FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - The Lufthansa Group has canceled further scheduled flights to Israel. Regular airline flights remained suspended up to and including Sunday, Oct. 22, the company announced in Frankfurt. In addition to the core company Lufthansa, this also affects connections of the subsidiary Swiss, Austrian and Brussels Airlines.

Regarding possible further special flights on behalf of the government beyond this Friday, the company said it was in talks with the German Foreign Office. Lufthansa justified the step with the still unclear security situation in the country attacked by the terrorist group Hamas. The company regrets having to make this decision. Security has top priority. Until now, the group had suspended its own flights up to and including Saturday. The first special flights were operated on Thursday from Tel Aviv to Frankfurt and Munich./ceb/DP/he