FAA lifts ban on flights to Israel

It had imposed the ban after a rocket landed 1 mile away from the airport

America's aviation authority has lifted a ban on US flights to Israel, which was imposed due to concern over the risk of planes being hit by Hamas rockets.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had banned US airlines from travelling to and from Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv following a rocket landing about a mile away from Israel's largest airport.

"Before making this decision, the FAA worked with its US government counterparts to assess the security situation in Israel and carefully reviewed both significant new information and measures the Government of Israel is taking to mitigate potential risks to civil aviation," FAA said in a late night statement.

The FAA's primary mission and interest are the protection of people travelling on US airlines.

The agency will continue to closely monitor the very fluid situation around Ben Gurion Airport and will take additional actions, as necessary, it said.

FAA initially instituted the flight prohibition on July 22, in response to a rocket strike that landed approximately one mile from the airport.

It was initially for 24 hours and then extended by another 24 hours.