Mystery fuels Israel-Gaza ethnic cleansing fears

The mystery surrounding a plane that arrived in South Africa carrying more than 150 Palestinians deepened Wednesday after the company at the center of the saga responded to media coverage.

Inconsistencies regarding the public profile of Al-Majd Europe, a company that some passengers on the flight said had arranged their travel, only added to the uncertainty over how the passengers were able to leave the Middle East and who was ultimately behind their trip.

In a lengthy statement Tuesday evening, Al-Majd did not directly acknowledge organizing the flight, which South Africa called a “clearly orchestrated operation”, after it landed in Johannesburg last week to the surprise of authorities.

Al-Majd said his “only interaction with Israeli authorities is to coordinate exits from Gaza.”

South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola told reporters on Monday that the flight was part of a “clear agenda to cleanse Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank.”

He did not specify who was behind the alleged effort, but his comments were widely seen as directed at Israel, as the fragile ceasefire in Gaza intensifies questions about the fate of the 2 million Palestinians living in the devastated enclave.

South Africa, a staunch critic of Israel and supporter of the Palestinian cause, filed a complaint with the United Nations International Court of Justice in late 2023, accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza, which Israel vehemently rejected. The case remains ongoing.

“As the South African government, we are suspicious of the circumstances surrounding the arrival of the plane and the passengers who were on board the plane,” Lamola said, adding that his country was investigating further and did not want more such flights to occur.

COGAT, the Israeli military’s liaison to the Palestinians, said the Palestinians left Gaza after receiving approval from a third country to welcome them. COGAT did not name the third country.

An Israeli government spokesperson said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “has made it clear” that Gazans should be allowed to leave and return as they wish.

President Donald Trump’s peace plan states that no one will be forced to leave Gaza, and that those who wish to leave will be free to do so and free to return.

But fears of ethnic cleansing persist among Palestinians and their supporters. The Israeli government in February asked its army to prepare a plan for Palestinians to voluntarily leave the enclave, after adopting a Trump proposal that Gaza would be emptied of its residents and taken over by the United States.

“Evacuated” from Gaza

The chartered plane arrived at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg on Thursday, appearing to catch the South African government off guard.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa told reporters on Friday that the Palestinians were from Gaza and had been “mysteriously” put on a plane. They did not have the necessary documents to enter, he said, but they would not be turned away because they come “from a country torn by conflict and war.”

He said South Africa would welcome them “out of compassion”, but added “it seems like they are, you know, flushed out”.

The South African Border Management Authority said passengers on board the plane did not indicate the length of their stay or accommodation in South Africa and did not have an exit stamp on their passports.

They were initially refused entry, but 130 passengers have since been placed in the care of a South African non-governmental organization called Gift of the Givers, which helps with relief efforts in war zones and disaster areas.

The remaining 23 continued to other destinations, the Border Management Authority said. Palestinians are eligible for 90 days of visa-free travel to South Africa, the statement added.

NBC News has contacted the South African government for further comment.

It was not immediately clear how the Palestinians on board could have left Israel without proper documents.

Questions about who is behind the theft

Reuters spoke to two Palestinians who said they paid $2,000 per seat to take their families to South Africa on the plane, part of a trip organized by an organization called Al-Majd Europe. They said they were transported by bus from Gaza and passed through the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing before being flown out of an Israeli airport last week.

NBC News initially contacted Al-Majd Europe on Tuesday via an email listed on its website, but did not receive a response. Its location is only listed as Sheikh Jarrah, Jerusalem, with an embedded map with a pin pointing to a building behind a hospital and the British consulate.

NBC News’ analysis of its online presence revealed a number of inconsistencies.

Al-Majd claims it is a “humanitarian organization founded in 2010 in Germany,” but NBC News found no evidence its website existed before February of this year. His Facebook and X accounts were also created this year. NBC News was also unable to find the organization in the German tax administration’s register.

NBC News determined that a photo accompanying the “about” page showing a building with the Al-Majd sign and Jerusalem’s Dome of the Rock in the background was generated by AI. The website has several blog posts containing case study summaries of its claimed work as a charity during the Syrian war and the Turkish earthquake. While the website was created this year, the blog posts are from 2023.

One of the case studies listed shows a photo of a woman called Mona Farouk, who she says left Syria for neighboring Lebanon in 2013, then needed help from Al-Majd in 2014 to flee fighting again. A reverse image search led NBC News to a Middle East Eye article last year with the same photo, which the news agency attributed to its own reporter. The article names the woman in the photo as Abeer Khayat and says she left Syria in 2012.

The website contains a terms and conditions page which states that the “organizing entity” of the “Voluntary Migration Program” aimed at leaving the Gaza Strip is Talent Globus.

NBC News discovered that it was a company registered in Estonia in 2024 by someone named Tomer Janar Lind. NBC News contacted an account of the same name on LinkedIn. The UK Company Register shows Lind as a director of two dissolved companies and one active company with overdue accounts. None of them appear to be related to Talent Globus.

The Talent Globus website lists four employees, three of whom are featured with stock footage available online. The company’s “about” section says it has been around for a decade, but company records indicate it was founded in 2024. The phone number listed does not work when called.

The company issued a statement Tuesday evening to “directly respond to false accusations and disinformation spread by parties with clear political interests” that it said aimed to “deprive the people of Gaza of their freedom of choice.”

It said it had no ties to Israel’s Mossad or any other intelligence service, and claimed it “was founded by refugees who escaped dictatorial regimes, including refugees from the Hamas regime in Gaza.”

The statement did not directly mention the Palestinians who arrived in South Africa last week or the inconsistencies on its website.

NBC News has reached out to Al-Majd for additional clarification.

The Palestinian Embassy in South Africa told NBC News that it was closely monitoring the situation and liaising with South African authorities to ensure the protection and well-being of all Palestinian nationals involved, but that “due to the sensitivity of the matter,” the embassy was unable to provide further details at this time.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry expressed “deep thanks for the principled positions of the leadership, government and people of South Africa in support of the Palestinian people and their cause” in a statement sent to NBC News on Friday. He warned that any business that “lures” Palestinians and “induces them into expulsion” will face legal consequences, while warning Palestinians not to fall prey to “human trafficking.”