BRUSSELS

UN's special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, on Wednesday warned that the "mysterious" chartered flight that brought 153 Palestinian refugees to South Africa is "extremely serious."

Speaking at a press conference organized by the Left group in the European Parliament, Albanese responded to Anadolu's question regarding the transfer of Palestinians to South Africa and whether she believes Israel is using this as a tool to empty Gaza.

"I share your concern," she said, noting that Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has repeatedly referred to "voluntary migration," and the latest transfer aligns with such rhetoric.

"But there is nothing as far from voluntary that what Israel is coercing the Palestinians into. I’ve already said before that I do believe that any suspension of active hostilities against Gaza or against the Palestinians without the enforcement of international law, might lead to helping Israel achieve the goals it was not able to achieve through the genocide, meaning continuing the ethnic cleansing through other means," Albanese said.

"Palestinians are coerced. Whatever they do today, they are coerced, including in getting on a plane and going somewhere else, because this is what's happening to them," she added.

The rapporteur also highlighted the lack of clarity surrounding the transfer process.

"Many of those who have traveled to South Africa didn't even know where they were going and they didn't have anything else than their passport with them. So it's extremely serious," she noted.

Last Thursday, South Africa granted a 90-day visa exemption for 153 Palestinians who arrived from Kenya to seek asylum in the country, although they were initially denied entry due to a lack of travel documents and customary departure stamps in their passports.

According to the Israeli daily Haaretz, an association run by a man holding dual Israeli-Estonian citizenship sells Palestinians in Gaza seats on chartered flights heading to far-off countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia and South Africa for around $2,000.

South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola said Monday that the arrival in Johannesburg last week of a plane carrying Palestinian refugees was a "clearly orchestrated operation" to displace Palestinians.

Israel had previously discussed with several countries, including South Sudan, the possibility of relocating Palestinians there.