Lufthansa To Resume Flights To Israel From Jan 8

German airline group Lufthansa said Friday it planned to resume flights to Tel Aviv from January 8, after the service was suspended in early October following the Hamas attack on Israel.

The group's airlines will initially "offer a total of 20 weekly connections to and from Tel Aviv," Lufthansa said in a statement. "This corresponds to around 30 percent of the regular flight schedule."

Lufthansa Airlines will offer connections from Frankfurt and Munich, while Austrian Airlines and SWISS will also restart the service.

The Lufthansa group halted flights to Israel on October 9, citing security concerns after Hamas militants carried out an unprecedented attack against Israel on October 7.

Other airlines including British Airways, Air France-KLM and US airline Delta also cut flights to Tel Aviv in the wake of the attack.

In addition, Lufthansa suspended flights to and from the Lebanese capital Beirut on October 13 as tensions in the region soared.

Flights to Beirut were resumed on Friday by Lufthansa and its subsidiaries SWISS and Eurowings, the group added.

"The Lufthansa group continues to monitor the security situation in Israel closely and is in close contact with the local and international authorities," the statement said. 

"Possible flight schedule adjustments must be expected due to changing conditions."

The October 7 attack by Hamas killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli officials.

The Israeli army launched a massive retaliatory campaign that has left much of the Gaza Strip in ruins. 

It has killed more than 18,700 people, mostly women and children, the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip has said.

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