In November last year, South Africa launched a probe after a plane carrying 153 undocumented Palestinians in the nation. According to a report released by AP, on Sunday, an Israeli group whose founder adamantly supported US President Donald Trump’s proposal to resettle Palestinians from Gaza is behind those flights.
Since May, at least three flights filled with Gaza residents who had signed up to leave the war-torn enclave have landed in Indonesia and South Africa, AP’s report mentioned. At that time, the Palestinian Embassy in South Africa said in a statement the flight was arranged by “an unregistered and misleading organisation that exploited the tragic humanitarian conditions of our people in Gaza, deceived families, collected money from them, and facilitated their travel in an irregular and irresponsible manner.”
What is the Israeli group?
An Israeli organisation, Ad Kan — founded by soldiers and former intelligence officers — reportedly arranged evacuation flights through another company in order to obscure direct links to Israel, reported AP — citing a contract, passenger lists, text messages, financial records and interviews with more than two dozen Israelis, Palestinians and others involved in the trips.
AP reported that the evacuations were organised through a company called Al-Majd.
According to its website, the company describes itself as a humanitarian organisation that “supports Palestinian lives” and provides aid to Muslim communities in conflict zones.
‘Paid up to $2,000 per person’
Six Palestinians who left Gaza told the AP they paid up to $2,000 per person — through bank and cryptocurrency transfers — to secure seats on evacuation flights.
How the flights worked?
Some of the people who left Gaza via those flights said they came to know of a company transferring people out of the war-torn region in early 2025. Some saw ads online or on social media or were sent to Al-Majd’s website through friends.
According to them, the website stated that passengers could be flown to destinations such as South Africa, Indonesia or Malaysia, but did not offer a choice. Once a flight was arranged, they received messages instructing them to gather at a designated location, from where they were transported by bus out of Gaza to Israel, searched, and allowed to carry only a few belongings onto the plane.
With fighting raging and much of Gaza reduced to rubble, some said they didn’t know where they were going. They wanted only to get away, reported AP.
“There was famine, and we had no options. My children were almost killed,” the outlet quoted a 37-year-old Palestinian who arrived in South Africa in November. “Death and destruction was everywhere, all day, for two years, and nobody came to the rescue,” said the person.
