Report: Israeli group quietly organised charter flights evacuating Palestinians from Gaza

JTA – An Israeli organisation headed by a right-wing activist quietly arranged a series of charter flights that evacuated Palestinians from Gaza last year, according to an Associated Press (AP) investigation. 

Ad Kan, a right-wing Israeli organisation founded by Gilad Ach, an Israeli combat reservist and West Bank settler activist, coordinated the flights via another company called Al-Majd, which describes itself on its website as a humanitarian organisation “supporting Palestinian lives”. 

Among the evacuations facilitated by Ad Kan was a flight in May that transported nearly 60 Palestinians to Indonesia and other locations, as well as two flights in October and November that transported more than 300 Palestinians to South Africa. 

It was not clear who had planned or paid for the flights. South African International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola decried the evacuations as representing “a broader agenda to remove Palestinians from Palestine”, and an investigation was launched into one of the flight’s origins. 

At the time, US President Donald Trump had walked back his proposal to relocate the population in Gaza to other countries amid criticism, despite getting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s endorsement. 

The AP investigation found that Ach had stuck with Trump’s plan after the US president dumped it, publishing a report detailing how he would implement the “voluntary exit”. 

The newly revealed origins of the charter flights adds to a history of controversy surrounding small-scale efforts to evacuate Palestinians from Gaza. 

In August, France suspended its effort to evacuate Palestinians after a woman who took part in the programme was accused of making antisemitic comments online. The same month, the United States also suspended a programme designed to give Palestinian medical care after the far-right Jewish influencer Laura Loomer called the effort a “national security threat”. 

Several of the passengers on the South Africa flights told AP that they were unaware of who was behind the flights, but said they did not care and were more concerned with leaving the besieged territory. (Six Palestinians who spoke to the outlet said they paid up to $2 000 (R33 550) per person for the transportation.) 

“There was famine, and we had no options. My children were almost killed,” said a 37-year-old Palestinian who arrived in South Africa in November. “Death and destruction was everywhere, all day, for two years, and nobody came to the rescue.” 

In a statement to AP, Ach rejected South Africa’s allegations that the evacuations amounted to ethnic cleansing and decried the “profound hypocrisy” of countries unwilling to accept Palestinian refugees. 

“Their continued presence in Gaza, under dire conditions, serves as a tool to pressure Israel internationally and allows Hamas to maintain its rule over this suffering population,” Ach said. 

While it was unclear if Ach had coordinated with the Israeli government to facilitate the evacuations, Muayad Saidam, a Palestinian identified on the group’s website as its Gaza humanitarian project manager, told the outlet that travel arrangements for Palestinians must be made with Israeli authorities.