Soccer fans from Israel and the Palestinian territories will be able to fly directly to the FIFA World Cup in Qatar from Tel Aviv for the first time, soccer’s global governing body announced Thursday. The development is a breakthrough agreement for Israel and Qatar — two countries without diplomatic relations.
The charter flights to Doha from Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv for the tournament starting Nov. 20 will be open to all Palestinians, FIFA said. That includes residents and accredited media workers from the occupied West Bank and the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, which has been under a crippling Israeli-Egyptian blockade for 15 years.
Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza do not have their own airport and must apply for a hard-to-obtain airport permit to use Ben Gurion. Such permits are only approved, if at all, shortly before takeoff.
Israel may still refuse to grant exit permits to residents of blockaded Gaza seeking to fly out of Tel Aviv to attend the World Cup. Such permission is only granted in exceptional circumstances.
Israeli officials had no immediate details on how many flights would take place or how many Palestinians would be allowed to travel. When asked for comment on the arrangement, Ahmad Deek, the director-general of the Palestinian Foreign Ministry, said it was the first he’d heard of it.
Israeli citizens cannot ordinarily fly directly to Doha or enter Qatar on their Israeli passports. Relations have soured since Doha closed an Israeli trade office in 2008 over the Gaza war. Even without diplomatic relations, Qatar helps mediate between Israel and Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers during rounds of conflict.
Washington lauded the development and said it will “benefit Israeli and Palestinian soccer fans alike as a step towards expanding greater freedom of travel for all.”
“The United States congratulates FIFA, Israel, and Qatar on the historic step of opening direct flights between Tel Aviv and Doha for the duration of the World Cup,” said U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price. “Today’s announcement is a historic development and an important step that also holds great promise to bolster people to people ties and economic relations.”
However, the breakthrough travel arrangement could still fall apart.
The Qatari government said that Doha told Israel that “any escalation in Jerusalem, Gaza or the West Bank during this time will risk the cancellation of the agreement — including the direct flights.”