Monday 6 Iyar – Four Iranians among five arrested in UK over alleged terror plot – Airlines cancel flights to Israel after missile hits Ben-Gurion Airport – IDF calls up tens of thousands of reservists ahead of expanded Gaza offensive

United Airlines is facing a lawsuit from 57 Jewish passengers who claim they were subjected to discriminatory treatment on an April 22, 2023, flight from Newark to Tel Aviv. The suit stems from an incident mid-flight in which a passenger briefly sat in an empty crew seat while waiting for the restroom. The airline allegedly responded with disproportionate force, leading to a confrontation and the plane’s sudden return to Newark.

Passengers say the flight crew’s reaction was excessive and rooted in bias, not safety. “No one told us what was going on,” said one passenger. “We just saw the plane turn back.”

The lawsuit accuses United of racism and collective punishment, alleging that the airline treated visibly Jewish passengers unfairly. One man wearing a kippah claimed a flight attendant refused to help him rebook, saying, “Go ask your people.”

Attorney Yoram Nachimovsky is seeking damages and demanding sensitivity training. “One person’s mistake shouldn’t justify punishing an entire group,” he said.

United denies the allegations, calling the claims “meritless” and defending the crew’s decision as a matter of safety.

The incident has sparked outrage and renewed calls for accountability in how airlines treat religious passengers.

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British counter-terrorism police have arrested five men, including four Iranian nationals, on suspicion of planning a terrorist act, a statement from London’s Metropolitan Police said on Sunday.

The investigation relates to a suspected plot to target a specific location, according to the statement, which added that the men were arrested during raids at a number of addresses across the country on Saturday.

“This is a fast-moving investigation and we are working closely with those at the affected site to keep them updated,” said Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command.

The Met Police have not said which site was the target of the alleged attack. It said the men were arrested in the Greater Manchester and London areas, as well as in the southern town of Swindon.

“The investigation is still in its early stages and we are exploring various lines of enquiry to establish any potential motivation as well as to identify whether there may be any further risk to the public linked to this matter,” said Murphy.

Four of the men are Iranian nationals, ranging in age from 29 to 46, and have been detained under Britain’s Terrorism Act, the police statement said. The nationality of the fifth man, whose age was not provided, was still being established and the Met statement said he had instead been detained under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act.

All five remain in police custody.

“We understand the public may be concerned and as always, I would ask them to remain vigilant and if they see or hear anything that concerns them, then to contact us,” Murphy said.

Reform UK could take the government to court to prevent migrants being housed in areas where it now controls the local council, party chairman Zia Yusuf told the BBC.

Yusuf said his party had pledged to “resist” housing asylum seekers in Reform-controlled areas and it would use “every instrument of power available”, including judicial reviews, to fulfil its pledge.

The Home Office is responsible for housing adult asylum seekers and while councils can object, they have little power to stop it.

Reform gained more than 600 seats and took control of 10 local authorities in Thursday’s local elections.

Asked how Reform could fulfil its pledge to voters, given that contracts to house asylum seekers in hotels were drawn up between the Home Office and accommodation providers, Yusuf said the party was “realistic” about the challenge.

“The levers of power at a local level pale in comparison to the levers of power at Westminster,” he told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that a ceasefire with Russia is possible at any moment.

Zelenskyy, speaking at a joint news conference in Prague alongside Czech President Petr Pavel, also said that Ukraine hopes to receive 1.8 million shells in 2025 under a Czech initiative to provide military assistance.

“We believe that without increased pressure, Russia will not take real practical steps to end the war. Today marks the 54th day that Russia has ignored even the American proposal to completely cease fire,” Zelenskyy said.

“We believe that a ceasefire is possible at any moment, even starting today, and should last at least 30 days to give diplomacy a real chance.”

For context: Vladimir Putin on Monday declared a three-day ceasefire to mark the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Union and its allies over Nazi Germany in the Second World War.

The 72-hour ceasefire will run when Putin hosts international leaders on Moscow’s Red Square, including Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Responding to the offer, Zelenskyy said he was ready as long as the ceasefire would be 30 days in length.

You can watch Zelenskyy arriving in Prague in the clip below…

A ballistic missile launched Sunday by the Houthis from Yemen have impacted Ben-Gurion Airport, moderately to lightly wounding several people. The incident led to a temporary halt of takeoffs and landings for about an hour, road closures in the area, and the cancellation of several flights.

Air India has canceled its flights through May 6, including flight BA405 on May 7, which had to circle in the air during a missile alert. Today’s flights by Air Europa, Austrian Airlines, and Brussels Airlines, have also been canceled.

Azerbaijan Airlines canceled tonight’s flight but is expected to resume service tomorrow. Delta’s flight from New York tonight has been canceled, along with tomorrow morning’s flight from Israel to New York.

Italy’s ITA Airways has canceled all flights through May 6, including flights AZ809 and AZ815 on May 7. The Lufthansa Group—which includes Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, and Eurowings—has suspended all flights to and from Israel through May 6. British Airways has also canceled flights through Tuesday.

Air France passengers were removed from a plane in Paris. Wizz Air has suspended all flights until Tuesday morning. Iberia Express canceled today’s flight. Ryanair flights to Paphos, Turin, Vienna, and Thessaloniki were also canceled.

Ethiopian Airlines, however, announced it is continuing to operate flights to Israel as usual.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that a lack of Qatari cooperation in hostage-ceasefire negotiations was to blame for the collapse of the latest potential hostage deal with Hamas, according to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

“We are pressing Hamas to [release the hostages] with the support of our friends,” Netanyahu said in a PMO readout from his meeting with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides.

“We are asking others to put pressure not only on Hamas but also on Qatar, which has decisive influence over Hamas — an influence that is not always exercised but could be,” he added.

“In fact, we had a hostage deal that was about to materialize, one that would have freed almost half of the hostages, with Egypt’s help, but it did not happen. Qatari cooperation… is what could have brought this deal to fruition,” the premier claimed.

“That’s what we expect to see: the support of our friends and pressure from those who are in a position to influence Hamas.”

The Israel Defense Forces said Saturday night that it was sending out tens of thousands of call-up orders to reservists, as the military was set to significantly expand its offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The tens of thousands of reservists being called up would begin to show up in the military in the coming week, according to the IDF. The reservists have likely been called up multiple times already during the war.

On Friday, during a security consultation, the military presented Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with its planned staged offensive in Gaza, which will require substantial mobilization.

Israel’s security cabinet was slated to convene on Sunday so ministers could vote to approve the military plans authorized by Netanyahu.

Currently, three IDF divisions are operating in Gaza, in an offensive that the military has said is aimed at pressuring Hamas back into a hostage deal, and not destroying the terror group.

Israeli officials have repeatedly warned that if no hostage deal is reached soon, the military would launch a major offensive aimed at defeating Hamas. The intensified offensive would see the IDF operating in new areas of the Strip.

The military said that the pressure on Hamas would increase incrementally, and the call-up of the reservists was part of its staged plans, because the terror group has been refusing to agree to a deal.

The reservists may not be sent to Gaza, but rather to other fronts — Lebanon, Syria, and the West Bank — and swap out members of the standing army who will be deployed to the Strip.

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