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Plane carrying bodies of Israelis killed in Istanbul attack arrives in Tel Aviv

Xinhua, March 21, 2016 Adjust font size:

An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) plane carrying the bodies of three Israelis killed in a suicide bombing attack in Istanbul landed in Israel on Sunday afternoon, the Israeli army said.

On board the plane were the bodies of the three Israeli victims in the attack, and five injured Israelis who were evacuated to hospitals in Israel, one of whom is said to be in critical condition.

The three Israeli victims were identified by Israeli authorities as Yonathan Suher, 40, Simha Dimri, 60 and Avraham Goldman, 69. They will be laid to rest in the upcoming days.

Following Saturday's attack, the Israeli counter-terrorism bureau issued a statement warning Israelis against traveling to Turkey.

"It was decided to update the existing travel warning vis-à-vis Turkey from an ongoing potential threat to basic concrete threat," a statement from the Prime Minister's Office, which oversees the counter-terrorism bureau, said on Sunday, referring to Saturday's attack and other attacks carried out by Islamic State members and Kurdish separatists.

With that, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, regarding the Istanbul attack, that Israel is "at the forefront of the fight against international terrorism," referring to the wave of violence in Israel that had claimed the lives of 28 Israelis and more than 180 Palestinians.

At the start of the weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu also said that "those who do not condemn terrorism, support it," according to a statement from his office.

The Israeli prime minister also praised the work of the Israeli Foreign Ministry workers in Jerusalem and in Turkey for their response to the attack, which was defined as an emergency situation by Israeli authorities, due to the high toll of Israeli victims.

On Saturday, upon visiting the Foreign Ministry's situation room, Netanyahu said there is still no confirmation that the attack was targeted against Israelis, but said that Israeli and Turkish authorities are looking into the circumstances of the attack. Endit