South African President Cyril Ramaphosa told reporters on Friday that his country intended to investigate the circumstances surrounding the "mysterious" arrival of 153 Palestinians at Johannesburg airport on Thursday morning aboard a flight from Nairobi.

The 153 men, women and children were held by border police in their aircraft for more than 12 hours, on the grounds that they did not have an exit stamp from Israel in their passports.

The Ministry of the Interior finally authorized the entry of the passengers onto South African soil in the evening, after receiving a commitment from the South African NGO Gift of the Givers that they would be taken care of and accommodated.

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

South Africa welcomed them "out of compassion" and will investigate the "behind-the-scenes" details of this flight, he added.

Of the 153 Palestinians who arrived on Thursday, 130 entered the territory with a temporary 90-day visa and the other 23 decided to take connecting flights to their chosen destination.

Imtiaz Sooliman, founder of the NGO Gift of the Givers, explained on Thursday that he did not know who had chartered the aircraft and revealed that a first plane carrying 176 Palestinians had landed in Johannesburg on October 28 under similar circumstances. Some of them have since left South Africa for a third country.

According to the Palestinian Embassy in South Africa, the trip of the two groups "was organized by an unregistered and deceptive organization, which exploited the tragic humanitarian conditions of our people in Gaza, duped families, collected money from them and facilitated their trip in an irregular and irresponsible manner."

The Interior Ministry stated in a press release that its services would investigate these allegations.

The conflict in Gaza resonates strongly in South Africa, which has the largest Jewish community in sub-Saharan Africa and whose government, led by the ANC (African National Congress), is a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause.

Pretoria filed a complaint against Israel before the International Court of Justice in late 2023, accusing it of "genocide" in Gaza.