United Airlines cancels three Middle East flights (2024)

At least three United Airlines flights headed to or departing from the Middle East have been canceled amid the ongoing conflict unfolding between Iran and Israel.

On Saturday a flight from Newark, New Jersey to Tel Aviv, a flight from Washington D.C. to Amman, Jordan, and one from Dubai to Newark were canceled, the airline told CNN in a statement.

There have been no changes to any Sunday flights for United as of Saturday night, according to the airline.

CNN has reached out to other airlines regarding cancellations.

The US will not participate in any offensive operations against Iran, US President Joe Biden has made clear to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a senior administration official told CNN.

The comments were relayed during the phone call that the two leaders shared in the aftermath of Iran's retaliatory strikes against Israel.

Israel should consider tonight a win because the current US assessment is that Iran’s attacks had been largely unsuccessful and demonstrated Israel’s superior military capability, President Joe Biden told Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in their phone call, a senior administration official told CNN.

John Bolton, the former US national security adviser and ambassador to the UN, said “passivity at this point for Israel would be a big mistake,” warning of more attacks.

“This is not time to play academic games and message and signal. This is a question of power,” Bolton told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. "If they came from a different location containing nuclear warheads, Israel might not be so lucky.”

A known Iran policy hawk, Bolton served in senior national security positions during the Trump and Bush administrations. A neoconservative, Bolton has in the past advocated war with Iran and a pre-emptive strike on North Korea.

In 2022, he was the target of an alleged assassination attempt orchestrated by a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

He has warned against underestimating Iran’s nuclear program, which Tehran has said is for peaceful purposes only.

“I think we have enough experience with faulty intelligence by now, not to be so sure, not to know how much of Iran’s uranium enrichment program is really being conducted under a mountain in North Korea,” Bolton said.

If Tehran sent “a wire transfer to Pyongyang,” it would give the North Koreans “enough time to put a couple of warheads on an airplane and fly them to Tehran. (But) if you take away their nuclear capability, that would be a dramatic hit to the regime, maybe enough to topple it.”

More than 55 rockets have been fired from Lebanon to Israel over the past hour, according to the Israeli military's spokesperson.

This comes after about 40 rockets were fired at Israel from southern Lebanon on Friday, according to the Israel Defense Forces. Hezbollah militants said they had fired the rockets at Israeli artillery positions in response to recent Israeli attacks and in support of Palestinian people in Gaza.

Remember: Since the start of the Hamas-Israel war on October 7, Israel's flare-up with Hezbollah has intensified on Lebanon’s southern border with Israel.

Hezbollah — a Lebanese armed group backed by Iran — has its main area of operations there. Hezbollah has frequently fired missiles into Israel since October 7 and Israel has responded with its own fire, including airstrikes. Israel has ordered the evacuation of communities along the Lebanese border.

The wave of strikes launched from Iran towards Israel appears to have subsided,two US officials said. The attacks lasted approximately five hours.

Early Sunday morning in Israel, the country’s Home Front Command canceled its request for citizens to remain near shelters, an indication that the Israeli military believes the immediate threat of incoming attack has passed.

The US, along with Israel, monitored the barrage of drone and missile attacks that began Saturday night and continued into early Sunday morning. The number of launches appeared to fall during Sunday's early hours, the officials said.

However, even as the number of Iranian drone and missile launches has fallen, Iranian proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon fired a barrage of rockets at northern Israel early Sunday morning.

There have been no reports of injuries suffered directly through Iranian strikes, according to Israel’s emergency service.

However, the Magen David Adom (MDA) emergency service said it was called to treat a total of 31 people who suffered minor injuries while making their way to shelters and who suffered panic attacks during the drone and missile attacks.

Earlier, MDA said it had taken a 7-year-old girl to hospital who had suffered a severe head injury due to shrapnel from an interceptor missile that was launched to intercept an Iranian projectile.

Sirens have sounded in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights as around 25 projectiles were fired from Lebanon, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

The IDF said sirens sounded in the settlements of Ortal and Sha'al early Sunday. That came after Iran attacked Israel with drones, cruise and ballistic missiles.

It did not specify the type of projectiles fired, or whether they were intercepted.

Earlier Sunday, a barrage of at least 10 rockets was fired from Lebanon towards Israel, an Israeli military spokesperson told CNN.

Sirens sounded in the Upper Galilee region of northern Israel due to the rocket fire, the IDF said in a statement.

On Friday, around 40 rockets were fired at Israel from southern Lebanon, according to the IDF. Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah militants said they had fired the rockets at Israeli artillery positions in response to recent Israeli attacks and in support of Palestinian people in Gaza.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Saturday that the country stands with Israel following Iran's attack, which he said demonstrates "the Iranian regime’s disregard for peace and stability in the region."

"We support Israel’s right to defend itself and its people from these attacks," Trudeau added.

Trudeau also said he is "receiving regular updates" from national security and defense officials, and remains "in contact with allies" as Canada continues to monitor the situation "closely."