A direct commercial Etihad airlines flight from Abu Dhabi landed at Tel Aviv’s Ben-Gurion International Airport late on Tuesday with over 14 tonnes of emergency medical supplies for Palestinians in Israel-administered Gaza and the West Bank.
The United Nations confirmed that “the aid includes personal protective equipment, PPE, and medical equipment. Most notably, it includes 10 ventilators that are acutely needed”.
The flight, however, marks a new diplomatic moment between the United Arab Emirates and Israel as the two countries do not share formal diplomatic relations. Since there are no airports on either the Gaza Strip or the West Bank, most cargo bound for Palestinian territory has to enter through Israel. In the past, private and diplomatic planes from the UAE have travelled to a third country before heading into the Jewish state.
There are many rumours of back-channel clandestine talks between Israel and the UAE over their mutual enmity towards Iran. In fact, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei spoke out against yesterday’s move on Twitter:
While Arab countries and the Arab League have consistently called for negotiations and settlements to the Israel-Palestine conflict and have denounced the Jewish state’s claims and occupation of Palestinian territories, Gulf states have shown certain signs of rapprochement with Tel Aviv. Previously, there have been occasional public visits to the Gulf by Israeli officials, and Israeli businesses were also invited to participate in Dubai’s now-delayed World Expo fair.
Earlier this month, UAE’s Foreign Minister Dr Anwar Gargash slammed Israel’s plans to unilaterally annex the West Bank, stating that it is a dangerous development that undermines international efforts at a peace process. Yet, the routing of a direct flight to Tel Aviv from Abu Dhabi may signal turning diplomatic tides between the two countries.
Image Source: The Times of Israel