Yasser Arafat International Airport

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The Yasser Arafat International Airport (English Yasser Arafat International Airport, Arabic مطار ياسر عرفات الدولي Matar Yasir Arafat al- ʿ duwalī ) is the only one, however badly damaged airport for passenger aircraft in the Palestinian territories. It is located in the Gaza Strip in the municipality of Dahaniye on the border with Egypt.

The airport was officially opened in the presence of U.S. President Bill Clinton on 14 December 1998, the first landing took place, however, on the 24th of November. It was built with money from Germany, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Japan.

His original name was Gaza International Airport ( GIA). The naming after Yasser Arafat took place after his death in 2004.

The construction of an own airport was the Palestinians in the Oslo Accords allowed and became the national symbol of Palestinian independence. In Israel excited level of the airport and the loss of full control over the entry to the Palestinian territories worries. The clearance of travelers was indeed under Israeli supervision, but through Palestinian staff.

The airport was closed in February 2001, during the Second Intifada, Israel, and shortly thereafter was largely destroyed by the Israeli armed forces. Finally, the runway on 11 January 2002 was flung open. This was in retaliation for the death of four Israeli soldiers two days before and because of the assumption that weapons would be smuggled into Gaza by air, even in a private jet Yasser Arafat, who was allowed to use the airport even after the closing.

Since then, the runway has not been restored; the remaining facilities were partially set repaired and are continuously maintained. Attempts to re-open but were prevented by Israel. The airport was the home of Palestinian Airlines, the airline has moved to the airport al -Arish in Egypt.