Israel Suspends Construction of Underground Wall

A mourner reacts as Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants hold their weapons while taking part in the funeral of their comrade in the central Gaza Strip October 31, 2017. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem
A mourner reacts as Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants hold their weapons while taking part in the funeral of their comrade in the central Gaza Strip October 31, 2017. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem
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Israel Suspends Construction of Underground Wall

A mourner reacts as Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants hold their weapons while taking part in the funeral of their comrade in the central Gaza Strip October 31, 2017. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem
A mourner reacts as Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants hold their weapons while taking part in the funeral of their comrade in the central Gaza Strip October 31, 2017. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem

Israel has decided to maintain a state of emergency and suspend construction on the underground wall border with Gaza Strip, as the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine announced that five of its members were martyred and their bodies were still buried inside the tunnel. Israel is also promoting the "inevitability of a military escalation in the region," fearing retaliation after the tunnel blastt.

Meanwhile, the Arab Organisation for Human Rights in the UK called for launching an international investigation in the weapons used by the Israeli Army to shell the tunnel in Gaza Strip on Oct. 30, killing seven Palestinians, injuring others and leaving others missing.

In its statement, the organization added that medics who examined the bodies of the victims reported that poisonous substances were used in the bombing. This is evidenced by what they saw of the victims – they were bleeding from their ears, mouth and nose. Others who were injured were severely ill as a result of inhaling toxic substances.

AOHR UK noted that the Israeli occupation is known for using internationally prohibited weapons, such as explosive bullets, white phosphorus and cluster bombs. These weapons were extensively used by Israeli forces in its previous wars on the Gaza Strip, causing heavy casualties.

It saw that the Israeli occupation is exaggerating what it calls “security threat from the Gaza Strip and the tunnels to justify its deadly attacks, using all kinds of weapons on targets it deems as penetrating Israeli sovereignty.”

The Adalah Legal Center and the Gaza-based Al Mezan Center for Human Rights filed a petition to the Israeli Supreme Court to oblige the Israeli Army to permit prompt entrance of the Palestinian rescue teams to search for missing victims.



Airlines Including Lufthansa Cautiously Plan to Resume Some Middle East Flights

An Airbus A320-214 passenger aircraft of Lufthansa airline, takes off from Malaga-Costa del Sol airport, in Malaga, Spain, May 3, 2024. REUTERS/Jon Nazca/File Photo
An Airbus A320-214 passenger aircraft of Lufthansa airline, takes off from Malaga-Costa del Sol airport, in Malaga, Spain, May 3, 2024. REUTERS/Jon Nazca/File Photo
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Airlines Including Lufthansa Cautiously Plan to Resume Some Middle East Flights

An Airbus A320-214 passenger aircraft of Lufthansa airline, takes off from Malaga-Costa del Sol airport, in Malaga, Spain, May 3, 2024. REUTERS/Jon Nazca/File Photo
An Airbus A320-214 passenger aircraft of Lufthansa airline, takes off from Malaga-Costa del Sol airport, in Malaga, Spain, May 3, 2024. REUTERS/Jon Nazca/File Photo

Germany's Lufthansa Group is set to resume flights to and from Tel Aviv in Israel from Feb. 1 and Wizz Air restarted its London to Tel Aviv route on Thursday, the companies said following a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.

Many Western carriers cancelled flights to swaths of the Middle East in recent months, including Beirut and Tel Aviv, as conflict tore across the region. Airlines also avoided Iraqi and Iranian airspace out of fear of getting accidentally caught in drone or missile warfare.

Wizz Air also resumed flights to Amman, Jordan starting on Thursday from London Luton airport.

Lufthansa Group carriers Brussels Airlines, Eurowings, Austrian Airlines and Swiss were included in Lufthansa's decision to resume flights to Tel Aviv.

Ryanair said it was hoping to run a full summer schedule to and from Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv in an interview with Reuters last week, before the ceasefire deal was announced.

In the wake of the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, Turkish Airlines said it would start flights to Damascus, the Syrian capital, on Jan. 23, with three flights per week.

CAUTIOUS RETURN

But airlines remain cautious and watchful before re-entering the region in full, they said.

British carrier EasyJet told Reuters it welcomed the news of the Gaza ceasefire and would review its plans in the coming days.

Air France-KLM said its operations to and from Tel Aviv remain suspended until Jan. 24, while its flights between Paris and Beirut will be suspended until Jan. 31.

"The operations will resume on the basis of an assessment of the situation on the ground," it said in a statement.

The suspension of Lufthansa flights to and from Tehran up to and including Feb. 14 remains in place and the airline will not fly to Beirut in Lebanon up to and including Feb. 28, it said.