New alerts at regional airports in France

The French regional airports of Brest, Carcassonne, Rennes, Tarbes, Bordeaux-Merignac, Beziers, Montpellier and Nantes received bomb alerts yesterday, some of which were evacuated, leading to the diversion of flights, according to international media.

The General Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGAC) in France confirmed for AFP that "several national airports, including the one in Nantes, have received threats of attack".

The bomb alerts turned out to be false, and Paris Transport Minister Clement Beaune said in this context: "These false alarms are not bad jokes. They are criminal offences. They will be punished".

And the Minister of Justice, Eric Dupond-Moretti, said that the authors of these false alerts are "little clowns", who will be "found and punished".

On Wednesday, most major French airports, except the two in Paris, were temporarily evacuated after receiving false bomb threats, leading to the cancellation of 130 flights and flight delays.

And in Belgium, on Wednesday, the Ostend-Bruges Airport was evacuated following a bomb alert launched shortly after a plane had landed here that was going to leave for the French Lille airport.

At the same time, the Federal Palace in Bern, which houses the Swiss Parliament and Government, was partially evacuated after a suspicious object was reported.

• Five Schengen states reintroduce border controls

The current crisis situation generated by the conflict in the Middle East has led some European states to suspend the Schengen agreement, respectively to reintroduce border controls.

The Minister of the Interior of Italy announced that controls will be reintroduced at the border with Slovenia - a member country of the European Union and the Schengen Area. Poland and the Czech Republic have introduced temporary border controls with Slovakia, and Germany is preparing border controls with Poland and the Czech Republic.

For its part, Austria reintroduces border controls with Italy, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

In the context of the new crisis, European countries raised the level of anti-terrorist alert. Greece declared the orange level, and France and Belgium - the maximum level.

• Netanyahu: "The Hamas attack aimed to destroy the expansion of the Israeli-Arab peace"

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that the shock caused by the attack committed on October 7 by the Islamist movement Hamas against Israel was aimed at preventing the expansion of peaceful relations in the Middle East and asked London to continue supporting the Israeli counteroffensive, reports Reuters.

"We were on the verge of expanding that peace and destroying that expansion is one of the reasons why this action was taken," Netanyahu told visiting British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in Israel, noting: "This is the darkest hour. . That means this is a long war and we will need your continued support."

For his part, Rishi Sunak promised that London would stand by Israel, welcoming the decision to allow humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip, notes Agerpres.

Sunak said Israel is doing everything it can to limit civilian deaths. "I know you are taking every precaution to avoid harming civilians, in direct contrast to the Hamas terrorists," the British official said, adding: "I welcome your decision to ensure that the routes to Gaza will be open for humanitarian aid to enter. I am proud to be standing here with you. We will be with you, in solidarity. We will be with your people and we also want you to win".