Delta to pause flights between New York, Tel Aviv amid ongoing Mideast tensions

By Rabia Iclal Turan

WASHINGTON (AA) - Delta Air Lines announced Thursday it will suspend flights between New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Tel Aviv until Dec. 31, citing the "ongoing conflict" in the Middle East.

The airline said it issued a travel waiver for affected passengers and urged customers to be prepared for further adjustments to its Tel Aviv flight schedule, including additional cancellations on a rolling basis.

No further details were provided on when service might resume after the end of the year.

The announcement came amid growing concerns about an escalation of the conflict between Hezbollah and Tel Aviv as Israel carried out intensive airstrikes Thursday against several towns in southern Lebanon.

The tension follows two waves of explosions targeting wireless devices in Lebanon that resulted in 37 deaths and thousands of injuries.

There has been no Israeli comment on the blasts, which came amid an escalation in cross-border warfare between Israel and the Lebanese resistance group since the start of Israel’s deadly war on the Gaza Strip that was in response to a cross-border attack led by Hamas on Oct. 7 that killed1,139 people in Israel.

More than 41,000 Palestinians have since been killed during the onslaught in Gaza since Oct. 7, most of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.