Gazans say they paid $2,000 per seat for flight to S.Africa

Gazans said they paid $2,000 per seat to fly their families to South Africa on a trip arranged by a group offering a way out of the devastated enclave, in what South Africa alleged on Monday appeared to be part of a bid to displace Palestinians.

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The group landed in Johannesburg on a chartered flight on Thursday without departure stamps from Israel on their passports.

Two Gazans interviewed by Reuters said they were among 130 Palestinians granted entry by South Africa after being bussed from Gaza and flown out of an Israeli airport last week, arriving in Johannesburg on Thursday after a stop in Nairobi. South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola, whose government has long backed Palestinian national aspirations and has accused Israel of genocide in the Gaza war, on Monday said South African authorities were investigating what he called the suspicious circumstances of the plane’s arrival.

"It does look like it represents a broader agenda to remove Palestinians from Palestine," he said in a news briefing.