Lufthansa, Air France halt Beirut flights as Israel tensions rise

BERLIN: Air France and the German airline group Lufthansa said Monday they were suspending flights to Beirut after Israel threatened reprisals for a deadly rocket strike launched from Lebanon.

Lufthansa services would be halted up to and including August 5 due to “current developments in the Middle East”, a group spokesman told AFP.

Air France and its low-cost subsidiary Transavia France meanwhile said that flights between Paris and Beirut would be suspended on Monday and Tuesday because of the “security situation” in Lebanon.

On Sunday, Israel said it would retaliate after rocket fire launched from neighbouring Lebanon killed 12 young people in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.

Israel blamed Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement but the Iran-backed group said it had “no connection” to the strike.

The incident heightened fears that the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza could spread north to Lebanon.

Other airlines had already cancelled or rescheduled flights in the wake of the attack.