FAA tells US airlines not to fly to Tel Aviv

Washington - The Federal Aviation Administration is telling U.S. airlines they are prohibited from flying to the Tel Aviv airport in Israel after a Hamas rocket exploded nearby.

The FAA said in a statement that the ban on flights is for 24 hours beginning at 12:15 EST on Tuesday.

The statement said the rocket strike landed about 1.6km from Ben Gurion International Airport on Tuesday morning.

The notice only applies to US airlines since the FAA has no authority over carriers from other nations.

The agency said it will continue to monitor and evaluate the situation, and that updated instructions will be provided to US airlines "as soon as conditions permit, but no later than 24 hours" from the time the directive went into force.

Meanwhile, Air France has also suspended all flights to Tel Aviv until further notice.

Lufthansa and Dutch airline KLM have also suspended their flights to Tel Aviv.