Hundreds of Israelis received messages canceling their hotel reservations in the Red Sea resort city of Eilat to make room for US soldiers, Israeli media reported Thursday.
Israel’s Channel 24 said Israelis began receiving calls from hotels in Eilat late Wednesday informing them that “reservations from this month through November, including the summer holiday season, had been canceled.”
The report said the cancellations came as operations at Ben Gurion Airport remain irregular, due to the repercussions of the war with Iran, limiting Israelis’ ability to plan vacations abroad and increasing reliance on Eilat as a domestic tourism destination.
It quoted a source from a hotel chain, which it did not identify, as saying all rooms in affected hotels had been reserved for US military personnel operating in the Eilat area for “operational activity.”
The report said the move disrupted the plans of hundreds of Israelis who had intended to spend their summer vacations in the city and are now searching for alternatives.
The channel did not specify where the US soldiers came from or the nature of the reported operational activity.
Israeli media outlets recently reported that Israel raised its alert level and is preparing for the possibility of a renewed war with Iran if negotiations between Tehran and Washington fail.
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The Israeli news website Walla reported that 6,000 US troops and security personnel had been mobilized in Israel as part of the preparations.
The developments come as Pakistan expressed optimism about the prospects for a US-Iran agreement.
Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Tahir Hussain Andrabi said Thursday that Islamabad believes Washington and Tehran could reach a deal “soon.”
US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he was optimistic about reaching an agreement with Iran and expected progress within a week.
Pakistani sources also told Anadolu that Islamabad expects to host a second round of US-Iran talks next week.
Regional tensions have escalated since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Feb. 28, triggering retaliation from Tehran and disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz.
A ceasefire took effect April 8 through Pakistani mediation, but talks in Islamabad failed to produce a lasting agreement. The truce was later extended by Trump without a set deadline.
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