Passenger planes headed to Ben-Gurion International Airport have recently had to take alternative routes due to a severe attack on Israel that prevents it from navigating aircraft using GPS, Israel Hayom has learned.
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The alternate route – over Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria – is longer than the one that allows for landing over Tel Aviv directly at Ben-Gurion International Airport.
Video: Anti-reform protesters at Ben-Gurion Airport ahead of Prime Minister Netanyahu's trip to the United States
In recent months, Israel has been the target of incessant attacks by unknown elements, apparently from abroad, that interfere with GPS signals, almost completely preventing it from carrying out processes that allow planes to land along the standard routes.
For this reason, most of the landings are conducted through the alternative route, where landing is possible through an alternative source of approach guidance for aircraft called ILS, or instrument landing system.
Residents of the settlements, such as Modi'in Illit, Hashmonaim, Lapid, and Kfar Oranim, have issued complaints over the "unbearable" noise caused by passenger planes passing overhead at all times of the day.
It is in response to the complaints that the authorities revealed that the reason for the change in the route stemmed from an attack on Israel.
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