Normalization to be Continued: Second Emirati Plane Lands in ‘Israel’

By Staff, Agencies

In the course of the shameless Arab steps towards normalization with the ‘Israeli’ occupation entity, a United Arab Emirates [UAE] carrier Etihad Airways sent its second flight to the Zionist entity in less than a month Tuesday, carrying medical aid to help the Palestinians tackle the coronavirus pandemic, witnesses and officials said.

Except for Jordan and Egypt aside, other Arab countries do not have public and official diplomatic ties with the Tel Aviv regime, but Gulf nations have had ever more publicly warm ties with the occupation entity of late, partly over shared rivalry with Iran.

In mid-May, the United Arab Emirates flew its first publicly announced flight to ‘Israel’, also an Etihad flight allegedly carrying coronavirus aid.

But Tuesday's aircraft bore for the first time the logo of the Arab carrier, a source with knowledge of the flight told AFP.

It is "the first time that a plane carrying Etihad's marking is landing in ‘Israel’", the source said.

Relatively, the Zionist entity’s foreign ministry confirmed that Tuesday's flight was the second one to the occupied territories from the UAE.

"It is the second direct flight from the UAE," the ministry said.

In another sign of warming ties between the occupation entity and Gulf nations, ‘Israel’ Tuesday congratulated the UAE on its bid to launch the first Arab space probe.

That and the latest flight came as the Zionist regime prepares to potentially move forward in July with annexing the occupied West Bank settlements and the Jordan Valley.