British Airways (BA) and Virgin Atlantic have suspended flights to Tel Aviv – after Hamas said it had attacked the Israeli airport.
The decisions were made after a BA flight was on approach to the airport when the captain made the decision to divert back to Heathrow.
A spokesperson for Israel’s airports authority said rockets were flying around Tel Aviv at the time but were not an immediate threat to the flight or to Ben Gurion Airport.
Hamas’s armed military wing said a missile had struck the grounds.
Al Qassam Brigades said it had “bombarded” the site in response to civilians being targeted by Israel.
Information from flight-tracking website Flightradar showed the BA flight in question, 165, had almost reached Tel Aviv when the landing was aborted.
Its imagery suggested that the plane banked to the right and continued back over the Mediterranean, largely retracing its inbound flight path from Heathrow.
The incident took place before Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, who is in Israel on a solidarity visit, was forced to run for shelter when a siren warning of rocket fire sounded.
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Cleverly runs for cover in Israel
British Airways, which had been among only a handful of global airlines to continue flights to and from Tel Aviv since Saturday’s attack on Israel by Hamas, said safety was always its “highest priority”.
“Following the latest assessment of the situation we’re suspending our flights to and from Tel Aviv”, the airline’s statement continued.
“We’re contacting customers booked to travel to or from Tel Aviv to apologise for the inconvenience and offer options including a full refund and rebooking with another airline or with British Airways at a later date.
“We continue to monitor the situation in the region closely.”
Other airlines, including Ryanair, easyJet and Wizz halted services to Tel Aviv earlier in the week and were largely expected to maintain that position until such time air space was free of military threat.
Virgin Atlantic, which had curbed its schedule but not cut flights completely, said later on Wednesday evening: “The safety of our customers and our teams is our number one priority, always.
“After careful consideration, based on latest information, we have taken the decision to pause flying to and from Tel Aviv for the next 72 hours.
“As the dynamic situation evolves, we’ll keep our flying programme under constant review.
“Our teams will be in contact with any affected customers to discuss their options, which include rebooking to a later date or a full refund.
“We would advise anyone booked to travel to check their flight status on the website before travelling to the airport.”
By October 2022, Ukrainian citizens were the second largest foreign population in Germany after Turkish nationals.
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Germany is also home to a significant Russian immigrant community and 2.5 million Russians of German ancestry who mostly moved to the country after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.
An aid group is to resume its work in Gaza four weeks after suspending operations following the killing of seven workers.
World Central Kitchen (WCK) says it will restart operations in the besieged strip on Monday, delivering food to “address widespread hunger”, including in the north.
It comes following the killing of the WCK workers in an Israeli military strike on 1 April.
Three British nationals, who were part of WCK’s security team, an Australian, a Polish national, an American-Canadian dual citizen, and a Palestinian, were killed in the strike.
An Israeli investigation found that incorrect assumptions, decision-making mistakes and violations of the rules of engagement had resulted in their deaths.
WCK suspended its operations in Gaza following their deaths. They had previously distributed more than 43 million meals in Gaza and accounted for more than 60% of all international non-governmental aid.
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Erin Gore, the group’s chief executive, said the humanitarian situation in Gaza “remained dire”.
“We are restarting our operation with the same energy, dignity, and focus on feeding as many people as possible,” she said.
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“We will continue to get as much food into Gaza, including northern Gaza, as possible – by land, air, or sea.”
She said despite assurances by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) of changes to their rules of operations in the wake of the workers’ deaths, their staff still faced the threat of being threatened or killed.
“We have been forced to make a decision: Stop feeding altogether during one of the worst hunger crises ever, ending our operation that accounted for 62% of all International non-governmental-organisation (NGO) aid, or keep feeding knowing that aid, aid workers and civilians are being intimidated and killed,” Ms Gore said.
“These are the hardest conversations, and we have considered all perspectives when deliberating.
“Ultimately, we decided we must keep feeding, continuing our mission of showing up to provide food to people during the toughest of times.”
Strikes on Rafah and Blinken’s visit
It comes as medics said 13 people had been killed in Israeli airstrikes on three houses in the southern city of Rafah on Monday.
The strikes on Rafah, where over a million people are sheltering from months of Israeli bombardment, came hours before Egyptwas expected to host leaders of Hamas to discuss prospects for a ceasefire agreement with Israel.
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On Sunday, Hamas officials said a delegation, led by Khalil al Hayya, the group’s deputy Gaza chief, would discuss a ceasefire proposal handed by Hamas to mediators from Qatar and Egypt, as well as Israel’s response.
Mediators, backed by the US, have stepped up their efforts to conclude a deal amid threats by Israel to invade Rafah.
Meanwhile, US secretary of state Antony Blinken is beginning his seventh diplomatic mission to the Middle East since the Israel-Hamas war began more than six months ago.
He will visit Saudi Arabia, where Arab and European foreign ministers have gathered in Riyadh for a meeting of the World Economic Forum, before making stops in Jordan and Israel on Tuesday and Wednesday.
In Jordan and Israel, Mr Blinken will focus largely on aid, meeting with various relief organisations, as well as officials in both countries, to underscore the urgent need for more humanitarian assistance into Gaza.
On Sunday, the IDF said the amount of aid going into Gaza had increased “significantly” and would be scaled up “even more” in the coming days.
IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said: “Getting aid to the people of Gaza is a top priority – because our war is against Hamas, not against the people of Gaza.”
Ireland is pledging emergency legislation enabling it to send asylum seekers back to the UK.
More than 80% of recent arrivals in the republic came via the land border with Northern Ireland, Irish justice minister Helen McEntee told a parliamentary committee last week.
Ireland’s deputy prime minister has said the threat of deportation to Rwanda is causing migrants to head for Ireland instead of the UK.
Micheal Martin said the policy was already affecting Ireland because people are “fearful” of staying in the UK.
The former taoiseach told The Daily Telegraph: “Maybe that’s the impact it was designed to have.”
Simon Harris, Ireland’s latest leader, has asked Ms McEntee to “bring proposals to cabinet to amend existing law regarding the designation of safe ‘third countries’ and allowing the return of inadmissible international protection applicants to the UK”, a spokesman said.
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Ms McEntee said she will be meeting UK Home Secretary James Cleverly in London on Monday.
“There are many reasons why we have seen an increase in migration towards Ireland,” she told RTE.
“My focus as minister for justice is making sure that we have an effective immigration structure and system.
“That’s why I’m introducing fast processing, that’s why I’ll have emergency legislation at cabinet this week to make sure that we can effectively return people to the UK, and that’s why I’ll be meeting with the home secretary to raise these issues on Monday.”
People are now “worried” about coming to the UK, Rishi Sunak has said.
He told Sky News: “If people come to our country illegally, but know that they won’t be able to stay here, they are much less likely to come, and that’s why the Rwanda scheme is so important.”
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Are migrants fleeing from UK to Ireland?
Mr Sunak said the comments from Irish politicians show that “illegal migration is a global challenge”.
“[That] is why you’re seeing multiple countries talk about doing third country partnerships, looking at novel ways to solve this problem, and I believe [they] will follow where the UK has led,” he said.
Shadow minister Wes Streeting said it was unlikely a Labour government would bring people back from Rwanda if some are sent there.
“Once people are settled in Rwanda, they’re settled in Rwanda,” he told Sky News, adding it was doubtful that Labour would “unpick that situation”.
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Regarding illegal migration in general, he said it required “putting the money that’s gone to Rwanda into the National Crime Agency so we can have proper cross-border policing to tackle the criminal gangs, speeding up the processing of decision-making, making sure we’ve got serious returns agreements with other countries”.