South African FM: Arrival of 153 Palestinians indicates ‘agenda’ to take them ‘out of Gaza’

The arrival in South Africa of 153 Palestinians on a plane last week was “suspicious” and indicated “a clear agenda to cleanse Palestinians out of Gaza and the West Bank,” the country’s foreign minister says.

The group landed in Johannesburg on a chartered flight on Thursday without departure stamps from Israel on their passports.

“We are suspicious, as the South African government, about the circumstances surrounding the arrival of the plane,” Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola tells reporters.

South Africa border police kept the group on the plane for 12 hours before President Cyril Ramaphosa allowed them entry on a standard 90-day visa exemption.

It emerged later that an earlier plane carrying 176 Palestinians had arrived on October 28, according to the Gift of the Givers charity, which is assisting the Palestinians.

Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), which oversees the flow of people and goods to and from Gaza, told the Haaretz daily last week that the Palestinians had received visas from South Africa ahead of time. COGAT was also cited by the newspaper as saying that, as a rule, Israel always makes sure that there is a country that will accept Gazans departing the Strip.

Reports said a shadowy organization named Al-Majd was involved in the departure from Gaza of both groups.

“We do not want any further flights to come our way because this is a clear agenda to cleanse out Palestinians out of Gaza and the West Bank and those areas, which South Africa is against,” Lamola says. “It does look like it represents a broader agenda to remove Palestinians from Palestine into many different parts of the world, and is a clearly orchestrated operation.”

South Africa is one of Israel’s harshest critics, and brought a suit in the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of “genocide” in its war in Gaza. Israel adamantly rejects the genocide accusation.