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TZUTC: 0200                  
The Israeli airline El Al will fly planes from New York and Bangkok on
Saturday, on the Jewish day of rest, the Sabbath, to pick up reservists. El Al
has not flown on the Sabbath since 1982 based on Jewish religious regulations.
But due to the war with Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip and occupied
territories, religious leaders have made an exception and authorized the
additional flights.
 
Israel has called up more than 360,000 reservists after fighters from the
Hamas movement broke out of the fenced-off Gaza Strip on Saturday and caused
massacres in the area. They have also fired thousands of rockets into Israel.
Israel blocks and bombs the densely populated Gaza Strip and prepares for a
land attack.
 
El Al is one of the few airlines that still flies to and from Israel. Almost
all European airlines have suspended flight operations as a precaution. In the
past 24 hours, Emirates, Virgin Atlantic and British Airways also announced
their termination. Due to the lack of scheduled flights, the Netherlands is
now repatriating citizens with NATO military Airbus A330 MRTTs. The planes of
El Al and other Israeli companies have an anti-missile system on board.

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