UAE operates first flight to Israel with COVID-19 aid for Palestinians

ABU DHABI: The United Arab Emirates flew its first publicly announced flight to Israel on Tuesday when Etihad Airways sent medical supplies to help Palestinians affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

Except for Jordan and Egypt, Arab countries have no official relations with Israel, but Gulf Arab nations like the UAE have been warming ties recently amid shared concern over regional rival Iran.

State-owned Etihad Airways confirmed that it had sent a flight Tuesday to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport but the UAE government did not provide immediate comment.

“Etihad Airways operated a dedicated humanitarian cargo flight from Abu Dhabi to Tel Aviv on 19 May to provide medical supplies to the Palestinians,” an Etihad spokesperson said. “The flight had no passengers on board.”

The official UAE news agency said the flight involved the delivery of 14 tonnes of urgent medical supplies that “will support the efforts to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact in the occupied Palestinian territory”.

“The aid includes personal protective equipment (PPE) and medical equipment. Most notably, it includes 10 ventilators that are acutely needed,” it said. “Etihad Airways continues to operate many humanitarian flights providing much-needed aid to nations within its network and beyond.”

Israel controls access to the Palestinian territories as neither the Gaza Strip nor the West Bank has its own airport. The delivery was described as part of broader humanitarian efforts.

Arab countries have called for a settlement to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as a condition for normalising ties with the Jewish state. The Arab League frequently denounces Jewish settlements construction in the occupied West Bank as well as Israel’s policy toward the Gaza Strip.

Many Gulf Arab states have shown signs of a rapprochement with Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Oman in 2018. Other moves involve Israeli athletes and officials being increasingly allowed to visit the Gulf states.

Videos showed crew at Ben Gurion Airport off-loading stacks of cardboard boxes with large banners over them reading: ‘UAE AID: for Palestine to fight Coronavirus (COVID-19).’

The United Nations said it coordinated the 14-tonne shipment of “urgent medical supplies” from the UAE to help curb the spread of COVID-19 in the Palestinian territories, according to a statement from the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO).