By Janet Ekstract ISTANBUL – The August 1 assassination of the Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh has left the Mideast in turmoil. While Israel braces for expected retaliation from Iran, a number of major airlines have decided to suspend flights to Israel, citing security concerns. Haniyeh who was targeted at an official residence of the Iranian government in Tehran for dignitaries who were there to observe the new Iranian President take his oath of office, was the only one harmed. Conflicting reports were cited in the media about how Haniyeh was killed but the latest report from two press sources Axios and The New York Times – confirms that Haniyeh was killed by an explosive device planted in advance in his bedroom at that residence. Both reports claim Mossad carried out the assassination on Tuesday night with an AI device that was detonated remotely. The reports said the U.S. and other allies were not informed until after the assassination was carried out and on Wednesday evening, U.S. officials were briefed on the operation.
Meanwhile, major airlines out of an abundance of caution, are suspending flights to Israel and Lebanon in the wake of the situation. Because Israel is expecting retaliation from Iran for the assassination and its strikes on Lebanon, that air space would pose a fundamental risk in the region. The airlines who have suspended operations include United, Delta, British Airways, Swiss International, Lufthansa, Air India, ITA Airways, Poland’s LOT Airways, KLM, Aegean Air, Condor Air and Singapore Airlines. United, operates 14 weekly flights between New York and Israel, said its flights are suspended until August 6. Swiss International said its flights between Zurich and Tel Aviv are suspended until at least August 8 and its Zurich-Beirut route suspension was extended to August 12. Lufthansa suspended its flights to Beirut and Tel Aviv until August 8 and 12 while Air India canceled flights to Tel Aviv until August 8. ITA Airways, Italy’s main airline will suspend flights to Tel Aviv until August 6 while LOT canceled eight flights to Lebanon and Israel for August 3-4. Dutch airline KLM canceled all its flights to and from Israel until October 26 while Aegean and Condor Airlines suspended flights from Athens to Beirut. Singapore Airlines announced it will avoid Iranian airspace amid fears of a wider escalation. Israel, Iran and Hezbollah in Beirut
