Air Carriers Suspend Israel Flights Due to Security Concerns
WEST BANK (Dispatches) – Air carrier companies Wednesday canceled flights to the Israeli-occupied territories due to security situation in the region.
On Wednesday, German-based airline Lufthansa decided to suspend all connections to and from Tel Aviv.
The decision will affect other airline firms under Lufthansa Group; Eurowings, Swiss, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines.
Another air carrier, Air France, also suspended its Tel Aviv flights, according to Haaretz newspaper.
Previously, American Airlines has canceled its flights to and from the Israeli-occupied territories until April 2025.
On Tuesday, nine people died and hundreds were injured in Beirut and several areas in Lebanon after wireless communication devices, known as pagers, exploded, and the Lebanese government accused Israel of being behind the incident.
After the issue, a UN spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said deadly pager detonations across Lebanon are “extremely concerning.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also on Wednesday warned of a “serious risk of dramatic escalation” in Lebanon after pager blasts.
“I think that what has happened is particularly serious, not only because of the number of victims that it caused, but because of the indications that exist that this was triggered,” Guterres told the reporters.
His remarks came a day after at least 12 people, including children, were killed and thousands wounded when Hezbollah members’ pagers were detonated across Lebanon.
“Because obviously the logic of making all these devices explode is to do it as a preemptive strike before a major military operation. So as important as the event in itself is the indication that this event confirms that there is a serious risk of a dramatic escalation in Lebanon, and everything must be done to avoid that escalation,” Guterres said.