South Africa accepts plane of Palestinians 'flushed out' of Gaza

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has pledged to get to the bottom of a "mysterious" plane carrying 153 Palestinians who he said had apparently been "flushed out" of Gaza by Israel.

The 153 men, women and children who arrived in Johannesburg on board a flight from Nairobi were detained by border police on their plane for more than 12 hours because their passports lacked an exit stamp from Israel.

The Department of Home Affairs eventually authorised the passengers' entry into South Africa that evening, after receiving assurances from NGO Gift of the Givers that they would be taken care of.

"These are residents of Gaza who, in a rather mysterious way, were put on a plane that transited through Nairobi and then landed here," Ramaphosa said on Friday.

He said while they would welcome the passengers "out of compassion", there would be an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the flight.

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