South Africa lets 153 Palestinians disembark after 12 hours on plane

More than 150 Palestinians, who were kept on a plane for 12 hours by South African border police, were finally allowed to disembark Thursday evening, authorities said.

The plane carrying 153 Palestinians landed shortly after 8 am (0600 GMT) on Thursday at O.R. Tambo International Airport, according to border police.

The passengers were not allowed to leave the aircraft as they "did not have the customary departure stamps in their passports", the police said, adding that none had "expressed an intention to apply for asylum".

The Home Affairs Ministry finally authorised the passengers to disembark after the NGO Gift of the Givers guaranteed to provide them with accommodation.

A total of 130 entered the country and 23 were waiting to connect to another destination of their choice, according to border police. 

The plane was a charter flight operated by South African airline Global Airways, travelling from Kenya, they said.

But it was unclear under what conditions the Palestinians had left and the exact route of the aircraft. 

The founder of Gift of the Givers, Imtiaz Sooliman, told public broadcaster SABC that he did not know who had chartered the aircraft and that a first plane carrying 176 Palestinians had landed in Johannesburg on October 28, with some of the passengers departing for other countries.

"The families of this first group told us yesterday their family members are coming on a second plane and nobody knew about that plane," he said.

"The government has to investigate how people are coming on chartered planes without stamps. Israel didn't stamp their passport so they are travelling sort of illegally."

South Africa, which hosts the largest Jewish community in sub-Saharan Africa, has largely been supportive of the Palestinian cause.

The government filed a case against Israel with the International Court of Justice in 2023, accusing it of genocide in Gaza.