Cape Town – International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola has denied claims that the country has an agreement with Israel to relocate Palestinians from Gaza to South Africa.
On 13 November 2025, 153 Palestinians arrived in South Africa but were initially detained due to missing immigration documents before being placed under the care of humanitarian organisation Gift of the Givers.
Speaking during an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Lamola said that South Africa did not approve any flights and that such an arrangement would contradict the country’s support for a UN-backed two-state solution.
“No, we didn’t approve any. We don’t have any agreement with Israel to depopulate or to remove people from Gaza to South Africa because that will go against a resolution that we support of a two state solution as resolution of the United Nations that Palestinians and the Israelis must live side by side in the in the Gaza Strip, with the Palestinian authorities, and also in Jerusalem, with his Jerusalem, its capital,” said Lamola.
“We don’t have any agreement with Israel to depopulate or to remove people from Gaza to South Africa.” I ask South Africa Foreign Minister @RonaldLamola about mystery flights bringing Gaza refugees into his country. pic.twitter.com/M0HWwlBKOd
— Christiane Amanpour (@amanpour) November 20, 2025
“So, there is no way we can agree to such an arrangement, because it will go against that resolution of the United Nations, and then we will also not accept any further flights of this nature, just because it is against that resolution of the United Nations that there must be a two-state solution.”
Earlier this week, the minister confirmed that the government is investigating the circumstances of the arrivals, with findings to be made public.
“Indeed, we are suspicious, as the South African government, about the circumstances surrounding the arrival of the plane and the passengers that were on the plane. This is the subject of investigation.”
South Africa, a vocal critic of Israel, has also filed a case at the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza, though court rulings have had limited impact on the ongoing conflict.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
