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SvennoJ on 06 May 2025
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Israeli retaliation no surprise after ‘major blow’ on Tel Aviv airport

Meron Rapoport, an Israeli journalist and editor at the Local Call news outlet, says Israel’s bombing of Yemen was expected after the Houthis attacked the country’s main airport in Tel Aviv days ago.

Rapoport told Al Jazeera that the Houthi missile that hit near Ben Gurion airport was a “major blow” for the Israeli government as it seeks to continue its war on the Gaza Strip.

“It was a failure of its air defence systems, but more than that, it was a real blow internally and externally, while Israel is trying to show its society – and the world – that … it can go on with the war in Gaza, in Lebanon and in Syria as it wishes and things are normal in Israel,” he said.

Rapoport noted that Israel “has to coordinate its attacks in Yemen with the US” since Washington has been leading an intensified bombing campaign there.

“[Israel] cannot go alone and bomb where it wants. It has to fit in with the American plans, this is very clear,” he said, adding that Israel believes its strikes on Yemen will act as a deterrent against future attacks.

“Does it work? Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t,” he said of the strategy.



Videos show moments after Yemen airport strike

Which airlines have cancelled flights to Israel after Houthi attack?

Many global airlines have halted their flights to and from Tel Aviv after the Houthi missile attack near Ben Gurion airport on Sunday.

  • Greek airline Aegean Airlines cancelled its flights on May 5 and 6.
  • Latvia’s airBaltic has cancelled its flights until May 11.
  • Spanish airline Air Europa has cancelled its flights until May 7.
  • Dutch airline KLM has suspended its flights until May 30. Its partner, Air France, cancelled its flights on May 4.
  • Air India said its flights will remain suspended until May 8.
  • US carrier Delta Air Lines has said its flights may be impacted between May 4 and May 25.
  • British Airways has suspended its flights until May 8.
  • Italian carrier ITA Airways has suspended all its flights until May 11, as well as two flights on May 12.
  • German airline Lufthansa has suspended its flights until May 11.
  • Irish budget airline Ryanair has cancelled flights from May 4 to 6.
  • US airline United Airlines has said its flights may be impacted between May 4 and May 11.