JERUSALEM, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- About 2.3 million international passengers passed through Israel's Ben Gurion International Airport in July, the highest monthly total since the Hamas attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, according to a report released by the Israel Airports Authority on Thursday.
The figure reflects the gradual return of foreign airlines to Israel after the war with Iran between Feb. 28 and April 8, during which only about 203,000 passengers passed through the airport in March.
The authority said that about 2.6 million passengers, flying on 47 airlines, are expected to pass through the airport in August.
Tourist arrivals have risen steadily since a ceasefire with Iran took effect in April, after falling to just 9,400 in March during the conflict.
The number of tourists arriving in Israel totaled 109,300 in July, up 28.6 percent from the same month a year earlier, according to data released by the country's Central Bureau of Statistics.
Despite the recovery, tourist arrivals in the first seven months of the year remained below 2025 levels, totaling 537,100 compared with 695,900 in the same period a year earlier. ■
