A mysterious organization led by an Israeli-Estonian national has helped hundreds of Palestinians leave the Gaza Strip in recent months, according to an investigation by Haaretz. The organization, called Al-Majd, offers Palestinians the option to pay around $2,000 to secure a seat on charter flights to destinations including Indonesia, South Africa, and other countries.
The departures, organized from Ramon Airport near Eilat in southern Israel, have involved groups of dozens of Palestinians traveling via Romanian and South African charter airlines. Passengers, including families with young children, have reported difficult conditions during transit, including lengthy delays without food or water while authorities verified documentation.
Al-Majd’s website claims it was founded in Germany and maintains offices in East Jerusalem. However, Haaretz found no evidence that the organization is registered in either location. Investigators traced the operation to Tomer Janar Lind, a dual Israeli-Estonian national who has founded multiple companies in Europe and Dubai. LinkedIn and corporate records suggest Lind is actively involved in arranging Gazans’ departures, but the website provides little verifiable information about its managers or prior humanitarian activities.
The organization is reportedly working in coordination with Israel’s Voluntary Emigration Bureau, a Defense Ministry entity tasked with easing restrictions on Palestinians leaving Gaza. Haaretz learned that the Bureau referred Al-Majd to the Israeli army’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) to facilitate the movements. Israeli authorities confirmed that they coordinate departures with receiving countries, and that passengers’ names and visas were provided in advance.
The Palestinian Embassy in South Africa criticized Al-Majd as “an unregistered and misleading organization that exploited the tragic humanitarian conditions of our people in Gaza” and warned residents to avoid human trafficking networks and irregular displacement agents.
Recent departures include a group of 153 Palestinians who flew from Gaza to Nairobi on a Romanian charter, then transferred to Johannesburg on a South African Lift Airlines flight. Passengers were held for over twelve hours due to missing documentation, though they were eventually allowed entry. Previous flights involved smaller groups that flew via Budapest to Southeast Asia.
Al-Majd collects fees ranging from $1,500 to $2,700 from passengers, after which they are added to WhatsApp groups to receive instructions for travel. While the organization claims to assist in humanitarian crises such as the 2023 Turkey earthquake and Syrian civil war, Haaretz found no evidence to substantiate these claims.
The operation has raised questions about transparency and oversight. Critics argue that while Israel ensures receiving countries are willing to accept travelers, the opaque nature of the organization and its methods could leave Palestinians vulnerable during the evacuation process.
