Why a mysterious plane carried 150 Palestinians from Gaza to THIS country? Not Saudi Arabia, Iran, Qatar, or any Muslim nation, the country is…

Gaza War: A chartered plane carrying over 150 Palestinians from the war-torn Gaza Strip arrived at the Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo International Airport on Thursday morning, sending authorities into a tizzy as the travelers reportedly lacked proper documents, due to which they were not allowed to disembark from the aircraft for nearly 12 hours.

Why Palestinians weren’t allowed to disembark?

According to South African immigration authorities, the Palestinian passengers aboard the plane were not allowed to disembark till late at night as they failed to explain the purpose of their visit and the duration of their stay in the country. Additionally, the passengers did not have exit stamps or slips, usually issued by Israeli authorities to people who leave the Gaza Strip.

South Africa’s initial refusal to allow the Palestinian passengers to disembark from the aircraft drew sharp sharp criticism from human rights groups, who claimed that 153 Palestinians, which included families, children, and a nine-months pregnant woman, were allegedly held in “deplorable conditions” aboard the plane in extreme heat, and without food and water.

Who booked the flight?

Meanwhile, in a statement, the Palestinian Embassy in South Africa said the chartered flight was arranged by a deceptive, unregistered organization that had exploited the dire humanitarian situation of Gazans, defrauded families, extorted money from them, and irresponsibly facilitated their travel.

While the Palestinian embassy did not specify who chartered the flight, an Israeli military official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, claimed an organization called Al-Majd had arranged the travel of approximately 150 Palestinians from Gaza to South Africa.

What did South Africa say?

Commenting on the incident, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said investigation was underway to uncover how the Palestinians arrived in South Africa after stopping in Nairobi, Kenya. “These are people from Gaza who were mysteriously put on a plane passing through Nairobi and came here,” Ramaphosa said.

The incident comes over a month after Hamas and Israel signed a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement with Israel under US President Doland Trump’s Gaza peace plan, ending Israel’s two-year long military campaign in Gaza that killed more than 50,000 Palestinians, including women and children.