153 Palestinians Stuck at OR Tambo International Airport Allowed Entry

• A group of Palestinians seeking refuge was stranded at the OR Tambo International Airport in Ekurhuleni
• This was after the Palestinians did not pass the immigration tests, resulting in them being temporarily detained
• Humanitarian aid organisation Gift of the Givers stepped in to help the refugees who were stuck on the aircraft

Tebogo Mokwena, Briefly News’ Deputy Head of Current Affairs, contributed coverage of international and local social issues, including health, corruption, education, unemployment, labour, service delivery protests, and immigration in South Africa, during his seven years at Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News.

OR TAMBO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT — A group of 153 Palestinians were prevented from entering the country at the OR Tambo International Airport on 14 November 2025. They were not allowed to disembark their aircraft.

According to News24, the group arrived in the morning on a flight from Kenya. Border Management Authority (BMA) immigration officers interviewed them. They learned that the group did not indicate how long they wanted to stay or where they were going to stay. They also did not have departure stamps on their passports.

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The passengers also did not indicate that they intended to apply for asylum. The BMA promptly denied them entry. The BMA's commissioner, Dr Michael Masiapato, said that the Gift of the Givers contracted the BMA. They said that they were committed to providing the Palestinians with accommodation during their stay.

How long will they stay?

Masiapato said that the Palestinians are eligible for a 90-day visa-exempt travel. They were then processed and instructed to abide by their conditions of entry. Global Airways, the company that flew the Palestinians from Kenya, said that the passengers' list and their credentials were shared with the relevant South African authorities a day before the flight took off.

Gift of the Givers speaks about refugees

In a statement on Facebook, the Gift of the Givers thanked the Department of International Relations and Cooperations, the department's Director General Zane Gangor, and the Minister Ronald Lamola for the refugees' 90-day visa-exempt travel. The organisation's founder, Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, said that Israel purposefully did not stamp their passports. He called it a deliberate attempt to exacerbate their suffering in a foreign country.

2 Briefly News articles about Palestine

President Cyril Ramaphosa urged the International Court of Justice on 23 September to rule that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. He spoke during his address at the 80th United Nations General Assembly. He said there was a growing global consensus that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza.

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Ramaphosa also called for the release of citizens who were on the Global Sumud Flotilla. It was on a humanitarian mission to deliver aid to Palestinians in Gaza when they were intercepted on 2 October 2025.

SA won't withdraw Israel case: Lamola

In a related article, Briefly News reported that Lamola said that South Africa will not withdraw the genocide case against Israel to appease the United States. He spoke after the African National Congress's National Executive Committee meeting.

Lamola spoke on 30 March 2025 and said that although the country is willing to mend relations with the United States, it will not negotiate on its case against Israel.

Source: Briefly News