Coronavirus: Israel bans international flights to curb virus spread amid lockdown clashes
- The ban on flights will come into force from Monday at 10pm GMT and last until the end of January, said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
- The country’s borders have largely been closed to foreigners during the pandemic, with only Israeli passport holders allowed entry
Israel will ban passenger flights in and out of the country from Monday evening for a week, the government announced on Sunday, as protesters in some ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities clashed with police over coronavirus lockdown measures.
Clashes broke out between ultra-Orthodox protesters in the city of Bnei Brak and police forces who came to enforce the lockdown. One police officer, feeling his life was in danger, fired in the air to repel the crowds, police said. Smaller confrontations with ultra-Orthodox protesters broke out in several other towns, police said.
The ban on flights will come into force from Monday at 10pm GMT and last until the end of January, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
“Other than rare exceptions, we are closing the sky hermetically to prevent the entry of the virus variants and also to ensure that we progress quickly with our vaccination campaign,” Netanyahu said in public remarks at the start of a cabinet meeting.
The country’s borders have largely been closed to foreigners during the pandemic, with only Israeli passport holders allowed entry.
The country has been under a third national lockdown since December 27. Critics say the government has mishandled the crisis, lacking a clear long-term strategy and allowing politics to cloud its decisions.