FRANKFURT: German airline group Lufthansa said Thursday it was extending a suspension of flights to Lebanese capital Beirut until October 15 due to heightened regional tensions.
Services to Beirut had previously been suspended until the end of September.
The Lufthansa group, whose carriers also include SWISS, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines, has not flown to Beirut since late July.
Lebanese group Hezbollah has traded near-daily fire with Israeli forces in support of ally Hamas since the Palestinian militant group's October 7 attack triggered war in the Gaza Strip.
Lufthansa had also suspended flights to Tel Aviv in Israel due to the tensions, but resumed them on September 5.
Flights to Tehran also resumed on September 5, although Austrian Airlines is currently the only airline in the group serving the Iranian capital, a Lufthansa spokesman told AFP.
Germany, France and Britain on Tuesday said they were taking steps to cancel air transport agreements with Iran because of what they said was Iran's delivery of ballistic missiles to Russia.
"The Lufthansa group is aware of the planned sanctions and is in contact with the relevant authorities," the spokesman said.
Germany's foreign ministry on Wednesday said the country was "currently in intensive consultation with its European and international partners about the imposition of new sanctions, including in the aviation sector".
Lufthansa extends Beirut flight suspension
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Lufthansa extends Beirut flight suspension
- The Lufthansa group, whose carriers also include SWISS, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines, has not flown to Beirut since late July
- Lufthansa had also suspended flights to Tel Aviv in Israel due to the tensions, but resumed them on September 5
Israel army ‘temporarily suspends’ strike on south Lebanon
- The Israeli military issued a warning earlier on Saturday announcing an imminent strike and warning people in the Yanuh area of south Lebanon to evacuate immediately
JERUSALEM: The Israeli military said it would “temporarily” suspend a strike planned for Saturday that was intended to target what it described as Hezbollah military infrastructure in southern Lebanon.
A November 2024 ceasefire sought to end over a year of fighting between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group, which broke out after the start of the Gaza war in October 2023.
But Israel has repeatedly bombed Lebanon despite the truce, usually saying it is targeting Hezbollah members and infrastructure to stop the group from rearming.
The Israeli military issued a warning earlier on Saturday announcing an imminent strike and warning people in the Yanuh area of south Lebanon to evacuate immediately.
But later Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee said “the strike was temporarily suspended,” adding that the military “continues to monitor the target.”
The suspension came after the Lebanese army “requested access again to the specified site... and to address the breach of the agreement,” he said on X.
Adraee added that the military would “not allow” Hezbollah to “redeploy or rearm.”
The year-old ceasefire monitoring mechanism includes the United Nations, the United States and France.
A Lebanese security source said the army had previously tried to search the building that the Israeli military wanted to target but could not because of objections from residents.
But the source told AFP that the Lebanese army was able to enter and search the building after returning a second time, because residents “felt threatened,” adding that they were evacuated over fears of a strike.
