South Africa’s Ministry of Home Affairs has announced the suspension of the 90-day visa exemption previously granted to holders of Palestinian passports. The measure aims to counter covert forced displacement attempts allegedly orchestrated by Israeli authorities against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the ministry explained that investigations by national intelligence units have uncovered a deliberate and systematic misuse of the visa exemption by Israeli-linked entities involved in schemes intended to push Palestinians out of Gaza under the guise of “voluntary relocation.”
According to the statement, 153 Palestinians were taken out of the occupied territory without exit stamps on their passports and transported to Johannesburg aboard a private flight on November 13. These evacuations did not occur via regular commercial airlines but were facilitated through intermediaries, with passengers receiving one-way tickets, prohibited from carrying luggage, and allowed to take only US dollars and essential items.
All these factors combined, the ministry said, clearly indicate external exploitation of the visa exemption in ways that violate its humanitarian purpose — prompting the decision to suspend it.
Regarding the status of the Palestinians already in South Africa, the ministry confirmed that asylum applications will be assessed according to legal procedures, while those who do not seek asylum will retain temporary entry rights for up to 90 days under previous conditions.
Meanwhile, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz revealed that the organization behind these flights is an NGO run by an Israeli-Estonian national, which appears to be a front for a consulting company registered in Estonia.
These developments come amid repeated statements from Israeli ministers promoting the “idea” of relocating Palestinians from Gaza, a stance that Pretoria views as part of what it has described as a genocidal campaign. South Africa has been pursuing a genocide case against Israel before the International Court of Justice since late 2023.
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