South African authorities are currently investigating the circumstances surrounding the secret arrival of a flight from Israel on Thursday, November 13. This flight carried 153 Palestinians who had managed to leave the Gaza Strip with the help of an enigmatic charity group. Upon landing at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo Airport, the passengers were surprised to find themselves in South Africa.

Initially held for 12 hours on the tarmac by South Africa’s border police due to the absence of an exit stamp from their country of departure in their passports, Gaza residents were eventually allowed to enter the country after South African President Cyril Ramaphosa intervened.

The issue remains highly sensitive for Pretoria, which has been at the forefront of the international campaign against the war in Gaza. South Africa filed a complaint against Israel at the International Court of Justice in 2023, accusing it of genocide in the Palestinian territory. The South African president himself seemed caught off guard on Friday, when he instructed his staff to clarify the “mysterious” arrival of the Palestinians from Gaza. According to him, they were received “out of compassion [and] empathy.”

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