Wheels come off as stranded Gazans blamed on Israel

A planeload of Gazans who arrived in South Africa on Thursday, 13 November, triggered hours of chaos at OR Tambo International Airport, exposing a government blindsided by events and anti-Israel activists that recast the crisis as Israel’s fault. 

Within hours, a manufactured narrative overtook the facts; the story was hijacked by political interests; and South Africans were presented with a completely distorted version of events. The real tragedy wasn’t the travellers’ arrival, it was that their story was immediately weaponised for domestic political theatre while a government caught off guard allowed itself to be steered by misinformation rather than verified intelligence. 

The embassy of Israel in South Africa said, “Close to 250 Gazans in need of medical treatment and their caregivers, as well as Gazans with dual citizenship, exited Gaza on 12 November. All efforts were co-ordinated with various countries and organisations to provide the necessary support and treatment.” 

Israel’s Co-ordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) corroborated this saying, “Close to 250 Gazans in need of medical treatment and caregivers, as well as Gazans with dual citizenship exited Gaza yesterday through the Kerem Shalom Crossing to the Allenby Bridge Crossing and Ramon Airport.” 

It said the group had left Gaza only after a third country confirmed that it would receive them, and valid visas were submitted for every traveller. Israel had facilitated more than 40 000 such departures since the war began, with most applications now approved following streamlined security and co-ordination processes. 

COGAT explained to the SA Jewish Report that, “In accordance with the policy set by the government of Israel, COGAT allows and facilitates the departure of Gazan residents from the Gaza Strip through Israel to receiving countries around the world, both for patients requiring continued treatment outside Gaza, and for residents holding dual citizenship, their family members, or those possessing visas to third countries. 

“We urge countries and organisations to co-ordinate efforts and provide necessary support and treatment. We remain committed to working with our partners in the international community to co-ordinate and support the medical evacuation of patients and caregivers.” 

More than 100 passengers were left stranded on the tarmac for hours, sealed inside a Global Aviation aircraft with immigration officials boarding to verify identities and documentation. Passengers sat without food, ventilation, or clarity. They apparently had no accommodation planned, no return ticket, nor proof of funds, all required for entry into South Africa. 

Behind the scenes, South African authorities scrambled. The Border Management Authority refused entry. Home Affairs was caught off guard. The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) and other departments were unaware that the flight was coming. The timing, days before the G20, underscored just how unprepared South Africa was for even a routine border-control situation and the state’s readiness to manage even standard diplomatic and security protocols. 

But while officials were still trying to understand who the passengers were and why they had arrived, a very different version of events exploded online. 

Activists, commentators, and certain anti-Israel nongovernmental organisations (NGOs)claimed that the travellers had been “abandoned” by Israel because their passports lacked exit stamps. The narrative aligned neatly with domestic political agendas. It spread with remarkable speed, driven by Imtiaz Sooliman, the founder of Gift of the Givers, whose statements were adopted uncritically by government spokespeople within hours. 

The South African Zionist Federation (SAZF) rejected these claims outright. SAZF spokesperson Rolene Marks accused Sooliman of igniting a “blaze of misinformation” that overtook public discourse and distorted the facts. 

“The South African Zionist Federation categorically rejects the torrent of baseless accusations surrounding the group of Gazans initially denied entry at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport,” Marks said. “Within hours of their 13 November arrival, politicians and media commentators repeated the inflammatory claim that Israel ‘deliberately’ withheld passport stamps to sabotage them. 

“This narrative didn’t appear spontaneously, it was lit by one man, Imtiaz Sooliman of Gift of the Givers. His allegation ignited the misinformation now dominating public debate. This is a calculated distortion, weaponised to inflame outrage over facts.” 

Israel abolished physical passport stamps in 2013, replacing them with an electronic entry and exit slip issued to every traveller. Marks said “blaming Israel for missing stamps” wasn’t ignorance, it was “wilful blindness to a transparent and universal policy, repackaged as a geopolitical ambush”. 

She said responsibility for the crisis at OR Tambo lay squarely with South Africa, not Israel. “Entry into South Africa isn’t determined by Israel; it’s controlled exclusively by the Department of Home Affairs and Border Management Authority under the Immigration Act. Attacking Israel for South Africa’s own procedures, a deflection taken straight from Sooliman’s playbook, isn’t advocacy, it’s evasion designed to avoid accountability.” 

Marks said Sooliman’s attempt to pressure Home Affairs to admit the travellers was “deeply troubling”, pointing out that “South Africa is governed by the rule of law, not by the demands of private organisations.” 

Gift of the Givers had no involvement in arranging the travellers’ exit from Gaza; their co-ordination through Israel; their transit routing; or flight to Johannesburg. It inserted itself only once the aircraft had landed. Yet within hours, its claims shaped government messaging. 

The facts that later emerged told a completely different story. Travellers explained on Arabic-language social media platforms that they had registered voluntarily; had paid large sums of cash; underwent Israeli vetting; received approval; and were transported to Ramon Airport inside Israel. 

From there, the group travelled via Nairobi before arriving in Johannesburg. Kenya didn’t stamp their passports because they were in transit, and Israel didn’t stamp their passports because it ended stamping more than a decade ago. 

Nothing in the process suggests obstruction or abandonment. Everything indicates a known humanitarian-exit mechanism under an internationally negotiated ceasefire framework involving the United States, Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and others. 

What happened at OR Tambo wasn’t caused by Israel. It was as a result of a collapse in South Africa’s internal co-ordination and communication. Immigration couldn’t process the group for hours because no department had prepared for them. Travellers, including children, were left sitting for hours inside a grounded aircraft as officials attempted to improvise procedures they should have been briefed on. 

Said Marks, “South Africans deserve reporting grounded in fact not outrage engineered for applause. Israel followed its standard protocol, South Africa alone controls its borders, and NGOs don’t decide who enters the republic. It’s time to replace misinformation with transparency and truth.” 

The episode exposed a deeper structural problem: state institutions appear vulnerable to pressure from politically driven NGOs; quick to absorb external narratives; and slow to verify facts. 

DIRCO hasn’t answered questions from the SA Jewish Report about why the government had no prior knowledge of the passengers’ arrival, and how such a failure occurred days before an international summit.