By Ovunc Kutlu
ANKARA (AA) – Multiple major US airlines canceled flights to Tel Aviv on Wednesday amid rising tensions in the region, according to global aviation data services company FlightAware.
American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines canceled flights from the US to Tel Aviv on Wednesday and Thursday.
Tensions have been running high since an Israeli court last week ordered the eviction of Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem.
The West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is seen as occupied territory under international law, thus making all Jewish settlements there illegal.
Heavy bombardment in the Gaza Strip continued early Wednesday as Israeli forces carried out raids at various locations. The Israeli military said 1,500 rockets have been fired from Gaza toward locations in Israel in which six Israelis have been killed and dozens injured.
The Gaza Health Ministry reported 56 deaths, including 14 children and more than 330 wounded. Heavy damage to residential areas across Gaza has also been recorded, including the destruction of multiple multi-story residential buildings.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said earlier that he is sending a top diplomat to meet Israeli and Palestinian officials in a bid to de-escalate soaring violence.
Numerous human rights groups have denounced Israeli policies against Arabs as a form of modern-day apartheid, with Arab-Israelis suffering racial discrimination in education, work and health care.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and annexed the entire city in 1980, in a move that has never been recognized by the international community.
