Gaza/Jerusalem: Hamas on Friday warned international airlines not to fly to Israel`s main Ben-Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, after the Palestinian militant group targeted the facility and managed to briefly halt air traffic.
"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," a statement released by Hamas` armed wing,?Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, said.
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 10 minutes, but that the siren was part of a general alert in the Tel Aviv area and not a direct threat to the airport, an online report said.
Several rockets from the Gaza Strip were fired on the greater Tel Aviv area this morning but were intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system.
The armed faction also claimed that it had already fired at least one rocket towards the airport today but it could not be confirmed.
It is possible that the rocket fired may not have landed at its intended target as the rockets being fired by the Gaza militants are largely inaccurate.
The militant faction said that it had issued the warning to the airlines so that they could avoid injury to their passengers.
