Turkish Airlines cancels Tel Aviv flights

Ankara - Turkey's national carrier has decided to temporarily halt its direct flights to Tel Aviv for security reasons due to the Gaza conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, a spokesman said on Wednesday.

"We decided to cancel the flights to Tel Aviv yesterday night (Tuesday) for 24 hours due to security reasons," the spokesman for Turkish Airlines told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Major US, European and Canadian airlines cancelled flights to and from Israel Tuesday, after a rocket fired from Gaza struck near its main international airport in Tel Aviv.

The cancelations highlighted heightened worldwide fears of a rocket hitting a passenger jet in the wake of last week's downing of a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 over rebel-held eastern Ukraine with nearly 300 on board.