Israel announced on Saturday the successful trial operation of a new road trucking line through Dubai ports through Saudi Arabia and Jordan, to replace Egypt’s Suez Canal.
The Israeli Walla website reported: “The trial operation of a new road trucking line through Dubai ports through Saudi Arabia and Jordan has been crowned with success in recent weeks.”
The website added: “The first ten trucks completed the long road from the Persian Gulf ports to Israel.”
The land bridge, which has received approval from the Ministry of Defense and the Government of Israel, is expected to provide a faster alternative to passing through the Suez Canal, and even faster for the long route of importing goods on ships that have to circumvent through the Cape of Good Hope and extend the route by about three weeks on average to move away from the Houthi threat.
The Israeli newspaper “Maariv” said: “In light of the war, an agreement was signed (the parties to which the parties were not specified) under which a land bridge will be operated between the port of Dubai and the port of Haifa,” adding that the planned land bridge “aims to overcome the threat of the Houthis in Yemen to cut shipping lanes on the way to Israel.”
The Yemeni group “Ansar Allah” had initially announced its intention to target all Israeli ships or those operated by Israeli companies, before expanding its attacks to include ships heading to Israel, in solidarity with the Gaza Strip, which is exposed to a devastating Israeli war.