The warning followed an incident in which 153 Palestinians left Gaza without knowing their final destination and without proper documents.
By Asaye Bankole
The Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned that Palestinians, especially those living in the Gaza Strip, should be cautious of networks aiming to force them out of their homes to serve Israeli interests.
The warning followed an incident in which 153 Palestinians left Gaza without knowing their final destination and without proper documents.
They arrived in South Africa on a flight from Kenya on Friday and were detained for 12 hours while authorities investigated.
South Africa, which has filed a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), granted Palestinians 90‑day visas.
The Palestinian Ministry said on Saturday that it “deeply appreciated” the support from South African authorities and people, and welcomed the temporary visas given to those who left from Ramon Airport in southern Israel. The Palestinian embassy in Pretoria added that it is helping travellers who have endured over two years of “Israeli genocidal war, killing, displacement, and destruction.”
It also warned that companies, unofficial groups and unregistered intermediaries in occupied Palestinian territory are misleading Palestinians and encouraging them to leave, urging “our people, especially those in the Gaza Strip, to be cautious and not become victims of human trafficking, blood‑selling merchants, or displacement agents.”
The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the Israeli military body that oversees Gaza’s border crossings, was quoted by Israeli media as saying it had received approval from an unnamed third country to accept Palestinians.
This was part of an Israeli government policy that permits Gaza residents to leave. After enduring continuous bombing and famine in Gaza, the Palestinians were instructed to abandon all their belongings and board a flight to an unspecified destination.
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