Amid Hezbollah-Israel escalation, Lebanon says Beirut Airport operating normally

By Stephanie Rady

BEIRUT (AA) - Beirut's international airport is operating normally, though some flights have been delayed due to the escalation between Hezbollah and Israel in southern Lebanon, the country’s aviation authorities announced Sunday.

“The General Directorate of Civil Aviation denied in a statement today what was circulated by some media outlets about the cancellation of all flights to and from Beirut International Airport,” Lebanon’s National News Agency reported.

The directorate explained that some flights experienced delays and that the airport continues to operate normally, added the agency.

Earlier on Sunday, Royal Jordanian Airlines announced the suspension of its flights to and from Beirut due to the recent escalation between Hezbollah and Israel.

Israeli warplanes launched over 40 airstrikes on southern Lebanon early Sunday, the most severe attack since cross-border attacks with Hezbollah began last October. The Israeli army claimed that the strikes aimed to prevent an impending Hezbollah attack.

The Lebanese group, for its part, said it launched hundreds of missiles and drones deep into Israel in the “first phase” of its response to last month’s assassination of its commander Fouad Shukr in Beirut.

Since Oct. 8, 2023, Hezbollah has been engaged in daily exchanges of fire with the Israeli army across the Blue Line, resulting in hundreds of casualties, mostly on the Lebanese side.

​​​​​​​The escalation comes against the backdrop of the war in Gaza, where Israel has killed more than 40,400 Palestinians since an Oct. 7, 2023 incursion by Hamas. The military campaign has reduced much of the territory to rubble and left most of the people homeless, hungry, and prone to disease.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala