PARIS: Flights to Beirut by Air France and low-cost carrier Transavia France will remain suspended until at least Tuesday due to “security” concerns in the region, parent company Air France-KLM said.
The two French airlines first stopped servicing the route on Monday, a day after Israel vowed to retaliate following rocket fire from Lebanon that killed 12 people in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.
“Any resumption of operation will be subject to a renewed evaluation on the ground,” a spokesman said Saturday, adding that passengers with reservations could rebook at no extra cost.
Flights to Tel Aviv will continue as normal, he added.
The rocket attack on the Golan Heights sparked fears that fighting between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel would escalate.
When those fears subsided somewhat the airlines announced on Tuesday that flights would resume on Wednesday.
But Israel then struck a Hezbollah stronghold in south Beirut on Tuesday evening, targeting a senior commander it blamed for the rocket strike on the Golan Heights.
This development sparked an extension of the flight suspension until Saturday, which has now been prolonged again.
Iran said earlier on Saturday it expects Hezbollah to hit deeper inside Israel and no longer be confined to military targets.
Hezbollah has been exchanging near-daily fire with Israeli forces.
German carrier Lufthansa has suspended flights until August 12.
Air France, Transavia halt Beirut flights until Tuesday
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Air France, Transavia halt Beirut flights until Tuesday
- “Any resumption of operation will be subject to a renewed evaluation on the ground,” a spokesman said Saturday
- Flights to Tel Aviv will continue as normal
Seven killed in drone strike on Sudan hospital: medical source
- Dilling, in the flashpoint state of South Kordofan, is controlled by the Sudanese army but has been under siege by rival paramilitary forces
- Sunday’s strike comes a day after a drone strike on a UN peacekeeping base killed six Bangladeshi troops in the similarly besieged South Kordofan state capital of Kadugli
PORT SUDAN: A drone strike Sunday on an army hospital in the besieged southern Sudan city of Dilling left “seven civilians dead and 12 injured,” a health worker at the facility told AFP.
The victims included patients and their companions, the medic said on condition of anonymity, explaining that the army hospital “serves the residents of the city and its surroundings, in addition to military personnel.”
Dilling, in the flashpoint state of South Kordofan, is controlled by the Sudanese army but has been under siege by rival paramilitary forces.
Since April 2023, the army has been at war with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who control swathes of the greater Kordofan region along with their allies, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) faction led by Abdelaziz Al-Hilu.
Sunday’s strike comes a day after a drone strike on a United Nations peacekeeping base killed six Bangladeshi troops in the similarly besieged South Kordofan state capital of Kadugli, some 120 kilometers (75 miles) south of Dilling.
According to the UN, civilians in Dilling are suffering famine conditions, but a lack of access to data has prevented an official declaration.
Across the country, the war has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced 12 million and created the world’s largest hunger and displacement crises.
