South African authorities have opened an investigation into a mystery flight that landed in the country carrying more than 150 Palestinians from Gaza, raising questions about how the aircraft obtained clearance and who facilitated the operation.
The plane — identified by aviation officials as a privately chartered aircraft — arrived earlier this week at a provincial airport, surprising immigration and security personnel who said they had no prior information about the large group on board. The passengers included women, children, elderly people, and several individuals who described themselves as evacuees fleeing the war in Gaza.
Officials from South Africa’s Home Affairs and Civil Aviation Authority said they are trying to determine which organizations or intermediaries coordinated the flight and whether all entry protocols were followed. “We are verifying documentation, passenger lists, and flight permissions. At this stage, the circumstances remain unclear,” a senior official said.
Humanitarian groups in the country say they were not informed beforehand but expressed relief that the passengers appeared safe. Some NGOs have since stepped in to arrange temporary accommodation, medical check-ups, and legal guidance for the arrivals.
South Africa, which has taken a strong diplomatic stance on the Gaza conflict — even filing a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice — has publicly supported humanitarian evacuations. However, government sources acknowledged that such missions typically involve formal coordination, something that appears to have been bypassed or obscured in this case.
Aviation analysts say organizing a charter flight from a war zone requires multiple layers of approval, including airspace clearance, security screening, and diplomatic coordination with transit countries. “For a plane with more than 150 passengers to arrive unexpectedly is highly unusual,” one expert noted.
Authorities are now interviewing passengers and reviewing radar and flight-path data to reconstruct how the aircraft reached South Africa without triggering advance alerts.
Government officials said the focus remains on ensuring the well-being of the evacuees while also determining whether any procedural breaches occurred. Further details are expected once the investigation progresses.