The Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank has declined tons of medical aid provided by UAE to help fight covid-19, arguing it was not informed about the shipment that was sent through Israel, The New Arab reports.
PA health ministry in a statement Thursday said the aid was sent without coordination.
“UAE aid arrived at Ben Gurion Airport without our knowledge and without coordination with us. Therefore we cannot accept it,” the ministry said.
A plane of Etihad, Abu-Dhabi-based and government-run airline, touched down Tuesday, for the first time in Israel with 14 tons of medical supply including personal protective equipment, PPE, and medical equipment.
The shipment according to Emirati authorities is meant to help the PA in the fight against the covid-19 pandemic.
The flight is the first of its kind by an Arab country to Israel boycotted by the Arab League over the Palestinian cause.
The move has been viewed as normalization of ties between the Arab country and the Jewish state.
Except Egypt and Jordan which have diplomatic relations with Tel Aviv, other Arab countries have conditioned normalizing ties with Israel on conditions of the creation of the Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as capital.
