Israeli, Moroccan Officials Discuss Tourism Ahead of Lapid's Visit

The CN-ROP Royal Air Maroc Boeing 737 (Reuters)
The CN-ROP Royal Air Maroc Boeing 737 (Reuters)
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Israeli, Moroccan Officials Discuss Tourism Ahead of Lapid's Visit

The CN-ROP Royal Air Maroc Boeing 737 (Reuters)
The CN-ROP Royal Air Maroc Boeing 737 (Reuters)

Israeli Tourism Minister Yoel Razvozov spoke on the phone with his Moroccan counterpart Nadia Fettah Alaoui on Friday, ahead of an upcoming visit by Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid to Morocco this week.

"We discussed various opportunities for cooperation between the two countries, following the renewal of ties led by Foreign Minister Yair Lapid," Razvozov tweeted.

"We also agreed that we would continue to strengthen relations between the two countries."

Lapid plans to visit Morocco next month after a 20-year rupture in relations between the two countries, which would be the first visit to Rabat by an Israeli foreign minister.

In late June, Lapid had made a similar "historic" visit to the UAE to open the Israeli embassy in Abu Dhabi and the consulate in Dubai.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said that Lapid's visit to Morocco would take place on August 11 and 12, during which the Israeli diplomatic mission in Rabat will be officially inaugurated.

Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita would also visit Israel at the invitation of Lapid to open his country's mission in Tel Aviv.

The Foreign Ministry Director-General, Alon Ushpiz, visited Morocco, delivering Bourita the written invitation from Lapid.

The Israeli Foreign Minister stressed in his letter that restoring relations between the two states was a historical milestone. He also expressed his desire to progress bilateral cooperation between Israel and Morocco in trade, technology, culture, and tourism.

The visit comes after steps to strengthen relations between Tel Aviv and Rabat, which included a direct commercial flight between Israel and Morocco, which carried one hundred Israeli tourists.

The two countries will link direct flights to attract 50,000 Israeli tourists to Morocco by the end of the year.

Morocco is home to the largest Jewish community in North Africa, with a population of 3,000. About 700,000 Jews of Moroccan origin live in Israel.

Morocco aspires to attract 200,000 Israelis by 2022.

In July, a Moroccan air force plane landed in Israel's Hatzor Air Base, reportedly to take part in a multinational Israeli Air Force exercise later this month.

Israel and Rabat only exchanged diplomatic offices instead of embassies, and they maintained close official relations, but Morocco suspended relations after the second Palestinian intifada in 2000.

An Israeli diplomatic source said that relations with the North African country "will turn into full diplomatic relations."



Hezbollah Says Fired Missiles at Base Near South Israel's Ashdod

Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system operates to intercept incoming projectiles, amid hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Nahariya, Israel, November 21, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system operates to intercept incoming projectiles, amid hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Nahariya, Israel, November 21, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
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Hezbollah Says Fired Missiles at Base Near South Israel's Ashdod

Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system operates to intercept incoming projectiles, amid hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Nahariya, Israel, November 21, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system operates to intercept incoming projectiles, amid hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Nahariya, Israel, November 21, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

Hezbollah said its fighters on Thursday fired missiles at a military base near south Israel’s Ashdod, the first time it has targeted so deep inside Israel in more than a year of hostilities.

Hezbollah fighters "targeted... for the first time, the Hatzor air base" east of the southern city, around 150 kilometers from Lebanon’s southern border with Israel, "with a missile salvo," the Iran-backed group said in a statement.

A rocket fired from Lebanon killed a man and wounded two others in northern Israel on Thursday, according to the Magen David Adom rescue service.
The service said paramedics found the body of the man in his 30s near a playground in the town of Nahariya, near the border with Lebanon, after a rocket attack on Thursday.
Israel meanwhile struck targets in southern Lebanon and several buildings south of Beirut, the Lebanese capital.

Israel has launched airstrikes against Lebanon after Hezbollah began firing rockets, drones and missiles into Israel the day after Hamas' attack on Israel last October. A full-blown war erupted in September after nearly a year of lower-level conflict.
More than 3,500 people have been killed in Lebanon, according to the country’s Health Ministry, and over 1 million people have been displaced. It is not known how many of those killed were Hezbollah fighters and how many were civilians.
On the Israeli side, Hezbollah’s aerial attacks have killed more than 70 people and driven some 60,000 from their homes.