South African authorities have faced heavy criticism after they held more than 150 Palestinians, including a woman who is nine months pregnant, on a plane for around 12 hours due to complications with their travel documents.
A pastor who was allowed to meet with the passengers while they were still stuck on the plane said it was extremely stressful and that children were screaming and crying.
The Palestinians landed on a charter plane at Johannesburg's O R Tambo International Airport on Thursday morning after a stopover in Nairobi, Kenya, South Africa's Border Management Authority said in a statement.
The Palestinian passengers did not have exit stamps from Israeli authorities, did not indicate how long they would be staying in South Africa and had not given local addresses, leading immigration authorities to deny them entry, the statement said.
The 153 passengers, including families and children, were allowed to leave the plane on Thursday night after South Africa's Ministry of Home Affairs intervened and a local non-governmental organisation, Gift of the Givers, offered to accommodate them.
The Border Management Authority said 23 passengers had since travelled on to other countries, leaving 130 in South Africa.
Israel's genocide of Gaza and the violence of illegal Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank have wreaked havoc in the Palestinian territories.
Dire condition
A South African pastor who was given access to the plane while it was on the tarmac told national broadcaster SABC that many of the Palestinians now intended to claim asylum in South Africa.
South Africa has long been a supporter of the Palestinian cause, and the treatment of the travellers has sparked anger.
“It's dire,” Nigel Branken, the pastor, said in an interview with SABC on Thursday from the plane as he described the conditions.
“When I came onto the plane, it was excruciatingly hot. There were lots of children just sweating and screaming and crying.”
“I do not believe this is what South Africa is about. South Africa should at least be letting these people into the airport and allowing them to apply for asylum. This is their basic fundamental right guaranteed in our constitution.”
