Israeli Air Force suspends travel abroad for its personnel amid tensions with Iran
Against the background of increased estimates that Iran and Hezbollah want to reciprocate in their kind for the killing of IRGC-QF Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Israel Air Force, IAF, has issued a directive banning travels abroad for its personnel, News—in Az reported on January 15, citing Xinhua.
The permanent staff in the Air Force has now been barred from going on vacations out of the country, according to an announcement made by Air Force Commander Tomer Bar in light of a situational analysis, according to the IDF. Bar also stated that official foreign travel, including meetings and training, would be reconsidered.
The IDF explained that the Home Front Command had kept its messages for instructions to the civilians. This comes at a time when the region in the Middle East has been holding heightened tensions.
Saying that Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah has threatened to take revenge for the assassination of Hamas Politburo chairman Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and the killing of Hizbullah senior field commander Fouad Shokor in Beirut, both of them occurred at the end of July.
Israel said it was responsible for Shokor’s death but has not responded to Haniyeh’s assassination, which both Hamas and Iran accused Israel of. Iran targeted Israel in mid-April by launching hundreds of ballistic missiles and drones at the occupied territories as reprisal for the attack on the Iranian consulate in Syria earlier in the month that killed seven of Iran’s leaders, two of them were military commanders. Most of the missiles and drones fired at Israel were claimed by the latter to have been shot down.
