Ben Gurion a Ghost Town after Flights Grounded
TEL AVIV, Israel -- Secretary of State John Kerry landed at Ben Gurion Airport on Wednesday despite the decision of U.S. and European airlines to cancel flights to and from Tel Aviv out of security concerns overnight.
Israel opened a former military airport in the north to accommodate international flights.
The FAA banned flights to Israel after a Hamas rocket made a direct hit on a home in a town next to Israel's Ben Gurion International Airport. The move follows heightened concerns regarding last week's downing of a Malaysian airliner over Ukraine.
***Read CBN News Correspondent Erick Stakelbeck's analysis of the FAA's travel ban in his blog The Watchman.
There are usually hundreds of people waiting for family and friends in the arrival hall at Ben Gurion. Now it's nearly deserted. The last time flights were cancelled over a military conflict was in 1991 during the Gulf War.
"Right now, we have a lot of passengers stuck abroad with American airlines and European airlines. I think as a solidarity you should come here. There is no reason to give up to the Hamas and close [the] Israeli airport," Stav Gil, vice president of Israair's Group Sales and Service, said.
Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz also said there is no reason to stop flights to and from Ben Gurion because it is a secure airport.
Thousands of people were stranded overnight at Ben Gurion and elsewhere on their way to Israel.
David Maimon, president of Israel's national airline, El Al, said they'll do what they can to pick up the slack.
"[We will] increase the frequency of the flights and we [will] do everything that we can do to bring the passengers back to home," Maimon said.
Meanwhile, the international community is scrambling to arrange a ceasefire, but the battle continues.
Two more Israeli soldiers were killed in Gaza fighting overnight. Israel struck some 200 targets in 24 hours, including 100 in the Hamas stronghold of Shejaiya.
"We are striking Hamas, its rocket capabilities, its tunnel capabilities. We've exposed over 23 tunnels," IDF spokesman, Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, told CBN News.
Still, Hamas continued to fire rockets at Israel on Wednesday. The IDF also released maps showing how Hamas is entrenched in civilian areas as the death toll climbed above 600.
The IDF said that 210 of those were terrorists killed since the beginning of the ground offensive. The IDF released video footage showing two terrorists escaping in an ambulance.
On Tuesday, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned the use of civilians as human shields but urged the two sides to reconcile.
"Stop fighting! Start talking and take on the root causes of the conflict so we are not back to the same situation in another six months or a year," Ban said.
"What grievance can we solve for Hamas?" Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded. "Their grievance is that we exist. They don't even want a two-state solution. They don't want any state solution."
