A charter flight carrying 153 Palestinians landed in South Africa under unclear circumstances and authorities have launched an investigation.

In this unfolding case, the aircraft, which reportedly departed from a stopover in Nairobi, Kenya, touched down at Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo International Airport early on a Thursday morning. The South African Border Management Authority said the passengers were kept on board for around 12 hours because many of them lacked standard travel documentation: no Israeli exit stamps, no declared duration of stay, no local contact addresses. Eventually, intervention by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the humanitarian NGO Gift of the Givers— which offered accommodation for the arrivals—led to their disembarkation. Of the 153 passengers, 23 were reported to have travelled on to other countries, while approximately 130 remained in South Africa, many said to be seeking asylum. The circumstances of the flight — how it was organised, who chartered it, how travellers without full exit documentation from Israel were allowed to depart — are now under investigation by South African authorities. South Africa has historically supported the Palestinian cause, having filed a case against Israel with the International Court of Justice in 2023. The incident has stirred debate about immigration controls, humanitarian obligations, and regional travel logistics involving Gaza and wider displacement issues.