During the Eid holiday, while most people in Bangladesh were spending time with their loved ones, an unprecedented incident occurred quietly, unlike anything seen before. Two Boeing 747-400 BCF aircraft, capable of carrying 24,115 cubic feet/108 metric tons of civil/military cargo, arrived from Israel's Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv on April 7 and 11 at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, carrying undisclosed cargo.
The initial cargo flight, N8806 (NCR806), operated by US National Air Cargo Inc. or National Airlines, touched down in Dhaka from Tel Aviv on April 7 at 19:23 hrs, departing again at 23:54 hrs on the same day. Following suit, the second flight, N8848 (NCR848), also operated by the same company, arrived directly from Tel Aviv to Dhaka on April 11 at 19:54 hrs, departing Dhaka at 00:29 hrs on April 12. Despite both flights arriving directly from Tel Aviv to Dhaka, they later made a stop at Sharjah airport in the UAE after leaving Dhaka.
Despite the absence of diplomatic relations between Bangladesh and Israel, previous investigative reports have uncovered Bangladesh's procurement of advanced surveillance equipment and spyware from Israel. Furthermore, there have been instances of Israeli training for Bangladeshi military intelligence officers, with the technology being utilised by various intelligence agencies and the National Telecommunications Monitoring Center. These actions have been linked to allegations of human rights abuses. However, before the recent events, no direct flights from Israel to Bangladesh had been documented. Given the lack of formal diplomatic ties and Bangladesh's non-recognition of Israel as a state, the arrival of flights from Israel bearing goods, barring emergency landings, is unprecedented. This observation was made by a former ambassador who preferred to remain anonymous.
Recently, during the Munich Security Conference, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina made a statement to the Turkish news agency Anadolu, openly criticizing Israel by accusing it of committing genocide in Palestine.
It should be noted that Israel's attacks resulted in 33,000 casualties so far, including 25,000 women and children. However, when contacted, the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh declined to comment on the two flights in question, expressing their inability to provide any information regarding them.
*Special Thanks to Zulkarnain Saer.