Jordan’s flag carrier suspends flights to Beirut amid Israel-Hezbollah escalation

By Amer Solyman
ISTANBUL (AA) – Jordan’s flag carrier suspended flights to and from the Lebanese capital, Beirut, on Sunday amid an exchange of cross-border attacks between Hezbollah and Israel.
In a brief statement, Royal Jordanian Airlines said the decision was taken due to the current situation, without specifying when the flights will be resumed.
Haitham Misto, chairman of the Jordanian Civil Aviation Regulatory Commission, told the state television that the commission was "monitoring regional developments and assessing the situation continuously to take any necessary actions."
He assured that Jordanian airspace continues to operate "normally."
Earlier this month, the Jordanian Foreign Ministry advised its citizens against traveling to Lebanon and urged those already in the country to leave as soon as possible.
Israeli warplanes launched over 40 airstrikes on southern Lebanon early Sunday, the most severe attack since cross-border attacks with Hezbollah began on Oct. 8, 2023. 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 October 8, 2023, Hezbollah has been engaged in daily exchanges of fire with the Israeli army across the Lebanese-Israeli border, resulting in hundreds of casualties, mostly on the Lebanese side.
The escalation comes against the backdrop of a brutal Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, which killed over 40,300 Palestinians since last Oct. 7 after a Hamas attack. 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 Ikram Kouachi