Etihad Airways plane lands in Israel in historic first

i24 News
June 9, 2020

UAE plane carries assistance package for Palestinians in West Bank and Gaza Strip

Israel’s Foreign Ministry announced Tuesday night that a cargo plane of Etihad Airways has landed in Ben Gurion Airport in the first ever direct flight from Abu Dhabi.

The arrival of the plane was coordinated between the ministry and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and carried humanitarian and medical equipment for Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

The distribution of the supplies will be carried out by Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories — an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) unit — and the United Nations.

This is the second time a jet from UAE lands in the Jewish state as a similar assistance flight took place on May 21, albeit, traveling through Kuwait’s, Iraq’s and Turkey’s airspace.

However, the Palestinian Authority rejected the shipment at the time, accusing Abu Dhabi of trying to use it to further its efforts to normalize ties with Israel.

There are no diplomatic relations between Israel and the UAE, which includes air travel between the two countries.

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