ALBAWABA — New information is coming out about a group called "Majd Europe" that not many people know about. They recently organized a series of strange planes that took Palestinians from Gaza to South Africa. The group is now the focus of international investigations because of fears that it is selling people while pretending to help people in need.
Israeli media say that the group has been selling Palestinians paid trips out of Gaza for around $2,000, which includes seats on hired planes going to places like South Africa, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper, did some research and found that the person behind "Majd Europe" is Tomer Janar Lind, who is both Israeli and Estonian. On its website, the group says it was founded in Germany and has offices in East Jerusalem. However, Haaretz discovered that it is backed by a consulting company based in Estonia.
The newspaper also learned that Israel's Ministry of Defense told the Immigration Authority about the group as part of a process to coordinate the leaving of civilians from Gaza. In the past few months, there have been reports of several charter planes leaving from Ramon Airport near Eilat with groups of Gaza residents going to different countries.
The groups that planned the departures say on their website that they are a humanitarian organization whose mission is to "rescue Muslim communities from war zones," but it's still not clear who they are or how they work.
A new investigation by Al Jazeera English put more light on the case. The story says that on November 13, "Majd Europe" set up a flight that took 153 Palestinians from Gaza to Johannesburg. In less than two weeks, it was the second flight of this kind to South Africa.
President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa said that the group's arrival "took his government by surprise." He said that he learned about it from the minister of home affairs. Ramaphosa said the passengers had come without all of their papers, but he made it clear that they would not be sent back because of humanitarian concerns.
Investigators talked to passengers who said they had been flown out of Israel after being moved there from Gaza before the flight. They also said that they applied online and paid $5,000 each for the trip.
A story from Al Jazeera said that "Majd Europe" runs a website in Iceland that promotes what it calls "humanitarian evacuation." South African regulators have started to look into where the group gets its money, why it does what it does, and whether or not its activities are legal.
Tips to Spot Lies and Possible Fraud
Several red flags were found during the probe. The group only accepts donations in cryptocurrency, which makes it hard to keep track of the money. Also, pictures of people on the website who were supposed to be leaders turned out to be fakes made by AI, which made people even less sure about the group's credibility.
People asked the group for comment several times, but they never replied, which added to the air of suspicion.
Now, investigators are looking into whether the flights were used to illegally move people while pretending to be on a relief mission, taking advantage of how bad things are in Gaza.
Earlier worries about aid abuse have grown.
The case shows that governments and regulatory bodies are having a harder time dealing with fake humanitarian groups that work in war zones. As these groups use AI tools and cryptocurrency more, it gets harder to keep an eye on them. This makes it more likely that people will be exploited, scammed, or trafficked.
Since there aren't any strong international tracking systems in place, this situation brings up important questions about who is responsible and how states can make sure that humanitarian corridors aren't used for illegal or exploitative activities.
