Residents of the Gaza Strip may soon be able to fly to Turkey via Israel's Ramon Airport near Eilat.

The pilot program could start as early as July when two flights are anticipated, Channel 12 reported.

The final decision is subject to the approval of security and political concerns. Gaza sources say the flights will be available to residents ages 35 and older.

They will be shuttled to the airport from the Erez crossing to the northern Gaza Strip. At present, Gazans travel via the Erez crossing by land to Jordan and fly abroad from there.

The announcement follows a similar one from the Israel Airports Authority in August 2022 that Palestinians from the West Bank would be able to take charter flights from Ramon Airport to Turkey.

The first flight from the airport with Palestinian Arabs on board departed on August 22 last year as part of a trial of the programme.

The Palestinian Authority opposes the use of the Israeli airport, viewing it as an attack on Palestinian sovereignty and Palestinian-Jordanian relations, according to the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center.

Yasser Arafat international airport opened in 1998 to serve the Gaza Strip, however, it closed after just two years as a result of the Second Intifada in 2000. 

A Palestinian official told the Jerusalem Post: “Israel failed to turn Ramon airport into an international terminal. Now, the Israelis are offering us something that didn’t work for them."