South Africa to refuse charter flights of Palestinians over fears of ‘cleansing agenda’

South Africa said it does not wish to receive any more charter flights carrying Palestinians, days after the controversial arrival of 153 passengers from Gaza into the country.

Many aspects of their access remain unclear and contested.

Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola said on Monday that the trip was part of a “clear agenda to cleanse Gaza and the West Bank of Palestinians.”

The Israeli authorities did not respond to this allegation. But they said that South Africa had previously agreed to receive the 153 Palestinians.

The BBC asked the South African authorities to comment.

The Palestinian Embassy in South Africa said that the group left Israel’s Ramon Airport and headed to the country via the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, “without any prior notice or coordination.”

She said that an “unregistered and misleading organization” exploited the plight of Gaza’s citizens and “deceived their families, collected money from them, and facilitated their travel in an irregular and irresponsible manner.”

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs continued, through the embassy, ​​that it is working with South Africa to “address this situation resulting from this error.”

The flight at the center of the dispute arrived Thursday at OR Tambo International Airport in South Africa.

The passengers were initially refused entry into the country and remained stuck on the plane for more than 10 hours.

Authorities in South Africa, which strongly supported the Palestinian cause during the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, said this was because the passengers did not have departure stamps in their passports. Palestinians are allowed to travel to South Africa for 90 days without a visa.

Eventually, the group was allowed to disembark after intervention from a local charity. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said it was done out of “compassion.” [and] South African authorities said that 23 passengers had already taken flights to other places, so 130 of them were allowed to enter the country.

During a press conference on South Africa’s readiness to host the G20 leaders’ summit, which will be held this weekend, Lamola said Thursday’s trip appeared to be part of a “broader agenda to transport Palestinians from Palestine to different parts of the world.”

“[This] It’s a clearly coordinated operation because they’re not just being sent to South Africa. There are other countries to which such flights were sent,” he said, without giving any details, adding that the matter was under investigation.

Two weeks ago, another plane carrying 176 Palestinians landed in Johannesburg, and some passengers were heading to other countries, according to Gift of the Givers, a local charity that helps expatriates.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly spoken of “voluntarily” resettling Palestinians from Gaza – a move criticized by Palestinians, human rights groups and much of the international community.

Speaking a day after the flight arrived, South Africa’s president said the Palestinians were “mysteriously put on a plane that passed near Nairobi” and headed to South Africa, according to local website News24.

The Israeli military authority that controls the Gaza crossings said in a statement: “The residents left the Gaza Strip after Kogat obtained approval from a third country to receive them.” The country was not specified at that time.

On Monday, the Government Coordination Unit named South Africa as the third country that agreed to receive the Palestinians.

South Africa strongly criticized the Israeli military operation in Gaza.

The country’s sympathy for the Palestinian struggle for an independent state goes back decades, particularly to the early 1990s when anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela pledged support for the Palestinian cause.

Large pro-Palestinian rallies have been held across South Africa since the start of the conflict.

Smaller pro-Israel marches and rallies were held in the country, which hosts the largest Jewish community in sub-Saharan Africa.

In 2023, the South African government filed a case against Israel before the International Court of Justice, accusing it of committing genocide in Gaza. Israel has strongly rejected South Africa’s allegations, describing them as “baseless.”