According to the border police, the plane carrying 153 Palestinians landed at O. R. Tambo International Airport shortly after 8 a.m. However, the passengers were not allowed to leave the aircraft because their passports did not have the usual exit stamps. It was added that none of them expressed an intention to apply for asylum. Later, the Ministry of Home Affairs allowed the passengers to disembark after the organization ‘Gift of the Givers’ provided guarantees for their accommodation. A total of 130 people entered the country, while 23 others were waiting to continue their journey to other destinations. The plane was a chartered flight operated by the South African airline Global Airways, coming from Kenya, but the circumstances of the Palestinians’ departure and the flight route remain unclear. The founder of the organization, Imtiaz Sooliman, told SABC that they do not know who chartered the plane, noting that a previous plane arrived on October 28 carrying 176 Palestinians. He added, ‘Families of the first group told us yesterday that other family members would arrive on a second plane, and no one was aware of this flight.’ Sooliman confirmed that the government should investigate how people arrived on chartered planes without stamps in their passports, pointing out that Israel did not stamp their passports, making their travel almost illegal. It is noted that South Africa, which has the largest Jewish community in sub-Saharan Africa, is among the most prominent. The government had filed a case against Israel in the International Court of Justice in 2023, accusing it of committing genocide in Gaza.
