BRITISH Airways has suspended ALL flights to and from Israel after one of its planes was forced to turn back.
The airline said the decision had been made due to safety concerns soon after Hamas rockets began targeting Tel Aviv airport.
The flight was diverted back to London
Footage shows passengers at Tel Aviv airport running for cover
In a statement British Airways said: “Safety is always our highest priority and following the latest assessment of the situation we’re suspending our flights to and from Tel Aviv.
“We’re contacting customers booked to travel to or from Tel Aviv to apologise for the inconvenience… We continue to monitor the situation in the region closely.”
Only an hour before, BA announced that it had diverted a flight from London to Tel Aviv back to the UK due to security concerns in Israel.
However, Israel’s airports authority said there was no security threat at the airport at the time and instead stated it was the pilot’s decision.
But there were rockets heard near Tel Aviv at the time of the diversion – with footage showing passengers at the Israeli airport running for cover.
Flight BA165 left London Heathrow this morning and was due to arrive in Tel Aviv at 3.05pm.
A number of airlines have suspended flights to the Israeli capital following Saturday’s surprise attack by Hamas.
British Airways, owned by IAG, had said on Monday it was monitoring the situation in Israel very closely but would continue to operate some flights.
The armed wings of Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad said Wednesday they were targeting southern and central Israel with rockets, as sirens sounded in areas surrounding the Gaza Strip.
Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, said it was targeting the Israeli cities of Tel Aviv, Ashdod and Ashkelon as well as communities near the Gaza border with “heavy rocket fire”.
Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said it had fired a rocket at Ben Gurion airport, where Israeli officials reported no hit.
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