Tata Group-owned Air India has extended the suspension of its scheduled flights to Tel Aviv till November 2. The move comes amid continued tensions in the region due to its ongoing conflict with militant group Hamas.
Israel has launched a massive counter-offensive against Hamas after unprecedented attacks by the militant group on October 7 killed more than 1,400 people.
An Air India official on Wednesday said the scheduled flights to Tel Aviv have been suspended till November 2, news agency PTI reported. Since October 7, when the attacks began, the airline has not operated a scheduled flight to and from Tel Aviv.
The full-service carrier usually operates five weekly flights to Tel Aviv from the national capital on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.
This month, however, the airline operated a few chartered flights to Tel Aviv from the national capital under the government's Operation Ajay to bring back Indians who wished to come back from Israel against the backdrop of the escalating conflict.
Israeli retaliatory strikes have killed over 6,500 people, the health ministry in the Hamas-run strip said on Wednesday.
Over 7,600 rockets have been fired towards Israel since October 7 out of Gaza, according to Israeli government data, while there have been repeated clashes along the northern border.
Meanwhile, Israeli ambassador Naor Gilon on Wednesday said that the time has come for India to proscribe Hamas as a terrorist organisation like many other nations have done.
The Israeli envoy, at an interaction with journalists, also thanked India for its "100 per cent" support to Israel in its anti-terror operations against Hamas.
"It is time for India to declare Hamas as terrorist organisation in India," he said, adding many countries have already done that, as per a PTI report.
Also Read: Israel bombards Gaza, prepares invasion as Biden urges path to two states