Israel accepts the cession of two islands located in the Red Sea from Egypt to Saudi Arabia with the mediation of Biden

July 15 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Government of Israel has accepted this Friday that Saudi Arabia will take full control of two islands in the Gulf of Aqaba, while the Saudi Executive has opened the airspace to Israeli flights, within the framework of the visit of the President of the United States United, Joe Biden, to the region.

Israel has agreed with the Saudis that they can take full control of Tiran Island and Sanafir Island, which has been a demilitarized zone since Egypt and Israel signed the 1979 peace treaty negotiated with the help of then-President Jimmy Carter, according to reports. Axios portal.

The agreement for these two islands, which enjoy a strategic position in the Gulf of Aqaba – where Israel and Jordan have important ports -, control the Straits of Tiran, Israel’s only water passage from Eilat to the open sea. This would pave the way for Israel and Saudi Arabia to normalize their relations.

As part of the agreement, Saudi Arabia will commit to the United States to adhere to the commitments of the 1979 peace agreement between Israel and Egypt, mainly maintaining freedom of navigation in the Strait of Tiran for Israeli ships, as previously reported by the aforementioned media. .

As the newspaper ‘The Times of Israel’ has recalled, the ships of the Israeli Navy use the waterway to reach the open sea, where they carry out naval exercises that are not possible in the narrow confines of the Gulf of Aqaba.

On the other hand, the General Authority for Civil Aviation of Saudi Arabia (GACA) announced late on Friday that it had decided to allow “all airlines that meet the authority’s requirements” to fly in the country’s airspace, allowing Israeli airlines to fly over its territory.

“In the framework of the interest of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to fulfill its obligations under the Chicago Convention of 1944 (…) announces the decision to open the airspace of the Kingdom for all airlines that comply with the requirements of the Authority to fly over,” says a GACA statement in a statement collected by ‘The Jerusalem Post’.

The Biden Administration has welcomed “the historic decision” of the leaders of Saudi Arabia, and has assured that “it is the result of the persistent and principled diplomacy” of the US president.

“This decision paves the way for a more integrated, stable, and secure Middle East region, which is vital to the security and prosperity of the United States and the American people, and to the security and prosperity of Israel,” the statement said. White House in a statement.