Author: John Eligon and Zimasa Matiwane
Published on: 17/11/2025 | 00:00:00

AI Summary:
Hundreds of Gazans Arrive on Mystery Flights, South Africa Asks How A little-known group sold passage to desperate Palestinians who didn’t know their destination. The man on the phone said he worked for a humanitarian organization that could arrange to fly Ahmed Shehada and his family out of war-ravaged Gaza if he paid $1,600 per person to a crypto account. After learning of a friend who escaped Gaza through the same group, he decided to take a chance. South Africa’s foreign minister suggested on Monday that Israel was behind what he called a clear agenda to cleanse the Palestinians out of Gaza and the West Bank. The Israeli military said it received approval from a third country to send the Palestinian families there, but it did not name the country. Officials in South Africa have faced criticism from local activists who believe the government mishandled the arrival last week of the second plane. Al-Majd instructed them to tell anyone who asked what they were doing, that they were part of the French Embassy evacuation. They made it to the Kerem Shalom border post, where Israeli troops told them to leave all their belongings behind. From there, they flew to South Africa for only a week, though the group had promised a month. A message on the group’s website said it was operating as normal and continuing to provide services. John Eligon is the Johannesburg bureau chief for The Times. He covers a wide range of events and trends that influence and shape the lives of ordinary people across southern Africa.

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