FLIGHTS at Beirut airport in Lebanon have been canceled or delayed due to rising tensions between Israel and the armed political group Hezbollah. Lufthansa said it has suspended five routes to and from Beirut operated by Swiss International Air Lines, Eurowings and Lufthansa until July 30 as a precaution.
A rocket attack that killed 12 teenagers and children in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights has raised fears that Israel and Iran-backed groups could engage in a full-scale war.
Israel’s Security Cabinet on Sunday authorized the government to respond to the attack.
Hezbollah denied responsibility for the attack. It was the deadliest on Israel or Israeli-occupied territory since a Hamas offensive on Oct. 7 sparked a war in Gaza that has since spread to several fronts.
Beirut airport flight information boards and flight tracking site Flightradar24 showed Turkish Airlines also canceled two overnight flights on Sunday. Turkey-based budget carrier SunExpress, Turkish Airlines subsidiary AJet, Greek carrier Aegean Airlines, Ethiopian Air and MEA also canceled flights scheduled to land in Beirut on Monday, Flightradar24 said.
The airline did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport is Lebanon’s only airport.
The attack was targeted in the country’s civil war and previous clashes with Israel, including in the last war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006. On Sunday, Lebanon’s Middle East Airlines (MEA) said it had delayed the departure of several flights due to land in Beirut overnight.
Also read: US warns Israel of consequences if it attacks Hezbollah
“An additional delay to the flight’s landing on Monday was later announced due to technical reasons related to the distribution of insurance risks for the aircraft between Lebanon and other destinations,” the MEA said.
Hezbollah and the Israeli military have escalated cross-border exchanges of fire since the Gaza war began. The conflict has disrupted flights and shipping across the region, including during drone and missile strikes between Israel and Iran in April.
Lufthansa has suspended night flights to and from Beirut in July due to developments in the Middle East. (Aljazeera/Z-2)
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