Al-Quds – Saba:
Israeli airlines El Al, Israir, and Arkia announced on Friday that they are moving their planes out of the occupied lands for fear of a retaliation from Tehran.
This comes hours after the Israeli government launched a large-scale attack on Iran and Iran prepared to respond.
Al Jazeera quoted a spokesperson for Ben Gurion Airport in Jaffa (Tel Aviv), which was closed on Friday until further notice, as saying that the planes were being moved without passengers.
Israir Airlines stated that it is currently completing the process of evacuating and transferring its planes from Ben Gurion Airport, adding that this is part of an emergency plan developed in recent days.
Eal Al Airlines stated that it is moving its planes from Jaffa "to our destinations," while Arkia declined to disclose their destinations.
Flight tracking data showed several planes departing from Jaffa this morning local time.
Flightradar24 data showed that several Israir flights were headed to Cyprus, and El Al aircraft were also headed to airports in Europe.
In addition, Israeli security sources expected that the closure of Lod (Ben Gurion) Airport would continue for at least three to four days, according to Hebrew media.
The Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Friday that the airport was completely evacuated and that airlines had canceled all their flights, without specifying which airlines.
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