Tel Aviv/Ramallah, Aug 23, (dpa/GNA) – The first flight carrying Palestinian passengers from the Israeli-occupied West Bank, has taken off from Ramon Airport near Eilat in southern Israel, bound for Cyprus.
According to media reports, the flight operated by the Israeli airline Arkia, which took off on Monday, carried 40 Palestinians from Bethlehem and Hebron. The return flight has been scheduled for Friday.
The flight is a pilot project and part of a series of moves, intended to ease conditions for Palestinians in the Occupied Territories.
West Bank Palestinians seeking to fly abroad face hurdles. They must either travel overland to Jordan, or apply for special permission to use Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv. This permission is granted only to a select few.
The passengers on Monday’s flight were subjected to a security check on leaving the West Bank, bound for Ramon Airport near the Red Sea port of Eilat.
The Palestinian authorities have urged West Bank residents, not to make use of the new option, saying it served only Israeli interests and undermined Palestinian sovereignty.
Writing in the Al-Quds newspaper on Tuesday, Palestinian political commentator Hani Masri said the use of the new route was destroying hopes for a new airport on the West Bank or Gaza Strip.
Peace talks aimed at establishing a Palestinian state on territories occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War broke down in 2014.
GNA