In November last year, South Africa launched a probe into a plane carrying 153 undocumented Palestinians in the country. According to a report published by the AP on Sunday, the Israeli group, whose founder has adamantly supported US President Donald Trump’s proposal to resettle Palestinians from Gaza, is behind the flights.
Since May, at least three flights filled with Gazans who have signed up to leave the war-torn enclave have landed in Indonesia and South Africa, according to an AP report. At the time, the Palestinian embassy in South Africa said in a statement that the flight was organized by “an unregistered and misguided organization that has been abusing the tragic humanitarian conditions of our people in Gaza, defrauding families, extorting money from them and allowing them to travel irregularly and irresponsibly”.
What is an Israeli group?
Israel’s Ad Kan organization, founded by soldiers and former intelligence officers, allegedly organized the evacuation flights through another company to cover up direct links to Israel, the AP reported, citing a contract, passenger lists, text messages, financial records and interviews with more than two dozen Israelis, Palestinians and others who took part in the trips.
The AP said the evacuations were organized through a company called Al-Majd.
According to its website, the company describes itself as a humanitarian organization that “supports Palestinian lives” and provides aid to Muslim communities in conflict areas.
“Paid up to $2,000 per person”
Six Palestinians who left Gaza told The Associated Press they paid up to $2,000 per person — through wire and cryptocurrency transfers — to secure seats on evacuation flights.
How did the flights work?
Some of the people who left Gaza through these flights said they learned of a company that was ferrying people out of the war-torn region in early 2025. Some saw ads online or on social media, or were referred to the Al-Majd website by friends.
The website said passengers could fly to destinations such as South Africa, Indonesia or Malaysia, but did not offer a choice, they said. Once the flight was arranged, they received messages to assemble at a designated location, from where they were bussed from Gaza to Israel, searched, and allowed to take only a few belongings on the plane.
As fighting raged and much of Gaza was reduced to rubble, some said they did not know where they were going. They just wanted to get away, the AP reported.
“There was a famine and we had no options. My children were almost killed,” the portal quoted the 37-year-old Palestinian, who arrived in South Africa in November, as saying. “Death and destruction was everywhere, all day, for two years, and no one came to help,” the man said.
