Hamas warns airlines not to fly to Ben Gurion
"In the light of Israel's ... attacks on the residents of Gaza Strip ... The armed wing of Hamas movement has decided to respond to the Israeli aggression and we warn you against carrying out flights to Ben-Gurion airport, which will be one of our targets today because it also hosts a military air base," the statement said.
The terror group claimed earlier that it had already fired at least one rocket towards the airport on Friday but militant rockets, which are largely inaccurate, are not known to have landed in or around the airport, Israel's main international aerial gateway.
Several rockets from the Gaza Strip were fired toward the greater Tel Aviv area on Friday morning. The Iron Dome defense system intercepted three projectiles. No injuries were reported.
Incoming air traffic was halted from entering Israeli air space as sirens were sounded in the area, an airport spokesperson told The Jerusalem Post. Flight traffic was resumed as normal after the sirens subsided.
A spokesman for the Airports Authority said that a siren had sounded at Ben-Gurion and that all activity had stopped for about ten minutes, but that the siren was part of a general alert in the Tel Aviv area and not a direct threat to the airport.El Al planes are protected by the MUSIC-DIRCM anti-missile system and have been protected by that system or by Flight Guard since 2006. Other airlines decided that the anti-missile system for passenger planes is 'too expensive.' If God forbid there is a 'successful' attack, or even one that comes close, my guess is that we will likely see a lot of foreign airlines stop flying here for a while.
What could go wrong?
Labels: anti-missile systems, Ben Gurion Airport, El Al, Gaza, Hamas, Hamas rockets, MUSIC, Operation Protective Edge
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:48 PM
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