PC Staff
The Palestine Chronicle / November 16, 2025
A Haaretz investigation has uncovered that the controversial evacuation flights moving Palestinians from Gaza abroad were coordinated by an unregistered organization linked to Israel’s Defense Ministry, now under investigation for possible fraud and trafficking.
A series of recent charter flights transporting Palestinians from Gaza to third countries was allegedly facilitated by a little-known organization operating under the name Al-Majd, according to an investigation published on Sunday by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
The report raises serious questions about the organization’s structure, legality, and potential ties to an Israeli Defense Ministry body created to encourage what the government has termed “voluntary emigration” from Gaza.
Over the past several months, several flights carrying dozens of Palestinians at a time departed from Ramon Airport near Eilat, southern Israel.
The most recent, 153 passengers, flew first to Nairobi aboard a chartered Fly Yo aircraft, before boarding a second charter flight to Johannesburg operated by the South African airline Lift.
According to the report, many passengers were not informed of the final destination prior to departure.
South African officials initially blocked the group from disembarking, citing missing paperwork, the absence of exit stamps from Israel, and a lack of return tickets.
Unregistered entity, false information, AI-generated profiles
While Al-Majd presents itself online as a humanitarian rescue group operating since 2010, Haaretz found no record of the organization in Germany or East Jerusalem, where it claims to be registered.
Its website was created only in February and includes stock imagery, inactive social media links, and unverifiable claims of involvement in humanitarian operations in Syria and Turkey.
Earlier archived versions of the website displayed the logo of Talent Globus, an Estonian-registered company. According to the report, Talent Globus claims to provide employment and immigration consulting services but uses a non-functional phone number and unverifiable international addresses.
Two individuals are reportedly listed as “project managers”: a man identified as Muayad from Gaza and another named Adnan from Jerusalem. Public information exists only on Muayad, who posted an image of himself boarding a flight to Indonesia with a caption stating he “left Gaza and will not return.” No online trace of Adnan could be found.
A video report by Al-Jazeera English added that the organization accepts payments only through cryptocurrency and that several profile photos presented as staff members appear to have been generated using artificial intelligence.
Connection to Israel
The Haaretz investigation found that Israel’s Voluntary Emigration Bureau, established within the Defense Ministry in March of last year, referred Al-Majd to the Israeli army’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) to coordinate Gaza departures.
The bureau was created following a cabinet decision to streamline exit approvals for Palestinians seeking to leave Gaza permanently. The office is headed by Defense Ministry official Yaakov (Kobi) Blitstein.
While other organizations reportedly attempted similar arrangements through the bureau, Haaretz found that Al-Majd was the only one that succeeded.
Accusations of Fraud and Exploitation
The Palestinian Embassy in South Africa described the group’s departure as organized by “an unregistered and misleading organization that exploited the tragic humanitarian conditions of our people in Gaza”.
It accused Al-Majd of collecting money under false pretences, then attempting to absolve itself of responsibility when complications arose.
Some passengers told reporters they paid around $5,000 per person to join the evacuation flights.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry issued a warning urging residents in Gaza to avoid “human trafficking networks, blood merchants, and displacement agents.”
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa stated publicly that authorities were “surprised” by the aircraft’s arrival and unaware of who coordinated the transfer, saying: “We cannot send them back… They came from a country torn apart by conflict and war.”
According to Al-Jazeera, regulatory bodies in South Africa and unnamed international investigative agencies have opened inquiries into Al-Majd Europe regarding the nature of the operation, the financing of the flights, and whether the scheme constitutes trafficking or irregular migration disguised as humanitarian evacuation.
Haaretz said the organization has not responded to multiple requests for comment.
