South Africa granted entry to 130 Palestinians on Thursday after they spent nearly 12 hours on a plane at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport when border officials initially denied them entry due to missing departure stamps in their passports.
The Border Management Authority (BMA) said the 153 Palestinians who arrived on a chartered Global Airways flight from Kenya lacked customary departure stamps and could not provide accommodation details or intended duration of stay.
“Following their failure to pass the immigration test and given that none of the travellers expressed an intention to apply for asylum, they were initially denied entry,” BMA Commissioner Michael Masiapato said in a statement.
The passengers were allowed to disembark after Home Affairs received assurances from humanitarian organization Gift of the Givers that it would provide accommodation.
Twenty-three passengers had already transferred to other destinations, leaving 130 to enter South Africa under the standard 90-day visa exemption for Palestinian passport holders.
Gift of the Givers founder Imtiaz Sooliman accused Israel of orchestrating what he called “ethnic cleansing” by deliberately not stamping passports.
“People pay a high price to front organisations of Israel and are then taken out of Gaza, moved to Shalom and to the Ramon military base and flown from there to different countries,” Sooliman told SABC.
Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said in a statement that close to 250 Gazans had exited Gaza through coordinated crossings at Kerem Shalom, the Allenby Bridge and Ramon Airport as part of internationally supported pathways.
This was the second such flight to South Africa. A previous charter carrying 176 Palestinians arrived on October 28.
Global Airways said it had shared passenger information with South African authorities 24 hours before departure and was not informed of potential entry issues.
“At no point prior to landing at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport at 07:50 today was Global Airways informed that the passengers would be deemed inadmissible,” the airline said.
Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola intervened with Home Affairs to facilitate entry, according to Gift of the Givers.
South African social worker Nigel Branken, who assisted passengers on the plane, said they reported being ordered by Israeli authorities to leave belongings behind before boarding at an Israeli air force base.
Sooliman said most passengers did not know their destination when they boarded.
Palestinian passport holders are eligible for 90-day visa-free travel to South Africa.