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Israel's Airlines Evacuate Planes to Other Countries after Strikes on Iran

An Israeli El Al passenger plane is parked at a gate at Ben Gurion international airport near Tel Aviv on June 9, 2025. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)
An Israeli El Al passenger plane is parked at a gate at Ben Gurion international airport near Tel Aviv on June 9, 2025. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)
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Israel's Airlines Evacuate Planes to Other Countries after Strikes on Iran

An Israeli El Al passenger plane is parked at a gate at Ben Gurion international airport near Tel Aviv on June 9, 2025. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)
An Israeli El Al passenger plane is parked at a gate at Ben Gurion international airport near Tel Aviv on June 9, 2025. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)

Israeli airlines El Al, Israir and Arkia said on Friday they were moving their planes out of the country, hours after Israel launched widespread strikes against Iran and braced for retaliation.

The planes were flown without passengers, said a spokesperson for Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport, which on Friday closed until further notice.

Israir said it was evacuating and relocating its aircraft from the airport, adding this was part of a contingency plan developed over the past few days.

El Al said it was moving aircraft out of Israel "to our destinations" and Arkia declined to say where they were moving.

Flight tracking data showed a number of planes leaving Tel Aviv on Friday morning local time, Reuters reported.

A number of Israir flights went to Cyprus and several El Al aircraft were flown to airports in Europe, Flightradar24 data showed.

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World

Teen Among 3 Dead in Türkiye after Floods, Landslides Hit Southern Province

FILE - A Navy officer helps a woman cross a flooded street after heavy rain in Poza Rica, Veracruz state, Mexico, Oct. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez, File)
FILE - A Navy officer helps a woman cross a flooded street after heavy rain in Poza Rica, Veracruz state, Mexico, Oct. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez, File)
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Teen Among 3 Dead in Türkiye after Floods, Landslides Hit Southern Province

FILE - A Navy officer helps a woman cross a flooded street after heavy rain in Poza Rica, Veracruz state, Mexico, Oct. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez, File)
FILE - A Navy officer helps a woman cross a flooded street after heavy rain in Poza Rica, Veracruz state, Mexico, Oct. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez, File)

Three people have died during flooding in southern Türkiye on Thursday, officials said, as the Interior Ministry issued weather warnings for 15 of the country's 81 provinces.

Heavy rainfall in Hatay, the province most affected by a devastating earthquake in 2023, caused the Asi river, also known as the Orontes, to break its banks, submerging fields and villages. Roads and bridges were also washed away, The Associated Press reported.

Among the victims was a 15-year-old boy who died in a house that collapsed during a landslide in Antakya, the provincial capital, Hatay Gov. Mustafa Masatli said.

A 66-year-old man died when his car rolled into a ditch in Defne, while and another man, aged 62, was swept away in floodwaters in the Samandag district.

Masatli said the flooding had caused significant damage to agriculture across 2,900 hectares (7,166 acres) as disaster teams continued to assess the impact. Firefighters rescued many people by boat as residents bailed out their homes and tried to hold the waters at bay with makeshift barriers.

World

Sweden Sentences Teen over Plot to Kill Iranian Researcher

Swedish police are on the scene after a shooting during Friday prayers outside a mosque in Orebro, Sweden - File photo/EPA
Swedish police are on the scene after a shooting during Friday prayers outside a mosque in Orebro, Sweden - File photo/EPA
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Sweden Sentences Teen over Plot to Kill Iranian Researcher

Swedish police are on the scene after a shooting during Friday prayers outside a mosque in Orebro, Sweden - File photo/EPA
Swedish police are on the scene after a shooting during Friday prayers outside a mosque in Orebro, Sweden - File photo/EPA

A teenager who turned up on the doorstep of an Iranian researcher in southern Sweden armed with a knife was sentenced Thursday to almost four years in a young offenders institution.

The teenager was convicted along with two others of a plot to kill Arvin Khoshnood, a high-profile academic who maintains that the Iranian government was ultimately behind the attack.

The youngster was recruited through messaging apps by the other defendants and promised a payment to kill Khoshnood.

He showed up at Khoshnood's house in the city of Malmo in September last year and spoke to the researcher's wife.

The researcher stayed inside and called the police. He has since been living in hiding at another address, his lawyer told AFP during the trial.

"The court considers it established that A.N. armed himself with a knife and went to the victim's home with the intention of killing him," the Uddevalla court wrote in its ruling.

The court found there was not enough evidence for a charge of attempted murder and reclassified the offence as preparatory acts to commit murder.

The main defendant was handed three years and nine months in a juvenile detention center.

Khoshnood regularly appears in Swedish media as an expert on Iran.

On social media, he supports Reza Pahlavi, the son of the last Shah, who lives in exile in the United States and leads one of many opposition movements based abroad.

World

Iran Reportedly Rebuilding Military Industrial Base Faster Than Expected

FILE PHOTO: People drive past an anti-US billboard depicting US President Donald Trump and the Strait of Hormuz, in Tehran, Iran, May 17, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
FILE PHOTO: People drive past an anti-US billboard depicting US President Donald Trump and the Strait of Hormuz, in Tehran, Iran, May 17, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
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Iran Reportedly Rebuilding Military Industrial Base Faster Than Expected

FILE PHOTO: People drive past an anti-US billboard depicting US President Donald Trump and the Strait of Hormuz, in Tehran, Iran, May 17, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
FILE PHOTO: People drive past an anti-US billboard depicting US President Donald Trump and the Strait of Hormuz, in Tehran, Iran, May 17, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

Iran has already restarted some of its drone production during the six-week ceasefire that began in early April, CNN reported on Thursday, citing two sources familiar with US intelligence ⁠assessments.

US intelligence indicates ⁠Iran’s military is rebuilding much faster than initially estimated, the report added, ⁠citing four sources.

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said the United States was ready to proceed with further attacks on Tehran ⁠if Iran ⁠did not agree to a peace deal, but suggested Washington could wait a few days to "get the right answers."

While the time to restart production of different weapons components varies, some US intelligence estimates indicate Iran could fully reconstitute its drone attack capability in as soon as six months, one of the sources, a US official, told CNN.

“The Iranians have exceeded all timelines the IC had for reconstitution,” the US official said.

Iran has been able to rebuild much faster than expected due to a combination of factors, ranging from support it is receiving from Russia and China to the fact that the US and Israel did not inflict as much damage as the two countries had hoped, one of the sources told CNN.

For example, China has continued to provide Iran with components during the conflict that can be used to build missiles, two sources familiar with US intelligence assessments told CNN, though that has likely been curtailed by the ongoing US blockade.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told CBS last week that China is giving Iran “components of missile manufacturing” but declined to elaborate further.