Overview
- Border officials held the group of 153 on the aircraft for about 12 hours over missing Israeli exit stamps before allowing disembarkation when Gift of the Givers offered accommodation.
- Home Affairs says 130 were admitted under South Africa’s 90‑day visa exemption for Palestinian passports and 23 took onward flights, with no asylum applications filed so far.
- President Cyril Ramaphosa confirmed national intelligence and departments are investigating how the flights were arranged, as he insisted the arrivals would not be turned back.
- COGAT said the departures were authorized after approval from an unnamed third country, while an Israeli official identified Al‑Majd as the organizer moving passengers via Kerem Shalom to Ramon Airport.
- The Palestinian embassy denounced the organizer as unregistered and exploitative, passengers reported paying roughly $1,500–$5,000 and carrying only small bags, and reporting points to a prior October flight and an earlier movement to Indonesia.