The Palestinian Authority on Wednesday has urged Palestinians to refrain from using the Ramon airport in southern Israel.
In an interview with Anadolu Agency, spokesman for the Palestinian Ministry of Transportation, Musa Rahal, said that the official position is “rejecting the idea of using Ramon Airport, and our message is clear to the Palestinian citizen not to use it.”
“There are stipulations under international agreements, including the handover of Jerusalem International Airport (Qalandiya), the reconstruction of Gaza International Airport – which was destroyed by the occupation in the Al-Aqsa (Second) Intifada in 2000, “he said.
Rahhal added that the Palestinians also had the right to construct and manage an airport in the West Bank.
The Jerusalem International Airport (Qalandiya) was closed in 2000. The Israeli occupation authorities seized it after the June 1967 war, which led to its control over the West Bank.
On Tuesday, August 9, Israeli Airports Authority announced that the airport will start allowing flights for Palestinian travelers from the West Bank, starting from Monday, August 22.
On Monday, August 22, the first air travel for Palestinians from the occupied West Bank departed from Ramon Airport in the Negev to Cyprus.
Forty Palestinians were aboard the first flight from Ramon airport near the southern Israeli resort city of Eilat, a spokeswoman for the Israel Airports Authority told AFP.
Warning against normalization of relations
The issue of Israel allowing Palestinian travel from Ramon Airport has raised a wave of questions in the Arab world, and in Jordan in particular. There are those who see it as a good step that helps in facilitating travel to and from the West Bank.
While some activists on social media warned against falling into the trap of normalizing relations with Israel, and circulated the hashtag #Palestinian_normalization_betrayal on a large scale.
Jordanian rejection
It is worth noting that the Israeli Ramon airport began flying from it in 2019, and is considered the second largest airport in Israel after Lod Airport (Ben Gurion Airport).
