Gaza's Airport: A Dream Denied Or Delayed?

The existence of an airport in Gaza is a highly debated topic. While there was once an airport in Gaza, known as Yasser Arafat International Airport, formerly Gaza International Airport, it was rendered inoperable due to conflict in the region. The airport, which was located between Rafah and Dahaniya, opened on November 24, 1998, and all passenger flights ceased in February 2001 during the Second Intifada. The radar station and control tower were bombed, and the runway was cut, making it impossible for the airport to function. Since then, the closest public airports to the area are Ben Gurion Airport in Israel and El Arish Airport in Egypt.

Yasser Arafat International Airport

The airport was able to handle 700,000 passengers per year, with a total area of 450 hectares (1,100 acres). The first commercial flight to depart from the airport was a Palestinian Airlines flight to Amman on 5 December 1998. Over the following year, the airport received 90,000 passengers and processed more than 100 tons of cargo. Foreign carriers such as Royal Air Maroc and EgyptAir also introduced flights to Gaza. The airfield served as the base of Palestinian Airlines until it was closed to passenger traffic in February 2001 during the Second Intifada.

In December 2001, Israel bombed the radar station and control tower, and in January 2002, bulldozers cut the runway, rendering the airport inoperable. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) strongly condemned Israel for the attack, deeming it a violation of the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation. Despite discussions about reopening the airport in 2005, the idea was abandoned after the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip in 2007. Yasser Arafat International Airport remains closed, with thieves stripping the site of valuable equipment, including radar.

The Oslo Accords

The Oslo I Accord, formally the Declaration of Principles on Palestinian Self-Rule, was the result of secret negotiations that began in January 1993 between representatives of Israel and the PLO. The agreement was based on United Nations Resolution 242 and Resolution 338, which called for Israel to withdraw from territories it occupied in the Six-Day War (1967) and reaffirmed Resolution 242 during the Yom Kippur War (1973), respectively. The land-for-peace formulation of these resolutions had been previously enshrined in the 1978 Camp David Accords as the foundation of a broader Arab-Israeli peace process.

The Oslo I Accord set out a framework for establishing Palestinian self-governance in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, which included provisions for the withdrawal or redeployment of Israeli security forces, the immediate transfer of authority to the Palestinians over specific matters, and the commencement of a five-year transitional period for Palestinian self-governance, including negotiations on outstanding issues.

The Oslo II Accord, formally the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, detailed the expansion of Palestinian self-rule beyond Gaza and Jericho. It included measures such as elections for a governing body, the redeployment of Israeli security forces from specific cities and villages, specifications for the redeployment of Israeli forces in Hebron, and the delineation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip into areas of Palestinian administration, joint Israeli-Palestinian security, and Israeli administration and security.

While the Oslo Accords marked a significant step towards peace, they did not ultimately lead to a definitive Palestinian state. The peace process faced challenges from opposition by Palestinian and far-right Israeli groups, as well as ongoing violence and attacks. The assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin by a right-wing Israeli extremist in 1995 further strained the process. Despite attempts to revive the negotiations, the outbreak of the Second Intifada in 2000 brought the Oslo process to a halt, and a comprehensive peace agreement was not reached by the end of the five-year interim period in 1999.

The airport's opening ceremony

On 24 November 1998, thousands of Palestinians gathered at the southwestern tip of the Gaza Strip, on the Egyptian border, to witness the inauguration of Dahaniya International Airport, later known as Yasser Arafat International Airport. The airport's construction was agreed upon as part of the Oslo Accords and funded by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Japan, and Spain. The opening ceremony was attended by Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat and former US President Bill Clinton, who landed at the airport a month after its inauguration. The airport was designed and built by the Moroccan government and operated by the Palestinian Civil Aviation Authority and the Israeli government.

The ceremony included state-of-the-art aircraft from Egyptair, Royal Air Maroc, and other airlines. Large jets from Morocco, Egypt, and Jordan landed at the airport during the inauguration, watched by a crowd of Palestinians. The airport's opening was described as evidence of progress toward Palestinian statehood and a step toward independence from Israeli rule.

The airport had a single runway and could handle 700,000 passengers per year, with a total area of 450 hectares (1,100 acres). The first commercial flight to depart from the airport was a Palestinian Airlines flight to Amman on 5 December 1998. In its first year, the airport received 90,000 passengers and processed more than 100 tons of cargo. Foreign carriers, including Royal Air Maroc and Egyptair, introduced flights to Gaza, and Palestinian Airlines launched flights carrying pilgrims from Gaza to Mecca.

The opening ceremony of Yasser Arafat International Airport was a significant event for the people of Gaza, marking a step toward independence and the realisation of travel freedoms. Unfortunately, the airport had a short operational history, with all passenger flights ceasing in February 2001 due to the Second Intifada.

The airport's closure

The closure of Yasser Arafat International Airport, located in the Gaza Strip between Rafah and Dahaniya, can be attributed to a series of events that began with the Second Intifada in September 2000. The airport, which opened on November 24, 1998, was a significant milestone in the Oslo Accords and symbolised progress towards Palestinian independence and statehood.

However, the outbreak of the Second Intifada led to a series of closures and reopenings of the airport by Israel, until they ultimately prohibited all commercial air traffic on February 13, 2001, allowing only Arafat's private aircraft to use the airfield. This closure was short-lived, as Israel bombed the radar station and control tower on December 4, 2001, and bulldozers cut the runway on January 10, 2002, rendering the airport inoperable. The destruction of the airport left Gush Katif Airport as the only serviceable runway in Gaza until it too was abandoned in 2004.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) strongly condemned Israel's attack on the airport, deeming it a violation of the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation (Montreal Convention, 1971). Despite this, the airport remained closed, and the idea of reopening it was abandoned after the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip in 2007.

Since its closure, the airport has been looted and stripped of valuable equipment, and its ruins stand as a reminder of a distant dream for Palestinian independence. The closure of the airport has had a significant impact on the region, with an entire generation in Gaza growing up without the freedom of air travel.

The airport's destruction

Yasser Arafat International Airport, formerly Gaza International Airport, was located in the Gaza Strip between Rafah and Dahaniya, close to the Egyptian border. The airport was the result of the Oslo Accords agreement of 1995, which was signed by Israel and the PLO. It was funded by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Japan, and Spain, and the Moroccan government designed and built it. The airport's inauguration took place on November 24, 1998, and it was attended by thousands of Palestinians, as well as US President Bill Clinton and Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat, who officially opened the airport.

The airport had a single runway and could handle 700,000 passengers per year. It served as the base of Palestinian Airlines and, in its first year, received 90,000 passengers and processed more than 100 tons of cargo. Foreign carriers, including Royal Air Maroc and EgyptAir, also introduced flights to Gaza. The airport's opening was seen as evidence of progress toward Palestinian statehood and independence.

However, the outbreak of the Second Intifada in September 2000 led to the closure of the airport in February 2001. Israel prohibited all commercial air traffic, and only Arafat's private aircraft were allowed to use the airfield. On December 4, 2001, Israel bombed the radar station and control tower, and on January 10, 2002, bulldozers cut the runway, rendering the airport inoperable. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) strongly condemned Israel's attack on the airport, deeming it a violation of the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation.

Since its closure, the airport has been looted and dismantled, with thieves stripping it of all valuable equipment, including radar. The ruins of the airport stand as a silent testimony to a distant dream of Palestinian independence that has faded away.

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