The decision was taken following a warning from the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA), after a rocket fell in the city of Yehud, which is just five kilometers from the airport.
A Delta Boeing 747 from New York was flying over the Mediterranean Sea heading for Tel Aviv on Tuesday when it turned around and flew to Paris instead. Flight 468 had 273 passengers and 17 crew on board.
.@Delta suspends TLV operations until further notice http://t.co/ErvGQgY2Se
— Delta Air Lines News (@DeltaNewsroom) July 22, 2014
US Airways, which has one daily flight from Philadelphia, canceled that flight Tuesday and the return trip from Tel Aviv. It has relocated planes, which are currently at Ben-Gurion airport, according to Haaretz.
Delta Air Lines DL 468 from New York to Tel Aviv diverts to Paris after Delta decided to cancel all Tel Aviv flights pic.twitter.com/9pehQU0Iup
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) July 22, 2014
However, United Airlines has announced that it will be operating flights as usual.
Never the less, the FFA has not issued any warnings regarding flights over the Gaza region, despite the current conflict, the White House said on Tuesday.
“As it relates to the airspace in Gaza … the FAA has not issued any notices related to the ongoing violence in that region of the world,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters.
“This does serve to illustrate, though, that its individual carriers who make the decisions about their flight plans and whether or not to alter specific routes based on hostilities on the ground,” he said.
Airlines and passengers are growing more anxious about safety since last week, when a Malaysia Airlines jet was downed over Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board.
Clashes between Israel and Palestine are now into their third week on Tuesday and the death toll continues to increase. The Gaza Health Ministry says the number of Palestinians killed has risen to 609.
Follow RT’s LIVE UPDATES on Israeli offensive against Gaza
Earlier on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has held a joint press conference with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. The UN chief said too many Israeli and Palestinian mothers are “burying their children” and urges both sides to “stop fighting and start talking.” He also added that he urges “Israel to show maximum restraint.”
In response, Netanyahu responded by comparing Hamas to Islamist extremist groups such as Isis, Hezbollah and Boko Haram. “In the face of such terror, Israel has no option but to defend itself… We will do what we have to do to defend ourselves.”
