The Associated Press quoted unnamed Israeli officials as saying that Ben Gurion Airport "will remain closed until further notice."
Early Friday morning, Israel closed its airspace and halted operations at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, in anticipation of Tehran's retaliation for Tel Aviv's massive attack on Iran.
Israeli security sources expect the airport closure to remain in place for at least three to four days, according to the privately owned Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper on Friday.
The newspaper explained that the airport was "completely evacuated," and that airlines had canceled all their flights, without specifying the names of those companies.
"Burning Tehran"
Meanwhile, the privately owned local newspaper The Times of Israel quoted Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz as saying: “The Iranian dictator (Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei) is turning Iran’s citizens into hostages and creating a reality in which they, and especially the residents of Tehran, will pay a heavy price for their criminal attack on Israeli civilians.”
This came during a situation assessment meeting attended by Katz, Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, Intelligence Director David Barnea, and other senior military officials.
Katz warned, "If Khamenei continues to fire missiles at the Israeli home front, we will burn Tehran," according to the newspaper.
Since dawn on Friday, Israel, with tacit US support, launched a massive attack on Iran with dozens of fighter jets, dubbed "Operation Rising Lion." During the attack, Israel bombed nuclear facilities and missile bases in various areas, assassinating prominent military leaders and nuclear scientists.
The Israeli military described the attack as "preemptive" and directed by the political echelon. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared the "unprecedented" operation aimed to "strike Iran's nuclear infrastructure, ballistic missile factories, and numerous other military capabilities."
On the evening of the same day, Iran launched an operation dubbed "True Promise 3," responding to the attack with a series of ballistic missile and drone strikes. According to Hebrew media, the operation resulted in the deaths of three Israelis and the wounding of 172 others, as well as significant material damage to buildings and vehicles.
The current Israeli attack on Iran is the most extensive, representing a clear shift from the "shadow war" that Tel Aviv had been waging against Tehran through bombings and assassinations, to an open military conflict on a scale exceeding that witnessed in the Middle East in years.
