Gaza ‘escape flights’ to South Africa, Indonesia linked to Israeli group: Report

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• Israeli group Ad Kan linked to Gaza evacuation flights, says AP
• Flights arranged via Al-Majd to obscure Israeli involvement
• Palestinians paid up to $2,000 to escape war-torn Gaza

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An Israeli organisation founded by soldiers and former intelligence officers was behind flights that transported Palestinians out of the war-ravaged Gaza Strip to countries such as South Africa and Indonesia, according to the Associated Press.

The report said the group, Ad Kan, organised the evacuations through another company in an effort to obscure direct links to Israel. The findings are based on a contract, passenger lists, text messages, financial records and interviews with more than two dozen Israelis, Palestinians and others involved in the trips.

South Africa had launched a probe last November after a flight carrying 153 undocumented Palestinians landed in the country. At the time, South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola described the flights as part of a “clear agenda to cleanse out the Palestinians out of Gaza and the West Bank.”

Flights arranged through another company

According to AP, the evacuations were organised through a company called Al-Majd, which presents itself online as a humanitarian organisation that “supports Palestinian lives” and provides aid to Muslim communities in conflict zones.

However, the report said Al-Majd was used to distance the operation from its Israeli organisers.

Ad Kan, whose name in Hebrew means “enough is enough,” has for years carried out covert operations to infiltrate groups it accuses of being anti-Israel or antisemitic.

The group’s founder, Gilad Ach, is an Israeli combat reservist and a settler activist in the West Bank. He had also publicly supported a proposal floated last year by US President Donald Trump to transfer millions of Palestinians out of Gaza.

After Trump proposed the idea, Ach published a document outlining how what he called a “voluntary exit” of Palestinians could be implemented within six to eight months, including coordinating with the United States to find countries willing to receive them.

Trump later walked back the proposal following widespread international criticism and accusations from Palestinians, rights groups and the United Nations that such a plan could amount to ethnic cleansing.

Palestinians paid up to $2,000 for seats

AP spoke with six Palestinians who left Gaza through the flights. They said they paid up to $2,000 per person through bank transfers and cryptocurrency to secure seats.

Some passengers said they first heard about the opportunity in early 2025 through online advertisements, social media or referrals from friends directing them to Al-Majd’s website.

The website indicated passengers could be flown to destinations such as South Africa, Indonesia or Malaysia, but it did not allow them to choose where they would go.

Escape from a war-torn enclave

Once a flight was arranged, passengers received messages instructing them to gather at a designated location. From there, they were transported by bus out of Gaza into Israel, where they were searched before boarding the flights with only a few belongings.

With much of Gaza destroyed after more than two years of war, many passengers said they did not know their final destination but simply wanted to escape.

“There was famine, and we had no options. My children were almost killed,” a 37-year-old Palestinian who arrived in South Africa in November told AP, speaking anonymously for fear of punishment.

“Death and destruction were everywhere, all day, for two years, and nobody came to the rescue,” he added.

Founder calls flights humanitarian

Ach declined to be interviewed by AP but said in a text message that he was proud to support Palestinians who wanted to leave Gaza for safer places around the world.

He rejected accusations that the flights were intended to remove Palestinians from Gaza permanently and insisted they were humanitarian operations organised for people seeking to escape the war.

Ach also criticised countries unwilling to accept Palestinian refugees, saying their continued presence in Gaza under harsh conditions was being used to pressure Israel internationally.