Europe’s largest airline Lufthansa said today that it is extending the suspension of flights to Tel Aviv until June 15 amid the intensification of the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip.
“Due to the current situation, the Lufthansa Group will suspend its flights to and from Tel Aviv until Sunday, June 15, ending on that day, the German group said in a statement, instead of until June 8 as previously announced,” Radio Free Europe reports.
Despite growing international pressure, Israel is intensifying its offensive in Gaza, which is devastated and where there is a humanitarian crisis, with the aim of destroying Hamas, freeing the remaining hostages and taking control of the Gaza Strip.
At least 52 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza today, according to the Palestinian Civil Defense.
The Lufthansa Group, which also includes Swiss, Austrian Airlines, Brussels and now ITA Airlines, has made several changes to its flight schedule since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, as have other airlines.
Meanwhile, at least 54 Palestinians were killed in two separate Israeli air strikes overnight on May 25-26, including an attack on a school housing displaced families in central Gaza, two hospital directors told the BBC.
Israel launched the military campaign in Gaza in response to a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas, which the US and the European Union (EU) consider terrorist, on October 7, 2023, in which around 1,200 people were killed and 251 people were taken hostage.
At least 53,939 people, including at least 16,500 children, have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s health ministry.
