Israel, Iran keep airspace shut amid escalating tensions; Jordan reopens skies

TEL AVIV: Israel and Iran’s airspace remains closed due to the ongoing conflict between the two countries, while Jordan has reopened its airspace after a brief suspension.

Israel’s airspace remained closed on Sunday. Ben Gurion Airport, Israel’s main international hub, is shut until further notice, with all landings and departures suspended, CNN reported, citing an Israel Airports Authority statement

The country’s airspace has been closed since it launched its initial strikes on Iran on Friday.

Iran also closed its airspace Friday, a closure which will continue through 3 p.m. local time Sunday, according to its Civil Aviation Organisation. Passengers should avoid visiting the country’s airports in person, it said.

In contrast, Jordan’s airspace, which is between the two countries, has reopened after being temporarily closed on Friday as a precautionary measure, as per CNN.

The Jordanian Civil Aviation Regulatory Commission announced the reopening following a reassessment of security and airspace risks.
This comes amid escalating tensions between Israel and Iran, with both countries exchanging a series of attacks.

Earlier in the day, seven drones launched at Israel were intercepted by the Israeli Air Force and Israeli Navy, the country’s military said on Sunday.
As per official news agency TPS, the Israel Defence Forces said that the country’s Air Force and Israel Navy intercepted seven unmanned aerial vehicles – drones – launched towards Israeli territory in the past hour this morning.

The drones were all apparently launched from Iran, it said

The Israeli Air Force identified and struck several ballistic missile launchers in Iran, the military said, attaching footage of the strikes.
Tensions continued to escalate between Israel and Iran for the third straight day on Sunday, as the two sides launched attacks on each other overnight.

Early Sunday, Israel’s military announced it had struck the Iranian defence ministry headquarters in Tehran. It also claimed to have hit several locations around the capital that it described as being “related to the Iranian regime’s nuclear weapons project.”

Iran fired a new wave of missiles at Israel early today. Iranian state television announced the development at around 03:10 am (2340 GMT Saturday), stating, “A new wave of Operation Honest Promise 3 began a few minutes ago,” while broadcasting live footage from Israel.

The Iranian state media outlet IRNA has claimed that the country’s air defence forces have shot down another fifth-generation F-35 fighter jet belonging to Israel.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the Iranian Army’s Public Relations Office claimed that its air defence units successfully struck and destroyed the Israeli F-35 over the western part of Iran. The statement also mentioned that the fate of the pilot remains unknown and is currently under investigation.

Earlier in the day, President Isaac Herzog mourned the Israelis killed in Iranian missile strikes overnight, saying it was “a very sad and difficult morning.”

“Our sisters and brothers were murdered and injured last night by criminal Iranian attacks against the civilian population in Bat Yam, Tamra and other communities. Jews and Arabs, veteran citizens and new immigrants, including children and the elderly, women and men,” he says in a post on X.

“I share in the heavy mourning of the families and grieve the terrible loss. I pray for the recovery of the injured and to find the missing. We will mourn together. We will overcome together,” he said. (ANI)