AMMAN — The
Israeli authorities have approved a plan to allow Palestinian travelers to fly out of
one of its airports, according to Israeli media.
اضافة اعلان
A first charter flight for travelers
from the
West Bank is set to leave from Ramon International Airport near
Eilat, in southern Israel, later this month, The Jerusalem Post reported
Tuesday, citing Israel’s airport authority.
West Bank Palestinians who want to
travel abroad must now cross the King Hussein Bridge into Jordan for flights
out of Amman. Most West Bank Palestinians cannot travel through
Israel's Ben-Gurion International Airport, and residents of the West Bank
who are not Israeli citizens travel overseas via Jordan. Only a handful of
senior
Palestinian officials and their family members, who hold Israeli-issued
VIP cards, are permitted to travel through Ben-Gurion Airport.
Musa Rahhal, spokesman for the
Palestinian Ministry of Transport and Communications, told Quds News Network
last month that the
Palestinian Authority (PA) is officially opposed to the
idea because it is a unilateral move on Israel’s part that “reinforces the
policy of apartheid against the Palestinians”.
“Israel failed to turn Ramon Airport
into an international terminal. Now the Israelis are offering us something that
did not work for them. This reminds me of the
COVID-19 vaccines which Israel
offered us because the expiration dates were nearing," Rahhal said.
He added that the PA had previously
demanded that Israel hand over Jerusalem Airport (better known as Kalandiya
Airport), which was closed after the eruption of the Second Intifada in 2000. Rahhal
also said that the PA has been demanding that Israel allow the Palestinians to
build a new airport in the West Bank.
He added that the
current overcrowding at the King Hussein Bridge was part of an Israeli
scheme to force Palestinians to use
Ramon Airport. Over the past few weeks,
thousands of Palestinian travelers have been stranded on the Jordanian side of the
bridge because of unprecedented overcrowding and limited working hours at the
border crossing. Jordan blamed Israel for the delays and for not keeping the
bridge open around the clock during the busy summer season.
Israeli media reported this week
that Israel was planning to open its border office at the bridge for 24 hours a
day by the end of September.
Palestinians wishing to travel
through Ramon Airport would be required first to apply for permits to enter
Israel. Then, they would have to travel at least five hours from the West Bank
to the airport, which is located near Eilat, according to The Post.
"Nobody consulted with us on
this matter," said Wasel Abu Yousef, a senior member of the Palestine
Liberation Organization.
"What we seek is the return of Al-Quds
International Airport to operate as the State of Palestine's airport," he
said.
According to Turkish media, under
the pilot program, the flights will run twice a week, starting at the end of
August, to Istanbul and
Antalya on Turkish carriers Atlas and Pegasus, using
Airbus A321 aircraft. Palestinians would then transfer to other flights from
Istanbul. These flights will not be accessible to Palestinians from Gaza.
According to the Turkish Daily Sabah
newspaper, the PA has not supported the Ramon Airport plan and would have
preferred to see Israel renovate the former Atarot airport, located on the edge
of Jerusalem, right next to Ramallah, which was closed in 2021.
It had been hoped that Palestinians
could directly access the Atarot airport from Ramallah without going through
Israeli checkpoints.
US President
Joe Biden spoke on the
importance of improving travel for the Palestinians when he visited Israel and
the Palestinian territories last month.
Ramon Airport, which opened in 2019,
is about 300km from Jerusalem and is designed to take any planes rerouted from
Ben Gurion Airport, near Tel Aviv, according to The Post.
President of Jordan Inbound Tour
Operators Association
Awni Kawar told Jordan News that this decision
“addresses the problem of overcrowding on the King Hussein Bridge and eases the
suffering of travelers, especially with the recent increase in travelers and the
significant problems it has caused”.
He added that “this decision,
however, will deprive Jordan of tax fees on tickets, which amount to 60 percent
per person. It will also deprive us of the tourist expenses, as some tourists
sleep in hotels and use multiple means of transportation”.
“Despite this, I still see that the
decision is positive in general, because the problem of overcrowding is an
issue that must be addressed,” he pointed out.
There was no official Jordanian
reaction to the Israeli announcement.
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