Trump donor’s private jet used to deport Palestinians to West Bank – report

A luxury private jet owned by an Israeli-American billionaire has reportedly been used at least twice to deport Palestinians rounded up in the US by ICE agents to the West Bank.

According to the Guardian, a Gulfstream jet owned by Gil Dezer, the son of Michael Dezer, a real estate tycoon and close associate of US President Donald Trump, was used on January 21 and February 1 to deport more than a dozen Palestinians from the US to the West Bank.

The Haaretz newspaper, which first reported on the first flight, said it carried eight Palestinians who were handed over to the Israel Prison Service, which transported them to a West Bank checkpoint near Modiin Illit, where they were handed over to a representative of the Civil Administration and left there.

A security source told Haaretz that Washington made the unusual request to Israel to deport the Palestinians in question to the West Bank, and that the Shin Bet approved the request after running security checks on the deportees.

The Israeli newspaper said it obtained footage showing one of the deported Palestinians exiting the aircraft at Ben Gurion Airport with his hands cuffed.

Haaretz said that the private jet had to stop twice for refueling between New York and Tel Aviv — once in Ireland and once in Bulgaria. Irish politicians have expressed outrage at the country being used as a stopover, but the Irish government said it was not required to approve flights that stop in the country for “non-traffic purposes.”

"Highly unusual": U.S. deports eight Palestinians to West Bank using private jethttps://t.co/wmqEcsY8mf

— Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) January 22, 2026

Gil Dezer, who owns the 16-passenger private jet used for the deportations, told the Guardian that it was privately chartered through the Florida-based company Journey Aviation.

Dezer said he is “never privy to the names” of those aboard the jet when it is being privately chartered. “The only thing I’m notified about is the dates of use.” According to reports, Dezer’s jet has also been used to deport people arrested by ICE to several countries in Africa.

Dezer, a real estate tycoon and billionaire based in southern Florida, is a close ally of Trump, and his father worked with the now-US president on many developments dating back to the 1980s, including building six Trump-branded towers. The Guardian reported that, together, Gil and Michael Dezer have donated more than $1.3 million toward Trump’s presidential campaigns, according to filings.

Maher Awad, 24, told the Guardian that he was aboard the first flight on January 21, where his wrists and ankles were shackled until he and the other deportees were dumped in the West Bank.

“They dropped us off like animals on the side of the road,” Awad told the British newspaper. “We went to a local house, we knocked on the door, we were like: ‘Please help us out.’”

Awad said he left the West Bank when he was 15 years old and moved to the United States, living in Michigan, where his 4-month-old son, whom he has never met, remains. He arrived in the US on a tourist visa and never left, eventually obtaining a social security number and a driver’s license.

In February 2025, he reported a break-in, and police officers arrived and arrested Awad on a domestic violence charge that was later dropped. When he was released from jail, he said ICE agents were waiting outside and arrested him, holding him for a year before he was deported to the West Bank last month.

“I don’t want to be here,” he said. “I’m looking forward to going back as soon as possible.”