Daily Times

Flights at Beirut airport have been cancelled or delayed with Lebanon’s Middle East Airlines (MEA) saying disruptions to its schedule were related to insurance risks, as tensions escalate between Israel and armed political group Hezbollah.

Lufthansa on Monday said it had suspended five routes to and from Beirut by the group’s carriers Swiss International Air Lines, Eurowings and Lufthansa up to and including July 30 “in an abundance of caution”.

A rocket strike that killed 12 teenagers and children in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Saturday has added to concerns that Israel and the Iran-backed group could engage in a full-scale war.

Israel’s security cabinet on Sunday authorised the government to respond to the strike. Hezbollah denied any responsibility for the attack, the deadliest in Israel or Israeli-annexed territory since Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault sparked the war in Gaza, which has since spread to several fronts. Beirut airport’s flight information board and flight tracking website Flightradar24 show Turkish Airlines also cancelled two flights overnight on Sunday.

Turkey-based budget carrier SunExpress, Turkish Airlines subsidiary AJet, Greek carrier Aegean Airlines, Ethiopian Air and MEA have also cancelled flights scheduled to land in Beirut on Monday, Flightradar24 shows.

The airlines did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport is Lebanon’s only airport. It has been targeted in the country’s civil war, and previous fighting with Israel, including in the last war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006.