US carrying out deportation flights for Palestinians to West Bank using Trump ally’s private jet

The US has reportedly carried out two deportation flights for Palestinians illegally residing in the country, cooperating with Israel to send them back to the West Bank while using a private jet belonging to an Israeli-American businessman allied with President Donald Trump.

Haaretz says the first flight was carried out on January 21, carrying eight shackled passengers, and a second flight carrying an undisclosed number was conducted on February 2, according to the Guardian.

Both flights used the private jet belonging to Gil Dezer, a Trump donor, friend of Donald Trump Jr. and a member of the Miami branch of Friends of the IDF.

The Palestinians were flown to Ben Gurion Airport before being picked up by Israeli security officials who drove them to a West Bank checkpoint and left them there.

“They dropped us off like animals on the side of the road,” 24-year-old Maher Awad said. “We went to a local house, we knocked on the door, we were like: ‘Please help us out.’”

A spokesperson for the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) does not answer questions about the deportation flights to Israel, but tells the Guardian, “If a judge finds an illegal alien has no right to be in this country, we are going to remove them. Period.”

Israel’s Foreign Ministry declines to comment on the operation.