Mohammad Kanaan with deported Palestinian men left at the West Bank village of Ni’lin. They include Maher Awad, in the foreground with hand raised, and Sameer Isam Aziz Zeidan, at the back wearing a mask. (Courtesy)
The investigation found that the flights were part of a covert and politically sensitive operation carried out by the US government to deport Palestinians detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to the occupied West Bank.
According to the investigative report, a luxury private jet owned by US-Israeli businessman Gil Dezer transported two groups of deported Palestinians from the US state of Arizona to Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, before they were later dropped off at Israeli military checkpoints in the West Bank.
The report said the first flight took place on 21 January, when Israeli authorities left eight Palestinians at a checkpoint near the village of Ni‘lin, west of Ramallah. The men were described as disoriented and cold, wearing clothing issued by US detention centers and carrying their belongings in plastic bags.
Hours earlier, the men had been aboard the private jet, which made three refueling stops in New Jersey, Ireland, and Bulgaria during the long journey carried out by ICE as part of what was described as a “secret and politically sensitive” deportation operation.
Shackled and cut off from contact
One of the deportees, 24-year-old Maher Awad, said he had lived in the United States for nearly a decade, where he had a home, family, and job, before being detained for more than a year in ICE facilities, despite charges against him later being dropped.
Awad said the Palestinians were shackled at the hands and feet throughout the flight, making it nearly impossible to eat. “They dropped us at the checkpoint like animals, without any explanation or coordination,” he said.
The men eventually reached the village of Ni‘lin, where local residents provided food and temporary shelter. Their families were able to contact them for the first time in months, as some relatives had believed they were missing.
Flight-tracking data showed that the same aircraft was used again on 1 February to transport another group of deported Palestinians on a similar flight to Tel Aviv. The cost of each flight was estimated at between $400,000 and $500,000.
The advocacy group Human Rights First said the flights are part of an “opaque and unaccountable system,” contributing to a mass deportation campaign that “blatantly disregards due process and results in the separation of families.”
Former US officials and immigration lawyers said deporting Palestinians to the West Bank via Israel represents a dangerous shift in US policy, amid an escalation of mass deportations under the Trump administration and close coordination with Israeli authorities.
Gil Dezer: Trump Ally and Supporter of the Israeli Military
According to the report, Gil Dezer, the aircraft’s owner, is a longtime business partner of Trump, a donor to his election campaigns, a friend of Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr., and a member of the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces organization in Miami. Records show that the Dezer family has contributed more than $1.3 million to Trump’s presidential campaigns.
The aircraft was chartered through Journey Aviation, a company frequently used by US government agencies to lease private planes. Dezer said in a brief response that he was “not aware of the identity of the passengers or the nature of the flights.”
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