This strategic location has given it outsized importance despite being remote from the country's main population centers, and access to the port has played a key role in Arab-Israeli conflicts.

[3] Egyptian naval blockades of the Straits of Tiran which control access to Eilat featured prominently in the events which led to two major Arab-Israeli conflicts: the Suez Crisis and the Six-Day War.

Another is the fact that unlike the country's other main seaports, Eilat's is yet to be served by a railway line (the nearest railhead is located over a hundred kilometers to the north at Dimona).

This was done under the terms of the contract with the government, where "Papo Maritime" promised to meet a target of handling an annual average of 80,000 TEU of containers.

[4] In October 2023, Ansar Allah, known widely as the Houthi movement, fired missiles and drones targeting international interests in the Red Sea.

All container shipping through the Red Sea dropped by approximately 90 percent from December to the middle of February due to the Houthi attacks.

This proposal entails the construction of a massive combined air-rail-sea logistical center to be located in the desert north of the city.

The details of this proposal include: relocating the current port to an excavated area north of the city, reachable by a 70 m (230 ft)-wide, 7.5 km (4.7 mi)-long canal built alongside the Jordanian border from the Gulf of Aqaba, the construction of a new international airport within the vicinity (finished in 2019), and the extension of the railway from the Nahal Zin railhead to the port and airport.

[24][25] Due to environmental concerns, the Eilat Port Authority spent millions to build a loader that prevents phosphate dust from dispersing into the sea.