KLM suspends flights with Tel Aviv until Oct. 26

ANKARA

Dutch airline KLM suspended all flights to and from Tel Aviv until Oct. 26 because of the increase in tensions in the region, media reports said Friday.

The decision follows other airlines, including Kuwait Airways, Royal Jordanian Airlines, Air France, Lufthansa and Swiss International Air Lines.

The suspension comes amid rising tensions and the potential for a broader conflict between Iran and the Lebanese group, Hezbollah, on one side and Israel on the other.

It follows the assassination Tuesday of senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr by Israel and accusations by the Palestinian group, Hamas, and Iran that Israel assassinated Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas' political bureau, in the Iranian capital of Tehran on Wednesday.

The Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport, the only one in Lebanon, had previously been targeted in past conflicts with Israel -- during the civil war from 1975 to 1989 and most recently the July 2006 war.

Hamas and Iran have vowed to retaliate for Haniyeh's assassination, while Hezbollah has pledged to respond to Shukr's killing.

International efforts are underway to de-escalate the situation and prevent the conflict from spreading.

Fears have grown of a full-blown war between Israel and Hezbollah amid a months-long exchange of cross-border fire.

Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.

Nearly 39,500 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 91,000 injured, according to local health authorities.

Almost 10 months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.