Two days after diverting a plane with 273 passengers and 17 crew bound for Tel Aviv to Paris for security reasons, Delta Air Lines Inc. on July 24 restarted its flights to the Israeli tech hub.
Delta suspended its nonstop service between Tel Aviv and New York Tuesday, July 22, after the Atlanta-based airline was warned of “rockets or associated debris” near the Ben Gurion Airport. Later reports noted that a Hamas-fired rocket landed less than a mile from the airport, which sits about 40 miles from the Gaza border.
Delta’s Tuesday move triggered a 24-hour Federal Aviation Administration flight ban that was initially renewed for another 24 hours but later lifted Thursday.
Israel has been engaged in a ground offensive in Gaza its government says is aimed at closing off tunnels used as hideouts by Hamas militants and funnels for ferrying illegal weapons and goods across the Israeli-Palestinian border.
More than 800 military personnel and civilians have died in the fighting.
