Middle East

South Africa Warns of Bid to ‘Cleanse’ Palestinians From Gaza

Palestinians look out from a damaged building at the Al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, in October.

Photographer: Ahmad Salem/Bloomberg

South Africa is investigating a flight that brought Palestinians to Johannesburg last week, describing it as suspicious and part of a wider effort to “cleanse” them from Gaza and the West Bank.

“It does look like it represents a broader agenda to remove Palestinians from Palestine into many different parts of the world,” Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola told reporters in Johannesburg on Monday, without mentioning Israel by name.