Amid rising tensions, United Airlines and Delta Air canceled numerous flights to Israel after the federal government announced that its forces had eliminated Hamas’ top military commander within the Gaza Strip.
On the three hundredth day of the war, the Israeli army declared: killed Mohammed DeifLeader of the armed al-Qassam Brigades and a key figure within the October 7 attacks, during a targeted attack last month. The news got here shortly after the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh on Wednesday during his visit to Iran’s ruling Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“A travel exemption has been issued for all customers who booked a trip to/from Tel Aviv before August 14,” said Delta issued a press release on Wednesday. The world’s Most worthy airline continues to be reeling from last month’s unrelated CrowdStrike outage.
One of the affected passengers was Louis Fishman, an associate professor at CUNY Brooklyn and an authority on Turkish-Israeli affairs. His flight to the country was scheduled to depart on Saturday, but his flight has now been rebooked for August 7.
“My United flight just got cancelled,” he posted on social media.
Hi Louis. You can get travel assistance from our Agent on Demand team here: https://t.co/1v0Ztfdd80. If you want, it’s also possible to rebook your flight here or have a look at other flight options: https://t.co/wpawAefNMy. ^AL
— United Airlines (@united) July 31, 2024
Passengers of European airlines are also affected. Lufthansa ordered flight LH682, which was headed to Tel Aviv, to be brought back to Munich as “Precautionary measure“, while sister company Air Austria also diverted its plane.
“After more than six hours in the air, we arrived in Vienna and have no clear instructions on what to do next,” said one passenger. told IsraelHayom.
The Israeli Airports Authority, which operates each Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv and Ramon Airport within the tourist resort of Eilat on the Red Sea, couldn’t be reached. Assets for comment.
Israeli minister: End of Hamas ‘closer than ever’
Air traffic to Israel has been repeatedly disrupted by the continued war against Hamas within the Gaza Strip. Many airlines have suspended their flights since October. until March. The flights were interrupted again in April when Iran launched a fleet of drone and missile attacks that were quickly intercepted by Israel, the United States and their allies within the region.
These drones were deployed after an attack on considered one of their military commanders on the premises of their embassy in Damascus, which is seen as a violation of their sovereignty. The killing of Haniyeh, who left his residence in Qatar to attend the inauguration of the brand new Iranian president as a guest, is seen as a good greater humiliation for Khamenei. Iran’s supreme leader wants consolidate his legacywith many experts believing that he hopes to pass his office on to his son Mojtaba after the death of his rival Ebrahim Raisi.
Now we will confirm: Mohammed Deif has been eliminated.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) 1 August 2024
When asked concerning the Ayatollah’s threat to avenge his assassination, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin promised that the US would Come to Israel’s aid in case of a retaliatory attack.
DAWN, a non-profit organization from the USA founded by the murdered Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi to advertise democracy within the Middle East, warned that the provocation of Haniyeh’s extrajudicial killing could mean that America could soon be drawn right into a war of its own selecting.
“For several weeks, if not months, Secretary of State Blinken and President Biden have been telling us day after day that a ceasefire is imminent. An agreement can come at any moment now,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of DAWN, said on Wednesday: “The symbolism of actually killing the person with whom you are negotiating a ceasefire cannot express the desire for a ceasefire more clearly.”
Meanwhile, Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich ruled out any talks of a cessation of hostilities following the news of Deif’s liquidation. “We must not stop for a moment before victory,” he said. wroteand described the collapse of Hamas as “closer than ever”.
