Israel has lifted the ban on travel to eight countries, the country's ministry of health said in a statement on Thursday.

By doing so, Israel will scrap the list of countries labelled "red" to which it banned its citizens from flying, namely the United Arab Emirates, the United States, Ethiopia, Britain, Tanzania, Mexico, Switzerland and Turkey.

The ministry's decision came as a result of the government policy, according to which the "red" country outline will be suspended as the number of people tested positive for COVID-19 upon arrival falls below five percent of total patients in the country.