United Airlines is halting flights between Newark Liberty Airport and Tel Aviv starting Wednesday evening due to security concerns in the Middle East, according to a statement from an airline spokesperson to Sputnik.

"Beginning with this evening’s flight from Newark Liberty to Tel Aviv, we are suspending for security reasons our daily Tel Aviv service as we evaluate our next steps. We continue to closely monitor the situation and will make decisions on resuming service with a focus on the safety of our customers and crews," the statement said.

This comes against the backdrop of the recent assassination of Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh. The assassination occurred while Haniyeh was visiting the Iranian capital, Tehran, to attend the inauguration ceremony of the newly elected President Masoud Pezeshkian. Hamas later confirmed his martyrdom, noting that he was killed in a "treacherous Zionist airstrike."

The IRGC vowed on Wednesday that the Resistance Axis would make "Israel" pay a heavy price for Haniyeh's assassination.

"The heinous crime committed by the Zionist regime in killing Ismail Haniyeh... will undoubtedly be met with a harsh and painful response from the powerful Resistance Front," the IRGC said in a statement.

The guards corps added that the Israeli crimes, which defy international law, are attempts to conceal their failure after nine months of war on Gaza, resulting in the massacre of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinian women and children.

An op-ed published in the Financial Times earlier warned that the recent aggression against Lebanon and the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh could send the region into war.

Read more: 'Israel' to suffer severe punishment for Haniyeh's blood: Khamenei