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Gaza Airport Reopened After Three-Week Closure
The Gaza international airport was reopened to air traffic Friday, three weeks after Israel slapped a total closure on security reasons.
An official of the airport authority told Xinhua that Israel has allowed the airport to operate from 9 a.m. (0700 GMT) to 3 p.m. (1300 GMT) every day, starting Friday, December 1.
The official, who asked not to be named, said a flight from Jordanian capital Amman has already touched down at the airport earlier in the morning.
He said there will be three flights to take off from the airport to Amman, Egyptian capital Cairo, and Saudi coastal city of Jeddah later in the afternoon.
The airport, in the south of the Gaza Strip, was ordered to shut down on November 8 for the fourth time in a row since the violent clashes between protesting Palestinians and Israeli troops broke out on September 28. Israel banned all flights to and from the airport, except the plane used by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
The Gaza airport became operational in 1998 as part of the peace-making measures between Israel and the Palestinians. It has developed 10 air routes linking the self-rule strip with Arab and European capitals.
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