Israelis waiting to be evacuated from Dubai and Abu Dhabi expressed serious concern over the possibility that Ben-Gurion Airport may close and evacuation flights could be halted on Sunday afternoon.
Shortly before 4 p.m., situational assessments were reportedly being held in Israel amid intensified missile fire from Iran toward the country.
One of the Israelis stranded in the United Arab Emirates, who are now relying on evacuation flights to return home, wrote online that “following increased launches toward central Israel, the possibility of closing Ben-Gurion Airport again is being considered.”
The post drew angry and agitated responses. “Don’t panic. At worst, everyone will fly to Athens,” wrote one tourist waiting to return to Israel.
Another tourist asked people not to create unnecessary worry: “Enough. These messages just cause panic,” she wrote.
Evacuation flights stalled, Israelis stranded
The evacuation flights that began on Sunday were expected to return several thousand Israelis who were stranded in the UAE without a way to return to Israel because of the closure of Ben-Gurion Airport.
Some were stranded there while traveling to Israel from other countries on connecting flights that stopped in Dubai or Abu Dhabi. Others had left about a week and a half ago for what was supposed to be a short weekend vacation, but ended up being forced to stay abroad for an additional, unplanned week.
Due to safety risks posed by landing at airports in the UAE amid Iranian missile and drone fire, evacuation flights could not be carried out for some time at the start of the war.
Some of those who were stranded sought alternative routes, flying to other destinations in the hope of eventually reaching Israel. These trips came at extremely high and unplanned costs for Israelis trying to get home.
Flying under missile fire
On Friday, an evacuation flight headed back to Israel from Los Angeles was forced to abort its landing at Ben-Gurion Airport after the IDF detected incoming missile launches from Iran.
The plane was forced to circle over the Mediterranean Sea off of Israel’s coastline until authorities deemed that it was safe to land, delaying the flight’s landing by over 40 minutes.
Dr. Itay Gal contributed to this report.