Israeli strike hits area near Beirut airport

Lebanon's only international airport operating normally after Israeli strikes; over 2,600 killed in conflict since September.

Lebanon’s Transport Minister said on Thursday (November 7, 2024) the country’s only international airport was operating normally after Israeli strikes on the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut, including one in an area near the hub. 

Minister Ali Hamie told AFP that planes were taking off and landing without any issue.

A heater factory next to the airport’s perimeter wall had been badly damaged in a strike, according to an AFP photographer at the scene.

Israel has been at war with Lebanon’s Hezbollah since late September, when it broadened its focus from fighting Hamas in the Gaza Strip to securing its northern border.

The strike near the airport came after Hezbollah announced on Wednesday (November 6, 2024) that it had targeted a military base close to Ben Gurion Airport, Israel’s main international transport hub.

The overnight strike in Beirut caused “minor damage” to some buildings but “not inside the terminal building”, an airport official told AFP on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

He said the strike had affected a maintenance building belonging to a subsidiary of Middle East Airlines, Lebanon’s national carrier and practically the only airline still operating flights there.