongst 130 Palestinians granted entry by South Africa after being bussed from Gaza and flown out of an Israeli airport final week, arriving in Johannesburg on Thursday after a cease in Nairobi.
South African International Minister Ronald Lamola, whose authorities has lengthy backed Palestinian nationwide aspirations and has accused Israel of genocide within the Gaza conflict, on Monday stated South African authorities had been investigating what he known as the suspicious circumstances of the airplane’s arrival.
“It does look like it represents a broader agenda to remove Palestinians from Palestine,” he stated in a information briefing.
Israel has rejected accusations of genocide in Gaza as politically motivated and says that its army marketing campaign focused Hamas, not Gaza’s civilian inhabitants.
Requested about Lamola’s feedback, an Israeli authorities spokesperson stated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had “made it clear that if Palestinians want to leave, they should be allowed to leave the Gaza Strip. And if they want to come back to the Gaza Strip, they should also be allowed to come back.”
The spokesperson didn’t straight tackle the query of how the group of Palestinians ended up in South Africa.
COGAT, the arm of the Israeli army overseeing civilian affairs in Gaza, stated the Gazans left after it had obtained approval from a 3rd nation that it didn’t title to obtain them, and that they’d legitimate visas. The request for his or her departure included “documents confirming authorization to land in South Africa,” it stated.
Lamola stated that “at this stage the information we have is that they didn’t have those required approvals and permits,” including that the matter was beneath investigation.
Israel loosened guidelines on Gazans leaving
Ahmad Gharabli/AFP through Getty Photographs
In Could, Reuters reported that Israel had eased restrictions on Palestinians leaving Gaza, and that round 1,000 of them had been bussed out of the enclave to board flights to Europe and elsewhere. The departures required a request to Israel by a international authorities, Reuters reported on the time.
The 2 Palestinians stated they noticed on-line adverts posted by a corporation known as Al-Majd Europe providing the prospect to depart Gaza, and utilized some six months in the past. The supply was solely open to households and required that candidates should have a passport.
Reuters emailed Al-Majd Europe at an tackle on their web site however didn’t instantly obtain a response. There was no telephone quantity. Each Palestinians finally obtained messages from Al-Majd Europe through WhatsApp telling them safety clearance had been granted. They left Gaza on buses and had been taken by the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing earlier than being flown out of Ramon airport. They arrived in South Africa on Nov. 13.
“I am a lymphoma cancer patient. How long would I have had to wait to be evacuated … I had to leave for treatment and for a better life for my family,” stated Ramzi Abu Youssef, 42, talking to Reuters by telephone from Johannesburg.
Abu Youssef left together with his spouse and three kids, aged 8, 10 and 12, and stated two of his daughters had been killed in an Israeli assault in June 2024 throughout a raid on Nuseirat camp, the place his home had been destroyed.
Bleak circumstances in Gaza
Khames Alrefi/Anadolu through Getty Photographs
The second Palestinian, who requested to stay nameless as a result of issues about his safety and upsetting his new hosts, stated his household reluctantly determined to depart Gaza after residing by months of bombardment and being pressured to evacuate his dwelling in Deir al-Balah a number of occasions. Aged 35, he left together with his spouse and two kids, a 4-year-old boy and a 2-year-old woman.
Their departures underline bleak circumstances in Gaza greater than a month since U.S. President Donald Trump clinched a ceasefire within the conflict that has laid waste to a lot of the enclave.
The Gaza conflict started on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants raided southern Israel, abducting 251 individuals and killing one other 1,200, in response to Israeli tallies.
Greater than 69,000 Palestinians have been killed within the offensive Israel launched in response, well being authorities in Gaza say.
The Palestinians arrived at Johannesburg airport on a chartered World Airways flight from Kenya. Border authorities stated they didn’t have departure stamps, return tickets or particulars of lodging. Abu Youssef stated the group had obtained 90-day visas and that some are staying in hostels whereas others, together with himself, are being hosted by members of the Muslim group in Johannesburg.
Twenty-three individuals on the flight departed for different locations.
