Turkish Airlines, the national flag carrier of Turkey, has announced that it will suspend all its flights to Israel until next October, citing the ongoing genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
The airline said in a statement that it made the decision “due to the current situation in Israel and the uncertainty regarding the outcome of the ICJ case”. It added that passengers who have booked flights to Israel during the suspension period can request a full refund or change their tickets without any penalty.
The ICJ, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, is expected to deliver its interim ruling on Friday in the case brought by South Africa, which accuses Israel of committing genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza. South Africa has asked the court to order Israel to stop its military campaign in Gaza, which has killed more than 26,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, since October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched a series of attacks on Israeli communities, killing 1,200 Israelis and taking 240 hostages.
Israel has denied the genocide allegations and argued that its actions are in self-defense and aimed at Hamas, not the Palestinian people. It has also rejected the jurisdiction of the ICJ, saying that the court has no authority to intervene in a political dispute.
Turkish Airlines is not the only airline to halt its flights to Israel amid the conflict. Several other international airlines, such as American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Iberia, Finnair, Ryanair, easyJet, and Air France-KLM, have also suspended or reduced their services to Tel Aviv since the outbreak of violence. However, some of these airlines have resumed or planned to resume their flights to Israel in January 2024, depending on the security situation. The only major foreign airline that continues to operate regular flights to Israel is Emirates, which has said that it is monitoring the situation and in contact with the relevant authorities.
