Tel Aviv, Jun 8 (IANS): The number of foreign tourist arrivals in Israel jumped about 880 per cent, or 9.8 times year-on-year in May, according to data released by the Central Bureau of Statistics.

The data published on Monday revealed that the number of tourists who visited Israel last month thus increased to 21,500, from only 2,200 in May 2020, reports Xinhua news agency.

In March, Israel reopened its skies following a ban on incoming and outgoing flights imposed on January 26.

On May 23, Israel began allowing the entry of vaccinated tourist groups, as part of further moves to ease Covid-19 restrictions.

The 11-day fighting that broke out between the Israeli army and Gaza's ruler Hamas on May 10 prevented an even greater increase in the number of tourists entering Israel.

In the first five months of 2021, there was an 18.4 per cent decrease in the number of tourists, totalling 68,400, compared to 83,800 in the previous five months (August-December 2020).

This is also a decrease of almost 90.7 per cent compared to 735,800 in January-May 2020, as the first coronavirus case was detected in Israel on February 27, 2020.