Gazans say they paid $2,000 per seat for flight to South Africa

(Refiles to add dropped word in headline, replace second subhead)

By Nidal al-Mughrabi, Tim Cocks and Nellie Peyton

CAIRO (Reuters) -Gazans said they paid $2,000 per seat to fly their families to South Africa on a trip arranged by a group offering a way out of the devastated enclave, in what South Africa alleged on Monday appeared to be part of a bid to displace Palestinians.

Two Gazans interviewed by Reuters said they were among 130 Palestinians granted entry by South Africa after being bussed from Gaza and flown out of an Israeli airport last week, arriving in Johannesburg on Thursday after a stop in Nairobi. 

South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola, whose government has long backed Palestinian national aspirations and has accused Israel of genocide in the Gaza war, on Monday said South African authorities were investigating what he called the suspicious circumstances of the plane's arrival. 

"It does look like it represents a broader agenda to remove Palestinians from Palestine," he said in a news briefing.

Israel has rejected accusations of genocide in Gaza as politically motivated and says that its military campaign targeted Hamas, not Gaza's civilian population.

Asked about Lamola's comments, an Israeli government spokesperson said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had "made it clear that if Palestinians want to leave, they should be allowed to leave the Gaza Strip. And if they want to come back to the Gaza Strip, they should also be allowed to come back".

The spokesperson did not directly address the question of how the group of Palestinians ended up in South Africa.

COGAT, the arm of the Israeli military overseeing civilian affairs in Gaza, said the Gazans left after it had received approval from a third country that it did not name to receive them, and that they had valid visas. The request for their departure included "documents confirming authorization to land in South Africa", it said. 

Lamola said that "at this stage the information we have is that they didn't have those required approvals and permits", adding that the matter was under investigation.

ISRAEL LOOSENED RULES ON GAZANS LEAVING

In May, Reuters reported that Israel had eased restrictions on Palestinians leaving Gaza, and that around 1,000 of them had been bussed out of the enclave to board flights to Europe and elsewhere. The departures required a request to Israel by a foreign government, Reuters reported at the time.

The two Palestinians said they saw online adverts posted by an organisation called Al-Majd Europe offering the chance to leave Gaza, and applied some six months ago. The offer was only open to families and required that applicants must have a passport.

Reuters emailed Al-Majd Europe at an address on their website but did not immediately receive a response. There was no phone number.       

Both Palestinians eventually received messages from Al-Majd Europe via WhatsApp telling them security clearance had been granted. They left Gaza on buses and were taken through the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing before being flown out of Ramon airport. They arrived in South Africa on November 13.

"I am a lymphoma cancer patient. How long would I have had to wait to be evacuated ... I had to leave for treatment and for a better life for my family,” said Ramzi Abu Youssef, 42, speaking to Reuters by phone from Johannesburg 

Abu Youssef left with his wife and three children, aged 8, 10, and 12, and said two of his daughters had been killed in an Israeli attack in June 2024 during a raid on Nuseirat camp, where his house had been destroyed.

BLEAK CONDITIONS IN GAZA

The second Palestinian, who asked to remain anonymous due to concerns about his security and upsetting his new hosts, said his family reluctantly decided to leave Gaza after living through months of bombardment and being forced to evacuate his home in Deir al-Balah several times. Aged 35, he left with his wife and two children, a four-year-old boy and a two-year-old girl.

Their departures underline bleak conditions in Gaza more than a month since U.S. President Donald Trump clinched a ceasefire in the war that has laid waste to much of the enclave.   

The Gaza war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants raided southern Israel, abducting 251 people and killing another 1,200, according to Israeli tallies.

More than 69,000 Palestinians have been killed in the offensive Israel launched in response, health authorities in Gaza say.

The Palestinians arrived at Johannesburg airport on a chartered Global Airways flight from Kenya. Border authorities said they didn't have departure stamps, return tickets or details of accommodation. Abu Youssef said the group had received 90-day visas and that some are staying in hostels while others, including himself, are being hosted by members of the Muslim community in Johannesburg.

Twenty-three people on the flight departed for other destinations.

(Additional reporting by Steve Scheer and Alexander Cornwell in Jerusalem and Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Aidan Lewis)