AP — The plane carrying about 150 Palestinians from Gaza came as a surprise to everyone on the ground when it landed in South Africa in November.

It wasn’t the only one. Since May, at least three flights filled with Gaza residents who’d signed up to leave the war-torn enclave have landed in Indonesia and South Africa.

An Israeli group whose founder adamantly supported US President Donald Trump’s proposal to resettle Palestinians from Gaza is behind the flights, an AP investigation has found, raising further questions about the motives behind the evacuation of hundreds of people from the Strip.

At the time, South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola called the flights a “clear agenda to cleanse out the Palestinians out of Gaza and the West Bank.”

Ad Kan, a right-wing Israeli organization founded by soldiers and former intelligence officers, worked via another company to distance links to Israel and organize the flights, according to a contract, passenger lists, text messages, financial statements, and interviews with more than two dozen Israelis, Palestinians and other people involved with the trips.

Several of the passengers — who fled after more than two years of a devastating war — said they didn’t know who was behind the trip.

But they largely didn’t care, they said, as long as they could leave.

“There was famine, and we had no options. My children were almost killed,” said a 37-year-old Palestinian who arrived in South Africa in November and, like the other passengers, spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing possible punishment.

‘Supporting Palestinian lives’

The evacuations were organized through a company called Al-Majd, which describes itself on its website as a humanitarian organization “supporting Palestinian lives” and providing aid for Muslim communities in conflict.

However, a look at the history of Ad Kan and its founder, Gilad Ach, suggests the Israeli group may have been driven, at least in part, by a different agenda.

Ad Kan has for years worked covertly to infiltrate groups and expose what it calls antisemitic or anti-Israel activities.

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© The Times of Israel