South Africa Permits 153 Palestinians to Enter After 12-Hour Airport Delay

A chartered flight carrying 153 Palestinian passengers landed at Johannesburg's O.R. Tambo International Airport on Thursday morning. The passengers were initially held on the plane for nearly 12 hours due to documentation issues, including the absence of customary departure stamps and unclear accommodation details.

The South African Border Management Authority (BMA) stated that the travelers did not indicate their duration of stay or provide local addresses, leading to their initial denial of entry. Following intervention by the Ministry of Home Affairs and a commitment from humanitarian organization Gift of the Givers to accommodate the passengers, they were permitted to disembark.

Of the 153 passengers, 23 have since traveled to other destinations, while 130 remain in South Africa under the care of Gift of the Givers. The organization's founder, Imtiaz Sooliman, noted that this was the second such arrival in recent weeks and expressed concern over the lack of coordination and documentation.

The Palestinian embassy in South Africa attributed the uncoordinated entry to an unregistered organization that allegedly exploited the humanitarian situation, collecting money from families and facilitating travel in an irregular manner. The embassy urged Palestinian citizens to exercise caution and coordinate with official institutions.