(AFP) Mai Yaghi - A rocket crashed close to Tel Aviv's Ben-Gurion international airport, prompting the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to ban flights to and from Israel for at least 24 hours. The European Aviation Safety Agency advised all carriers to avoid Tel Aviv "until further notice." It was the first time such measures had been taken since the 1990-1991 Gulf war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appealed to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to lift the ban. Kerry said the order would be reviewed within a day. "The flight restrictions are a mistake that hands Hamas an undeserved victory and should be lifted immediately," said former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, who added that he was flying to Tel Aviv to show solidarity. Meanwhile, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni said a cease-fire "won't happen before we really finish the tunnels project." She said Hamas' "completely unacceptable" preconditions for a truce had "no chance of being accepted by anyone."
2014-07-23 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive