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An Associated Press (AP) investigation has linked Israeli group Ad Kan, whose founder supported United States (US) President Donald Trump’s proposal to resettle Gazans, to Palestinian evacuation flights which landed in Indonesia and South Africa.
Since May 2025, no fewer than three flights filled with Gaza residents who had signed up to leave Palestine have landed in Indonesia and South Africa.
In May 2025, a flight took nearly 60 Palestinians from Israel via Hungary to Indonesia and a handful of other locations. A second flight, in October, took some 170 people from Israel to South Africa via Kenya. In November, another flight landed in Johannesburg, South Africa’s capital.
When a flight carrying Palestinians from Gaza landed in South Africa, South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola described the flight as a “clear agenda to cleanse out the Palestinians out of Gaza and the West Bank.”
According to a contract, passenger lists, financial statements, interviews and other documents reviewed by AP, the news agency determined that Ad Kan, founded by Israeli soldiers and former intelligence officers, worked via another company to distance links to Israel and organise the flights.
Many passengers who fled the war-torn region said they had no idea who was behind the trip, but they didn’t care because they were more concerned about fleeing the country.
A 37-year-old Palestinian who arrived in South Africa in November 2025 and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity because he feared he could be punished said he was left with no other option.
“There was famine, and we had no options. My children were almost killed. Death and destruction was everywhere, all day, for two years, and nobody came to the rescue,” the 37-year-old Palestinian told AP.
AP further revealed that the evacuations were organised through a company called Al-Majd, which on its website describes itself as a humanitarian organisation “supporting Palestinian lives” and providing aid for Muslim communities in conflict.
When AP’s journalists examined the history of Ad Kan and its founder, Gilad Ach, they found that the Israeli group may have been driven by a different agenda.
The Israeli group’s founder, Ach, is an Israeli combat reservist and a West Bank settler activist who was a staunch supporter of Trump’s proposal to transfer two million Palestinians out of Gaza in 2025.
Ach published a report detailing how he’d implement the “voluntary exit” after Trump floated his proposal.
According to AP, the document proposed that Israel complete the Palestinian emigration process from Gaza within six to eight months and coordinate with the US to enlist receiving countries.
Trump, however, abandoned his plan, which triggered condemnation, and said Palestinians could remain in Gaza. But members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition and other far-right Israeli groups continue to support the idea of removing Gazans in hopes that Israel could resettle the area in the future.
Israel’s government has approached several governments, including Somaliland, South Sudan, and Sudan, in hopes of facilitating emigration from Gaza. AP revealed that it was done with the US Government’s knowledge.
The group’s founder declined to be interviewed by the AP. He said in a text message that he was proud to lead organisations voicing support for the rights of Palestinians in Gaza who want to leave for safer parts of the world, free from Hamas.
He denied South Africa’s allegation that the flights were meant to cleanse Gaza and the West Bank of Palestinians. He added that they were humanitarian flights and that those who left reached out for help, with some paying part of the costs. Ach did not respond to questions about using Al-Majd to distance links to Israel.
Six Palestinians told the AP that they paid up to $2,000 per person through bank and cryptocurrency transfers.
Some of them said they started hearing about a company transferring people out of Gaza in early 2025. Others saw ads online or on social media, or were directed to Al-Majd’s website by friends. They said the website indicated they’d be taken to South Africa, Indonesia, or Malaysia, but did not give an option to choose.
Some also said they didn’t know where they were going. All they wanted was to get away. When the flight was ready, the Palestinians received messages telling them to meet at a location where they were transported by bus out of Gaza to Israel, searched and allowed to take a few belongings onto the plane.
Families who flew to South Africa told AP they weren’t aware that Israelis were behind the flights, but that in the end, it didn’t matter.
“I agreed to the flight, and I didn’t know the destination,” said a Palestinian who used Al-Majd to send his wife and son to South Africa. All I cared about was getting my family out of Gaza and saving them,” a Palestinian told AP.
