Alert over unidentified aircraft briefly halts flights at Ben Gurion

Israel scrambled fighter jets to Ben Gurion International Airport and flight activities there were briefly halted early Wednesday after a perceived intruder was spotted in Israel’s skies.

The rare disruption of flight activity at Israel’s main airport pointed to heightened concerns about illegal penetrations of Israel’s airspace after a foreign drone, suspected of being dispatched by Hezbollah, flew over the country for half an hour on Saturday before it was shot down by the air force.

Army Radio reported that the airport ceased activities for several minutes around 5 a.m. on Wednesday after receiving warning that the military had spotted an unidentified aircraft. Ben Gurion’s control tower was ordered to ground flights and instruct incoming planes to circle in the air until given the all clear.

The IAF reportedly sent fighter jets to the area before determining that it was not a hostile aircraft and calling off the alarm.

“These are regular occurrences that take place whenever suspicious objects are spotted,” a military source told Walla News. “It’s better not to take chances. We raise alerts and send out aircraft to rule out security breaches.”